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Post by Cybermortis on Nov 25, 2013 23:08:02 GMT
I think those of us who come from Discovery Boards will recall the old story about the man who gets killed by a bullet in a tree. You know the one, the man is shot at the bullet ends up in a tree and years later the man is finally killed when he tries to cut the tree down with a chainsaw (or alternatively tries to blow it up) and the bullet comes flying out.
It made me wonder if there are any gardening myths along these lines? Not so much growing things - which MB tend to be rather bad at, and might not have the time to do - but gardening stories that result in injury ect?
Being as green fingered as the average whale I can't think of any myself.
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Post by the light works on Nov 26, 2013 4:04:10 GMT
I think those of us who come from Discovery Boards will recall the old story about the man who gets killed by a bullet in a tree. You know the one, the man is shot at the bullet ends up in a tree and years later the man is finally killed when he tries to cut the tree down with a chainsaw (or alternatively tries to blow it up) and the bullet comes flying out. It made me wonder if there are any gardening myths along these lines? Not so much growing things - which MB tend to be rather bad at, and might not have the time to do - but gardening stories that result in injury ect? Being as green fingered as the average whale I can't think of any myself. It's not all that exciting, but it is said that on a quiet night, you can hear corn growing. There IS the runaway rototiller (in short, lightweight gardener starts up the rototiller ans is taken for a ride) Lawnmower projectiles have been brought up several times. Chainsaw kickback might be a valuable one for them to do. |
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 26, 2013 12:18:29 GMT
Chainsaw Kickback confirmed...
I have the chainsaw, and have had it kickback... like a DONKEY!....
Mine has the emergency cut of and sensor levers that can tell if its kicked out of my hands, you have to be careful how you handle it or you trigger them very easily...
But its not that powerful?... it is only electric....
I also have the alligator jaw-grip one thats a lot safer, as the blade isnt that exposed.
It can get through branches as thick as a beer can, or small trees, and thats enough.
The big one has a 36inch blade, again, enough for what I would use it for.
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Post by the light works on Nov 26, 2013 15:04:38 GMT
Chainsaw Kickback confirmed... I have the chainsaw, and have had it kickback... like a DONKEY!.... Mine has the emergency cut of and sensor levers that can tell if its kicked out of my hands, you have to be careful how you handle it or you trigger them very easily... But its not that powerful?... it is only electric.... I also have the alligator jaw-grip one thats a lot safer, as the blade isnt that exposed. It can get through branches as thick as a beer can, or small trees, and thats enough. The big one has a 36inch blade, again, enough for what I would use it for. most certainly the kick is real. couldn't tell you how much anti-kick chains help - I don't have one. the guidebook says my bar is about twice too long for the power head, but on the other hand, I spend more time carrying it around than I do making full depth cuts, and I know enough not to try to force it. the real reason for the long bar is that I can reach wood on the ground without hunching over. perhaps a spinoff myth would be cleaving people with a chainsaw like with a sword. chainsaws are limited in how fast they can cut by how fast they can clear the kerf, and that is directly related to the size and velocity of the chain. |
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on Nov 26, 2013 20:22:22 GMT
I can't picture a chainsaw slicing through a person like a sword (samurai in particular). Especially when it gets to bone, the chainsaw is going to take time to get through a body. A chainsaw could get through a human, but it won't be pretty. There would be blood and innards around the perimeter.
Lawnmower projectiles: I tend to break at least one window per summer because of rocks I didn't see when I was mowing. It wouldn't have to be a particularly large or heavy object to be dangerous because of the velocity when it exits the blades.
Runaway rotatiller: It probably could pull an underweight person along, but they tend to have a two-grip lever set-up - if even one hand slips off, it stops.
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Post by the light works on Nov 26, 2013 21:09:53 GMT
here, several hunters I have talked to buy cheap electric chain saws and lube them with vegetable oil for quartering game. so I know they can cut flesh. but several movies have shown them slicing humans with chain saws like swords. (note: they have the one specifically for game, and don't use it for anything else)
I have not put a lawnmower projectile up to window level unless I bounced it off of something. I've gotten pretty good velocity off of small stuff, but there is definitely a limit on the "muzzle energy" the mower can develop. it would be a good candidate for mythbusters brand of quantification.
as for rototiller rides - it works best with a garden tractor rototiller and unbroken ground. the tiller has WAY better traction than the turf tires do. however, a front tine rototiller that is not set up properly can take off on a person, too. (and older ones, which are not uncommon, may not have the safety shutoffs)
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Post by User Unavailable on Nov 28, 2013 5:10:53 GMT
I've had 2 broken vehicle windows and one side view mirror broken by stuff thrown by a mower.
