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- #141
Senile_Texas_Aggie
Herd Master
Thanks to all for the above suggestions. I should have followed some of those today.
If the BYH website had a means of entering a subject or title line, I would call this post "Almost Darwin Award" or maybe "They Don't Make Fiberglass Canopies Like They Used To". (For those who don't know what a "Darwin Award" is, see http://darwinawards.com/ .) After 4 big showers in three days, I knew the overgrown pastures would be really wet, so I knew not to try to mow them. But with it being really cool this morning -- overcast with temperatures in the low 70s -- I decided that I would clean out from under the large oak tree just south of the north pond. (See below for the "before" picture.)
Rather than doing it the way that my wife and I been doing it before, namely reciprocating saw and hedge trimmers (both of which survived the recent tool slaughter), the pruning/lopping shears (a brand new pair), and the pole saw, I decided to see what I could do with the tractor and front end loader (for pushing/digging up trees) and the shredder. Starting on the north side of the tree, using the front end loader to push over the trees was easy enough, but digging them out only worked so-so. But after I got a good bit of them down, I decided to use the shredder to cut the remaining trees. Starting from the north side, I circled around to the front and then to the south side. The overgrowth on the east side was not nearly as bad, since that side doesn't get much light (the trees along the property boundary are probably only 30 feet away). I decided to get a little closer to the tree. I saw that there was a limb hanging down, but I figured they would go over the canopy with no problem. So into the limbs I drove -- in 4th gear. I saw the limb engage the canopy, and the limb starting to bend. Suddenly there were a lot of oak leaves in my face so that I couldn't see. I felt a limb hit my left shoulder and start digging in. Letting go of the steering wheel (!), I raised up both arms. The limb that struck the left should then went up and behind me, hitting the back of the seat. Another limb hit the top of my right hand, tearing the skin off. Then the limb that hit the back seat started moving forward against my back, forcing me to bend forward. Then the limb cleared out. A moment later, the tractor engine stopped.
I sat there stunned, as it all happened so fast, in what seemed to be less than a second. After maybe 10 seconds of sitting, I recovered enough to feel like I could go back to shredding. But the tractor wouldn't start. The ignition lights would come on, but the engine wouldn't crank. I thought that maybe some wire got yanked loose behind the seat, but there didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary. So I got off the tractor, release the hood latch, and started rasing the hood. As I did, I looked up, and this is what I saw:
I stood there with my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe how much damage that oak limb had done. And I couldn't believe how STUPID I was to try to drive under that limb! To think that the limb could have impaled me. Or it could have lifted the front end of the tractor off the ground and maybe turned over!
After getting over the shock enough, I finally found why the tractor wouldn't start -- the safety switch under the seat was indicating to the tractor that the seat was unoccupied, even though I was sitting on it. Somehow the limb going through the canopy had behind the seat altered the way it positioned over the safety switch. By placing the pliers I had bought the day before between the seat and the switch, the tractor started. I decided to drive back home and get the other tools and due it the old fashioned way.
So now my tractor adventures are over until I can get a new canopy and fix the safety switch.
Senile Texas Aggie
If the BYH website had a means of entering a subject or title line, I would call this post "Almost Darwin Award" or maybe "They Don't Make Fiberglass Canopies Like They Used To". (For those who don't know what a "Darwin Award" is, see http://darwinawards.com/ .) After 4 big showers in three days, I knew the overgrown pastures would be really wet, so I knew not to try to mow them. But with it being really cool this morning -- overcast with temperatures in the low 70s -- I decided that I would clean out from under the large oak tree just south of the north pond. (See below for the "before" picture.)
Rather than doing it the way that my wife and I been doing it before, namely reciprocating saw and hedge trimmers (both of which survived the recent tool slaughter), the pruning/lopping shears (a brand new pair), and the pole saw, I decided to see what I could do with the tractor and front end loader (for pushing/digging up trees) and the shredder. Starting on the north side of the tree, using the front end loader to push over the trees was easy enough, but digging them out only worked so-so. But after I got a good bit of them down, I decided to use the shredder to cut the remaining trees. Starting from the north side, I circled around to the front and then to the south side. The overgrowth on the east side was not nearly as bad, since that side doesn't get much light (the trees along the property boundary are probably only 30 feet away). I decided to get a little closer to the tree. I saw that there was a limb hanging down, but I figured they would go over the canopy with no problem. So into the limbs I drove -- in 4th gear. I saw the limb engage the canopy, and the limb starting to bend. Suddenly there were a lot of oak leaves in my face so that I couldn't see. I felt a limb hit my left shoulder and start digging in. Letting go of the steering wheel (!), I raised up both arms. The limb that struck the left should then went up and behind me, hitting the back of the seat. Another limb hit the top of my right hand, tearing the skin off. Then the limb that hit the back seat started moving forward against my back, forcing me to bend forward. Then the limb cleared out. A moment later, the tractor engine stopped.
I sat there stunned, as it all happened so fast, in what seemed to be less than a second. After maybe 10 seconds of sitting, I recovered enough to feel like I could go back to shredding. But the tractor wouldn't start. The ignition lights would come on, but the engine wouldn't crank. I thought that maybe some wire got yanked loose behind the seat, but there didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary. So I got off the tractor, release the hood latch, and started rasing the hood. As I did, I looked up, and this is what I saw:
I stood there with my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe how much damage that oak limb had done. And I couldn't believe how STUPID I was to try to drive under that limb! To think that the limb could have impaled me. Or it could have lifted the front end of the tractor off the ground and maybe turned over!
After getting over the shock enough, I finally found why the tractor wouldn't start -- the safety switch under the seat was indicating to the tractor that the seat was unoccupied, even though I was sitting on it. Somehow the limb going through the canopy had behind the seat altered the way it positioned over the safety switch. By placing the pliers I had bought the day before between the seat and the switch, the tractor started. I decided to drive back home and get the other tools and due it the old fashioned way.
So now my tractor adventures are over until I can get a new canopy and fix the safety switch.
Senile Texas Aggie
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Guess you can call the dealer and ask what a new fiberglass top will cost. Alternatively, you could take some measurements and build a wooden topper to bolt on in place of the fiberglass. Might be cheaper and will certainly make your tractor personalized and allow it to "stand out" from the crowd... 
