I'm an Idiot

I had a Land Rover tipper, I had to put a new bush in the rear axel, so I backed it up onto some ramps, put the handbrake on, and proceeded to remove the four bolts that hold the propshaft to the rear axel/half shaft.
The nuts were tight and I was having trouble removing the uppermost one, so I suddenly had the idea of lifting the tipper to access it easier.
So I got at it fairly easily and as it loosened there was a ping and off went the truck down the drive, the rear wheels running over the ground where a minute earlier my legs and hips were. I ran after it and stopped it on the footbrake.
The hand brake in a Land Rover is in a drum along the propshaft, ie prop not connected=no handbrake.
I had a long sit down after that, told my wife but you know what wives are like, think you're overdramatising.
 
Not totally sure what a tipper is.

Glad you weren't squashed. Yeah, the wives, I learned ages ago not to bother telling any technical work related stories, no matter how compelling they seemed to me. The eyes just glaze over about 5 secs into the story=tuned out.
 
Tipper is a well.... a tipper, a chip truck where you press a button and the rear tips to empty. What do you guys call them?
 
Dump truck or a dump body on whatever truck.

I shoulda been able to figure that out, but:|:

Thx
 
chris_girard said:
I've always tried to be a safety conscious person while doing tree work, after all you have to in this game, but this past Fri I did something really stupid that cost me some teeth.

I had just rigged and felled a pull tree and was coiling up my pull rope to go get ready to set up for another tree. As I was coiling up the line, I wasn't paying attention and had forgotten to take off the prussic and steel biner that we had on it to set the connection to the come-a-long line. Well, as I yanked on the line, the biner flew up and hit me in the mouth and chin. I didn't get knocked out or anything, but I knew that I was hurt.

I called my ground guys over to take a look and it turns out that I chipped and broke 7 of my upper teeth and split my lip and chin open. I didn't need stitches, but boy the lip sure did swell up and I was seeing stars for a minute. After washing out my mouth and spitting out pieces of my teeth, we held a safety meeting to discuss how to prevent this from happening again.

Pretty simple really. First thing, PAY MORE ATTENTION (sometimes easier said than done), and after de-rigging a pull tree where we've used a prussic and biner for a connection, take it off rope, even if you are just moving to an adjacent tree, but have to coil the rope first.

After the safety talk, we finished up the job and then I went home and had 3 protein shakes for supper. I go see the oral surgeon tomorrow to see if the teeth can be fixed, or do they have to pull them and then get a partial upper bridge. Right now, the two front ones are a little loose.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear, pard. Thanks for sharing this as a reminder to all of us.
 
flushcut said:
Do every thing you can to try and save the roots of your teeth! I speak form experience. I was a dental lab tech for 15 years. Once the roots are gone you jaw bone, weather mandible or maxilla, will resorb and that leads to problems down the road fitting a denture or partial or even further restorative work. The OS might just want to pull them but talk strongly about root canal, post and core, crown and bridge, and lastly implants all of these will preserve bone structure.
Click to expand...

Wow, Flushcut, superb, expert advice just exactly when it is needed! This forum is incredible! Thanks for passing that bit of knowledge on; it may save many others from a whole lot of long-term problems

Tim
 
cory said:
Not totally sure what a tipper is.

Glad you weren't squashed. Yeah, the wives, I learned ages ago not to bother telling any technical work related stories, no matter how compelling they seemed to me. The eyes just glaze over about 5 secs into the story=tuned out.
Click to expand...

Ha!

Tim
 
Ouch, sorry for those going through pain.

I'm in the corner as well...no physical pain just pocketbook.

I used to run a class A cdl w/air brake...haven't run them type trucks in years and mis-read things when I got my F450...last time I renewed my license I opted not to renew as CDL...Mistake!

Got nabbed by a very nice State officer who could have slammed me for a grand or so but went about as small a he could.

Now just getting the truck all up to CMV standards and will jump through all the CDL horse-hockey hoops again...

I don't mess up often but when I do I do it well...
 
I bid a day on a big ash prune last week...got 4hrs in, was real tired (girls have an excuse once a month), so I quit for the day and said we'd come back in the morning fresh. Well the remaining four hrs. turned into six...but I rationalized it as I'd rather work overtime for free than have done something silly because I was tired..and I really was tired, well into that zone of inattention and corner cutting...

Hope you heal up ok mate!
 
Sorry to hear of it, Chris.

I have had the totally unhappy experience of whipping a cable cored lanyard with a nice, heavy steel snaphook on the end around a mid sized doug fir, and misjudge the length of lanyard needed...bounce a pound and a half of steel off your cheekbone, let me tell you, stars and lightning in the back of your eyes and a foggy brain will follow.

But a bleeding cut and nothing broken doesn't even come close to your misfortune. Hope you heal well.
 
Last edited:
Fiddler why do you need a cdl for an f450?? You only need it if the gvw is over 26000 or you are pulling a trailer over 10000 rihht
 
There are more scenarios, but basically, here, when I hook the truck (16k) to my trailer (14k) it becomes a Class A CMV. GVWR and the fact that it is a combination vehicle both qualify it as class A.
 
I think I left the impression that I recently whacked myself...not so, just recalling from many years ago how much it sucks to hit yourself in the face with a fast-moving hunk of metal :).
 
from MI Sec of State:

"Single Vehicles - Having a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR)* of 26,001 pounds or more.

Combination Vehicles - Towing a trailer or other vehicles with a GVWR of 10,001 pounds or more when the gross combination weight rating (GCWR)** is 26,001 pounds or more."


Rajan, your answer looks like a good one. Dang, I love that trailer...Might have to try for a trade if I can't get the license...

Flunked my physical right off this morning 'cause of high bp (gee I wonder why, no stress here :slam2:). Would have had to renew every year. I'll call my regular Doc and see what can be done in the next couple days to fix it. They are holding my paperwork until I figure out what I want to do. Hope they hold the $150 too...

Walked across the street and have a cancer growth burned off my nose. Took all of 10 minutes...knew something had to go right eventually...

Well, off to give more blood for another test...gotta love a day filled with going to the Doc...
 
shoot Fidler I heard the fine for towing a trailer over 10000 with a combo over 26 was $5K.

Glad they cut you some slack. Shoot $5k to you is probably nothing since you are a business right and the government needs more money to squander. Yup lets make some more laws to frig with folks who are trying to work instead of sit at home on welfare......
 
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