Bad day.....

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I asked my wife if she might NOT put green wire in the grass to protect the citrus trees.

Changed the blades, though and finished up the yard pretty nicely.
 
Haha, my kids found a handful of railroad nails once and left a peg in the lawn. My mower blade got about 1/2" through it before it gave up...mower was never quite as smooth after that attack.
 
I bought a used lawn tractor that the owner said it no longer cut grass. I could see a piece of chain link fence sticking out of the mower deck. He said that's why it doesn't work. So I got a used Craftsman lawn tractor in good shape for $200. New they were $1600. Took it home and dropped the mower and cut the wire off. It needed new blades and a tune up. So for about $500 I got a working lawn tractor because of wire.
 
My dad was a radiologist and when I was a kid (late grade school) l I used to hang out in the clinic where in worked in the afternoons. One time there was a lot of commotion and yelling and several guys are wheeling a young guy, like early 20's, down the hallway to the x-ray room in a wheelchair. His right pant leg was cut off and there was a big piece of wire sticking straight out of his leg. But surprising little blood. He had been mowing and ran over a piece of wire that was then kicked out of the mower and right into his shin. It almost looked fake the way it had so cleanly pierced his leg. It was quite large in diameter, I suppose it could have been a big nail. He was very pale and quiet, and that freaked me out as much as seeing the injury.

Everytime I've mowed a lawn since then I've walked it looking for anything that might end up in my leg. It still gives me the willies thinking about it.


Tony
 
When I was a wee young one, neighbor hit something (too long ago to remember) while mowing. Lost the index finger on his dominant hand.
He was a police officer, had to learn to shoot with the second finger.....
 
I had a neighbor kid my age loose two toes from mowing in sneakers when I was about 14. I always wear safety toe boots and long jeans, and we're pretty careful about the contents of our yard, but I've been stung by a rock on the shins now and then. The banks are a real pain, that's why I have my 19" Sensation mower with a flip-over handle, 8" precision bearing wheels, and juiced up 4 hp classic Briggs & Stratton motor!

& Yeah, about sharpening blades... and then trying to balance them. Those blasted little cones are about worthless, and I'm too cheap to buy the magnetic job that mounts on the wall!
 
& Yeah, about sharpening blades... and then trying to balance them. Those blasted little cones are about worthless, and I'm too cheap to buy the magnetic job that mounts on the wall!

For balancing, put a hack saw upside down in a vice. Balance lawn mower blade over saw blade.

Mowers are freaking dangerous and I cringe every time I see other people/kids out in a yard while someone is mowing, just feet from serious injury. When I was a young kid, I was out in the yard while my dad was mowing, and shouldn't have been. Was hit in the neck from a bottle cap that got left in the yard. Luckily, minor damage to me. Became a rule that nobody is outside when someone is mowing. Same in our house now when my son or I am mowing. Or, a nearby neighbor for that matter. Had some rocks come through our patio screen at our previous house from the neighbor's tractor. That was exciting.
 
Last edited:
Soooo... the state that's been fighting regular and gigantic wildfires, is going to ban chainsaws. Abso-freaking-lutely brilliant. Why not just ban firefighters too?
It's worse than that; they don't want any internal combustion engine vehicles to be sold in CA after 20whatever.
Can you imagine a battery powered firetruck? Especially one that is supposed to go out into the wilds and fight forest/brush fires.
Those things universally carry along 5gal Jerry cans of additional fuel to extend their "Time on station".
I don't even want to think about how this insanity is going to effect Union Pacific and BNSF's California operations.
Are they going to insist that those two RR's electrify their system in CA? That is to laugh.
 
No "internal combustion engines at all" is going to make it difficult to get firefighting airplanes and helicopters as well. Are they really going to let someone die because they can't fly a jet fueled medical helicopter?

As for the railroads, they are already deep into R&D field trials for batter locomotive technology. Though Canadian National is probably ahead of most others, most railroads are already field testing yard swichers or some other entry level tech. They certainly won't make a 2023 deadline though.
 
No "internal combustion engines at all" is going to make it difficult to get firefighting airplanes and helicopters as well. Are they really going to let someone die because they can't fly a jet fueled medical helicopter?
Do you really think they're going to do that? Really? Come on now, you're smarter than that.

Also, while everyone is enjoying dunking on CA for this, it might be worthwhile to spend a moment or two considering the reasons for doing this.
 
Do you really think they're going to do that? Really? Come on now, you're smarter than that.

Also, while everyone is enjoying dunking on CA for this, it might be worthwhile to spend a moment or two considering the reasons for doing this.
My point exactly. I'm sure they won't. I'm not sure to what extent doing so will even be legal.
 
My point exactly. I'm sure they won't. I'm not sure to what extent doing so will even be legal.

