Close Calls

[ianholt150]

Please share your stories of close calls when operating a medium dozer, or lowbedding, or even just standing by. I hope to hear some good stories.
I will tell you one of my favorites. One time, we were loading a TD15C on a lowbed. We had just sold it, and the new owner sent out some hotshot equipment operator, still wet behind the ears, and we had ourselves a rodeo. Being my assigned machine, I was asked to bring it from the shed to the lowbed. The kid decided to park the truck facing down hill, on a 4% grade. Being responsible, before I handed him the keys, I performed a perfect shutdown. Set the park brake, put the blade down, and finally shut the engine off. He took the keys,and hopped on. Got it on the trailer, set the park brake, but failed to put the blade down. He got off, turned his back, and the park brake decided to come off. It went down the hill, took out 50 feet on beautiful fence, before coming to a crash with the truck, parked about 60 feet away. He got it back on the trailer, carefully setting the blade down, then hooked up the neck to the deck of the lowbed. As he completed the final step, and rolled the lowbed neck back up the frame to the fifth wheel. Being shoddy equipment, the trailer brakes decided to give out with all the weight on them. It pushed the truck down the hill for about a foot before coming to a stop.
Anyhoo, there's my story. Hope to hear yours.

 

[Queenslander]

30 years ago, and only a month before our wedding, I was clearing some timber on a little stick shift Fiat dozer.
When backing up, the corner of the canopy caught the top of a previously felled tree and directed it inside.
With the tractor still going back, the broken branch hooked me under the earhole and lifted me out of the seat.
Luckily, I was able to throw the clutch while it was still in reach.
At the time, I was wearing a hard hat with integrated ear muffs, and when I finally fell back on the seat, the helmet was still wedged by the branch against the opposite side of the canopy.
Only needed some stitches and a night in hospital, but to this day I still have one ear that sticks out at a weird angle.

 

[Vetech63]

1. Loading a Lull forklift on a lowboy in a downpour thunderstorm and couldn't really see for the rain. Didn't get it straight enough on the trailer and over it went. I managed to jump clear from it.
2. Trying to pull hoses back onto the rear sheave of a manlift. Had my arm around the hoses and a guy operating the boom extension so I could pull them on against the spring. As the book was going out, my hand got caught up between the hoses and sheave, and of course the operator wasn't watching or listening for me. Kept going out and I just knew my arm was going to get pulled off. Luckily, my screaming overcame the sound of the machine engine.
3. Fiat dozer broke down pushing dirt halfway up a 40 degree incline. I could barely park my truck on the incline, but did.....and proceeded to tilt the cab. Found the torque convertor screen housing bolt broken and made the repair. Had the operator get on the machine with the cab still tilted and start it because I wanted to check for leaks. As soon as it started, the brakes released.....while I was laying on the track. It immediately started rolling down the hill, but I managed to get thrown to the side of the track. Air hose got caught in the grouser and ripped my reel off the truck. I was about 6 inches from getting thrown off the track behind the dozer and having that dam thing run over me.

All this was over 25 years ago......I've gotten a lot smarter since then.

 

[Metalman 55]

I was about 16 yrs old, in a pit dug down about 5' ready to receive a horizontal boring machine that I estimate weighed about 1000-1200lbs & as the 580 Case was swinging over the pit to lower the boring machine, the chain slipped or became unhooked & down the boring machine came...………. the sharp corner frame of the machine tore about a 2" wide strip on the one leg of my coveralls about 24" long as the machine came crashing into the hole, but luckily I didn't have a scratch on me!! That was close!

 

[pp13bnos]

I was packing corn silage on my D3. Came to the end of the pit, where the silage was already a couple feet above the concrete walls. Went to put in into reverse, and somehow manage to miss both reverse 1 and 2, and find a neutral. Over the edge of the pit we went. It wasn't supper high. Maybe 10-12ft drop. My face smacked the grab bar on top of the dash, causing 4 busted teeth, and of course a bunch of fractures. The seat belt saved my life. This all happened in the blink of and eye. Not fun.

