Did something dumb today.

[crowhill]

Been hiding this😕. Few months ago we got a lemon beagle pup, goes everywhere with me. Put her in the truck placing the retractable leash between the seat and console allowing a very short leash. She sits on the console watching where we go. Truck is new with 2025 miles, we're headed to camp. At 1/3 mile from the house she jumps to passenger seat and to the floor, her leash isn't long enough to be on the floor. I reach over to pull her up and up she comes but when I look up there is the utility pole in front of me, quick turn to the left, right hand mirror explodes, bang  left hand rear door, cab corner and box side implode. Dog is fine, I'm fine but my truck, well I took it to the truck doctor yesterday for $6000 plus in repairs. 

[Nebraska]

Ouch !!   No dog is ever free, just some cost more in different ways.  

[WV Sawmiller]

   At least the dog is okay. We must keep our priorities straight. Sorry about the other boo boos. :(

[ncsawyer]

At least you kept all 4 wheels on the ground!  

[doc henderson]

you know, had you screamed like the dukes of Hazard, everything would have been fine!   :D :D :D

[Southside]

@Southside at least your tension handle matches your shoes!

I am not in Kansas anymore Doc.... :D

[doc henderson]

Oh no, did you click them together?  If you wind up in Ks, do not say I did not warn you.  I think you have to twirl a little as well.  if you wind up near here, I will come and pick you up.    If your purse matches you shoes and tension handle, you may have to ride in the back of the truck! :D

[Old Greenhorn]

...and I documented it. I am moving the mill and was making good time so I pushed it a bit much. I got the mill head up on the trailer and moved 2 track sets. Then I went back down wthout the trailer (which was still loaded, unloading comes later when the track is reset) and tried to get the rest on the Mule alone. The porblems was the 2 6x6x12' beams, they are just too long, but I figured out a way, then I put 2 more track sections crosswise on the bed and 2 6x6x8' on top of them. I was pretty pleased with the way I rigged those 12 footers. I thought about tying the track and short timbers on, but they seemed secure. It was a load.


 

Anyhow things were going pretty good until I was almost at the top of the hill and that's when it all broke loose.  Gas cans, chainsaws, timbers, tools, tracks, all gone to heck. But those 12 footers were still where I put them. :D



 

It was a heck of a mess in the middle of the hill to untangle, but I got most of it straight and came back for the rest in a second load.  Next time I take 2 minutes and throw another strap on.

[firefighter ontheside]

Dang @crowhill sorry bout the truck, but at least the pup was unharmed.

[firefighter ontheside]

@Old Greenhorn you sure do put that mule to work.  Go on easy on her now and then will ya.

[Old Greenhorn]

@Old Greenhorn you sure do put that mule to work.  Go on easy on her now and then will ya.

Actually, that wasn't a real heavy load, just awkward. Earlier in the day I had pulled my road trailer (just a 5x10) up with the mill head, 2 sections of track, some timbers and other stuff, that load barely made it just from the weight. More on that in my thread.
 BUT, not to worry, now that the mill is up the hill and behind my shop, her life gets a lot easier. SHe will skid logs to the mill, get me around, but I won't have to run everything UP and DOWN that skid road. So it will be mostly skidding work. I only take hitches of 3 logs or less. So yeah, she does get a break.

[jeepcj779]

I figured even though I don't have a mill yet, my dumb thing does have something to do with cutting. When I was home on leave in October, my fields had gone well beyond the capacity of my finish mower to cut. I was planning to get a brush mower next year anyway, so I went ahead and got one so I could do the mowing and my dad didn't have to do it. Unknown to me, my neighbor had removed the grates off the riser for the dam and put them on my boat ramp over the summer. At some point, an old man who I allow to use the boat ramp occasionally to fish moved the grates into the grass on either side of the ramp. All this happened over the summer, so I was not around to see it because I am stationed in Hawaii. Anyway, I found the grates with my brand new brush mower. Here is the after and before pics of the grates (neighbor sent a picture of where the grates were last time he saw them - not sure why he felt the need to put them on my property instead of his own):


 

 

I didn't see them until it was too late because the grass was 4 feet tall. This is the result:


 

 

The mower seems to be ok other than the blades are beat up. Not to bad considering the grates were made of 1/4 inch steel frame and rebar. I don't know if that counts as I did something dumb today as much as somebody else did something dumb and I get to pay for it. About $150 for new blades.

[donbj]

I have a 5' brusher as well and like bandmill blades they are great metal detectors and any other hidden gems.

[Crusarius]

you should have shear pins in the bush hog. Did they shear? If not I would get some grade 2 bolts and put them in. Bolts are cheaper than gearboxes.

[donbj]

Mine has a shear bolt. Took it out many times.

[jeepcj779]

It came with a slip clutch drive shaft, so I think the gear box is ok. I didn't see any indication that the gear box shifted in it's mounts, and no unusual vibration following the event, so I think the slip clutch did it's job. I think I would prefer the shear bolt though. The slip clutch will protect the drive system, but allows the blades to keep turning until I am smart enough to shut down the PTO. A shear bolt would completely sever the connection without my input.

[donbj]

With the slip clutch you will want to make sure it hasn't seized up over winter or long periods of non use. They can seize,especcially in moist weather and not provide any protection. I had a 10 footer (twin) at work and had to back the tension springs off and make sure it was functioning properly and re-tension. Easy to do.

[Nebraska]

Its fairly spectacular when you are trying your latest 5 ft craigslist haul for mowing weeds up at the cabin, and find out the hard way that the shear joint is rusted solid where it's supposed to slip when the shear bolt let's go.  Yeah I doubled the price of the bargain..... 

[Don P]

Yup, I found an antique intake manifold in the weeds, they did not spare the iron in castings back then.

[jeepcj779]

Unfortunately, the slip clutch didn't have time to seize up. The mower was a day old when I found the neighbor's garbage in my field. 

[Crusarius]

you get any moisture at all on those clutches and they will seize. You are much better off with shear bolts unless your test it all the time.

[crowhill]

I did a lot of custom field and pasture mowing with a 6' brush hog and also went through many sets of blades, mostly just from rock. But the worst thing I found with mine was several hundred feet of barbed wire that made a beautiful nest around the blades and shaft. It wound up tight and fast! Took about two hours to cut it out. That same farm had several test holes dug that were about 4'x4'x6' deep looking for gravel, they had years of dead hay and brush over them. Surprise!

[samandothers]

Old Greenhorn, seems that many times when I do something similar, I have thought that this might not be a good idea or I should take a few more minutes to do whatever.  However, many times I opt for the in a hurry or 'what could go wrong' thought and head out.  Most times it goes ok, but then there are times it is a failure.  Glad not injuries or damage occurred. 

jeepcj779 I don't think I have it steel.  I do mow rock, stumps 'someone' left too high, and once an abandoned plastic pipe (the barbwire type scenario).  I too have a slip clutch that every spring I loosen the bolts and slip it to break loose the rust.  I have not looked at the blade lately.  Probably need to do that to avoid posting a future issue here. :

[Banjo picker]

When I worked for the DOT of Mississippi once I tried a drive line with a shear bolt.  The big bushwacker mowers  (15 footers) that we used would litteraly shear the shear bolt on start up at times.  I went back to the slip clutch as soon as I could.  Run a slip on the little 5 that I have behind my 2600 ford now.  To each his own I guess.  Banjo

[WDH]

If I pop the clutch on my JD 2150 hooked to the 5' bushhog, it is time to replace the shear bolt .  At least I have the comfort of knowing that the gearbox is safe from all this stuff that y'all on here are mowing :D.