I have a few minor ones. First was working on my old go kart, when I first got it I was too short to reach the pedals so we flipped them to bring them within reach, I was flipping them back, the cart was blocked on one side by a wall and the other by a table, I spent 3 min trying to turn the bolt the wrong way (working on right pedal from left side of cart) before it snapped. Another was the first time my dad let me change the oil in my dirt bike my self, dropped the plug and make shift drain guide (to keep oil off the frame) into the pan of hot oil. My dad has done some bad ones. One when I was little, he was using a big old black and decker grinder with a wire wheel, the wheel caught and kicked back into the family jewels at full speed. He dropped a semi truck leaf spring on his foot when we were junking a truck a while back too, for those that don't know, they weigh about 150 pounds, and it droped 4-5 feet and he was wearing tennis shoes. My cousin payed his brother-in-law to eat a fry dipped in gear oil from his jeep's rear end once, he did it for $10 bucks. My best was probably when I was 2 or 3, my dad had a battery on the charger, he wasn't around and I grabbed the clips, and stuck them together, all that power right into my little self, at least it kind of knocked me on my ass, or i'd have been stuck to it.
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Some people are like slinkies, not really good for anything, but it makes you smile when you push them down a flight of stairs.
Last edited by TK70Ranger; 10-02-2005 at 11:45 PM.
One I was working on a snowmobile, It had a problem wouldn't start, so I pulled one plug to see if it had spark, while I pulled the rope the plug sparked and there were big flamage from that cylinder, fortunately it burns so fast there were no other problems.
One other I was replacing some rear leaf springs in a 78 ford, I bought some that were from an old truck that were not exacty the correct length, they were actually 1" longer, so being the smart guy I am, I got a large pry bar and made the springs fit as I was doing the second spring I had it pryed in there and started a bolt, as I was shaking it trying to get the bolt farther installed the spring slipped and smacked my femur, hurt really bad,and made my whole leg swell and turn purple, not fun I couldn't walk for a week, It was stupid.
What I'm going to admit wasnt me, it was my boss...
My boss has a 95 buick or olds (fwd, 4door, and the 3.8 V6, dont know any more about it)
Anyways one day the check engine light came on (hes ownd this car for 10 years btw) so he looks at it for a day (non mechanical) and notices the coolents low. He asked my uncle (HIS boss) if you can use ATF for antifreeze... he said NO, but for power stearing fluid, you can only use it in a pinch... well i guess he missed the no, and for power stearing fluid only part...
he added 3 quarts of ATF to his radiator puke tank (hoping it would solve the problem, because it was low)
NOPE, and guess who got to drain that crap out???
I guess he now has a really well lubed water pump, and I hope thats all, because I was the last one to work on it (still kicking myself for that)
This wasent really me but i had a part in it. I was backing our Allis-Chalmers 185 with the snow blower on the back into the shop to dethaw. Well the blower spout, my head and the muffler made it under the shop door. Now mind you these were all taller than the air cleaner but somehow the cleaner caught the bottom of the door and ripped it clear off the rails demolishing the door. Now this all came down to my grandpa how was working the door. Needless to say he caught hell for a while after that lol. O yeah, the tractor wasent hurt at all. Good ol' Allis's lol.
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96 F-350 single cab with 7.3 liter Powerstroke 4x4 5 speed, beans stage 2 injectors, 6 pos. chip, 5 inch exhaust, tymar intake, gauges, upgraded clutch, and a bunch of look a little better mods......
WHAT?? Ford made a truck after 97, i guess you learn something new everyday!!!
for some reason started to weld near a pile of oil dry containing a little spilled gasoline, needless to say my feet got warm real quick, to this day i have no clue what i was thinking
I was working on an old plymouth, discovered the gas line has large chunks of rust in it. I was going to blow the line out back into the tank but realized that would be just dumb. So I climbed underneath to undo the line at the tank, forgeting it would still be full of gas ( don't remember how much gas will fit in a gas line but its more than you might think). As the stuff came gushing out I instinctively turned my head and filled my ear canal with gas, man does that stuff sting!! My ear burned for about a week after.
This was out in the lot. I was cutting on a piece of equipment with an oxy/acet torch. The torch was over head and I was crouched down on the ground. A BIG piece of slag rolled off my hardhat, down by back, and lodged in my butt crack. The tighty whities had about a 1" hole burnt in them. Of course this was in the summer upper 90's, PRIME sweating conditions for several days. Not fun. Moral of the story, untuck your shirt or wear leathers next time...
Set myself on fire. (Don't you love the mystery of it?) No garages were harmed in the making of this stunt.
