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A rolling adventure

bczoom

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Well, I got the lawn rolling done yesterday evening.

Darn near scared the heck out of myself. I have a decent size hill near the house. It's pretty steep and probably 15-20' high. I was rolling the yard and setup my pattern so I'd go up the hill since I recall from previous years that the roller had a tendency to want to push the ATV down the hill.. The equipment is a 250cc ATV pulling a 36"w x 24"h roller filled to the top with water (I think the roller weighs more than the ATV...).

OK, I'm approaching the hill. Downshift into 1st gear, super low range, 4 wheel-drive, differential lock engaged. I start climbing... and climbing... and about 3/4 of the way up, I feel slipping at the tires... and about 7/8 of the way up, my forward progress has stopped. I lock up the brakes on both axles. The first thing running through my mind was that I'd stop there and then wrap the winch cable to a tree off the front. Well, after that went through my head (in about 1 second), I knew that wasn't going to work as I'm now skidding/sliding back down the hill. Oh crap! I look behind me and we're aiming straight towards the house. Oh crap again! OK, don't jack-knife it as it'll flip everything and I'll probably get crushed (been there, done that - Have about a dozen broken bones and 4 weeks in Critical Care from the last time a quad landed on me). OK, I need to keep it relatively straight. Oh Crap! Time to decide which part of the house I'm going to hit. Avoid the house and hit the heat-pump? Nope. I just put that in there and replacing a 5-ton unit would be pricey. How about just to the right of the heat pump? Nope, main service area for phone, cable and power. I don't want to hit that power wire in particular. OK, all that's left is the exact corner of the house. That's where I'm aiming. I'm now thinking, how fast will I be going? Will the brick take the impact? Is it going to be strong in the corner or is it such a small area to take the 1/2 ton load heading its way?

Now, that entire slide and all those thoughts occurred in a matter of 4 or 5 seconds.

I'm now sliding straight toward the corner. I'm working the front end to keep it from jack-knifing. The roller has a very short tongue so I have to make small, fast steering changes. All while looking backwards and aiming the roller towards that corner.

OK, it's time! We're coming off the hill onto the 5-6' of flat land before impact. Cool, I got it lined up straight into the corner. Well, it's my lucky day! We came sliding to a stop about 10" from the house.

A big smile, a phew and shake of the head, then back at it. I did do that hill from a different angle...
 

NorthernRedneck

Well-known member
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That would give anyone a pucker factor. I had a similar experience one time climbing a hill in the trail groomer. I got spun out on a hill with an 18 ft drag on behind. It was a two tracked machine. Well, to get a two tracked machine to turn, you basically lock up one track while the other one turns. When I spun down to the ground and lost traction on one side, it finally caught shooting the machine right sideways . So, now I'm jacknifed big time on the side of a steep hill sliding sideways back down the hill. There's a group of big spruce trees that I could slide into. It would stop me but more than likely break something when I hit it. Ok, avoid the trees somehow and continue sliding down the hill towards the creek at the bottom.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that there was a creek at the bottom and I was sliding right towards the only open patch of ice in that stretch of water. Thankfully, I stopped right at the edge of the ice without going through. Didn't want to get wet that day. Surprisingly, nothing broke on the machine or drag even though I was jacknifed on the way down. I somehow managed to straighten it out at the bottom of the hill and re tried my climb. I made it a few feet further the second time and managed to keep it straght this time and at a complete stop on the side of the hill. Thankfully, the other groomer was ahead of me packing. He hooked a chain up to me and pulled me up the rest of the way.
 

Doc

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Glad it ended like it did for both of you Brians. Where is a video camera when you need it? Both of those would have been very interesting to see on video.
 

BoneheadNW

New member
I guess we have all been in situations where something is going wrong and we have time (seems like forever) to think about what exactly is going to happen- usually just a few seconds. As I was reading your post, I found myself reading faster and faster, as if it was happening to me. All one can do is make minor adjustments and brace for impact!

A couple of years ago I was taking my son (who was about 5 then) to school on an icy morning in my Toyota 4X4 pickup. Lost control on a steep hill, bounced off the left shoulder, and went sliding into a "T" intersection and across a well-traveled road. By the grace of the big guy from above, there was no one coming down the road and we slid to a stop unharmed. When I think of what might have happened if a car was coming, I still get anxious. I did not want my son to see me upset so I did the best acting job I have ever done and said it was no big deal- just like a carnival ride.

