iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

entertaining acts of stupidity

Started by old2stroke, January 03, 2016, 04:28:36 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

old2stroke

Lets hear about those really dumb things you have done.  Here is my favorite.  Way back in the day when I was learning by making mistakes, I had removed a clutch from a saw to replace the sprocket (one of those that threads onto the crankshaft) and when I put it back on I just snugged it up without bothering to tighten it properly because it would tighten up in use anyway, due to the left-hand threads, right?  I had also done some carb work and I wanted to make sure the saw would run so I decided to fire it up without mounting the bar and chain.  I took the saw to the front of the garage, started it up and was pleased to find it ran and accelerated cleanly to top speed when I snapped the throttle open, however when I released the throttle, the inertia of the clutch kept it spinning and it screwed itself off the crankshaft, fell to the floor doing about 10,000rpm, shot down the driveway and buried itself in the weeds and shrubs.  Was VERY hard to find.  The lesson here is, if you remove one of these clutches, make sure you tighten them on securely and mount a bar and chain for some extra drag before you start them up.
Not too many saws.  Not enough storage space.

weimedog

Yup we have all done that! Did that with a built 350.

My stupid act involved boats... (one of many, really age = life experience = plenty of stupid stuff) I used to build out boards as I do saws now. Back in the 1980's. Lived on the Hudson river then as well. I had build this little Evinrude 2cylinder 35hp long shaft motor for a local fisherman. AND the test boat I had on that day available was this 16ft aluminum boat setup for short shaft out boards. But he wanted to see it go. SO I figured edited by Admin why not just go out real quick and circle back to the dock. But he wanted to make certain it would handle full throttle.. SO I obliged. AND that boat snapped right up on plane...and then began to flutter a bit...then things got quiet...like no wake almost like we weren't in the.......air..

AND by the time I figured out what was going on that motor slipped right off the transom...yanked the gas tank and all right out of the boat. I watched as it literally augered into the Hudson while we helplessly skipping away to an eventual stop in that 16ft aluminum boat.... There we were. 1/8 mile from the dock. No motor. No oars. No pride left and $1500 buck poorer.
Husqvarna 365sp/372xpw Blend, Jonsered 2171 51.4mm XPW build,562xp HTSS, 560 HTSS, 272XP, 61/272XP, 555, 257, 242, 238, Homelite S-XL 925, XP-1020A, Super XL (Dad's saw); Jonsered 2094, Three 920's, CS-2172, Solo 603; 3 Huztl MS660's (2 54mm and 1 56mm)

Al_Smith

One of my really dumb acts was tuning the carb on a 31 HP Wisconsin bailer engine --with the air shroud off .It ripped a flannel shirt off me quicker than it took to type it .

It could have just as easily disemboweled me on the crank stub shaft .

Yes I've spun the clutch off a chainsaw too plus a flywheel that orbited my garage about a half dozen times and barely missed my wifes Cadillac .Oh that could have really had bad repercussions . :o

ladylake


If you haven't spun a clutch off you most likely don't work on saws.  Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

old guy

Couple of weeks ago I put a bunch more compression in a little poulan, had the flywheel off to file the key, I thought it was back on tight but the first time it fired but didn't start I could hear and see that flywheel unscrewing in there, sheared the key.

    John

sawguy21

Quote from: ladylake on January 03, 2016, 06:02:14 PM

If you haven't spun a clutch off you most likely don't work on saws.  Steve
:D :D I did that with an XL-12, I found one shoe buried in the shop wall and the rotor in the yard. Never did find the springs. I don't want to go into some of the dumb stunts I have pulled.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

roger 4400

Had an 1959 old Oliver 2WD tractor, was pulling a 16 inches tree, had to back up because the bucket hurt a tree, backed up ON THE log so both rear wheels were off the ground = no more traction  :D, finally helping myself with the bucket, culling and uncurling with chains hooked on a tree ( the one I hurt ) pulled myself free.  ;D
Baker 18hd sawmill, massey Ferguson 1643, Farmi winch, mini forwarder, Honda foreman 400, f-250, many wood working tools, 200 acres wooden lots,6 kids and a lovely and a comprehensive wife...and now a Metavic 1150 m14 log loader so my tractor is a forwarder now

starmac

Years ago I had a 12 horse elgin that was giving me problems on christmas day.
A little 14 ft flatbottom with my dad in the front and my bil on the middle seat(couldn't swim). Anyway I had the cowling off tinkering with the carb, throttle cranked wide open and pulled the rope, she fired up wide open and it was in gear, it threw me over the motor but I caught the back of it with both hands and sucked my gut up as far as it could possibly go, while the flywheel chewed a goosedown coat off of me, while we were doing a tight circle in the middle of the trinity river. lol
When I finally managed to get it under control and shut down, it looked like someone had butchered a truckload of chickens , from all the feathers floating in the river.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

bacon

I was putting an LS7 clutch/slave in my caddy a few years ago late at night and had the brilliant idea to bleed the slave outside of the trans (on top of the motor) and forgot that there would be no end of stroke stop for it...spent the next couple hours figuring out how to resemble a non-serviceable slave cylinder and cleaning brake fluid of of everything. Bought a remote speed bleeder the next day.