 

[PEVO]

about 30 years or so ago was digging post holes with a ford 8N and 3 pt. auger. Ground was bone dry and the going was slow with dry loose dirt coming out of the hole(and falling back in). I was standing off to the side of the tractor operating the auger up and down with the lift lever. Me being a dumb azz decided to reach down and scoop away said loose dirt with my hands while i left the PTO engaged...BAD IDEA. I had some cheapo half tore up arm length welding leather gloves on. Well i got too close to the PTO shaft and in an instant a part of the glove farther up my arm wrapped around the shaft and instantly my forearm slammed into the shaft and promptly ripped most of that glove off my arm!...with leaving me with just a hell of a big bruise on my forearm. BUT i still had my arm!!!. I fell backwards and double checked that my arm was still intact. I sat there for a couple of minutes thanking the lord that i was still alive and in one piece!!! NEVER did a stupid **** thing like that again!!!

 

[Metalman 55]

about 30 years or so ago was digging post holes with a ford 8N and 3 pt. auger. Ground was bone dry and the going was slow with dry loose dirt coming out of the hole(and falling back in). I was standing off to the side of the tractor operating the auger up and down with the lift lever. Me being a dumb azz decided to reach down and scoop away said loose dirt with my hands while i left the PTO engaged...BAD IDEA. I had some cheapo half tore up arm length welding leather gloves on. Well i got too close to the PTO shaft and in an instant a part of the glove farther up my arm wrapped around the shaft and instantly my forearm slammed into the shaft and promptly ripped most of that glove off my arm!...with leaving me with just a hell of a big bruise on my forearm. BUT i still had my arm!!!. I fell backwards and double checked that my arm was still intact. I sat there for a couple of minutes thanking the lord that i was still alive and in one piece!!! NEVER did a stupid **** thing like that again!!!

I know of a local guy who borrowed his brothers tractor /auger to do post holes & there was a long bolt holding the auger to the drive. He got wrapped up in the long bolt & his poor wife came home from shopping a hr or two later & found him going around with the auger!!! Very sad...….

 

[sled dog]

None of us should be alive... We get too soon old, and too late smart !!!

 

[Puffie40]

The one near-miss I had on a dozer was while brush-raking. I was backing up when a 4" log I didn't see poked under the fuel tank and went between my legs.

Another time I was snowplowing our driveway when I went over some snow I did not realize was already over the edge of the road. Thankfully it was a short, shallow slope so I did not flip over, and I was wearing a seatbelt. Had to do a little bushwacking to get out.

Mom told me one of her uncles was winching up a load of logs on grandpa's 7U D4 when a trunk bumped up against the canopy and started squashing the canopy flat like a tin can. He was able to stop the winch, but he had to drive up to the house for help because he was stuck on the machine. Grandpa had to unbolt and remove the canopy to get him out.

This same uncle also once tossed a used match after lighting a cigarette into a empty gas barrel and blew it up. He sounded a little like a walking disaster.

 

[D6c10K]

A few years ago I was running a D7E pushing out a hedge row. One tree was being difficult, and fell partly toward the dozer and a jaged limb was pointing over the hood towards the seat. I went to shift into reverse just as a stiff hedge branch snaked up and pushed back on the shift lever, threatening to push it into 3rd forward. I was just barely able to push the lever forward enough to get into neutral . Might not have ended well.

 

[JimInOz]

Recently,I've been watching a lot of DOZER ACCIDENTS on YouTube.
Some of the stupid ones involve loading crawlers onto truck beds that are at silly angles & near cliffs & depressions.
It's very sobering to watch guys rolling cranes,loaders,excavators,etc .....& a great reminder to be aware of your surrounds & abilities.

 

[Metalman 55]

few years ago I was running a D7E pushing out a hedge row. One tree was being difficult, and fell partly toward the dozer and a jaged limb was pointing over the hood towards the seat. I went to shift into reverse just as a stiff hedge branch snaked up and pushed back on the shift lever, threatening to push it into 3rd forward. I was just barely able to push the lever forward enough to get into neutral . Might not have ended well.