Cali is grand for these things - everything causes cancer and birth defects, fossil or nuke power is bad, bad, bad - so they don't allow much in their state and often regulate it out of economic viability in Cali, but then they they buy fossil and nuke generated electricity from other states - they're buying every GWH they can get from the Permian Basin gas and oil fired-plants. Their farmers need water to grow our food, but millions of people have moved to cities in the the desert and they want the water. Their mismanagement is incredible, and they mistake it for bold leadership. Now they want to mandate electric cars, chainsaws and mowers and blowers and so on - well, nobody looks at the actual environmental costs of the batteries, much less their viability for a lot any bigger than 1/4 acre or so. As well, I have a friend whose son secured a job out there and bought a house for something north of $750K. After Dad jacked his jaw back up from the floor, he said, "You didn't have to buy the Taj Mahal for your first house!" To which the son replied, "Dad! It's a fixer-upper!" From Venice Beach becoming a homeless tent city to sanctuary cities to educational policies that intrude on parent's rights to at least know about their child's sexual matters, you couldn't pay me to live there. And yes, I've been there and yes, I know others who do live there.

Edited to add: Then there is the basic legalization of retail theft in some places, police cannot respond and prosecutors won't bother with anything under (I think) $950. Leading to things like this.

But enough of this I suppose, as neil_w says, though to be honest, I can't find good reasons for some of it and for others I can only find bad reasons. And all poor @Donnager wanted to show us was a wire wrapped around his mower blade! Stay safe! (The grossest thing that ever happened to me while mowing was hearing a big FWOP and following what was ejected from the mower only to find a badly sliced, bloody, and mauled toad...)
 
Last edited:
Leaf blowers
This is a bill that’s relatively simple and — once you think about it — sensible. Yet no Republican voted for it.
Starting as early as 2024, you won’t be able to buy a new gas-powered leaf blower, lawn mower, small chainsaw or hand-carried generator in California.

I didn't realize that this bill banning gasoline powered stuff also included generators.
Who's going to be the first person to offer a battery powered electric generator?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this law will not include: Firefighters, Law Enforcement, Search & Rescue, The National Guard, Hazmat Teams . . .
 
No "internal combustion engines at all" is going to make it difficult to get firefighting airplanes and helicopters as well. Are they really going to let someone die because they can't fly a jet fueled medical helicopter?

As for the railroads, they are already deep into R&D field trials for batter locomotive technology. Though Canadian National is probably ahead of most others, most railroads are already field testing yard swichers or some other entry level tech. They certainly won't make a 2023 deadline though.
Point. However, The jet fueled helicopter is not an ICE. Gas turbines are actually external combustion engines that can burn just about any fuel that can be pumped. They tend to be more efficient and less polluting than ICEs, depending on the application and usage.
 
I didn't realize that this bill banning gasoline powered stuff also included generators.
Who's going to be the first person to offer a battery powered electric generator?
. .
Those are actually quite common. They are called power inverters and enable you to run AC powered devices on battery power. As one small example, my compouter runs off of a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply).
 
Point. However, The jet fueled helicopter is not an ICE. Gas turbines are actually external combustion engines that can burn just about any fuel that can be pumped. They tend to be more efficient and less polluting than ICEs, depending on the application and usage.
Back in the late '50's and extending into the '70's, Union Pacific operated a bunch of gas-turbine/electric locomotives of various horsepower and designs.
They were loud, fuel hogs and basically on/off with their power output.
Operating on the wide open plains of Nebraska and Wyoming they earned their keep but when UP ran them into Los Angeles, things went pear-shaped real fast.

Even more fascinating were the coal-fired steam turbine locomotives, both direct drive and steam-turbine electric.
 
Those are actually quite common. They are called power inverters and enable you to run AC powered devices on battery power. As one small example, my compouter runs off of a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply).
Very true, but what powers the battery? In a power outage, you'd need a garage wall full to keep your ice cream cold. That's more the point of a home (portable) generator, I would think.
 
Very true, but what powers the battery? In a power outage, you'd need a garage wall full to keep your ice cream cold. That's more the point of a home (portable) generator, I would think.
Most residential refrigerators and freezers don't use much power compared to other things (e.g. air conditioning, electric heating appliances). Battery backup systems such as Tesla Powerwall can keep them running a long time, especially in conjunction with solar for support and recharging during the day.

Obviously you would not use a consumer UPS for such usage.
 
Most residential refrigerators and freezers don't use much power compared to other things (e.g. air conditioning, electric heating appliances). Battery backup systems such as Tesla Powerwall can keep them running a long time, especially in conjunction with solar for support and recharging during the day.

Obviously you would not use a consumer UPS for such usage.
Very true. As you note, I had the wall part correct! Until the widespread adoption of these, though (and I'd like to see their cost as well), if I need a generator, an ICE is probably cheap, effective protection for occasional use.
 
Back
Top