Ask the Mechanic

Steve Thompson, Contributing Columnist

Safety Tip of the Month:

I guess we have all experienced the aggravation of running into garbage that people have dumped in the field, but the other day in the field, I got into some electric fence wire that almost equaled the time the reel on my Haybine got tangled up in a set of bedsprings that someone dumped in my alfalfa field. The electric fence wire that my neighbor's cows brought me last winter started wrapping around the gauge wheel hub and eventually the complete length of the 24-foot cultivator, and it finally sliced a tire like a sharp knife. When removing the wire, it was very difficult to keep the sharp cuts in the wire from springing back and cutting my fingers. Be careful with tight wire; it moves very quickly when cut. Pappy Thompson always said, "Bad fences make bad neighbors."

> Write Steve Thompson at Ask The Mechanic, 2204 Lakeshore Dr., Suite 415, Birmingham, AL 35209, or email mechanic@progressivefarmer.com.

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