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My first encounter with a tractor nearly killed me. Cocky, going too fast through a narrow gate, panicing at the last minute and jamming on the brakes - only to find that the rear brakes were unlinked at the time* and I only hit the left hand side. It didn't so much slow down as swing violently to the left towards one of the large concrete posts with all sorts of sharp farming implements strewn around it. Ooops. Missed it by inches.

* For those unfamiliar, the brakes on an older tractor are only on the rear wheels, are independent, and are controlled by two brake pedals next to each other that are usually linked by a little catch so that they move as one. If you need a tighter turning cirle, you flick the catch off, use the brakes on one side only and it'll pretty much pivot around that wheel...
(misanthrope is so adjective he's verbing nouns!, Thu 20 Dec 2007, 17:12, Reply)