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Plowed my ribs!

4K views 27 replies 17 participants last post by  helixhippie 
#1 ·
A neighbor saw me plowing up the hedge roots at my MIL's & hired me to rotary plow a small plot in her yard for an iris bed. Today I took the 16 over & got to work. It was pretty close to a large maple tree & I told the lady I wouldn't be able to dig very deep there due to roots.
What happened was amazing, unexpected & painful, I'll do my best to describe it.
As I was approaching the maple tree with the plow set to dig about 5" deep it caught a root & bucked a little. When it came down, it firmly planted a tooth into a big root & the entire tractor orbited around that point. The engine didn't strain, the PTO didn't slip, the handle bars shot back & then shot away & returned 3 times before the root let loose. The left grip punched me in the ribs just SW of my sternum & broke at least 2 ribs. Such a nice purple color coming on...... :fing20:
 
#4 ·
Ouch! Is the tractor OK?

Sorry, I couldn't resist,,,,,

Pain sucks, so I hope it goes away soon.

I agree, your slip clutch might need some tweaking.

I run my rotary plow on the front of a rider (unless I'm drilling holes). In the beginning of my Gravely career, I was told, "If you hit something hard with the plow on a rider, you'll say wow. If you hit it with a walk-behind, it will fling you into the neighbors yard."

The sight of that must have been awesome!

I'm glad you lived to tell us about! You must be Gravely tough!
 
#26 ·
In the beginning of my Gravely career, I was told, "If you hit something hard with the plow on a rider, you'll say wow. If you hit it with a walk-behind, it will fling you into the neighbors yard."
A slight revision:

If you hit something hard with the plow on a rider, you'll say "wow". If you hit it with a walk-behind, you'll say "ow".

Helix,

You should add that to your signature! :)

Glad you're ok.
 
#5 ·
Ow!

Sorry to hear that, man. Here's hoping those ribs heal soon, that's no fun.

Agreed about roots, I find them to be more of a nuisance than rocks, which in new england is saying something! The worst is when a blade hooks under a root and just wedges in there. Maybe that's a job for one of those reversible PTOs :)
 
#7 ·
I would have loved to been there and saw it happening. Too bad you didn't get it on video. Hope you heal up soon. My wife tried out the Troybuilt a few years back and it started skipping and she held onto the handle and it drug her across the yard while her sister is standing there screaming at the top of her lungs. Another great video opportunity gone. slkpk
 
#8 ·
Ouch! Is the tractor OK?
Sorry, I couldn't resist,,,,,
After posting I thought that I should have started with that info, yes the tractor os fine, lol.

Where's the video?
I wish I had 1!

Why didn't the Pro 16 shut down? No safeties?
Busted! (Mrs. Hippie is a very smart, hard working woman but I can't talk her into setting the trencher depth for me & it can't be done from behind the machine.)
 
#16 ·
So sorry to hear that helix. Take care and heal up. I'm sure it will never happen again to you. Unfortunately sometimes thats how we learn the hard way. Thanks for sharing that mishap, we can all learn from that.:praying:
 
#21 ·
I hope that your pain is starting to ease some now Helix.

I had nearly the same thing happen to me many years back only the tractor was a bit lower in a low spot in my yard. Thankfully, the handlebar caught me in the side right on the hip bone and not toward the front, you know what I mean.

I could hardly walk for almost a week after that one.
 
#23 ·
how long did it take you to let go of the handle bars? I had the same experience with a 526 and I weighed only 120 lbs at that time and before I really knew what was happening I was going around in circles with my feet off the ground. Dad was yelling at me to let go,after I did and he found I was ok he had a good laugh. My shoulders hurt for a week or more

Hope your ribs heal quick .
G.
 
#28 ·
Thanks for the wishes, stories & humor guys. I'm now sure it was just 1 rib & some pretty bruising, I'm doing fine. Mrs. Hippie was away at stain glass class all week but as soon as she got back she went straight back into spoiling me & I've not picked up anything heavier than a dinner fork.
7 days 'til we hit the road again but nothing too strenuous nagging to be done before we go.
 
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