A geniune disaster, all man made.

[pdqdl]

We had a long running catastrophe today, entirely avoidable, and nobody got hurt. This is a series of events that involved one of my mowing crews, and is not related to tree work, except it points out how poorly some people perform when they are under more stress than they are equipped to handle.

Here it is:

My longest-employed tractor operator (class A driver, been running a tractor for years for me) was asked to take our small utility tractor on the heavy haul trailer and go cut vacant lots. He said "no problem"

Two hours later, he called me to announce that he had "!$@%#&-up", and that I needed to rescue him. He told me that he basically missed the ramps backing the tractor off the trailer, and was perched perilously with one rear wheel between the ramps and a front wheel hanging off the side.

I was embroiled in a complicated problem elsewhere, so I told him he had to wait. He waited a while, then disconnected the truck from the trailer (dangerous idea at best) and left one of his assistants there to watch the equipment. I showed up later with our crane truck to set things right. The situation was not really too bad, nothing was broken, and it was only going to cost us some time and fuel.

I had the one whole side of the tractor held up in the air while my operator (Mike) was standing on the right brake to enable the tractor to pivot back up in line with the ramps on the trailer. I had rigged a chain to the front axle and to the top of the rear wheel, to make sure that the tractor was suspended from strong points and had no tendency to tip over. All was going well, everthing was slow, relaxed, and easy...

Mike asked me if he should start the tractor and pick up the mower attached to the 3 point hitch, which was hanging up a little on the ramps as the tractor pivoted back into line. I said "sure".

It never occurred to me that a man that was too nervous to back the tractor off the trailer would completely forget how to run a machine he had been operating for at least 5 years.

He started the tractor in gear, and let off the clutch! The left rear wheel suspended in the air was the only one able to turn [remember, he was standing on the right brake], and as it turned it began to lift the tractor higher in the air! [remember, I attached the chain to the left rear wheel to lift the machine]

I immediately saw the problem, and began yelling "Push the Clutch! PUSH THE CLUTCH MIKE ! PUSH THE CLUTCH !!!.

It was no use. He was frantically yanking on the gear shift trying to pull it out of gear, while completely ignoring everything else.

In a few moments, the tractor wheel rotated 180 degrees, lifting the left side about 5 feet highr than the right side, and began to roll over onto it's side, which would fall an additional 30" off the side of the trailer. At least he had the tractor in low gear, so it was like falling off a cliff in slow motion.

Mike dove off the tractor at the last moment, which released the brake on the right side. The right side of the tractor rolled down the beaver tail with the mower deck sailing straight toward me. (I hid behind the crane outrigger). The left wheel could not come down (I was too busy dodging the mower deck to lower the crane) and the tractor flipped off the side of the trailer.

At the last moment, I managed to gather enough composure to rotate the crane to make the chain catch the tractor upside down but still on it's side with both wheels still on the trailer.

The engine was still running, with oil pouring out the valve cover on the top of the engine. We discovered we could NOT kill the engine, even though I personally was yanking on the fuel shutoff (diesel, no electric controls involved) and lifting the accelerator pedal at the same time. It seems that the engine was aspirating motor oil and running on that, instead of the diesel.

We eventually got the engine to die, disconnected the battery (it had melted both terminal clamps off the wires), and everything was now stable.

After quite a bit more messing around with the crane and Mike's disaster, I got it turned upright and off the trailer. We added oil, fixed the terminals, and put Mike back to work with NOTHING broken, and no one got hurt. It never even scratched the paint on the tractor.

A fantastic tale, but I swear it happened just like I described. I hope somebody in this forum gets a really good laugh over this, because it mostly ruined my day.

 

[oldirty]

how far where you from your underwear drawer?


good to hear that it didnt go as bad as it couldve.

 

[B-Edwards]

Sounds like you got a shot of adrenaline. Be easy and don't take to many shots of that . Just be thankful no-one got hurt. I know you are but what else can I say?