That reminds me ……...once in my teen years I was running a 941 track loader digging a basement under a house & there were were soft conditions, when travelling ahead to fill the bucket under the house the back of the machine reared up & one of the cribbing beams that was running across the basement under the floor came up against my chest, pinning me back against the seat & the shifter became out of reach as my chest & shoulders was being pulled back & I was barely was able to reach to pop it out of gear...…...close one that time too!

 

[newdanr]

My worst offence.... we had a Versatile bi-directional (farm tractor). "Back in the day", it was standard practice to skip the radio option (if there even was one), and bolt some salvaged AM radio somewhere that it fit. Turns out that on this tractor, the only halfway handy place was on the sidepost, dead center of the cab. As a teen, driving down the road (at full speed, so as to not anger the father with a delay), I turned my head around backwards to tune a different station. As an articulated tractor, you have no feel for when you're going to the edge of the gravel road (coincidentally, at the deepest part of the ditch...) Net result, one tractor on its side with a crooked cab. And a level of guilt that I'm sure would qualify me as a top-notch Catholic, which lead to a selfless work ethic that has served me well ever since... (as dad has pointed out a few times, he paid for an education, and all of my employers after that reaped the benefits!)

One story that I'm a wee bit shy to tell 'out of school'... friend of mine was a heavy mechanic. Hired out of school as the only wrench on a remote road-building crew. Had to do some work on a big Cat - D7 or D8. He had to remove the bellhousing. He didn't want to let it just fall to the ground, so he got the notion to keep that from happening - by running a chain through the bellhousing, and around his shoulder. Apparently, some time after the last bolt came out, he awoke with an awful headache and a new respect for just how much that hunk of iron weighs.... Luckily, no missing teeth, no fractured skull, no body parts under the bellhousing!!

danr

 

[mowingman]

There is a really great old safety "film" out there called "Shake Hands With Danger". It shows how a lot of accidents/close calls, can happen. Some of the film is actually pretty funny, but it makes the point. I used to show it every year at our various mine safety classes. The guy always enjoyed it, even though most had watched it many times
You can find it on Youtube. It is worth watching.

 

[DIYDAVE]

 

[funwithfuel]

There is a really great old safety "film" out there called "Shake Hands With Danger". It shows how a lot of accidents/close calls, can happen. Some of the film is actually pretty funny, but it makes the point. I used to show it every year at our various mine safety classes. The guy always enjoyed it, even though most had watched it many times
You can find it on Youtube. It is worth watching.

My MSHA training instructor also shares that video from time to time. You can clearly see it's an old "film" but the points are timeless.

 

[DMiller]

Local contract company lost one of the owners several years ago. We had been working a levee repair as got toward dark, moved a old 750 Deere to a lo-boy loaded tied down and proceeded to drive out. He slipped the right duals into a ditch hanging the trailer up so decided would unload and then move it all forward to flatter ground. Long story short, unchained, got on the machine, put in gear and as soon as bumped slipped off sideways, he had failed to use the seat belt, pitched him onto the ground while the machine continued to slow roll, the ROP frame crushed him. He was found a few hours later as a neighbor became concerned the truck headlights were on and nothing was moving for hours called the man's brother who drove down and found him.

Second one;
Contractor from my childhood was called on to dig a pond, cash deal and some miles away from their known home of operations. The new pond to be land owner and his brood along with myself and a brother went out to watch as well play around the farm for the weekend. Saturday morning well before first light the first tractor trailer and rubber tire Cat showed up, unloaded then high tailed it BACK in the direction ha just came from. Soon enough the second truck, empty, showed where the first truck then had the D7 on it that should have been on the second truck. Seems there was a slight tweak to the ROP system, there was sod and mud hanging off the ROP system, a few track shoes had seen a little issue and the stack was bent.
Story came out, had loaded both on Friday, slipped past scale on secondary back roads to avoid fines for Overweight oversize where also at the time OS OW loads were NOT permitted on weekends or during hours of dark(1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after M-F ONLY), their day for the weekend had started at 2am. The trip started uneventful, got to a hard 'S' curve set of turns next to a creek where was moving a little fast, the stressed left side of TWO(2) 3/8' chains that were normally used to retain the machine on local hauls across the rear sheared, the machine slipped sideways off the trailer shearing the second and proceeded to gouge its way rolling thru the brush down thru and on the bank to land in the creek upright wiping out a line of small trees, a lot of soil and making a ROYAL mess. The driver got on the machine as well the radio and called for help as machine did start. He had no other chains, he also noted the tie downs were sheared away with floor damage. The first truck was needed so went back where they loaded OFF THE COUNTY ROAD No mats or tire cushions, and hauled butt to the job site. Worked that pair of machines two full days, built two small ponds then loaded up and left late Sunday.

