To continue the posts from a few months ago about working with Stupid, I got to Bushog with him this weekend. For the second time I whacked a rather large rock and thought about how dumb it was to do that a second time. I thought it would be smart to move the rock, so I shut off the tractor and following my much repeated advice to others to stay away from the bushog until it is completely stopped, I picked up the rock and having nowhere else to carry it, I placed it on the rear deck of the bushog where it couldn"t come off. You know how it is when you"re working with an N, before long you realize you"re an hour later than what you"d promised your wife. In a hurry (which is always a recipe for disaster),I stopped where I was going to throw the large rock, dropped the bushog to the ground, disengaged the PTO, shut off the tractor, and then disengaged my brain. Stupid was in too much of a hurry to follow his own safety rule, and for the first time ever, he went near the bushog before the blades were completely stopped. Then, he cleverly reached for the rock. However, he forgot about the hole in the deck that is used to access the bolt to remove the blade, since it was covered by the rock. His finger found the hole though, and in no time at all I was convinced I lost the end of my finger. I was wearing gloves and hesitated a moment to look to see if it was still there. Luckily, it was, no blood but it was a little worse for wear and hurt like hell. Did I feel stupid. I am now wearing a splint and it is quite swollen and black and blue. After looking at what little space there is for a finger under the deck and the top of the blade mount, I"m surprised it didn"t cut it off. HAd it been going a little faster, maybe it would have.My turn to work with Stupid and I never intend to again. I"ve always known this is a dangerous piece of equipment if you aren"t thinking all the time. Do as I say and not as I do (or did!), stay away while blades are still moving.
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