So BC- was this on grass or dirt? Why were you rolling the yard?
Bonehead
 

bczoom

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Spiffy1

Huh?
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The picture is worth a thousand words, but it was all the better seeing that just after reading your detailed account of events! :thumb:

Sure glad you came out without damage or bodily harm!
 

bczoom

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I hear Lowe's sells sod to fix those ruts...
I'll need to re-seed the top few feet where I was loosing traction and the tires were ripping. The lower portion isn't bad since I was sliding and should grow back.

I took a pic from the top. You can see from the tire path, I had the option to turn the roller to pick my impact point. Slightly left = heat pump, slightly right = corner of house, straight on = power/phone/cable...
 

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Doc

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Good pics Brian. That was a close call. :eek:
I have some parts of my yard that will jar my teeth out if I mow to fast, guess I should try rolling that area when it's good and wet. I thought that mowing would eventually help wear the bumps down but that strategy has not worked out so well. Can't hurt to try a roller. :pat:
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
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I am glad my yard is mostly flat. My previous farm I had the roller on the cub cadet and ended up sliding into the high tensile electric fence on wet grass. After that experience it was parked till I did the new yard where I live now.
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Not as bad as catching a fence post with the weed wacker while all sweated up. Now that HURTS. I use a heavy duty fencer that will light you up if your feet are wet or the dew is heavy.
icon10.gif
 

jimthelandlord

New member
I too have had an experience like yours. one day I was mowing the lawn on a hill like yours but much, much longer and with a small highway down from it. From coming up I was just about to start down again when the mowers gas ran out, no big deal right? I put the parking break on and stuck it in nuterul (to this day I still dont know why). I then started back to the grage for the gas can ( only about 10 seconds away from the mower) when I here a humungus crashing sound. The mower flew down the hill and flipped over the bank a few times and ended up mower-deck-up in the middle of the road. thank goodness there was no one coming up the road, or me still on it. It was a new $2000 20hp craftsman from Sears.
Shame it was totaled. Wonder why the P brake failed?
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
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Hey Jim, Welcome to Forums Forums.
Man, you sure were lucky you had already gotten off of the tractor before it started rolling. :eek:
Hopefully insurance helped you get over the loss.

For a cool roller / aerator hookup see this thread on Net Tractor talk. There is a picture of a roller and aerator being pulled in tandem. Pretty slick.

http://www.nettractortalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1964
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
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I forgot ...if you are not a member you can't see the pic over there ...so I'll post a copy of the pic here:
 

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bczoom

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Welcome to the forum Jim! Glad you came out of that incident unscathed.

For a cool roller / aerator hookup see this thread on Net Tractor talk. There is a picture of a roller and aerator being pulled in tandem. Pretty slick.
Doc - That is a slick setup but way too heavy for the hilly parts of PA (and probably WV where Jim is).
Chowhound lives in Northwest PA which is the only relatively flat area in the state (except some of the Philadelphia area).
 

Doc

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Good point Brian. My property is 80% hilly, but I have 3 acres that need both rolled and aerated .... so I'd like to rig up a setup like that for myself.
 

bczoom

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My plan is to pull the aerator behind the ZTR for the first few mowings of the season. I obviously can't drive it as zero-turn but will instead make loops as if it were a tractor.
 

Doc

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Wish I had an aerator. Where did you get yours Brian?
I was considering renting one for this season but if I could buy one I'm sure I would aerate more often.
 

bczoom

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I think I got mine at Tractor Supply. It's an Agri-Fab spike aerator and looks like this.

As for spike vs. plug aerators and which is best for your ground conditions, check out this thread.

Since I pull mine behind my ZTR, I extended the tongue to give me a sharper turning radius and not have to worry about the spikes hitting the rear tires.

The flat part on the top of the aerator is normally setup to hold 2-4 cinder blocks to allow better penetration.
 

Spiffy1

Huh?
SUPER Site Supporter
I have one about like the Agri-Fab; it's quite handy, but around here doesn't do a very good job as an aerator unless weighted to the max and the ground almost saturated to the point you tear it up while aerating.

For some reason these seem more popular in the farm stores, but all the commercial guys around here do plugs.
 

jimthelandlord

New member
Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum guys. Yes, since it was new Sears gave me another craftsman to cover the faulty parking brake. There were pices of her all over the road for weeks and probably several flat tires!
 

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
I took a pic from the top. You can see from the tire path, I had the option to turn the roller to pick my impact point. Slightly left = heat pump, slightly right = corner of house, straight on = power/phone/cable...


I would have taken the front windows and said "Honey I am home" :poke:


Glad everything came out ok. The sod and grass can be repaired.



murph
 
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