sawguy21

 :D :D :D starmac that made my day, I can't stop laughing. I was working as a snowmobile and bike mechanic at a shop next to an auto wrecker who owned the dealership. I was also the yard grunt. One day I was assigned to pull a somewhat rare high performance engine from a Mustang while the customer watched (I wasn't happy about this). I was using an old International tow truck as the hoist, everything was going smoothly until I moved clear of the car. I forgot to disengage the pto as the hoist control didn't work. I heard a bang, the truck jumped as the engine flipped over and came off the hook landing upside down on the car fender. That DanG near cost me my job.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

OffGrid973

Spear throwing is always enjoyable.

Woodworking with a table saw and keeping the smaller part of a large board next to the fence.  BAD IDEA!

One or two (maybe 3) holes from wood entering the drywall behind me at high velocity and you read up on proper table saw technique :)
Your Fellow Woodworker,
- Off Grid

beenthere

cwimmer
Sounds like you need to add the splitter on your table saw behind the blade..
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

LittleJohn

16 years old, driving a grapple skidder for a local logger in the summer (and winter break).  Took a big hill in too high of a gear, killed the skidder and rolled down 3/4 of the hill, with no steering or breaks; all I could do was drop the blade and pray. 

...missed a 30"+ Oak by less than a foot and just about stuck one of the grapples thru a back tire.  Definately took a few minutes after that to take a breath, and change my undies, before the shaking stopped and I coudl start the skidder back up.

HolmenTree

Reminds me of myself when I was 16. One day at work my skidder operator didn't show up so I grabbed the company spare skidder to work by myself on my block . Saw a black bear cross my block so I took after it on the skidder to scare it away.
Well I ended up out in swampy muskeg and got stuck, trees were too small to winch myself out with. So  when nobody was around I took the D7  Cat and tried to pull the skidder out by the skidder's 5/8" mainline.  Didn't have a winch on the Cat and only ended up breaking the mainline.

I had some explaining to do there. ;D
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

Ljohnsaw

I had been driving for a few months (17) and kind of enjoyed driving in the snow.  We had the county garbage dump in our town out on a point in the Hudson River (NY).  Where they took fill from left a HUGE sandy low area that would fill with snow / water in the winter.  We had an exceptionally cold winter and the foot or two of water froze creating a huge ice slab.  I had a tank of a car (1968 Delmont 88 with a 425 in it).  I took it out on the ice and had a blast slippin' and sliddin' around.  A week later, took a bunch of church youth group friends out there after ice skating all day.  Well, there had been a few warm days in between and the ice was rotten.  Got about 3 feet out and the front tires broke through - frame resting on the ice.  Couldn't back out, didn't have a cell phone (didn't exist back then) and had to get a tow truck to pull me out.  No money so he took my license until I paid.  Was afraid to tell my folks (not sure why now).  Next morning, the water in my starter froze and wouldn't turn over.  Had to wack it with a hammer to free it up.
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

ZeroJunk

 I was putting a thermostat in my F150 with the straight six and the fan blade was in the way. It was pulled in to the front of my shop which is a little steep. I thought I would move the chock back a little to get the fan to move. Well, turns out it was in neutral, went over the chock. So, I am hopping on one leg backwards trying to push the brake with my right leg which was useless since it wasn't running anyway. The steering is turned to the right and locked. It finally knocks me down, runs over me, goes down in to the garden and tears all my tomato cages down. Ripping the drivers side door hinges backwards in the process. I lay there on the ground thinking to myself that was all really stupid. Good thing it is not a particularly heavy truck and just bruised my legs.

cntryby

Back in the eighties (man I'm glad there weren't cameras everywhere!!!)

I had a little yamaha 125 enduro, street legal, blinkers and all. Not far from the house we had a field of red clay that had some huge hills along one side. Several spots along the hills no one ever climbed as far as I know. But we sure went down them! Literally 15 to 20 feet straight down from the top, then a slow taper for 70 yards or so, to a nice smooth rolling transition to the field. The uhh emm uhhh daring / stupid would get a little speed before we dropped off that top edge, awesome feeling, like driving your own roller coaster.

Headed on a ride and a bike less neighborhood buddy was walking to the gas station... yeah, "I'll give ya a ride". Instead of going all the way down the street and around the park then back through the field, I took the closest route... off the drop.

Ya know, it used to be cool back in the eighties to roll up the cuff of your jeans about an inch and a half or so.

He didn't wanna take the drop so he tried to hop off the back (I didn't know this) as he slid back off the seat the blinkers caught the back of both legs and slid down until they hung in those rolled up cuffs.

When we got to the bottom, I turn over my shoulder and said "cool ain't it..." where'd he go? There's his feet sticking up by the seat and he was laying on the ground with his T-shirt rolled up to his neck, covered in red dirt... mad as a hornet and me laugh'n my butt off. Lucky for him that was some of the softest dirt I've ever seen. Kindof've a flakey sand clay stuff, dustyyyy. He looked like someone powdered him red.

