Tales from the Faulkner Files: Trail of the brush hog +Final Chapter

[Puller]

I went to bed last night wondering how this was going to turn out. Had to get up and check this morning to see if there was an update, glad I did.

There was a very thin turn of events that could have allowed this to turn out really bad. I'm sure many of us take little things like total cell coverage for granted and don't fathom having to hike up the side a hill just to call 911.

 

[whitestang]

This is what having good neighbors is all about. Excellent job by you and Daisy once again.

 

[SAFireman]

I am glad that you and Daisy were able to rescue this man. A similar thing happened to one of our neighbors. His was garden hose and not barbed wire, and he was next to the main roadway into a subdivision. He was not as lucky. He had tried a bumper style jack in loose sand.

Thanks for taking the time to share the story, and give Daisy a cookie for her efforts. A lick on the nose is a good start

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I met him at a gun show in Hattiesburg ,Ms. a few years ago. Super nice guy who I still keep up with.

Best complement I've had on the forum! Stay safe my friend and remember to stock the Bourbon!

 

[Bekeart]

Tales by two favorite authors in this thread

Tales by two favorite authors in this thread

Faulkner

charlie sherrill

 

[somorris]

Thanks, Faulkner. Good story!

 

[jrm53]

Faulkner you are one FINE man with a FINE Daisy dog this needs to be in the ADemGazzette. You sir need to be recognized and paid with a humanitiarian medal for service to you for saving your friends life. Jeff

 

[Faulkner]

Faulkner you are one FINE man with a FINE Daisy dog this needs to be in the ADemGazzette. You sir need to be recognized and paid with a humanitiarian medal for service to you for saving your friends life. Jeff

I appreciate this and the other positive feedback but as I watch the news reports from Hurricane Idalia, there are no doubt dozens and dozens of untold stories of neighbors helping neighbors, and strangers helping strangers. It's called doing the right thing.

 

[Kanewpadle]

You need to write a book brother. Well done.

 

[moralem]

I am waiting for the rest of the story……please.

 

[WR Moore]

Good on you Daisy & Faulkner!

Best book I ever read on tractor operation was an EMT book on farm accidents. BTW, the balance point on classic style 2 WD farm tractors is about 4-6 inches forward of the front of the rear tires. Attachments/liquid filled tires/counter weights might change that. As an experiment one time, I took the loader off my big tractor- see paragraph 6 -and found it VERY nose light with just a bush hog on the back when on hills.

Sometimes it's better to stop, not think about what you need to get done and how much time that'll take, and figure out the BEST way to solve your problem. If that includes motoring back to the barn where you've got all your stuff, so be it.

I've run over a few yellow jacket nests with a bush hog. Learned to keep Benedryl tabs in a shirt pocket. The one time, I was backing into some brush and thought branches were sticking me. While pulling forward, saw the cloud of bugs and baled off the tractor-thought I'd kicked it into neutral. When I got far enough away that the bugs weren't biting I looked back and saw the tractor ambling toward the lake! Luckily in first gear. I managed to catch it before it went in.

Having to dive under my flatbed to avoid a falling round bale is what caused me to go buy a bigger tractor! I laid there recalling that earlier, an 85 year old, clinically obese man with a load of other medical issues loaded that trailer in 5 minutes. BTW, he was using a slightly used, repaired and heavily discounted large tractor the previous owner had figured out how to roll on a hill.

 

[Marine Corps Air]

I've re-read these posts several times and believe that I missed an important point. Kudos go to Mrs. Faulkner and Fran! Fran called Mrs. Faulkner when she had not heard from her husband within a reasonable time. Kudo #1. Mrs. Faulkner spoke with Fran and immediately understood that there could be a serious problem. We are all busy doing whatever we are doing and it's very easy to go back to those tasks and miss responding to what could be an emergency situation. Mrs. Faulkner didn't do that when she spoke with her husband after the call ended. Kudo #2!

Taking a cell phone along when you're out in the bush is a good thing. But if you can't pick up a signal, you can't use it.

I really like the content of the post from W R Moore! There's a lot of excellent information from him. Operating a tractor is not the same as operating an automobile. In addition to the wasp risks, in South Georgia (and Texas) we have rattlesnakes, and possibly wild animals. I've never been kicked in the head by a mule, horse, cow or bull but I've heard that it's pretty debilitating. It's almost as if you should consider taking someone with you, if they are reasonably available, even if it means paying them.

Cheers!

Bill

 

[Faulkner]

I am waiting for the rest of the story……please.

Not a whole lot to the rest of the story. Before I hiked up the ridge to get a cell signal I got the key to the lock from Chad to the gate where I had left the ATV. On my way up and over the ridge to get the ATV I called the sheriff's office dispatcher and updated her on the situation and requested she call out the emergency squad to meet me so we could get Chad out. Daisy and I got to the gate and unlocked it, then we cranked up the ATV and headed back to Chad at the tractor site.

