Rusty-looking marks
I went to help a mate of mine collect a tractor once from some forestery. It had a bloody great winch on the back, and a sort of a plate that you could sit a sawn-off tree trunk on. The idea was, you'd unroll the winch cable, hook it to a chain securely fastened around the tree trunk, haul it in and up onto the plate, and drive off dragging it behind you.

One thing that was very very important, apparently, was that you sat in the cab to operate the winch, and if it stuck you released the tension in the cable and went to find out what was wrong.

This particular tractor was liberally splashed with brownish stuff around the back, on the plate, on the rear wings and on the back of the cab. Mud? Rust? No.

Seems that the chap who had been using it hadn't been following the safety instructions, but had been standing at the back of the tractor operating the winch, with one foot on the plate. Then the tree trunk hit a snag, so he gave the winch a bit more rev. That's when the cable parted, and came whipping back towards him and piled into the skid plate - right where his foot was.

Length? Not as far back as I stood while washing it.
(gordonjcp, Tue 12 Aug 2008, 19:22, 2 replies)

Presumably
He has no foot now?
(JohabMorelli is spenging merrily away, Tue 12 Aug 2008, 19:43, closed)