This came up in the jokes forum, but it certainly doesn't belong there. I didn't get hurt much, so I didn't think it belonged in the injuries forum either. So here is my tale:
Some years back I was mowing a boulevard contract with a Heckendorn 88. This is a big metal pancake with 3 wheels that mows 88" wide with three blades. Funny looking, built like a tank, they work pretty well. We had parked it overnight in a bunch of juniper trees, and removed the battery to keep the local thugs from taking either the battery or the machine. The battery was right under the seat, in front of the engine, and had no box or enclosure.
The next day I installed the battery, twisted down the terminals nice and snug, and proceeded to start the machine. BOOM!!
In order to start the machine, you must stand on the mower deck and crouch down to hit the starter button on the side of the 18 hp wisconsin twin cyl. engine. I was crouching just beside the battery when it blew! After picking myself up off the grass, I quickly assessed that I was mostly ok, covered with battery acid, and the nearest business was about 1/4 mile away. No water with me at all!
We jumped in the truck and raced to a cheap "we finance everybody" sort of car dealer. The closest spot. I hurried into the doors, and everybody there pretended to not know what I was talking about. I patiently explained that I was covered with battery acid, could they PLEASE help me. Things are beginning to sting. Quite a bit. All over the place.
The peons running the place ('the boss is not here...I'm not supposed to let anyone in the back...we don't have any water...the bathroom is in the back...) finally let me go around to the back.
Yep, they were right. All the water was turned off to the only sink in sight. It was apparently plugged up, because the wretched, stinking water in it was almost completely covered with drowned cockroaches. At least 50 dead cockroaches floating in a tiny sink about 14" square. And I was covered in battery acid.
DAMN the luck! So...I began taking a splash bath right there and then. The cockroaches didn't mind, because they were done with the bathwater anyway.
I survived with no burns, but the whole bottom of my forearm had been hammered with the top blown off the battery. I couldn't hear right for 3 days ! There was very little left of the battery except the bottom of the plastic case and a pile of lead plates. We picked up plastic pieces for about 30' in any direction.
It was a Caterpillar battery. When I walked into the dealership with a freshly blown up look, flopping the pile of lead plates and the plastic base down on the parts counter, they didn't even ask me for the purchase date before they got me another battery. I think they were a little bit concerned about my emotional stability when I came in. They were real polite.
Some years back I was mowing a boulevard contract with a Heckendorn 88. This is a big metal pancake with 3 wheels that mows 88" wide with three blades. Funny looking, built like a tank, they work pretty well. We had parked it overnight in a bunch of juniper trees, and removed the battery to keep the local thugs from taking either the battery or the machine. The battery was right under the seat, in front of the engine, and had no box or enclosure.
The next day I installed the battery, twisted down the terminals nice and snug, and proceeded to start the machine. BOOM!!
In order to start the machine, you must stand on the mower deck and crouch down to hit the starter button on the side of the 18 hp wisconsin twin cyl. engine. I was crouching just beside the battery when it blew! After picking myself up off the grass, I quickly assessed that I was mostly ok, covered with battery acid, and the nearest business was about 1/4 mile away. No water with me at all!
We jumped in the truck and raced to a cheap "we finance everybody" sort of car dealer. The closest spot. I hurried into the doors, and everybody there pretended to not know what I was talking about. I patiently explained that I was covered with battery acid, could they PLEASE help me. Things are beginning to sting. Quite a bit. All over the place.
The peons running the place ('the boss is not here...I'm not supposed to let anyone in the back...we don't have any water...the bathroom is in the back...) finally let me go around to the back.
Yep, they were right. All the water was turned off to the only sink in sight. It was apparently plugged up, because the wretched, stinking water in it was almost completely covered with drowned cockroaches. At least 50 dead cockroaches floating in a tiny sink about 14" square. And I was covered in battery acid.
DAMN the luck! So...I began taking a splash bath right there and then. The cockroaches didn't mind, because they were done with the bathwater anyway.
I survived with no burns, but the whole bottom of my forearm had been hammered with the top blown off the battery. I couldn't hear right for 3 days ! There was very little left of the battery except the bottom of the plastic case and a pile of lead plates. We picked up plastic pieces for about 30' in any direction.
It was a Caterpillar battery. When I walked into the dealership with a freshly blown up look, flopping the pile of lead plates and the plastic base down on the parts counter, they didn't even ask me for the purchase date before they got me another battery. I think they were a little bit concerned about my emotional stability when I came in. They were real polite.
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