Bent Blades

[dhenegar]

My worst story would be running over a quarter inch dog cable. It wraped up so tight I had to bring out the old trusty gerber multiplier and cut each strand one by one to get it loose. Needless to say I did not make my dollar a minute quota.

[jeffyr]

Similarly, i ran over a 12' fish tape (that an electrician uses to snake wires in the wall. They are very difficult to cut through !<p>jeff

[geogunn]

i've wrapped several cables and they are a PIA.<p>the worst was a 50 pound lead window counterweight that somone had thrown in the tall grass. that one bent a spindle shaft.<p>what is so bad is that it is a family that is in really, really bad physical condition and can not cut their own grass. I feel finincially they are in the same shape so I cut their grass voluntarily. I dont mind the occasional cutting except when I tear up my mower.<p>GEO

[thelawnguy]

A dog cable. I had to prop the machine up on a low wall (the cable was still attached and I had no way of cutting it) and remove the blades with a pair of vise-grips I found under the seat.<p>I now carry a more varied assortment of tools.<p>I hit the top of a water co. curb box once, sounded like a bomb went off, cast iron shrapnel flew everywhere, but only nicked a blade-I kept right on mowing.<p>Bill

[Scraper]

Hit a dog run stake in the beginning of the season when the grass was growing faster than it is now (if that<br>s possible ;) ). One of those half inch re-bar ones that sink in a foot and have the dome on top to which you attach the dog cable. Wasn't there the week before. Literally bent the shaft in half pushing the dome below ground. Only thing it did to the mower was break the blade bolt loose. Needless to say I leaned the pole against the property owners back wall and politely asked if this could be placed in the landscape bed. No problems with the owner and they even told me not to worry about replacing it. :)<p>All in a &quot;bad&quot; day's work......

[Acute Cut]

Oh the storys my mower would tell. I think the worst is a 1/2&quot; thick steel plate. It covers a water meter or something and everytime i have one of my employees cut that particular lawn they think that they can make it over. It is out in the open. They DO see it. Torched my aerins last year and bent a spindle this year.<p>Another fav of mine was the DRIVE LINE that was burried straight up and down in the yard. Only the top 4 inches stuck out. Lawn was long and was first time of season. KLANG!

[whartford]

My worst was a Rubber coated dog tie-out cable with my Scag 36&quot;. Actually tore the steel in the deck right at the edge of the reinforcement ring around the spindle. With the help of a local welder, I had the mower running the next day.<p>Bill

[Scag48]

I was mowing next to a boat parked in a lot and hit a 1/2 mooring rope for the boat. I didn't see it because the grass was so tall but I didn't know I hit untill the engine geared down and then died. It really didn't hurt the rope (only a 21&quot; push) but I learned my lesson-trimmers are good!

[Richard Martin]

Let's see now. Objects I've run over include but is not limited to: 1 plastic sewer cap (the mower won), 2 cast iron sewer caps (the mower won one and the cap won the other), bricks a whole bunch of times (they are real good for getting any stuck grass out from under the deck), tons of those darn plastic strips they tie newspapers with, a dog run wire, assorted wrenches of various sizes, a large copper plumbing fixture and a 1&quot; diameter 4' long piece of rope which stopped the mower cold.

[Toroguy]

Iron sewer cleanout, mangled blade and turned it into sod cutter. Had no replacement blades (now required) so I had a half hour each way to replace. Then the force of the impact caused the blade to tighten to where my breaker bar was too strong for my foot. So I put a car jack under the deck and used that to keep the blade from rotating. Good learning experience, but screwed up the schedule.

[Pizpoppa]

Bricks are always encountering my Exmark, but the worst for me would have to be a tree. I thought I could just mow over a root close to the base and get the grass, but I got wedged onto it and the blade underneith just kept sawing away at the tree and cut a gash many inches into the thick pine. If I did not shut the engine off, I probably would have been yelling timber!

[Cutter1]

Lets see....An employee hit a sewer cap that waseight inches wide. Bent two blades 90 degrees and bent a spindle on my laser. Two steel yard markers...Push mowers lost those ones. Slid down a wet hill on a Laser into a man hole, bent the front caster and the deck. Employee slid down a hill into a car, ripped OFF the quarter panel of a brand new Bonneville. Thank goodness for insurance. Two Dog chains, and two door mats. Thats about it.<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: Cutter1

[Twotoros]

My first season in biz - 1986 . My first mower - brand new commercial toro 2 stroke. Long grass+buried pipe sticking up 3&quot; = new crankshaft @ 300$ 1986 dollars.:(

[dylan]

One of my guys was mowing and hit a tree stump. I had the blades in X formation. The first blade stopped when it hit and the second cut right through the first. Pieces of shredded metal everywhere.<br>I had the clinch pin break off the front caster wheel. It slid out and came under the deck. Trashed a new blade, shredded the tire and cut up the caster.

[The Mowman]

I would have to say the worst thing i have done is either hitting a pile of wood chips, one of which hit the boss or wrapping up a 5 foot section of chainlink fence that was lying in tall grass.

[John DiMartino]

I mowed a 25 ft long tow chain,it was buried in the lawn,tow truck driver forgot it there,Grass was about 6&quot; high,it was a nasty sound,snapped 1 blade right off at center,bent spindle,tore baffle 1/2 way off the deck,to finish I tore baffle off,put old blade on and kept going.I mowed a kitten by accident,poor thing didnt even bog the engine<p>----------<br>John D<br>

[kenneybros]

speaking of those stupid front wheels! A guy i worked with ran over the same wheel 2x in about a week. spit it right out the discharge. the second time it was junk