The windows were both broken by rocks (one by me, broke an expensive, large tinted side window on the mini van, the other broke the front passenger side, non tinted door window on my Blazer, by my father), both were broken at what was erroneously considered to be a safe distance away from the mower.( about 40 feet)
The side mirror was broken by a smashed flat beer can, hidden in the grass beside the street. This was when I was in high school, I was mowing the yard of the town cop, which was a $5 yard and was one of several yards I mowed for gas money. Anyway, the yard was in town, so my car was parallel parked at the curb while I mowed. The blade picked up and slung the can about 20 feet, where it bounced of the concrete curb and up into my side view mirror.
Runaway tillers, as TLW said older tillers typically didn't have the safety shut offs they have today.
We had a big old yellow and white 5hp beast of a front tine tiller, that had a big red handled lever between the handlebars that you had to pull up and put into the Engaged notch, then increase the throttle.
This thing could really pulverize the soil if you were strong enough to hold it back.
If you ever let it get away from you, the tines would get up on top of the ground and away if would go! Sometimes it could go pretty far, pretty fast, but not faster than you could catch it, but you better off running up and killing the throttle than trying to get it back under control by planting your feet and holding back on it.
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Post by the light works on Nov 28, 2013 5:50:32 GMT
our front tine is a 5HP, but you are supposed to drop a braking spike, and elevate the wheels when tilling. there is a grab handle to engage the tines, and the old tiller had a pin so you didn't wear out your forearm holding the tines engaged. (typical transport mode was to engage the tines at low throttle and let it walk to the garden)
my mower is a 15HP and on good traction you will not be stopping it by trying to hold it back. in fact, the instructions for hopping curbs is to hold back to lift the nose and catch the curb with the drive wheels. of course, my dork of a renter taped down the deadman levers and ended up running over one of my Japanese maples with it.
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 28, 2013 9:31:31 GMT
Busted.
As in the chain is Busted.
I had an anti-kick, it was slower than the one I changed to, created more burning, was infuriatingly slow, took longer to cut, was slow, and how many other ways can I say it just was SLOW at cutting?...
You ended up putting undue pressure on the blade trying to get it to cut...
I now have a "{person of questionable parentage}" blade (Thats the local term for it.... as it is THAT sharp...) that cuts very quickly, very cleanly, doesnt "catch", because it doesnt spend that much time in the wood?...
Anti-Kick is useless.
Mowers....
Its a lot less bover with a Hover...
I use a hover mower, as its an absolute beaut....
As its blade swings round underneath, its enclosed, it doesnt throw rocks.
Yes it hits them, yes they fly, but only as far as the casing, which is shaped to deflect anything downwards anyway?....
But I usually walk the lawn first to remove rocks and stones....
The last sizeable one bent the blade, took two hours with a lump hammer to straighten it out and an angle grinder to sharpen it again, then I had to balance the blade as it had chipped a sizeable amount off....
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Post by the light works on Nov 28, 2013 14:44:43 GMT
Busted. As in the chain is Busted. I had an anti-kick, it was slower than the one I changed to, created more burning, was infuriatingly slow, took longer to cut, was slow, and how many other ways can I say it just was SLOW at cutting?... You ended up putting undue pressure on the blade trying to get it to cut... I now have a "{person of questionable parentage}" blade (Thats the local term for it.... as it is THAT sharp...) that cuts very quickly, very cleanly, doesnt "catch", because it doesnt spend that much time in the wood?... Anti-Kick is useless. Mowers.... Its a lot less bover with a Hover... I use a hover mower, as its an absolute beaut.... As its blade swings round underneath, its enclosed, it doesnt throw rocks. Yes it hits them, yes they fly, but only as far as the casing, which is shaped to deflect anything downwards anyway?.... But I usually walk the lawn first to remove rocks and stones.... The last sizeable one bent the blade, took two hours with a lump hammer to straighten it out and an angle grinder to sharpen it again, then I had to balance the blade as it had chipped a sizeable amount off.... a properly designed anti-kick chain should not cut any worse than a standard chain, since the anti-kick bits only stick out at the tip. they may be slower than a commercial grade chain, because they have shallower teeth, but that's a matter of not being in such a rush. you're supposed to let the teeth do the cutting. it's a saw, not an axe. mine runs a semi-skip chain so I don't bog it down cutting the big stuff. that means it'll occasionally throw the little stuff; but I can bury the bar to the tip, and just let the weight of the motor feed it through the wood. most of our bigger saws run a full skip chain (a skip chain is one that is missing teeth. semi skip is missing every third, and full skip is missing every other tooth - that puts less teeth in the wood and cuts slower, but requires less horsepower to drag it through the wood.) by hover, do you mean a literal air cushion mower? we had those in the late 70s, but they didn't take off because they tended to flatten the grass under the plenum - which meant they didn't cut very well. they also tended to sideslip on slopes. all the mowers I have run except my dad's rear discharge had a double deflector design - the potential projectile path was effectively blocked from a direct exit from the discharge chute - so a projectile would either strike a crossbar and expend its kinetic energy, or hit the deflector and be angled into the dirt. the rear discharge is designed such that there are very slim odds that any projectile will be going in the right direction to not hid the sides of the deck, and there are chains across the back to absorb some of the energy from the ones that do manage to get hit just right. clippings are allowed to fall through the blades instead of being blown out. (it's also a 6' wide deck) |
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 29, 2013 7:59:23 GMT
Re-design, the air is thrown sideways over the top of the blade and deflected down past the end of the blade.
