> This is why you never, EVER stick your hand or any other part of your body under the mower while the blades are rotating. This is a piece of metal that used to be bolted on the deck, and was gradually bent away until it was caught by one of the blades. Those things can cut through metal.
Note also the gouges above the cut; that was when the metal was close enough to be hit occasionally, but the blade hadn't caught the edge yet. I heard that as strange ticking noises that happened only in a certain area. Then of course, when the blade actually hit the edge, it was VERY obvious that someth…