It’s pretty easy not to take a step back and notice this but life is full of simple questions. Whether it’s where the bathroom is, how much something costs, or what our friends want to do, we find ourselves forgetting we even asked after we have the answer.
After all, these simple questions do indeed have simple answers most of the time. But sometimes, a question only seems simple until you realize that you’ve been sitting through a lengthy explanation for the last five minutes.
You can also find that the answer is brief enough, but involves enough unfamiliar terms that you find yourself asking enough follow-up questions to make you curse your own curiosity.
Of course, it doesn’t feel quite as intimidating when that explanation happens through text rather than in front of someone who’s quietly gauging your reactions to what they’re saying.
As we’re about to see, we can instead feel a little amazed at how much more we know thanks to that one simple question.
Reddit user 1929_hank recently asked the site’s r/whatisthisthing community about a long bar they had apparently come across.
In their [post]( https://old.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/comments/mghjkb/i_found_this_angle_bar_with_chains_attached_its/0 , they described it as an “angle bar” with six-foot long chains attached to it.
Unsurprisingly, that made them more than a little curious as to what it’s used for.
And while it certainly looks like it has a specific purpose, it was apparently pretty easy to mistake for a different tool altogether.
Although it sounded plausible when one user suggested that this was a drag used to smooth out the dirt on a baseball field’s infield, they were soon informed that the chains on those tools are usually longer.
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Interestingly, one user seemed more interested in using their detective skills on 1929_hank, rather than the angle bar.
As they wrote , “This is the third time you’ve posted here with an item that results in a product available for sale online. You have no other post or comment history on Reddit.
“This object still has packaging around it including identifying stickers just of frame. Spring is prime season for selling lawn equipment. I’m calling you out.”
While that certainly cast doubt on the claim that the uploader just found the angle bar, it also didn’t bring the rest of the community any closer to finding out what they were looking at. So it was largely ignored.
In any case, somebody did eventually identify that the bar was a chain guard that goes on a brush cutter.
As they explained , the attachment we see here does a big enough job that it can suck up bricks, stones, and large tree parts without the operator realizing it.
Those pieces can fly out of the machine and cause potentially serious injuries so the chain guard was put in place to prevent that from happening.
But while this solved the mystery of the bar, it inevitably raised a further question: What’s a brush cutter?
Fortunately, another user stepped in to explain that one, too.
Also known as a “bush hog,” a brush cutter is a lawnmower-like attachment that’s pulled behind a tractor and often driven by its PTO.
I think you can already anticipate what the next question was.
Since they obviously weren’t talking about paid time off, what did that person mean by PTO?
Fortunately, yet another user said that it stood for power take off.
As they explained further, “It’s a short rotating shaft that usually protrudes from the rear of a tractor between the hitch and the back of the seat. A corresponding shaft on equipment will mate with the shaft coming off of the tractor and, once securely affixed, is used to drive the equipment through a series of gears, pulleys, and belts.”
They also warned that the power take off can make farm equipment incredibly dangerous since they don’t stop spinning when they’re caught on a farmer’s clothing.
So while this image make look a little silly, it’s apparently not too far removed from the tragic consequences that can actually unfold when someone gets stuck in a PTO.
Although the user went on to explain that newer tractors make it hard to get off with the PTO active for this very reason, there’s enough older farm equipment out there for this to remain a problem. They also said there are still plenty of ways to hurt yourself on even the most state of the art equipment.
So not only did we learn a lot more about chain guards, bush hogs, and farming than we expected, but we also learned some important safety information.
h/t: Reddit | 1929_hank
