Shoes - No, not the tractors... What do you wear when operating?

[grsthegreat]

Bunny Slippers when in heated cab moving snow....just to piss off the neighbors...



Not really. i have tennis shoes or a pair of rubber short top shoes.

 

[oldballs]

It seems to me the issue is what one is doing while tractoring. If one is sitting in a cab, riding hour after hour on a nice day he could go barefoot. But if he is getting on and off to do supplemental chores, he would need a good steel toe boot. And I always seem to end up doing something additional to the original plan. It may also depend on age, bad knees or ankles. When one steps off the tractor floor, he may have to step out wide to avoid a MMM. .... he may also be stepping into rocks, limbs or mud. I go prepared for anything. I wear an 8 inch steel toe laceup non-lug boot most of the time. It engages the various pedals without hanging up. Yet, in snow (no cab) the insulated boot with lugs is my choice.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Regardless of which tractor I am using, I wear whatever I happen to put on that morning. No special wear is needed for most tractor work. I have had 30 years of steel toe shoe wear on construction sites which is enough for me. I still have a fairly new pair of steel toe 8" laceup left over from my working days that I wear if I am working in the woods or with my weedeater, but for tractor work, I have about half a dozen loaver style leather shoes that I wear for most of my daily activities and I will swap them out so they all have a chance to dry and air out. This doesnt go over too well with the wife as I might have 3 or more pairs of shoes laying around plus my house slippers. I dont feel that I need steel toes boots to drive the tractor as I dont think anything is going to fall off of it and smack my toe. I do feel the need for heavy boots when using a string trimmer and steel toes when I put on the saw blade to trim the fence line as those things cut just about anything including meat and bone if they got too it.
Bottom line is dress appropriately for your task, if all you are doing is mowing with the tractor tennis or light weight hush puppy style is plenty. I dont like sandals as you could hang the open toe under a pedal which might make you miss the pedal when you really need to stop, but other than that just about any comfortable shoe or boot works for me. Its really dealers choice on this. If you feel you need 12" high steel toed boots to be safe then get 'em, use 'em, be happy.

 

[murphy1244]

Regardless of which tractor I am using, I wear whatever I happen to put on that morning. No special wear is needed for most tractor work. I have had 30 years of steel toe shoe wear on construction sites which is enough for me. I still have a fairly new pair of steel toe 8" laceup left over from my working days that I wear if I am working in the woods or with my weedeater, but for tractor work, I have about half a dozen loaver style leather shoes that I wear for most of my daily activities and I will swap them out so they all have a chance to dry and air out. This doesnt go over too well with the wife as I might have 3 or more pairs of shoes laying around plus my house slippers. I dont feel that I need steel toes boots to drive the tractor as I dont think anything is going to fall off of it and smack my toe. I do feel the need for heavy boots when using a string trimmer and steel toes when I put on the saw blade to trim the fence line as those things cut just about anything including meat and bone if they got too it.
Bottom line is dress appropriately for your task, if all you are doing is mowing with the tractor tennis or light weight hush puppy style is plenty. I dont like sandals as you could hang the open toe under a pedal which might make you miss the pedal when you really need to stop, but other than that just about any comfortable shoe or boot works for me. Its really dealers choice on this. If you feel you need 12" high steel toed boots to be safe then get 'em, use 'em, be happy.

Yes I no longer wear sandals while using a string trimmer, even with socks. tennis shoe time then

 

[Baby Grand]

I wear a pair of Merrel Ridgelines. They're 6 or 7 years old. Relatively light for the support and I can move like a cat with them. Don't tell my wife about the cat part. I have big, skinny feet - 13.5 AA, so finding anything that even closely fits is a challenge. I can wear the Merrels all day long. I'm much more concerned with keeping my ballance and having good feel thru the pedals than I am of crushing my toes, so I take a risk going without the steel toes.

I have a pair of steel toe boots for work. They size them a full size larger so the steel box doesn't pinch your toe when it collapses. This puts me in a size 15 E (no narrow sizes in 15). There's so much slop and wallow that I'm always afraid I'm going to trip over my own feet. But they're "safe", so I have to wear them in the plant.

 

[RoyJackson]

...I have driven a tractor in tennis shoes.

Same here...if it's just finish mowing.
Otherwise, it depends on the season and task. Spring, summer and fall; it's normally Chukka boots. Winter, it's some kind of insulated boot since I'll be walking in the snow.

 

[crazyangel]

Almost exclusively steel toe boots

 

[Pharm]

This winter I'm wearing BOGS that I got for Christmas. They are great in the mud and easy to take on and off.

 

[TripleR]

Same here...if it's just finish mowing.
Otherwise, it depends on the season and task. Spring, summer and fall; it's normally Chukka boots. Winter, it's some kind of insulated boot since I'll be walking in the snow.

Yep, like you, Gary and Oldballs say, it depends a lot on what you are doing. I own "proper" footwear for just about anything, but wear my Irish Sitter Soft Paws Chuckas almost exclusively as I am always in a cab tractor or if not on a BX and then only long enough to move it out of the way.

I think the original question was what do you wear while operating a tractor. I see guys climbing down out of tractors here all the time in a pair of shorts and tennis shoes.

 

[SanDucerro]

This winter I'm wearing BOGS that I got for Christmas. They are great in the mud and easy to take on and off.

View attachment 299015

I like the pull on handles! Nice boots!