Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

OK, we've all done stupid things with a piece of our OPE whether it's trimmers, snowblowers, mowers, blowers, tractors, pressure washers etc. You know, the kind of thing you look around when it's over to see if anyone was watching? 

One of mine involved a slide that's part of a wooden swing set in my backyard. I was mowing on my Snapper RER and was trying to get as close as I could to the end of the slide, pointing toward it, before I would back-up and then mow closely down the side of it.

We'll right when my left foot decided it didn't like being on the clutch, it decided to slip off the clutch which resulted in the thing doing a wheelie and running right up the slide. I was very lucky that it didn't tip over to one side and end up on top of me. Well, I instantly let off the blade engagment with my right foot and while sitting there at a 35-45 degree angle,  feeling so damn stupid, I started looking around to see who all was laughing and pointing. I would have never lived it down.....hey, did you see what dad did........ Hey, did you see what Dad did? I could here it already.

Thankfully, I was not seen, got off and backed the RER down off the slide while feeling very sheepish and acting like I meant to do it, just in case I missed someone. 

What's some of your stupid happenings?

Interesting happenings folks !


ChrisS... didn't check the snowblowing area before the 1st snow... eh ?
(maybe you did)


Used 2x10" planks for a ramp to put the garden tractor into/out of the pickup truck...
Mistake !

Backing off the damp planks... about 1/2 down...
WhoooAAAAA ! 

There I was on the ground with part of the tractor on me...
Luckily only the rear fender got bent...

Soon after... bought aluminum ramps made for this...

Saving the Gravely story for another day...


Dave...

LOL...Yeah Geno she was.

Dave I did not check there because she never put lights on those two front shrubs before.  I think she did it the day I was working and got home late and the storm hit the next day so I never had a chance to see them on to know about them.

Of course she swears to this day that she ALWAYS puts them there but funny thing is...she has never done it since so some tradition huh? lol....

She actually could'nt figure out why she just couldn't re-use them lol....gotta love her lol....I showed her the pieces and then she understood....

C

Stupid OPE happenings...................OK, we've all done stupid things...................

Well, not me, unless you count the time I mowed half of my back yard before I realized I never reinstalled the chute from the deck to the bagger sending grass flying out the back like a jet engine?  Luckily, nobody was watching.

LL

This happened to one of my students at the Vo Tech . He was at the part of the curriculum where I would let them overhaul engines, etc. . He did a beautiful job of cleaning and disassembling the engine, laid all he pieces on his work bench, installed everything by the book. He just did a beautiful job. Mounted the engine on the Snapper . Then he took it out back where we had a grassy place to test them.. About the time he got out there I could hear the engine slowing down, like it was tightening up, then shortly it stopped. I realized what he had done------he forgot to put the oil in the engine. It can happen and when it does it makes you want to crawl in the ground. You can imagine how the youngster felt----Your friend--Will

It was about 35 years ago when I was still a teenager. My mom had this old (even then) Hahn Eclipse mower that had seen better days. It wouldn't shut down when the throttle was pushed to off, so I got in the habit of carrying a screw driver in my back pocket to ground out the plug. The screw driver came in handy to flick a clog out of the chute, or adjusting or tightening the stuff that was always getting loose on the mower. One day, I was grounding out the plug to shut it down and my finger slipped off the insulated handle and I got hit with the electricity meant for the spark plug........

I opened up my eyes 50 feet away from the mower that was still running, thankful I hadn't landed on the screw driver stabbing my self. I also fixed the mower to properly shut off.

I don't have any such exciting stories, except for forgetting to tighten the return line of my pool filter when hooking it up this past summer, and then turning the filter on after the pool had filled.  Not only did I get about 500 gal of water in the "specials" courtesy of the return outlet and my proximity to the pool, but i also got beat senseless by the return hose flailing about  as the filter pump happily did its job. always check those hose clamps...

About 25 years ago  I rented a commercial tiller. It was the first time I laid eyes on one. I thought the drag stake was a kick-stand so I tossed it aside. Big mistake.

My neighbor stood there watching me rev up the engine full throttle. I think the governor was broke. I grabbed both handles and the last thing my neighbor saw was the back of my shoes. I left toe marks about 40 feet as I refused to let go of the handles. By the time I had enough sense to let go of the control handle I was out to the street. My pants had pulled down (had no belt on) and my shirt pockets were full of dirt. I can still taste the small pebbles in my mouth. My neighbor almost wet his pants. Lucky I wasn't killed.. just bruised here and there.

Lesson learned: Don't assume anything. If you don't know anyrthing about  OPE, ask somebody who knows. Second, always wear a belt before tilling.

What I learned was you have to respect power equipment. I figure that I learned the hard way. I want to pass my experiences on, so other folks don't tear up their clothes and maybe get hurt or worse.

These stories are great!  And its nice to know that you guys make mistakes too.......and that we ladies don't have the market cornered on embarrassing 'mechanical' mistakes...

Paula

Well, this is kind of an OPE story.....I WAS outside , using power equipment.  We were newly married, and poor, of coarse, so I was building much of the furniture we needed.
I borrowed my father in law's belt sander to use, and brought the piece I was working on outside because of the dust.
I got interrupted, and then needed tthe power cord for something else. I laid the belt sander on the piece, and then when I went back to plug it back into the extension cord, I didn't realize I had the "hold on" button depressed.........It went flying across the table and landed over 15 feet into the driveway.

No one saw this, and I never told him..........not a scratch and it still works fine 25 years later.

Us lefties always need to watch out for that "hold button", always on the wrong side........

Frank D.

       

             A guy I work with decided to play a trick on the cleaning lady one night. She didn't no we were in the building so he snuck in the crew room and unplugged her commerical buffer while she was buffing the long hallway that leads down the center of the building . when she came down to check on why it wasn't working he decided to plug it back in. Bad idea she didn't turn the machine off like he thought and she ran screeming down the hall trying to catch it. . It was't pretty!!!!!!

              Tom