This creates a sort of low pressure zone just over the top of the grass you are trying to cut at that moment....
Yes it flattens the grass at the side of the mower slightly, but that also blows away leaves and other crud from the cutters...
The suction behind the blade picks up the waste and collects it in an internal basket.
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Post by mrfatso on Nov 29, 2013 10:58:53 GMT
It wouldn`t be a Flymo by any chance? www.flymo.com/int/Other brands do exist, but they are one of the most popular here in the UK. |
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Post by the light works on Nov 29, 2013 15:54:00 GMT
It wouldn`t be a Flymo by any chance? www.flymo.com/int/Other brands do exist, but they are one of the most popular here in the UK. that was the one that didn't fly, here. |
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 1, 2013 8:45:11 GMT
 www.flymo.com/files/Flymo/flymo.com/promoboxes/manual_promo.pngImage "Borrowed" from that site, yes, thats almost exactly what I have... 26 inch(IIRC, I think,... could be 28 or 30?..) blade underneath, its the largest of the family on sale at that time. Surprisingly, for such a heavy machine when you try to pick it up, its extremely 'light on its feet' when running?.... about 85db noise level, its not that bad either. Not that I am running an advert here, this is just the best I could find 5 years ago.... And 5+ years down the line, still in perfect working condition, it has to be said, its lasting and wearing better than I could have expected. Although I have strip-serviced it once, oiled bearings and re-greased the belt pulleys, as it was getting a little loud... And no, it doesnt run away down hills either. I have comfortable managed a 30deg downhill, although, it has to be said, the uphill was a bit heavy... |
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Post by the light works on Dec 1, 2013 17:09:10 GMT
that is a bit fancier than what it was 30 years ago. presumably they have improved it since then. this is what I use: (slightly different model year)  and the sort of thing my dad uses: (only a bit newer model)  |
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Post by the light works on Dec 2, 2013 15:45:39 GMT
2 questions:
just how long IS the cord on that thing? it looks like he's a good couple hundred feet from the house.
why didn't he just plan his mowing so he ended next to his garden shed, rather than dragging it all the way back from the other end of the property?
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 3, 2013 8:04:40 GMT
Extension leads?...
Plan mowing... and drag it home again....
Plan, forget that, it doesnt happen.
Drag it back when it can float on a cushion of air?...
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Post by the light works on Dec 3, 2013 14:50:26 GMT
Extension leads?... Plan mowing... and drag it home again.... Plan, forget that, it doesnt happen. Drag it back when it can float on a cushion of air?... It doesn't take that much planning to mow down to the other end and then work yourself back. maybe the fact that the only way to get my mower places is to drive it has trained me to do that. |
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 5, 2013 8:01:59 GMT
But that is the joy of a pedestrian controlled vehicle...
You can walk it down any path and mow the lawn of choice...
Thats just Devils-advocate sales talk there, and yes, you have a point, but I mow from one side of the lawn to the other away from the plug-in point, that way I have less chance of mowing the lead?...
Then I mow the edge of the lawn back to the plug in point, being careful NOT to mow the lead.
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Post by Cybermortis on Dec 5, 2013 13:11:05 GMT
Any more gardening myths you can think of that MB could test?
I though of the old technique for getting rid of ants, which involves pouring a flammable liquid down the hole and igniting it. First how effective is this, and second how dangerous is it? There are more than a few accounts of people ending up in hospital (or dead) from doing this, and I even seem to half recall a story about a man who either managed to set fire to his entire garden and/or his house.
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