Sorry guys, didn't realize this was in the "chainsaws" forum I was browsing in "recent topics"
Grey haired riders didn't get that way from pure luck.

coxy

one day when I was 17 there was 2 girls that would walk down the road  every day about lunch time so I made shur I was there well the one day they walked by must of been on there way to go swimming cause they were in bikinis as I was cutting up logs well for some reason I took my left hand off the handle and laid it right in the chain at wide open took a second to figure out what I did looked at dad and said you better get me to the er the meat was hanging off the bone  what us guys do when we see something in a bikini  :D :D 8) 8)

beenthere

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

sawguy21

I was waiting for him to trip and land face down on the saw. ::)
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

Al_Smith

I rolled a 36" uprooted oak right up over the blade of a D4 Cat, no sweeps .It crushed the breather and shut down with the log right over the pony motor .Whew that could have been bad .Never bladed  a windblown after that ,cable, long one .

weimedog

Quote from: starmac on January 04, 2016, 10:26:41 PM
Years ago I had a 12 horse elgin that was giving me problems on christmas day.
A little 14 ft flatbottom with my dad in the front and my bil on the middle seat(couldn't swim). Anyway I had the cowling off tinkering with the carb, throttle cranked wide open and pulled the rope, she fired up wide open and it was in gear, it threw me over the motor but I caught the back of it with both hands and sucked my gut up as far as it could possibly go, while the flywheel chewed a goosedown coat off of me, while we were doing a tight circle in the middle of the trinity river. lol
When I finally managed to get it under control and shut down, it looked like someone had butchered a truckload of chickens , from all the feathers floating in the river.

This one had me chucking...;)
Husqvarna 365sp/372xpw Blend, Jonsered 2171 51.4mm XPW build,562xp HTSS, 560 HTSS, 272XP, 61/272XP, 555, 257, 242, 238, Homelite S-XL 925, XP-1020A, Super XL (Dad's saw); Jonsered 2094, Three 920's, CS-2172, Solo 603; 3 Huztl MS660's (2 54mm and 1 56mm)

Kbeitz

Young and stupid I made my first electric grinder using a 3600rpm electric water pump
motor. I bought a new white grind stone at a yard sale and put it all together with out any guards.
I stood back the first time I plugged it in to make sure everything worked.
I watched it run for a few seconds and turned around to pull the plug.
There was an explosion before I got the plug pulled. Later I found out white grind stones are low RPM.
The stone split into 3 chunks. One went up through the second floor of the shop.
It first had to go through 30 sheets of aluminum plate I had hug from the celling then
through a 2x6 floor board and then it bounced off the underside of the roof.
The second chunk bounced off my trolley I-beam and hit the wall braking a 9/16" craftsman wench in haft.
The third chunk disappeared out the garage door. I pulled the plug and looked around.
I said to my self WOW I was lucky. It seem like it was around 15-20 seconds later I heard a crash.
I said to my self ... What was that  ??? Then I went up stares and picked up the chunk that
went through the floor. I went back down and picked up the chunk that broke the wench.
Then I thought about the third chunk of the pie. Then I remembered the crash.
Out the garage door a 1000 feet away was my home. I though Oh no Picture Windows.
So I walked over to check out my home and seen no broken windows. But there was a streak down
the side on my home that went through the sliding hitting the 2x10 sill plate going all the way through
it and busting out my basement window. This piece did the damage dropping from the sky.
Never again will I run a grinder with out a guard.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

thecfarm

Kbeitz,wow,that had some power behind it. That would of went right through you.  :o
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Logger RK

A few years back while moving my Hahn Harvester with my old Cornbinder single axle dump truck with my Bride following behind. I asked if she'd watch so the strap holding the tranny out of gear on Hahn stay on so it wouldn't go in gear,cause Hahn is heavier & Binder can't drag it. The strap  comes off & the lever goes back & locks it in gear.(which 99% of the time I need 2 hammer it back)just as I get the binder over the steep RXR crossing but Hahn just starting 2. As I get out I hear the whistle of a train at the up hill crossing about 4 miles away. (She did say that she notice the strap hanging as I started up crossing)And as they usually going pretty good speed down hill I figure not much time. Unlocking the tranny usually takes about 5 minutes. So I started up Hahn & figure the Binder would jackknife if it not steered straight back.The Bride hopped in & I backed them both off. (Hahn only drives about 2mph) Still give her credit 2 this day 4 steering it. She'd seen it round the corner when we started back(about a 1/2 mile away. I did her tell when I went 2 get in Hahn & her in dump truck if it was around the corner already 2 run 2 other side of grade & get as far away as she can. It all worked out in the end had probly a whole minute 2 spare. Guess them trains can't stop on a dime. Now I double strap it. And The Bride & Me still going strong after 5 kids & 35 years of being hitched 👍😎 I get more time I'll tell of the same crossing & me with my Brothers Lowboy.

Thank You Sponsors!