Mower Safety - Blood On The Blade!
Article by: Fred Davis
Fall is upon us and the snows , Shade Gardening When You Have No Shade and chill of a Northeast winter , Vermicomposting - Worm Composters For Eco-Friendly Waste Disposal and Recycling won't be far behind. Lawnmower , Selecting Your Gardening Tools safety, however, is a ripe subject for any season. , Know Your Bird Feeders, Part 1 . .especially spring. , Vermicomposting - Worm Composters For Eco-Friendly Waste Disposal and Recycling Spring's a time when a gardener's thoughts turn seriously to mowing the lawns, , Shade Gardening When You Have No Shade tilling the garden, , Easy Pond Algae Control the Ecologically Safe Way finally being able to go jogging without ear muffs and an overcoat...or just plain walking--a walk through spring , Hydroponics Gardening - An Introduction To Hydroponics Gardening For Beginners (Part 3) Lighting renewal.
There are, however, a great many people who find it painful to just walk; many who cannot comfortably jog; and more than a few who wince at the thought of mowing a lawn. , Teak Patio Furniture Will Dress Up Your Patio Why? Simple: at some point in the past they refused to follow easily understood instructions--refused to apply common sense--and are now paying an unanticipated, not to mention very unpleasant, price for their errors.
Let me tell you about some of those people who once stood tall, haughtily lifted their chins and clamped their teeth together in rebellion--steadfastly refusing to follow safety , Patio Table Covers rules. Then let me point out a few crucially important steps you can--and must--take to ensure that someone in your family doesn't make the same tragic mistake. These are true and authentic examples.
* First, a lady gardening , Japanese Beetles in the Roses in coastal Maine, was pushing her mower , Growing a Sustainable Garden! on a slope, in wet grass, , History of the Adirondack Chair with the wrong kind of shoes...she slipped, fell, and in a heartbeat her lower leg was severely sliced by the blade that was still running at full throttle.
* Next, two grown men made the unimaginably unwise mistake of using a rotary mower , Natural Algae Fighters That Work to trim the top of a shrub-hedge. Suspended on either side by ropes--on a slope, no less--they literally lifted the running machine to about shoulder height and began walking along its considerable length. If their miscalculation had backfired, imagine what might easily and quickly have occurred if a sudden blast of trimmings had hit the one on the downhill side full in the face! Not a pleasant or pretty thought! Certainly would have been a memorable experience for both of them. Certainly could have resulted in enormous catastrophic injuries...or death! Mercifully, they got away with it.
* And third, a Searsport, Maine, man wasn't so lucky. He had removed a perfectly good safety , Patio Awnings Add to Your Outdoor Fun device from his rotary mower , Recipes for Concrete and Hypertufa (the rubber flap in the rear that prevents toes from slipping under) a few days after he'd taped the machine's "dead-man" switch in the "run" position. As he pulled his mower , Vermicomposting - Worm Composters For Eco-Friendly Waste Disposal and Recycling backwards over uneven ground without watching where he was going, he tripped over a stone, , Vermicomposting - Worm Composters For Eco-Friendly Waste Disposal and Recycling fell backwards, and his right foot slipped under the blade housing. To make a long and painful story short, he now has a large and uncomfortable patch of scar tissue where the soft ball of his foot used to be. Mercifully, an incredibly talented and, to his eternal credit, patient surgeon was able to put it all back together again (Dr. John Gage, Waldo County Hospital, Belfast, Maine).
What did they all have in common beside their injuries? They had all either defeated safety , Easy Pond Algae Control the Ecologically Safe Way devices on their mowers, , Landscaping Your Garden and Adding Value to Your Home and/or utterly ignored common sense safety , Recipes for Concrete and Hypertufa rules that would have prevented a great deal of grief and pain...not to mention lost productivity and huge medical/surgical expenses.
Don't allow these incredibly dumb mistakes to occur in your family! Listen to these three responsibilities you must assume, and wedge them firmly into memory--now--before you even start the engine.
