Two reactions…

This picture came across my screen today.

As a truck driver, I cringed.

As a permaculture enthusiast, I thought, "No worries. I know what to do with the extra."

Now that is one big OOPS. I certainly hope the windows were up and the doors closed before that hopper was opened.
On the other hand, look at all those lovely wood chips.

Two naive questions...  Did the driver not pull ahead far enough or did they dump too much or both?  And what would happen if he/she just drove forward to get out of the mess?

Chris Watson wrote:This picture came across my screen today.

As a truck driver, I cringed.

As a permaculture enthusiast, I thought, "No worries. I know what to do with the extra."

Oh heck...that will buff right out.

Mike Jay wrote:Two naive questions...  Did the driver not pull ahead far enough or did they dump too much or both?  And what would happen if he/she just drove forward to get out of the mess?

It looks to me like someone opened the hopper doors too soon. The tractor is powerful enough to drive out of that pile, assuming the chips are around the rig but there aren't a lot under it. But the empty trailer would likely get lifted up and/or pushed sideways and damage the surrounding equipment. It could even bring the whole elevator down.

And a responsible driver won't move until his windows and mirrors are clear.

A good driver always puts on his seatbelt too...

Funny story on that. Years ago I was hauling gravel as a contractor for the Maine Dept of Transportation, called MDOT here. I am hauling away, and the supervisor of MDOT jumps up on the running board and says "Travis, the rules now state, you have to wear a seatbelt, even contractors." So I just nod and put my seatbelt on.

So a few weeks go by, and since I went to church with the Supervisor he tells me, "You know, you can get a job with the MDOT if you want. I can put a good word in for you." I was like, "That is all well and good, but I thought you had to have a Class A or B license to be hired?" "You do", he says, and I just smile.

I have driven truck since I was a kid, but I never bothered with a license. I must not need it. I have been driving truck for 29 years without a problem, I see no reason to get a license now.

I have had a few close calls though.

I came up out of town pushing snow and laying down salt with a snowplow when I was 15 years old, and a cop stopped me with the blue lights and everything, and asked for all kinds of things. I could just give him a smile because that was all I had. No license. No fuel sticker. No registration (it was a plow truck). No inspection...NOTHING! So it is a small town, and he knows my Grandfather, so he says to drive there. The police officer had pulled ahead of me, so he starts walking back to his cruiser and I yell, "Do you want me to plow on the way there or not?"

"Well you "eff-ing" minds well now", he says; all mad like.

Another time, I come around the corner pushing snow, again at age 15 or so, and there is my Mom all piled up into a telephone pole with her car. She was alright, but the police had to be called and all that. Anyway after the mess had been cleaned up, it was just me and the police officer. I am waiting for him to leave, and he is waiting to see what I am leaving in since there is only a snowplow there.

I can be mighty patient when there is a potential fine...

Finally I out-waited him, because he left before I did. :-)

My first "moving violation" was at age 10.

I saw a police officer at the intersection on top of the hill and figured, 'he won't stop a 10 year old kid', so I crossed the road, and as soon as I hit that hottop, the blue lights came on. I got a $65 fine for "operating a bulldozer on paved way., and my dad got a $65 fine for "allowing to operate".

That was bovine pasture droppings then, and it is bovine pasture droppings now. The only time a bulldozer busts up a paved way is when the hottop is junk anyway.

'Big Oooops' events are not fun to experience, but they are amusing to observe occasionally.....

Whenever I get stuck with my bulldozer, I just have my bride pull me out with my Kubota.

Travis Johnson wrote:Whenever I get stuck with my bulldozer, I just have my bride pull me out with my Kubota.

Is it safe to drive a tractor with a wedding dress on?  Does OSHA have a maximum train length for dresses and heavy equipment?

Mike Jay wrote:

Travis Johnson wrote:Whenever I get stuck with my bulldozer, I just have my bride pull me out with my Kubota.

Is it safe to drive a tractor with a wedding dress on?  Does OSHA have a maximum train length for dresses and heavy equipment?

I am not sure? Katie thinks so...

Mike Jay wrote:

Travis Johnson wrote:Whenever I get stuck with my bulldozer, I just have my bride pull me out with my Kubota.

Is it safe to drive a tractor with a wedding dress on?  Does OSHA have a maximum train length for dresses and heavy equipment?

Of course, Katie has worn less driving tractors too!

Travis Johnson wrote:
I am not sure? Katie thinks so...

Travis, have you considered submitting this photo for the cover of "Bridal Guide" magazine??..... I'm betting it will sell-out within hours of publication.  ;-)

John Weiland wrote:

Travis Johnson wrote:
I am not sure? Katie thinks so...

Travis, have you considered submitting this photo for the cover of "Bridal Guide" magazine??..... I'm betting it will sell-out within hours of publication.  ;-)

I never thought of that!

There is actually a backstory to Katie in a wedding dress and being on a bulldozer. We have always loved the thought of "Trash the Dress" photo Shoots, so that is what we did. I think I have 75 or so pictures of Katie in a wedding dress. Some are on bulldozers, some are of us in the mud, some of her welding, etc.

For those that do not know, Trash the Dress is a photo shoot where instead of the bride taking her dress and saving it where it will get yellowed and moth eaten, she trashes it. It can be in the ocean, an abandoned building, or even like the mud like us. The point is to have one last bit of fun with it.

Katie and I could not do that, at least not with her real wedding dress. So we went to a thift store and bought a used one instead, and trashed that instead. It was a lot of fun for us, but we got a lot of grief. Some feel it is an utter waste, and others feel it is fun-loving. Myself; I have wasted $40 on a lot worst things.