Hay Bale Falls On Man, Kills Him 700-Pound Load Tumbles From Tractor Bucket
A couple of years ago, Larry Lovell successfully dodged a huge bale of hay that fell out of his tractor’s bucket on the way to feeding his miniature horses.
On Monday, he couldn’t get out of the way.
A 700- to 750-pound bale toppled out of the bucket, landed on Lovell and killed him.
His friends and family are in shock.
“None of us can believe any of this has happened,” said Jane Kinderman, a family friend. “He will be missed by everybody.”
Lovell was moving a large chunk of hay so the miniature horses he prided himself on raising would be fed for the week.
Today, he was supposed to head to Las Vegas with his sweetheart, Sue Ann Wallace, to the National Rodeo Finals.
Instead, Wallace spent Monday night without Lovell - for the first time in five years.
“She would say she finally found somebody, and he was the best thing that ever happened to her,” Kinderman said. “They never spent a night apart.”
Wallace didn’t want to relive the incident for the media Tuesday. But Kinderman and the Kootenai County sheriff’s report revealed what happened:
The last time Wallace saw Lovell was at lunch on Monday. Every day, she came home from work at the Idaho Transportation Department and Lovell would have lunch ready for her.
When she got home at around 5 p.m., Wallace heard the tractor running. She looked inside the house for Lovell. He wasn’t there. Something was wrong.
Wallace jumped into a truck and drove to the hay barn. With the truck’s headlights, she could see that the bale had fallen on the tractor. She ran to turn it off, and checked on Lovell.
Wallace told police she rolled the bale off and dialed 911, then held her boyfriend until police arrived.
Then she called Kinderman.
“I couldn’t understand her at first,” Kinderman said. “Finally I got what she was saying. I just walked out the front door.
“I’ve been here ever since.”
Lovell had said that he didn’t want a funeral. So there’s a gathering at 4p.m. Saturday at the Garwood Saloon on U.S. Highway 95.
The bar is sure to be packed.
Lovell was known at the saloon for his ability to get along with anybody, and his ability to crank out good tunes on the guitar.
“He was one of the best singers I ever heard,” Kinderman said. “He was just an easygoing, care-free, lovable guy.”