Safety First

   / Safety First #1  

Harv

Elite Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2000
Messages
3,371
Location
California - S.F. East Bay & Sierra foothills
Tractor
Kubota L2500DT Standard Transmission
Thought it was time to start a new thread on all this safety talk. "Off Topic & Just For Fun" doesn't seem quite right for such an important topic, but it didn't quite fit in the other categories, either.

Since I am still shopping for my first tractor, they don't get any more "beginner" than I am. I have been reading this board avidly for months now, taking special notice of all your safety concerns, experiences and especially that OSHA "tractor safety" page that someone pointed us to (was that MarkC?). The net effect is that
<center><h2>YOU HAVE SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME!!!</h2></center>
... and I want to thank you one and all!

Back before I ever learned to drive a car I was exposed to one of those Highway Patrol slide shows demonstrating, quite graphically, what can happen to people who have no respect for driving safety. Those incredibly gory on-the-scene color pictures were burned into my brain and are still there. The result? I have a great respect for what a ton of moving metal and excessive speed can do to human flesh and why seatbelts (actually not used back in my day) are not just for sissies. I feel I am a much safer driver today than I would have been had I not seen those slides.

So far from this board I have concluded that when I do get my tractor:

1. Seat belt and ROPS will be mandatory -- simply not and option.

2. My kids (3 and 8) will have to watch dad on his new putt-putt from a safe distance. In the beginning this may require binoculars. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif They will only be allowed on or near the tractor when it is powered down, tools on the ground and keys in Daddy's pocket.

3. I will stay away from anything resembling a slope until I have a pretty darn good feel for the controls and how to use them (this must sound pretty basic to most of you, huh?).

4. Take "baby" steps in learning the feel of the beast.

5. Always carry the bucket low when on the move.

6. Back up the steep slope, come down forward.

7. Pay attention to my own fluid/electrolyte levels on hot days.

8. "If it feels unsafe, it probably is".

As basic as it is, this is just the beginning of a list which I hope you all can add to, along with more stories (graphic or not) to demonstrate your point.

Unfortunately, I am human and I realize it will just be a matter of time before I break one of these rules, but I hope by burning as many of your experiences into my brain as I can, I can "tilt" the odds in my favor.

HarvSig2.gif
 
   / Safety First #2  
Harv, I too remember the driver training films, especially the one showing the unseatbelted guy that flew out and landed up on a telephone pole "stuck" on one of those old style foot hooks they used to have.

When I first started playing on a tractor I read (don't remember where) state accident reports involving tractors. Guys killed by their machines running over them, hitting them, falling off them etc etc etc. I began my experience, EXPECTING my tractor to start up, go in gear, come after me and drop the bucket on me. Everytime I got on it I was ready for the slip and fall, couple times almost did but I was ready. You get on in a hurry with muddy feet and you can find your teeth chewing on the step. Now I have these two Kubotas that are like getting on my recliner...easy and safe. Big steps and/or lots of operator room, which translates into safety.

Harv, hurry and get something so you can post your minor disasters and post your pictures, don't let me be the only one! (Like when you back over your wife's roses!)

del
 
   / Safety First #3  
Harv;
You have the right attitude! What irks me are people who jump on any machine for the first few hours of operation (cars included) and have an attitude of 'I already know what I'm doing'. I stay safely out of their way. I only ran my tractor the first 5 hours or so when my own sons weren't around. I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing before innocent victims were involved (not that my boys are always innocent)! Like Del, I have publicly confessed on this forum some early house-wreaking experiences. (When implements were first used. Watch that front and back, the tractor becomes longer and wider!) Start off slow and easy. Get the feel for her.
 
   / Safety First #4  
Harv, you've got the right idea. I'm one of those nuts that's been using seat belts routinely since 1962. When I buy a new vehicle - or tractor - or almost anything else, I want to read the owner's manual all the way through before I try operating it. And in nearly 25 years law enforcement experience, I've not only seen lots of those films, I got to see a lot more of it in person than I wanted to. I guess if anyone has no excuse for making mistakes, I'd have to be the one, but I still do sometimes!/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif It's hard to keep thinking about safety all the time, but it only takes a split second to make a tragic mistake.

Bird
 
   / Safety First #5  
Harv,
I learn couple other lessons over the years
1.Watch out for ice. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif
2.When you feel yourself start to get tried don't push yourself..take a break or you pay a price. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

By the sounds your on the right track,so make a little room in your barn,shed etc.. for your new toy oops investment. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Thomas..NH
 
   / Safety First #6  
That O.S.H.A. link is a cool one sure made me rethink some of the things that I do. Lets see number nine could be Live and Learn. The key is not to rush thats when things usually turn bad or from bad to worse.

