I used to think that rocks were the worst things to hit ...

[CSRA Landscaping]

... until I almost ran over a 12 guage shotgun shell in a customer's back yard today! That might make for a bad day. :(

If any of ya'll have a customer where there's a good ol' boy there, make sure that you watch the yard, especially when he's doing work on his truck!

[kutnkru]

Its all fun n' mpowing til someone shhots an eye out! :eek:

Its things like this that make our job detrimental to ones health. Sheez, talk about just trying to make a buck and almost buyin' the farm in the process. :rolleyes:

Glad to hear all turned out well. :D

Kris

[Mike (MLC)]

You never know what you may find lying around in a yard. That would have freaked me out. Was is it atleast an empty shell??:eek:

[CSRA Landscaping]

No no. It was unfired. I think it was bird shot but I could be wrong. I didn't exactly take time to examine it.

[awm]

out here in the country that could happen easy .
realy wouldnt be a big deal.shell just fell out of a hunting jacket,
probably wouldnt even go off if you hit it,but if it did ,a shell needs the chamber to generate the danger. bout like a big firecracker. of course any object thrown out by the blade is dangerous.later now tm

[JLC]

I've heard stories around here of a guy who mows the gun club's trap shooting area. He has hit at least one unfired shell and it did go off. You talk about getting the crap scared out of you.

[Eric ELM]

I hit a 16 lb. sledge hammer head laying in an over grown lawn that I cut since this guys mower was broke down. :(

[southside]

In the past we used to clear a lot of overgrown blocks,so you tend to hit some wierd things.

* Outside toilet
* Another tractor hidden in the long growth
* Beehives
* Various animals including a litter of kittens (hair teeth and eyeballs everywhere:-) )
* Various car parts,furniture,aquariums even a toilet bowl.

No damage to slasher so far.


:blob1:

[cos]

Hit a hammer once. One hell of a bang.

[awm]

JLC okay so the man had to change his drawers.probably needed to anyway.:D

[LeoS818]

I've found a 3/8th log chain with a flail deck a few summers ago. Tore off several teeth before i got the deck stopped. This summer my partner kicked up a man hole cover with a dc 2500. Bent one of the blades and had to take one off to get it out.

[racerdave]

This summer my partner kicked up a man hole cover with a dc 2500. Bent one of the blades and had to take one off to get it out

Now your talking high lift!!!!!

david

[Pauls Mowing]

The little flags for marking underground utilities will fly acrosss the street when hit by a rotary mower. Rocks are our #1 problem.

Paul

[roscioli]

I hit an anchor for a telephone poll about a month ago, put a nice gauge in it, and another in my blade, talk about a clunk. Its a new house, guess the phone company hasnt got around to attaching the wire yet!

[lawnboy82]

Paul's Mowing. I don't remember where i read this. However those markers you are referring to. I do recall that a guy a couple years back was cutting with a 21" pos lawn mower. Mower picked up the flag by accident, spit it out, and it went right through a co-worker's chest. I remember that. I do not remember if the co-worker lived or died though. However that is a scary thought.

[Pauls Mowing]

Scary thought alright, those little wires sure do fly.

Paul

[vipermanz]

tennis balls:angry:

[sunrise]

I hit a grounding rod stopped me and the mower.
Also hit a small water meter cover and threw it into a house over the kitchen table with people eating on it.
Worst part I didn't hear it hit.
No one hurt,

[rdh]

i saw on that show 911, where a little kid had one of the reflectors.
that you see at the beginning of some driveways.the kind thats about 3 feet long .it was hit with a mower and went into the kids chest and some of it coming out of his back. i cant remeber but i think it was his dad mowing.

[SCAPEASAURUSREX]

I hit a chunck of concrete once that was hidden in some tall grass... That was scary, I hit it with a 36 " w/b It actually hit soo hard that the mower jumped off the ground as if it hit a bump fast and the concrete bounced out the back of the machine and hit my shin... talk about cursing out a customer...

I also hit a baseball @ this same account, that was cool ... the sound that made especaiily when it slammed into the side of thier house... BBBAAAAAAAAMMMMM !!!! Luckily no damage to the house or machine ,,,, unlike the concrete chunk... that sucked..