Sawed up my middle finger with a "radial harm" saw. It's as crooked as a backroad now.. I can wiggle just the end of it for a little added emphasis when it's extended. The garage still stands
I actually lived in that same garage. It was cold when it snowed!
Me and a buddy took all the shelves out of the 'fridge, I climbed in to "see if the light stayed on" and my dad walked in. No garages were involved.
Dropped the car off several jacks and/or logs while the 'ol lady freaked out. I was clear of it, exciting though!
Pulling some leaf springs, I found out why you support the end you just freed, when it landed on my shoulder with axle still attached. Didn't have a garage then, or it would have been laughing.
Backed the truck with tailgate down right into a tree with ol' lady as co-pilot checking the road ahead. I was watching the mirror, just the wrong tree. Wanted: One used '85 F-150 metallic bluegray tail gate.
My father-in-law raised the tractor bucket up till he hit the garage roof, busting a few joists. The repair still holds, but I can't see why or how. Maybe it's the tree leaning against it that holds it up.
Watched a buddy blow up a gas tank. No fire, just a bing bang and gaping 2" wide tank seam. My ears rang for days. I've exploded a tire and popped a split-rim ring off the way it's not supposed to happen but it missed me, nyah, nyah.
But the hammer head that came loose mid-swing didn't.
Bumped loose a heavy 6x9 autospeaker hanging on a nail. It landed on my head and knocked me out for 10 or so minutes we guess. The ol' lady was wondering where I'd gone off to. Speaker landed on my thumb, now, two years later, I have a raised line that grows along with my nail.
Boss coldcocked me with a steel pipe, Three Stooges style. I folded and laid there for 5 or so minutes. I jumped up, said wow, better get back to work. They stopped me and said I better sit down awhile. I didn't even know I'd been knocked out!
"Shot" myself with a frag off a chisel. Heard of others who came out worse than I. On a serious note: keep your chisel heads and other striking surfaces properly formed, no curls of bent steel!
That's enough for now, don't wanna hog all the glory! Is there a Second Place ribbon for unsuccessful Darwin Award attempts? ;-)
SmokyOlFord, I've had the hammer fly off the handle, hit me square on the forehead, seeing stars, thinking what the heck just happen, hope nobody saw that, accident thing.
Wooo - can't follow that one Smokey - won't even try to compete.
I do have one though that is a little more advice than just dumbness. Dumbness brought it out of course but I think there's a good lesson.
Was doing a rear drum brake job a using regular pliers to pull the shoe springs off. Yup! Slipped right off and cold cocked my self square in the eye with the pliers. 1/2" to the right or left and I'm sure I'd be blind in one eye. Caught just square over the eye socket that the bone on either side stopped the pliers from hiting my actual eyeball with any significant force.
So I stopped and walked 2 blocks to the auto parts store and got one of those brake shoe spring tools and that's all I ever use on brake jobs now. The right tool for the job for sure for me.
I was working on my corvette, under the rear end on jackstands, and needed three hands. So I set my D-cell maglight up inside the chassis about 3 feet above my head, pointing at the stuff to work on.... I bumped it with my arm and it fell down, longways, and smashed into my upper lip, busted my lip open. Had it landed a 1/4" inch up or down it would have surely busted my nose or upper teeth.
One time tried to syphon gas, stuck a clear tube down in the truck, and sucked with all my might, ready to drop the end into a can when I saw liquid.... little did I realize the end of the tube wasn't submerged. I sucked in some drops of gas and two lungfulls of gas fumes. I was half unconscious for a few minutes after that.
Here's one.. I was moving in.. backed up a cargo van partway into my garage, (since the whole van wouldnt fit), unloaded it. The back of the van was 2" higher after unloading the weight out of it. When I went to pull out with the back doors still open, they caught on the garage door and almost tore the bottom of the door off. I guess I coulda let the air outta the tires first!
Great thread! I feel for those who got hurt and hoped stuff pretty much healed. That finger in the saw trick has affected me ever after.
And now, back to the accident, already in progress...
We did the overloaded van trick too, but caught it before a problem happened. Yeah, I know, that rare event, we accidentally did it right! We let some air out and everybody climbed in back to add weight.
I no longer work there, but last week down at their shop, the boss was commenting to some help to keep all loose clothing tucked in. The boss promptly marched over to a sanding drum and proceeded to wrap his shirt up till he got stuck and it ripped a hole out of his shirt. He was wearing the same shirt next day when I saw him. Then yesterday, the guy who received this impromptu safety lesson drilled his own finger, which required several stiches and 3 hours in the emergency room.
I have some others if ya'all aren't sleepy yet.
When you win the Darwin Award, who do you give the acceptance speech to?
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