 

[Nailsbeats]

Unreal, sounds like Mike needs to go back and get his GED, glad no one or anything was seriously hurt. How could you not push in the clutch on instinct?

 

[dvmcmrhp52]

I won't laugh, cause I'm sure it did ruin your day.

You are correct on how things can change rather abruptly.

Good to hear all is well.

 

[Adkpk]

Funny thing, I'm not laughing. Well written but not funny.

 

[pdqdl]

how far where you from your underwear drawer?


good to hear that it didnt go as bad as it couldve.

We all asked Mike if he needed to go home for a change.

Myself, I get this kind of stuff too frequently to get too excited by it. It did really pi$$ me off to waste all that time. I'm still on fire about the wasted wages. 4 men, four hours, plus my time.

Nothing for me to do but just take it. Mike is a pretty good guy except for his mistakes. He works hard, tries to do better, tells me the truth no matter how bad.

 

[memetic]

Sounds like Mike doesn't get a holiday bonus this year.

 

[pdqdl]

... How could you not push in the clutch on instinct?

That is exactly what I was wondering!

 

[Brimmstone]

You are probably one of the luckiest people I've ever heard of. Last time I heard of someone getting into a situation like that a hospital was involved in the end.

 

[B-Edwards]

I got to thinking, since all of us that own our business are such greedy money hording , have it made, no worries, we make all the money kinda of people that surely you will take mike to the rack and take a whip to him!:deadhorse:

 

[smokechase II]

Two thoughts

Something else is going on with Mike.

Can you set up a video on your crane the way the Navy does on aircraft carriers?

 

[pdqdl]

I got to thinking, since all of us that own our business are such greedy money hording , have it made, no worries, we make all the money kinda of people that surely you will take mike to the rack and take a whip to him!:deadhorse:

It's a pity you never worked for a decent employer, and that you have formed such a pessimistic point of view.

Mike makes more money than I do. Every day, every year, for at least the last 8 years. I have W-4's to prove it, too. In fact, I only have two employees that don't make more than me. And no, I don't take ANY cash payments and skim the IRS. Part of the reason is because I keep having incidents like yesterday, and profits are hard for me to find.

No racks, no beatings, no whippings involved. I asked mike this morning how he managed to forget how to push a clutch, and he just stammered a bit, and didn't answer. He asked for today's paperwork, a fuel card, and nothing more was discussed about yesterday.

It was a mistake on his part to forget common sense, it was a mistake on my part to put the weak link on the tractor in a stressful situation. Nothing for me to do but learn from the experience and go forward from there.

 

[pdqdl]

You are probably one of the luckiest people I've ever heard of. Last time I heard of someone getting into a situation like that a hospital was involved in the end.

Yeah, I thought so too. Especially since the tractor does not have any rollover protection on it.

Mike went off the tractor on the side it flipped toward. It could be that my quick redirect with the crane kept it from falling on him, as well as keeping it from falling off the trailer. I'll ask him if he hit the ground running, or if he fell and crawled...

By the way, that makes the fifth tractor rollover I have had over the years. Two were in a smaller tractor that flipped onto it's side. The operators were protected by the cab, nothing bad happened except some body work and a radiator.


One was a complete tumble down a hill with an open cab 1530 John Deere tractor. 1 & 1/2 complete rotations sideways down a hill, while I watched. The operator was being trained how to mow on a hill, and totally botched the job by not following my simple instructions. As the tractor was upside down on top of him, he just let go of the tractor, and it rolled downhill away from him. No injuries !
The tractor: it had a loader frame on the front end that protected the hood. It only broke off the exhaust manifold and bent a wheel, which I was able to weld back together and straighten with my wrecker.

I rolled a rented a track-type bobcat backwards down a hill once, while grappling some brush. As it was going over backwards, I raised the bucket and managed to stop it completely upside down on the roof and bucket. Once it was turned back upright, nothing was injured, but I did feel like the clapper on a 4 ton steel bell.

5 machine rollovers and no injuries, almost no damages...yeah, I guess I am lucky. In some ways.