[Mowingman]

roscioli,
I hit one of those telephone pole anchors once with a brand new Bobcat ZTR. Stopped the blades and the engine instantly. Ruined a spindle bearing. Mower only had 2 hrs on it at the time. My dealer covered it under warranty. Talk about a good dealer!!;)

[SLS]

The worst thing I ever hit was one of those concrete property markers...the ones with the steel rod in the center and the little silver disc on top....BANG!

I did this on a riding tractor and it bent the flange area on the deck...and it was 12-gauge. The blade was twisted like a corkscrew. I had to heat the flange area with a torch and straighten/level it with an anvil and 16 lb. sledge. Beat that sucker half the night to get it back where the blades matched up perfectly again.......

Funny thing...the spindle was A-OK.

[Nathan]

This is a little off topic but pretty good.
My brother does tree work, one day they were dumping trees and the customer kept letting her little dog out in the yard, getting in the way. Someone accidentally dropped part of the tree trunk on it and splat, flat doggie. The guys all freaked out and didn't know what to do, so they threw it through the chipper.
The lady asked them if they had seen the dog and they just said it must have run out the gate.
Sad, but true.

[sheppard]

My primary dealer had a lawn care company before they opened a dealership. Said the worst thing he hit was a LARGE Cotton Mouth snake that reared up at him as he was mowing a dried up lake bed. Said the thing almost bogged his blades down. The guy mentioned he was glad it was a belt driven system- he turned loose of the handles and let it move forward over him. He knew something was up earlier when dozens of rats would run from that area everytime he passed by. The moccasin finally had enouph of the vibration and was ready to stand his ground. The guy said it sounded like mowing rope.

Cordially,
Sheppard

[vipermanz]

good!, i hate snakes:D

[awm]

sunrise you musta had your tunes on if you didnt hear that.
my worst hit i believe is the stump in high grass. :)
i always feel like ive let my buddy down when i let it hit a stump.
not that it happens much.stumps are my pet peeve with homeowners . seems they get it about 3-4inches every time.

[GilbertJT]

I hit a set of skate board wheels at an apartment complex that I used to mow. The kids in the neighborhood were always leaving their junk in the yard and I got pretty good at spotting it before hitting it. I slipped once. That thing flew about 200 yards and luckly hit a garage and no one hurt. Minor blade damage. Nothing a good grinder couldn't get out.

[vipermanz]

rebar:(

[Runner]

re bar can be pretty ugly. So can golf clubs.

[Albemarle Lawn]

GOLF BALL FLEW OUT OF WALK-BEHIND 5 YEARS AGO!

Ken

[PrimeGreen Lawn]

Hmmmm. begining of summer, hit a partially buried GUARD RAIL!!! My largest account, new homes, average prices around 1.2 MILLION! Anyway, we mow the common grounds..I hit a buried (partially anyway!?!?) stopped the blades and the engine instantly. The blade sliced into the steel and I could not move the Lazer at all. Result: obviously the blade and one cracked spindle. Had to remove the pretzel looking blade to get off the area. Another employee wacked a barely buried satellite TV cable. This guy snagged the cable, and like slow motion, ripped up about 100 yards of cable fron under ground! That was a PITA getting all that mess off the spindles, and all 3 at that!

Scott :)

[laserman]

It always seems like I hit something like a tranny shaft or metal pipe sticking out of the ground only when I buy new blades.

[EJK2352]

Hit a 3/8" log chain and wrapped it around two blades, it stalled her dead. Ruined all three blades and bent the deck. Fixed the deck and checked all the spindles and to my surprise they were fine.:) ;) :) ED

[Lawnshark]

I, too almost ran over a LIVE ROUND today. It was a Remington 12 ga. shell. The only thing is that this was in a pretty posh neighborhood. The shell was in the yard right next to one of our biggest accounts. I am going to tell the owner to please be careful with these. I am just hoping that the shell belonged to the owner!!???
I also ran right over a 6' long 1/8" wide copper rod in a yard where I was told, "I had all my mexicans clean up there so its o.k. to mow..."
Always walk the yards first if they are new accounts. I don't have time to walk around the normal yards every time.
Good luck and be safe

[Samurai WeedWacker]

would be rusty wire. Hard to see & could wrap around your foot, pulling your foot into the blades or deck.

A live extension cord could be bad.

[vipermanz]

:eek: