Tractor Death

   / Tractor Death #2  
Many of you may recall the Ohio congressman Jim Traficant. Back in the day, he had bad suits, bad hair, and loved to light it up for the CNN cameras....He used to always say "beam me up". As a sheriff, he refused to assign Sherriff patrols to accompany bank personnel foreclosing on homeowners and farmers. He was a decent guy, he gave my brother a picture he painted in jail (yes, he did time for something, kicked out of congress) in the months before his death. Anyway, it was an old tractor that did him in, pulling into a pull barn at his daughter's place. My brother said immediate aid was slow to arrive because his friend did not know the address...Jim was trapped under the tractor and ultimately died as a result of injuries the next day. These accidents happen more often than you think....these powerful machines can do wonders but a moments inattention or lack of instruction can have such terrible consequences.

Ex. Rep. Jim Traficant is seriously injured in tractor accident | cleveland.com
 
   / Tractor Death #3  
Indeed a shame... RIP.
 
   / Tractor Death #4  
The tractor "slipped into gear", says the article. I wonder if clothing snagged on the gearshift? That happened to me a couple of times (baggy shorts) so I've gone to the trouble to put my tractor into two neutrals (it has three neutrals: the range selector, the shuttle, and the synchro shifter.)
I'm an Ohio boy; Traficant was a difficult person to figure out. A Dem who supported Nazis (according to some) and who wanted the 16th amendment (income tax) repealed. Serious UFO believer. Odd bird.
 
   / Tractor Death #5  
I could not read the article without answering a trick question. Anyone care to give quick details?

Yes, shorts, overalls, cargo/carpenter/military pants with all those things hanging off them and even laces, will in true Murphy style get caught in and on stupid places.
 
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   / Tractor Death #6  
I could not read the article without answering a trick question. Anyone care to give quick details?

Yes, shorts, overalls, cargo/carpenter/military pants with all those things hanging off them and even laces, will in true Murphy style get caught in and on stupid places.

Right you are. I recently got my sneaker lace caught on the differential lock lever. One foot was stuck on the deck, the other on the ground. I am too old for doing splits like that, ouch.
 
   / Tractor Death
  • Thread Starter
#7  
I could not read the article without answering a trick question. Anyone care to give quick details?

Yes, shorts, overalls, cargo/carpenter/military pants with all those things hanging off them and even laces, will in true Murphy style get caught in and on stupid places.

Text of article:

BOURBON — A Marshall County farmer was killed late Friday in a tractor accident north of Bourbon.

According to a report from the Marshall County Sheriff's Department, deputies and EMS workers were called to the 3500 block of 9B Road shortly after 9 p.m. Friday on report of a serious farming accident.

Upon arrival, deputies found that Lester G. Sellers had been working on the tractor when it slipped into gear causing him to be swept under the rear tires. Sellers was pronounced dead at the scene.

A small fire caused by the running tractor was extinguished by the Bourbon Fire Department.
 
   / Tractor Death #8  
I could not read the article without answering a trick question. Anyone care to give quick details?

Yes, shorts, overalls, cargo/carpenter/military pants with all those things hanging off them and even laces, will in true Murphy style get caught in and on stupid places.

I hear you but I once bumped my 1710 into gear while getting off. Fortunately I was still on the platform and had my hands well placed that I could push myself back into the seat. Now I put both gear shifts in neutral and am much more careful.
 
   / Tractor Death #10  
They say my '52 8N only has two safety devices: a mechanical lockout on the starter, and common sense...
 
 
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