I found that link by doing a search tractor+safety Harv you should do the same alot of very informative weblinks came up from that search. When you do get your tractor don't be scared of it just respect what can happen if your not careful.
Gordon
 
   / Safety First #7  
Oh yeah, the driving safety films. I almost forgot, in the Air Force, we almost always had to see a traffic accident film, and usually a disease film, during monthly Commander's Call. I'm not sure the accident films were all that effective, because we were feeling pretty invincible. I guess feeling invincible is a consequence of having the potential of being shot at. Feelings of invincibility are deadly with tractors. I went through them with motorcycles as well.

You start off learning the safety rules and following them all. Then comes the feeling that 'you've got the machine,' and some of the rules start falling away-after all following some of the rules is pretty inconvenient. That's the time of greatest risk, because there's really not a lot of experience with and control over the machine yet.

I'm probably in that phase right now. Despite the warnings 'Never do anything while the tractor is running except sit in the seat.' I've started operating the hitch while standing beside the tractor or raising the bucket to grease some zirks while it's still running--sometimes.

These things are not good to do, but they are convenient. I hope I've developed enough of a safety sense to recognize when I'm at risk and to make a decision to accept the risk or not. Feeling invincible is bad, but not know risk when you're in it is even worse.

Uhhhhm, I operated a box scraper for most of an afternoon and an hour the following day without putting in the lower link lynch pins. Didn't notice until one pin was only in one side of its mount.

I changed from pallet forks, which has build-in lower pins, to the scrapper. I wondered where the extra lynch pins came from at the time. Figured they were from some spare link pins, and forgot about it. Beats me how I could swap implements, use the scrapper for that long and even park and chain up the tractor and get it the next day without noticing. Fortunately nothing bad happened.

I did a little flying, and there is a pre-flight inspection checklist form you're supposed to check off as you go through the inspection. Such a thing probably might be good for tractoring too. At least after not noticing the missing pins, I wonder what else I might miss.
 
   / Safety First #8  
I don't know that you can ever talk too much or do too much when it comes to safety around tractors and equipment. This may sound a bit like overkill, but I have a "pre-use" routine I always go through before I do anything with a tractor. I always do a walk-around visual inspection, check fuel and oil, make sure the seat belt is ok, and only then climb aboard. I never move the machine without performing a "clear check" all the way around, and will not move a tractor in a hurry.

When actually operating the machine, the old adage "speed kills" always applies, and I've instilled this in my sons and daughters. Slow and easy may take a little longer, but the peace of mind for me and the family is worth a few extra minutes. And that's usually what a cautious and steady approach to a project means, just a few extra minutes. It may not be as much "fun" sometimes, but.......

Now, I'll be the first to admit a few lapses here and there. Like backing the bush-hog over some tomato plants in the garden, or hooking a fence post or two with the front loader and ripping out 20 or 30 feet of fence. But I've found that a dedicated effort to operate cautiously and safely can pay off.

You don't have to be afraid of the tractors and equipment we operate, you simply have to have a solid respect for what it is capable of, and understand that all power equipment requires the operator to work in a safety first/common sense mode.

It's all about investing a few minutes.

Well, that's my two or three cents worth.

Bob Pence
 
   / Safety First #9  
I was just now checking some of the news on The Dallas Morning News web site and there's a brief story about a city worker being killed by the mower he was using at http://www.dallasnews.com/metro/165642_mower_07met.html. Not much information, but it appears that he got off the mower, left it running, it started to move, and he tried to stop it.

Bird
 
   / Safety First #10  
A few others, too.

Don't get off the tractor with the PTO running. Don't let anyone stand within 10 feet of a running PTO or 100 feet of a running rotary mower (and that can still get someone hurt).

When you use an implement for the first time, check the range of motion and clearance of the pto shaft very carefully and very slowly.

One guy got a $1200 lesson when the top link came loose on the box blade and the scarfiers punchered both rear tires. Most lessons on tractors are economic (particularly if you mow too close to things) but watching a rock hurl 200 feet through the air makes you glad you weren't standing in its way when you decided to buy a rotary mower with no chain guards.

All PTO driven machinery is capable of immense harm to people when used improperly.

The owners manual on Kubotas is written well for those with minimal experience.
 
 
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