The State never reported the locating of the culprits for the highway and creek bank damage but none the less the SAME contractor received contract to repair that section of ditch bank and aided in getting the road pavement fixed. Miraculously the State and the County of the accident received some New cars Donated by the SAME contractor. That D7 ran for several more years, still bent and beat up, a reminder to ALL the boys that hauled as to what can happen until was traded in.

 

[kshansen]

That "Shake Hands" movie was always shown back in the day at our annual safety dinners. Some of the scenes were not something you wanted to watch after eating a big steak dinner! Lucky no one ever lost their supper!

 

[kshansen]

I know I have posted this other places on this forum but this seems like a good place to store it!

I was in the process of building a new two car garage with a shop bay on one end. Had all the walls up and maybe a third of the trusses. Wife and I had lifted those up by hand on to the 10 foot walls.

I got the idea that we could save a bit of work if I asked the boss to let me take the little Koehring Bantam hydraulic truck crane home for the weekend. See my house was just a mile down the road from the quarry so boss said sure just don't get a ticket as crane was not licenced.

Friday at the end of the day I jumped in the Koehring and took off down the road. Pulled in the drive and backed up about half way between where truss company had dropped the trusses and the end wall of the garage.

Just for the heck of it I decided to double check to see if I was in a good spot to reach trusses and the garage. Boomed up the crane and swung hook over the stake or trusses. Look about perfect! Then swung boom over to the garage, I was a bit away from the center of garage so boomed out a bit to be sure I could reach the far end wall.

Well anyone who has been listening recalls there was no mention of out riggers being put down so the result is obvious! Boom slowly comes down chopping the half dozen already installed trusses along with the west end wall right in to and putting a small dent in the slab floor.

A quick look and I decided that there was no more damage to be done to the garage structure, so I boomed down to get the truck crane close to level then put out the outriggers so I could then lift the crane boom off the garage. A few 2X4's did no damage to the Koehring!

Put boom back in the cradle and drove the crane back to the shop! Figured I had a few days work before I'd be putting up trusses again. Did manage to salvage the majority of the parts of the damaged trusses by using one of the new ones as a pattern to lay them on and using scrap pieces of plywood to replace the steel plates they had been made with at the factory.

One thing that made this whole fiasco even worse was that Friday night we were going out to dinner with two other couples. One couple the guy was one of the best known crane operators in this part of the state and years latter he was the guy who trained my future boss on operating cranes.

Oh! and yes we put the trusses up by hand once we had the damaged ones fixed!

 

[Nige]

Many years ago I was doing some bush-clearing using an old powerhift D8H with no cab or ROPS, just a sunshade. I wasn't paying too much attention, just following the instructions of the surveyor who back then was equipped with nothing more complex than a magnetic compass and a ranging staff. Uniform was usual African-style, shorts, short/no-sleeved shirt, work boots, and a baseball cap.

Well I knocked over a fairly large tree that just happened to have a nest of African killer bees in it. They very quickly made me well aware that they didn't take kindly to my home-wrecking antics by stinging the bejasus out of me. Apparently according to those who witnessed it, when I bailed out over the back of the diesel tank of the tractor it seemed as though my legs were going at 100mph while they were still 6 feet off the ground. I had the presence of mind to slap the transmission control into neutral and hit the governor lever all in a split second before I exited stage left so the tractor just stopped and sat there idling, fortunately the ground was pretty flat. Luckily for me the tractor only had a towbar on it and not a ripper so I didn't end up impaled on one of the shanks.......!!