I rolled back up to Chad after being gone about 20 minutes. He didn't seem to be any worse for wear, but he was glad to get one of the ice cold bottles of water Mrs. Faulkner had packed for us. I left Daisy with Chad then got back in the ATV and took off down a two track that he told me led to a gate about three quarters of a mile away on the main road. He said that gate wasn't locked. When I got to the gate I took out my cell phone to check for a signal, but no bars. I reached into my pack and pulled out my two-way handheld radio and tried to reach dispatch but I could tell I wasn't pinging any of the radio net repeaters. I turned the radio channel over to "talk around" which is a line-of-sight channel that doesn't use the repeaters.

"Unit 4 to any squad unit"

Immediately I got a l reply with a strong signal, "Squad 18 to Unit 4, we are responding to your call, go ahead with your traffic."

I gave him an update on my location and told him I was about 3 miles from Grapevine Creek.

"10-4 Unit 4, we are coming up on the bridge at Grapevine Creek so we will be at your location shortly."

A few minutes later the two EMT's of Squad 18 pulled up and got out of their rescue unit. I gave them a situation report on Chad and, after some discussion, we decided they would load a Junkin basket stretcher on the ATV along with their gear and go fetch Chad. The ATV was big enough for all of us and their gear and would still have room to bring Chad out strapped on the basket stretcher and could get in and out of the field easier than their rescue unit. An ambulance was on the way and would wait for us at the road to bring Chad back.

Once we got back to Chad the EMT's did their thing examining Chad. Daisy and I stood out of the way just watching. When they were done and had him strapped to the stretcher I helped them load him on the ATV and strap him across the dump bed. We had a short discussion and we decided that once the EMT's got Chad loaded in the ambulance and it took of for the hospital, one of the EMT's would drive the ATV to my place and drop it off. The other EMT would follow him and then pick up his partner as he dropped off the EMT. I asked them to stay long enough to give Mrs. Faulkner a situation report.

I told them Daisy and I would take Chad's tractor back over the ridge to my place. It was the shorter route but it would take me a bit longer to get there since I'd be traveling slower. I told them when I got to the top of the ridge I'd stop and call Fran and giver her an update and advise her she could meet Chad at the emergency room at the hospital.

With a wave the EMT's slowly headed off down the two track towards the road to the awaiting ambulance. I got up in the tractor seat and before I cranked it up and I looked down at Daisy and said, "Daisy, lets go home." Once i got the tractor started and eased out of the dry branch at a slow crawl, Daisy led the way up the ridge towards home.

 

[turnerriver]

Bless the first responders who do what they do every day of their working lives, for strangers, friends- whoever needs help. I became friends with the officers who helped a stranger when he needed them. Blessings to you, Faulkner.
Regards,

 

[Greyman50]

Had a friend that farmed after work and on weekends. One Saturday evening he was bush hogging around the edges of a soy bean field before getting the combine out. Tractor slipped on a ditch bank throwing him off then rolled on him and stalled. He lay under the tractor rear tire for couple hours until a neighbor noticed the tractor headlights pointing up. He spent almost a month in the hospital.

 

[ameridaddy]

Dayum!
1. Faulkner, I wish you were my neighbor.
2. I said once before, and now again, put your tales in a short story book and find a publisher. You have a gift a whole lot of people would pay to enjoy.

 

[Doug M.]

My office was the coroner's office my first time here, and was for a few months more when I came back. Around here, there is a lot of hay farming. We have had a couple of really ugly industrial/farming fatalities. I advocate that all such things get done with at least one additional person as self-rescue is not an option most of the time.

 

[moralem]

I am moving up Ozark way to be one of Faulkner’s neighbors…….thanks for the ending.

 

[charlie sherrill]

One of the worse things I ever saw was a beautiful little ten year old girl who got pulled into a square baler by her long pony tail. My neighbor, a peanut farmer, cranked up his tractor with the PTO engaged. He did not know one of his workers was inside cleaning it and it tore off both of his legs. The worker died about a month later from complications from his injuries. A county worker was pulled off of the tractor by a low hanging limb and under a bush hog. He was DOA. Be careful with farm equipment around kids, fellow workers and animals.

 

[Krogen]

I appreciate this and the other positive feedback but as I watch the news reports from Hurricane Idalia, there are no doubt dozens and dozens of untold stories of neighbors helping neighbors, and strangers helping strangers. It's called doing the right thing.

"It's called doing the right thing." Yes, most definitely.

This is what I appreciate the most. People looking after their fellow human beings just as they'd like to be looked after when needed - because it's the right thing.