From which side do you mount your tractor?

[Wagtail]

counter clockwise, as does the horses and dogs at the tracks?

Down here it depends on what State the horse race is run. NSW & Queensland are clockwise, Victoria & Tassie are counter-clockwise. I can't speak for the other States.

Same thing for the dish-lickers... I think that they all go counter-clockwise but I'm not certain.

 

[PhysAssist]

This is why I read these "lame", i.e., not really structured practically useable knowledge threads, because I inevitably learn something by reading that I'd like to avoid having to learn the harder way, i.e., by doing, paying, suffering the consequemces.

I have mounted a step to the left side of our B2320's floor pan, and mostly use that to mount, UNLESS we have the MMM mounted, when I more than occasionally squeezed my 270#+ frame past the FEL control (which I do not lockout prior except at shutdown) luckily so far without incident.

This will no longer be allowed for me or anyone else using our tractor. The last thing I want to do is lose the use of my hard earned and fought for tool because of a moment of laziness.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

When I had my CK20 I almost always got on and off the left because the loader control was in the way. One day at the end of a long day I was stretching fence with the tractor and the fence kept getting caught on roots. I would get off, walk around the tractor, loosen the fence from the roots and walk back around the tractor. After about the third time instead of getting off the left, i stepped off the right. As I was stepping off, my denim short pants leg got caught on the loader handle. I then fell / jumped the rest of the way off and in the process popped the loader handle out of the valve. I ended up having to load up the tractor and haul it nearly an hour to the dealer to get new upgraded parts installed on my loader valve and handle.
I have a different tractor now, but I get off the and on the left side.

 

[PhysAssist]

Likwise on the miniex/trackhoe I rented a while back. There was also a pod that swung and locked down on the left after entry that would have made bailing out that way pretty dang difficult, but there was absolutely no way to egress fron the right. I think it was a matsushita or some such...

RH cab doors are non-existent or optional on some tractors.

 

[OldMcDonald]

PhysAssist, I did start the thread purely out of idle curiosity, and find it interesting (but as you say not desperately useful knowledge) that most people mount and dismount from the left even when they have a choice. As for not being able to bail out of a machine in a hurry - we are advised not to attempt to do so in a rollover. I think most of us would try though. I only know first hand of one such occasion, a cousin, who said he did not have time to even think of bailing out. The safety frame did save him. No injuries whatsoever.

The post from RoMad reminded me that I knew a farmer who had a similar mishap but was wearing long trousers and was killed outright when his head hit the concrete on which he had parked the tractor. I have heard of similar non-fatal accidents. I have always worn Wellingtons, even through Australian and Portuguese summers. I cannot have such an accident, but no doubt there are many more ways I could kill myself with a tractor and implements.

Wagtail, If my memory is right, the NSW "trots" go counterclockwise. In the UK some horse racecourses go one way, some the other. No idea why. Something to find out on a rainy day.

 

[xtn]

I don't know about the other things, but NASCAR turns left because of the Coriolis effect.

xtn (expert at clever toilet humor)

 

[Wagtail]

Wagtail, If my memory is right, the NSW "trots" go counterclockwise. In the UK some horse racecourses go one way, some the other. No idea why. Something to find out on a rainy day.

No need to wait for that rainy day...

RISA - Racing Information Services Australia: Why Race Courses are Clockwise or Anti Clockwise

And I forgot about the Standardbred trotters. Counterclockwise I believe is standard all across Aus.

I've heard it said that we Aussies will have a punt on which raindrop reaches the bottom of a window pane! :laughing:

 

[Egon]

Depends on the footgear I'm wearing.

 

[OldMcDonald]

Wagtail, I take that link with a rather large grain of salt. First, several of those racecourses are not in England and it is far from being an even half-hearted attempt at listing all the courses. Several major ones are missing. At the same time I have been doing a bit of thinking, and topgraphy appears to be important in the courses I know well - they all finish uphill. Some of them a fairly steep climb and for several furlongs. But, many are flat and there is no obvious reason for them to run one way or the other.

 

[Wagtail]

Well, Mate, it is an Aussie link so I don't think that the intension was to list all the courses in the UK.

You're correct about topography being a factor in (at least) thoroughbred race courses and the link mentioned that... but didn't explain why. You have done that with your "they all finish uphill" observation.

Horses are trained by repetition so standardising track directions is good for the 'industry' as the country & provincial tracks can train the horses up for the major city tracks (and the BIG purses). Horses are also 'right handed or left handed' so the different directions would be slightly advantageous to certain horses. The country & provincial tracks follow the lead of the major tracks.

The thoroughbred racing industry is HUGE in Australia! When you consider our relatively small population, the major capitol cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide & Perth) all support FOUR major tracks! EACH. This coming Tuesday (always the first Tuesday of November) is the Melbourne Cup... otherwise known as 'The Race That Stops The Nation'. It's such a big race that, outside the State of Victoria & the ACT, it's practically an unofficial national holiday.

 

[OldMcDonald]

Wagtail, I forgot to mention that there are also two figure of eight tracks at Fontwell and Windsor.

Totally agree with you about many horses being better suited to right or left hand tracks. I know that many racing people also think that some jockeys are better going one way or the other. My experience is extremely limited, only in "unofficial" races on straight courses except for one on a country track in NSW, but I can see the reasoning behind it - jockeys become accustomed to going in a particular direction as well as the horses.

I am also aware of the importance of TB racing in Australia, and some fantastic horses have been bred there over many years. Black Caviar is only the latest in a long line, and their success in major races around the world is proof of their outstanding ability. I never did get to the Melbourne Cup, being in northern NSW for almost all the time I lived in Australia, but you are right - the whole country seems to stop operating whilst it is being run. Hope you pick the winner on Tuesday. As always, I will watch out for it coming onto YouTube.