[AT] Ramble: I broke a MF 255 into 2 pieces

[charlie hill]

Well it's good to hear from you again anyway David.  Sorry about your run of 
bad luck!

Charlie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Holcombe" <Dlholcombe at una.edu>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Cc: <Dlholcombe at una.edu>
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2005 2:32 PM
Subject: [AT] Ramble: I broke a MF 255 into 2 pieces


> It's been almost 6 months since posting anything to ATIS. I retired from 
> my "public job"  July 1 2004. I guess I'm crazy at 47, but I had to get 
> back outside.
>
> The day after Thanksgiving my son and I were hanging a Xmas wreath on the 
> front of my house. I got the MF 255 so he could lift me up using the
> front-end loader. After getting it on the house I discovered that my 
> extension cord was not long enough. He proceeded to lower me to the ground 
> and turned
> the tractor off. I went into the basement, he got off the tractor to 
> unchain the dogs. Coming back into the front yard I noticed the tractor 
> was slowly
> inching it's way backward out of our yard toward the road in front of my 
> house. My yard is about 10' above the road with about a 40 degree slope 
> down to
> the road, then across the road is a 4 strand barb wire fence then another 
> 40  degree slope of about 200' before if levels off into the pasture.
> I ran as hard as I could, didn't catch it. It rolled out of the yard 
> across the road into the barb wire fence just missing 2 big "electric 
> pole" posts that would
> would have probably stopped it.  The barb wire almost stopped it. You know 
> how wire sounds when it is being stretched and the ping it makes when it
> breaks. When it finally broke and the tractor went through it and out of 
> sight I guess it was going 25-30 mph down the hill, through bushes, then 
> nothing.
> When I got to where I could see, it hadn't made all the way to the level 
> pasture, but is was still sitting on all 4 wheels with the front-end 
> looking right at me or
> so I thought. The left rear wheel had broadsided a cedar tree and snapped 
> it completely into two pieces just behind where the rear-end bolts 
> together
> at the gear shifters. The bolts just sheared off the running(foot rests) 
> boards on the front part of the tractor and were still attached the rear 
> fenders.
> The only thing still connecting the two pieces together was the wire to 
> the tail light(I cut it with my pocket knife).
> It took my dad, myself, my 2 sons about 3 hours to get the two pieces off 
> the hill. We chained each piece, took the chain around a tree above it and 
> then
> down the hill to another tractor. I took another tractor with a hay spear 
> then lifted  the chained piece and backed it off the hill while the 
> tractor it was chained
> to backed up the hill. We had to lift the front end loader off with 
> another loader tractor.  It fired right up when I turned the key over, it 
> just had no rear wheels
> to take it any where. We loaded the front end on one trailer, the rear end 
> on another trailer and carried it to a farmer friend that does a lot of 
> tractor
> work in the off season. Needless to say, we were the talk of the community 
> when everyone saw our convoy of two tailers carrying one tractor.
> He delivered it back in one piece Xmas eve. All he had to replace was the 
> rear chunk, a few hydraulic hoses and clamps. He used our hydraulic pump
> and gears. The left rear rim is warped a little, but not enough to 
> replace.
>
> Cost: $1800.00
>
> Why did it roll off the hill?   It has a high/low range shifter on the 
> dash on top of the high/low range gear shifter. When the dash shifter is 
> in low
> range the tractor is free wheeling, the transmission will not hold it back 
> going down hill. I think we left it in low range.
>
> Very thankful I didn't catch up to the tractor, I probably would have been 
> ran over.
> Very thankful the tractor didn't hit a car in the road.
> Very thankful my boys were not hurt.
>
> I have always counted myself as being a very careful person, but accidents 
> still do happen.
>
> Everybody be careful, I know I am trying to be.
>
>
> David Holcombe in extreme NW AL
>
> BTW, I didn't put all my Xmas lights out this year.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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