The day I almost died on my Kubota...

[sgtboz]

Please spare me the sermons...I already know what I did wrong and how lucky I was/am. I humbly share this humiliating story as a precautionary tale to my ol' pals & gals on OTT.

A while back when I was mowing, the parachute cord that held on my homemade canopy (PVC pipe and shade material) got caught in my un-guarded PTO shaft. Had the rope not broken and it pulled me back too far to reach the clutch and/or the key, I'd had no hope. I'm sure it would have pulled me into the PTO shaft completely. There was no other human around to help or even call for help. Even if there had been, it would have all happened to fast. Also, all of my PTO-driven attachments have PTO shafts...except this one. I had just purchased this basically new shaft off Craigslist ($95, woot!) and did not yet have a guard on it. I needed it for my flail mower so on it went and then off I went to get to work.

Here's a pic of the 'canopy.' It just happens to be reversed because I was using the backhoe in this pic. Obviously when I'm brush hogging the canopy is over the driver's seat.


As you can imagine, it wrapped up the cord in a blink and as a result it pulled the canopy down on my head, neck and shoulders in an instant. I jammed down on the clutch pedal to wind it down but that didn't even happen fast enough. Fortunately, the paracord broke. Does God keep an Old Timer pocket knife handy for reaching down out of Heaven at times like this!?


I got a good rope burn on my hands/wrist (guess I reached up quickly to grab the cord???), on my neck and on my right shoulder. In one of the pics you can see that the rope melted my shirt over the right shoulder. The neck and wrist have had some time to heal. I should have taken some more gory pics closer to the incident but you can sure see the location of that rope and how it looks like I tried to both slit my wrist and my jugular!

 

[sheepfarmer]

OMG! thanks for posting such a graphic reminder. Glad you are ok.

 

[skeets]

No Sir not a word from me, other than to say Im happy thats all you came away with and not something worse. Im glad your here to tell us what happened !

 

[Lil Foot]

Thanks for posting, all of us need a wake up call periodically, lest we get too complacent. Glad your injuries weren't worse.

 

[CountryBumkin]

Glad you are okay. I know how it feels.

Just about every time I hurt myself (in my previous profession as a mechanic) I knew I was doing something stupid or dangerous, but I was just too lazy to go the extra steps to do it safe/right. After a lot of cuts and bruises, a few busted knuckles, and getting a bunch of stuff in my eyes (by not wearing safety glasses), I finally got the message, and now I take the extra time to do the job safely.

So when you know better - and you still do it - and you hurt yourself - you are getting one of life's lessons. Fortunately I am getting wiser as I get older.

If you live long enough, some of those lessons will be learned and stick.

 

[dandeman]

Again thanks for posting and helping us all maintain eternal vigilance.....that anything loose (clothing, long hair, rope, etc) around rotating machinery can be so dangerous.

a reminder of Isadora Duncan's death by scarf, September 14, 1927....

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Thanks for posting! and good to hear you only received relatively minor injuries, it could have been way worse.

No judgement from me, I've done enough of my fair share of "I should have known better" events!

Are you now going to get a shielded PTO shaft, or at least the shield for yours?

 

[olthumpa]

Thanks for posting. Like others, I have also done a thing or two that were not my finest moments. I am glad that you are all right. Postings like this remind all of us to be more vigilant when it comes to safety.

 

[armylifer]

Thank you for posting this close call. I am glad for you that it was not worse. If you had not posted this we would not have that much needed reminder to operate as safely as possible. I thank you for the reminder and for sharing this experience with us.

 

[TripleR]

No sermons, thanks for posting and I'm glad your injuries were not serious, we all need to remind ourselves of potential danger from time to time, just may save one of us an injury.

 

[Ike]

Boy that was close. Glad you are ok. Here is another warning for those who wear hood sweat shirts. Watch the strings that go thru the hood. A local farmer was killed here a while back after the strings on his hooded sweat shirt got caught in the drive system on top of his grain bin. A car driving by found him when they drove by. After that I cut off all the strings on mine or tie them up real short

 

[hodge]

Thanks for sharing, as others said. No judgement from me- just glad you got away under your own power.

 

[Ramos]

"Let him who is without sin cast the first stone....


Count me as one of the least qualified to lecture you. I consider myself fortunate to have survived some of the 'learning opportunities' that I have given to myself. Your post is a great warning for those who are new to equipment and a good reminder for those of us who have had time to become complacent.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Wow. Glad you are ok. Stuff like this happens so quick its scary.
I have done some stupid things in the past, but these aging bones dont heal as fast anymore. I think twice about doing things and how to not get hurt.

Lesson learned. A hard one, but learned nontheless.

 

[procraftmike]

Thanks for sharing this incident and lesson. It may save someone else from a terrible accident. We all to often forget how dangerous tractors and equipment can be.

 

[jnldr]

Wow, glad your ok...


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[Russell King]

I highly recommend the PTO shaft guards from Bare-co.com. They are easy to disconnect when installing the tractor end of the PTO shaft and easy to reconnect. Most are probably removed due to frustration with difficulty installing the shaft.


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[Teese]

Good lesson ... but the more gore the better the scare, at least one would hope. A former client's early twenties kid jumped off the tractor while chopping silage, and the instant his leg touched the spinning PTO shield (it wasn't tethered) he was pantless and single-legged. Sued, won a settlement (a warning decal was missing), then not a year later he pulled an encore (Wasn't it Yogi Berra who said "It was deja vu all over again!") and once more ended up in his skivvies, but this time with his remaining leg intact. Thankfully, he got out of farming, but I think the sequence affected me more than him!

 

[coachgeo]

Glad you lived to tell the story.

 

[Yooper]

You might have saved somebody's life by posting this. Thank you!