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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Mow the lawn with steel toe cap boots!!!

13 replies

Fairy7 · 24/05/2014 15:59

Before you ask, no I'm not a sales rep for steel toe cap boots:-) But a week on from my lawn mower accident, I feel compelled to impart this bit of information.

Last Saturday morning, I mowed the lawn as I usually do, wearing my wellies as I thought that was the safest thing to do. I would never wear flip flops or canvas shoes as they always seem just unsafe. But oh how I was to be proved wrong!

While finishing off the last bit of the lawn, I took a step backwards, lost my balance and the electric lawn mower that I was using sliced through my welly and my big toe was no more:-)

So when the consultant came into see me in hospital he said the only thing you should wear when cutting the lawn are steel toe capped boots! He said he's seen heaps of accidents when people mow the lawn and while holding the lawn mower walk backwards and trip. And if they are not wearing steel toe cap boots, they will always come off the worse for wear.

So Mumsnetters, please, please wear steel toe cap boots and keep all your beautiful toes intact:-)

OP posts:
Blackpuddingbertha · 24/05/2014 16:21

Ouch. Sound advice. Hope you are recovering well.

Can I add another bit of sage advice? If you have a ride on mower do not let your children ride on your lap. I work for an insurance company and the claims where people have ridden over children because they have fallen off make horrific reading Sad

ilovepowerhoop · 24/05/2014 16:28

I wear trainers while cutting the grass and dont own steel toe cap boots

HolidayCriminal · 25/05/2014 16:13

Sorry about your toe. Glad you can be so calm about it so soon afterwards. I hope that recovery proceeds well.

My mower switches off the moment I let go of the handle. So if I fell over & let go the mower would be off, if I fell over & held on the mower would be up in the air & my legs simply aren't long enough to get around there. Or maybe if I fell over & twisted strongly sideways & still held on I could get the blades to some part of me; but don't think I'm that acrobatic. And the part of me at risk could be anything not covered by steel caps, presuming I was tumbling down a hill with the mower in hand.

So I think with my kind of mower I'm still alright with wellies. Only a full suit of chain mail might be safe enough.

usualsuspectt · 25/05/2014 16:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DocDaneeka · 25/05/2014 16:23

I wear steel toe wellies for gardening. Hangover from my days on construction sites. Plus I have about 5 pairs of steelies kicking about.

Makes me cringe when I see neighbour mowing wearing flipflops. Nutter.

AJMH11 · 23/07/2021 16:40

My mum cut off her toes when wearing wellies too, she just bent over to pick something off the lawn the mower lifted up slightly and went over her foot. Happened in an instant.

Bagelsandbrie · 23/07/2021 16:44

Ouch! Poor you!

I think lawn mowing is very dangerous… I caused myself a posterior vitreous detachment (where the jelly in the eye essentially detaches from the back of the eye, it does happen as people normally get older and after a while calms down but can be dangerous as can cause retinal issues) by walking backwards holding the lawn mower and falling over…!

Bagelsandbrie · 23/07/2021 16:45

@Blackpuddingbertha

Ouch. Sound advice. Hope you are recovering well.

Can I add another bit of sage advice? If you have a ride on mower do not let your children ride on your lap. I work for an insurance company and the claims where people have ridden over children because they have fallen off make horrific reading Sad

SadShock
LemonViolet · 24/07/2021 10:57

Oh ouchie!!! Really sorry to hear this OP sounds very nasty. And painful. I hope you are recovering ok.

My mower switches off the moment I let go of the handle.
Same. I always thought it was pretty safe because of this, it cuts out the instant I am not gripping the handle tight. Does your mower have that feature OP?

MereDintofPandiculation · 24/07/2021 12:25

Yet another reason for No-mow May. (And no-Mow June, July and August)

Pinkywoo · 24/07/2021 16:24

Lemonviolet I think that only electric mowers have automatic cut out, my neighbours petrol one certainly doesn't. It also moves forward to make it easier to push, it would definitely eat toes!

TheQueef · 24/07/2021 16:27

It's been 7 years Lemon I imagine it's healed up by now.

LemonViolet · 24/07/2021 18:14

Didn’t see this was a zombie thread! How weird. She does say electric in the OP now though.

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