 

[B-Edwards]

Oh I am sorry, I have worked for some great people I didn't mean that the way you took it, I was being sarcastic in that my guys always had the way of thinking I described. I didn't meant to offend you or Mike. Was just trying to make easy of a very stressful situation.

 

[pdqdl]

Sorry. Didn't mean to be thin skinned, either. I was wondering if your were serious, or cracking a joke.

It's ok. Just be a little MORE sarcastic next time, and slowpokes like me will be able to catch on to the joke.

 

[juststumps]

It's a pity you never worked for a decent employer, and that you have formed such a pessimistic point of view.

Mike makes more money than I do. Every day, every year, for at least the last 8 years. I have W-4's to prove it, too. In fact, I only have two employees that don't make more than me. And no, I don't take ANY cash payments and skim the IRS. Part of the reason is because I keep having incidents like yesterday, and profits are hard for me to find.

No racks, no beatings, no whippings involved. I asked mike this morning how he managed to forget how to push a clutch, and he just stammered a bit, and didn't answer. He asked for today's paperwork, a fuel card, and nothing more was discussed about yesterday.

It was a mistake on his part to forget common sense, it was a mistake on my part to put the weak link on the tractor in a stressful situation. Nothing for me to do but learn from the experience and go forward from there.

Yeah, I thought so too. Especially since the tractor does not have any rollover protection on it.

Mike went off the tractor on the side it flipped toward. It could be that my quick redirect with the crane kept it from falling on him, as well as keeping it from falling off the trailer. I'll ask him if he hit the ground running, or if he fell and crawled...

By the way, that makes the fifth tractor rollover I have had over the years. Two were in a smaller tractor that flipped onto it's side. The operators were protected by the cab, nothing bad happened except some body work and a radiator.


One was a complete tumble down a hill with an open cab 1530 John Deere tractor. 1 & 1/2 complete rotations sideways down a hill, while I watched. The operator was being trained how to mow on a hill, and totally botched the job by not following my simple instructions. As the tractor was upside down on top of him, he just let go of the tractor, and it rolled downhill away from him. No injuries !
The tractor: it had a loader frame on the front end that protected the hood. It only broke off the exhaust manifold and bent a wheel, which I was able to weld back together and straighten with my wrecker.

I rolled a rented a track-type bobcat backwards down a hill once, while grappling some brush. As it was going over backwards, I raised the bucket and managed to stop it completely upside down on the roof and bucket. Once it was turned back upright, nothing was injured, but I did feel like the clapper on a 4 ton steel bell.

5 machine rollovers and no injuries, almost no damages...yeah, I guess I am lucky. In some ways.

We had a long running catastrophe today, entirely avoidable, and nobody got hurt. This is a series of events that involved one of my mowing crews, and is not related to tree work, except it points out how poorly some people perform when they are under more stress than they are equipped to handle.

Here it is:

My longest-employed tractor operator (class A driver, been running a tractor for years for me) was asked to take our small utility tractor on the heavy haul trailer and go cut vacant lots. He said "no problem"

Two hours later, he called me to announce that he had "!$@%#&-up", and that I needed to rescue him. He told me that he basically missed the ramps backing the tractor off the trailer, and was perched perilously with one rear wheel between the ramps and a front wheel hanging off the side.

I was embroiled in a complicated problem elsewhere, so I told him he had to wait. He waited a while, then disconnected the truck from the trailer (dangerous idea at best) and left one of his assistants there to watch the equipment. I showed up later with our crane truck to set things right. The situation was not really too bad, nothing was broken, and it was only going to cost us some time and fuel.

I had the one whole side of the tractor held up in the air while my operator (Mike) was standing on the right brake to enable the tractor to pivot back up in line with the ramps on the trailer. I had rigged a chain to the front axle and to the top of the rear wheel, to make sure that the tractor was suspended from strong points and had no tendency to tip over. All was going well, everthing was slow, relaxed, and easy...