1. You must accept the responsibility to insure that your youngsters under 14 are not allowed to operate any power mower. , How to Build a Shed They are forgetful, largely irresponsible at that tender age, easily distracted, and have no business attached to the controls of a power mower. , Hydroponics Gardening - An Introduction To Hydroponics Gardening For Beginners (part 9) Experiment
2. You must accept the responsibility to adequately protect yourself , Hydroponics Gardening - An Introduction To Hydroponics Gardening For Beginners (Part 3) Lighting from catastrophic or crippling injury. How? Read the instruction manual--especially the section on safety. , Thyme: The Herb of Courage Then do what it says! Apply some common sense; wear protective shoes; check the lawn , Using the Right Hedge Trimmers in Care for rocks, kid or pet toys, or anything that might become a projectile...before you start the engine. The tip , 3 Easy Steps to Growing Plants from Seed of a mower , Feng Shui In the Garden blade can attain a speed exceeding 19,000 feet per minute. It's usually attached to a five or six horsepower engine. The force at the tip , Landscaping Your Garden and Adding Value to Your Home can reach more than 10,000 pounds per square inch. You stick your foot in there, or reach in with your hand to clear grass , The Great History of Roses away from the chute, and it could be sliced at the rate of 120 times per second! Trust me...a lot can happen in a second or two. Keep children and pets completely off the lawn , Easy Concrete Pavers during any mowing operation. That'll lessen the risk of their being struck by something thrown from under the machine.
3. Critically important: never, ever remove or defeat safety , Slugging It Out In The Trenches devices on a mower. , Durable Wooden Swing - Decorate Your Outdoors with One A dead-man switch (that you may have already wired or taped in the "on" position) was designed for a very specific purpose--to shut that machine down almost instantly after you release the handle. Many fingers and toes could be saved if all mowers , Tips for a Bulb-o-licious Garden had a functioning dead-man switch. Additionally, the discharge-chute-deflector has proven itself to be of great value in preventing broken windows, , Tips for a Bulb-o-licious Garden bruised shins and ankles, and dented cars. Yeah...I know all about it! It gets in the way, so off it comes. Don't do that!
As far as I'm concerned, the most valuable safety feature , Recipes for Concrete and Hypertufa is the rear toe guard--the rubber or thick flexible plastic , Shade Gardening When You Have No Shade thing that drags on the ground behind the mower. , Peonies 'Krinkled White' and 'Vivid Rose' I'm here to verify the fact that taking it off because it interferes with pulling the mower , Using the Right Hedge Trimmers in Lawn Care backwards is incredible dangerous...and can bring about painful expense. I know what I'm talking about! Take a look at the picture of a badly chopped-up shoe (follow the link at the end of this article). The foolish person who was wearing it broke four cardinal rules: he'd removed the toe guard, had defeated the dead-man switch, was pulling his mower , Discover the Art of Topiary backwards, and was daydreaming.
I'm still paying for those foolish mistakes. (In my own defense, however, I was younger then. . .and convinced of my indestructibility and, perhaps, immortality as well. It's a young-guy thing!)
What can you do to protect yourself , Orchids: A Luxurious Look That's Really Not Hard To Achieve and your family from the dreadful and crippling consequences of these or similar errors? Don't allow your kids under 14 to operate power , 3 Easy Steps to Growing Plants from Seed equipment...even if they are smarter than most...even if they're "supervised"...even if they beg or if you're too darned lazy to get off the couch or out of the lawn , Wicker Patio Furniture is Gorgeous with Colorful Patio Furniture Cushions chair and do it yourself. , April Gardening Tips - Southwest Region Read and follow safety , The Great History of Roses instructions. And never tamper with safety , Create a Great Water Garden devices or features. , Free Landscaping Ideas - How To Correctly Plant a Tree Now it's up to you. You can do it. How much do you care about your or your kids' personal safety? How much is a foot or hand or an eye worth?
If your power , Basil: The King of Herbs equipment has had its safety , Stock Lawn Mower Parts For Greater Availability Of Mowers devices removed or defeated, that's tantamount to playing with fire , Waterlilies in a gunpowder factory. You must put those safety , Stock Lawn Mower Parts For Greater Availability Of Mowers devices back in working order. And if you're any kind of a responsible person, you'll do it now, before another blade of grass , History of the Adirondack Chair is cut. Fail in that responsibility and you or one of your family may soon have a shoe that looks like mine to spark memories of damage. . .or lost toes. You may never be able to forgive yourself! , Lawn Diseases Can Be Deadly See a photo that demonstrates what can happen when safety , Orchids: A Luxurious Look That's Really Not Hard To Achieve precautions are ignored: http://www.HillGardens.com/mower_photo.htm
Fred Davis is a Master Gardener, Master Composter, , History of the Adirondack Chair lecturer, and long-time nurseryman. He and his wife, Linda, own and operate a popular perennial , Selecting Your Gardening Tools nursery in Palermo, Maine, and maintain a no-frills gardening , Feng Shui In the Garden information website at: http://www.HillGardens.com/ |
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