Scary Scary Scary Ride For Grandpa…

[TBigLug]

So, Thursday we decided to try out grandpa’s plow. Old John Deer sulky his dad bought new around the turn of the century. Axle broke on it last year. Took it to a friend, had him weld it back up. When we put it back together we lost the key that keeps the arm from letting the axle spin in place. So, being we were in a hurry (this is the part you don’t do boys and girls) we decide to just reef down on the bolt that clamps the arm on and head to the field.

I knew things were going to be bad when he turned the plow around and it ran up to the rear of the horses (small downhill) causing three of the four tugs to come unhooked. We should have took that as an omen but grandpa having that plow itch that needed scratching before the snow flew opted to carry on.

So, slight downhill on the driveway going back to the cement, slight downhill on the cement followed by a 4 inch drop to ground level of the paddock we had to drive through to get to the field. Guess what happened….

That’s right, plow picks up ALOT of speed, runs up under horses, horses pick up speed, plow picks up MORE speed, reaches four inch drop (remember there is no key holding the axle in place from spinning) BANG, axle spins in place, collapses the plow, grandpa tumbles off and those warhorses took off like they were running the final leg of the Kentucky Derby!

I’m five feet behind grandpa, holler at him to see if he’s okay as I’m running to grab hold of these wild mustangs who are now plowing at a gallop in a semi circle in the paddock. Grandpa yells to me “I’m fine.” as Heather makes it over to him and helps him up. By this time I’ve got the horses stopped and unhooked from this trainwreck of an antique plow. Everybody is standing there catching there breath when all of a sudden, I look at grandpa, he looks at me, I look at Heather and all of a sudden we all BUST OUT LAUGHING!!!

It’s not that we didn’t understand the seriousness of what had just happened but the fact that we all knew better. At the end of the day grandpa just had a little scrape on his forearm, the horses were fine and the plow was wrecked. I spent all night thanking God that we have such great horses that aren’t easily spooked and listen to verbal commands.

Moral of the story, don’t ever assume it will be okay and don’t ever hook substandard equipment behind 4,500 pounds of working muscle!

[OldKat]

Yep, you all caught a break. Sounds like it could have really hit the fan, so to speak. That is the kind of deal that always haunts me; when I KNOW bettter and do something anyway. Always seems to bite me in the assets.

Glad everyone came out relatively unscathed.

[Jean]

You all are so lucky! How does Grandpa feel this morning?

[Donn Hewes]

Just a question to help others understand what might have happened. Did the plow have a tongue on it? If it didn’t it should have. Glad everyone was OK. Donn

[TBigLug]

Everybody’s fine.

Plow doesn’t have a tongue. Never has since it was new in the 19 teens. Personally, I like a tongue in my plow but I’m the minority in my group since we’ve had more wrecks due to young horses backing up with a tongued plow than we have with un tongued plows running up on the horses during transport.

[grey]

Maybe next time drag a big tire behind the untongued plow during transport. Like a sea anchor.

I know how it gets when you’ve got an “agenda” though. More often than not, it gets me into trouble. Agendas and assumptions. Take some part of that wrecked plow and hang it on the wall of the barn as a reminder. I’ve got a few humbling “trophies” hanging on my barn wall next to where I hang the harnesses. Helps keep my brain in gear.

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