Mike asked me if he should start the tractor and pick up the mower attached to the 3 point hitch, which was hanging up a little on the ramps as the tractor pivoted back into line. I said "sure".

It never occurred to me that a man that was too nervous to back the tractor off the trailer would completely forget how to run a machine he had been operating for at least 5 years.

He started the tractor in gear, and let off the clutch! The left rear wheel suspended in the air was the only one able to turn [remember, he was standing on the right brake], and as it turned it began to lift the tractor higher in the air! [remember, I attached the chain to the left rear wheel to lift the machine]

I immediately saw the problem, and began yelling "Push the Clutch! PUSH THE CLUTCH MIKE ! PUSH THE CLUTCH !!!.

It was no use. He was frantically yanking on the gear shift trying to pull it out of gear, while completely ignoring everything else.

In a few moments, the tractor wheel rotated 180 degrees, lifting the left side about 5 feet highr than the right side, and began to roll over onto it's side, which would fall an additional 30" off the side of the trailer. At least he had the tractor in low gear, so it was like falling off a cliff in slow motion.

Mike dove off the tractor at the last moment, which released the brake on the right side. The right side of the tractor rolled down the beaver tail with the mower deck sailing straight toward me. (I hid behind the crane outrigger). The left wheel could not come down (I was too busy dodging the mower deck to lower the crane) and the tractor flipped off the side of the trailer.

At the last moment, I managed to gather enough composure to rotate the crane to make the chain catch the tractor upside down but still on it's side with both wheels still on the trailer.

The engine was still running, with oil pouring out the valve cover on the top of the engine. We discovered we could NOT kill the engine, even though I personally was yanking on the fuel shutoff (diesel, no electric controls involved) and lifting the accelerator pedal at the same time. It seems that the engine was aspirating motor oil and running on that, instead of the diesel.

We eventually got the engine to die, disconnected the battery (it had melted both terminal clamps off the wires), and everything was now stable.

After quite a bit more messing around with the crane and Mike's disaster, I got it turned upright and off the trailer. We added oil, fixed the terminals, and put Mike back to work with NOTHING broken, and no one got hurt. It never even scratched the paint on the tractor.

A fantastic tale, but I swear it happened just like I described. I hope somebody in this forum gets a really good laugh over this, because it mostly ruined my day.

not for nothing,,, sounds like piss poor rigging !!!! then putting a man on it ??? why didn't you just rig the thing from 4 corners and pick the thing up , and set it on the ground ???? this senerio , is just screaming for someone to get hurt !! JMHO

 

[Brimmstone]

not for nothing,,, sounds like piss poor rigging !!!! then putting a man on it ??? why didn't you just rig the thing from 4 corners and pick the thing up , and set it on the ground ???? this senerio , is just screaming for someone to get hurt !! JMHO

Because sometimes even the most cautious or knowledge person makes a bad judgement call when they are under a large amount of stress. I've done it myself over the years. I've pulled vehicles out and had my straps anchored wrong and done damage. I've also lifted loads and had them go bad because I was under a deadline and had to get the job done. We all do it once in a while. Any one who says different has not been in a leadership position long enough.

 

[VA-Sawyer]

Well said, Brimmstone! Sometimes when one feels like time is being wasted and one is already behind, it gets real easy to take a "dumb" shortcut hoping to save 5 minutes. It is the mentality of trying to not "waste any more time".
Of course, after the fact, I can say that it would have been smarter to rig the tractor differently. I would also like to tell myself that I would have made the smarter choice. Without the time pressures, I think that I truly would have done so. Under the real world stress and pressures of trying to get back on schedule............. being able to say " nobody got hurt, nothing got broke" is the best you get.
Personally, I have learned that when I feel under time pressure, the best thing for me to do is force myself to SLOW DOWN. Doing so has saved my life more than once in 25 years of aviation. The scariest moments of my life came from not taking a few extra minutes to think or double check something. I'm finding tree work to require the same attitude.

 

[Husky137]

5 machine roll- overs?