mundamanu
Silver Member
This post is about the apparently too challenging task of not being an idiot, even though in the end there was no accident.
On the property that my wife and I manage, we have a much abused poorly maintained tractor whose top link pin was lost long before we took over. Rather than buy a new one, lazy me just slides a long 3/8" bolt through the holes and holds the top link in place that way. At first, I used a nut, but the rattle rattled the nut off, so now, I just slide the bolt through without the nut. The rattle rattles the bolt out of the holes unless I reach back every now and then and slide it back into place. Note that as the bolt bends from the force of dragging, it slides out of place slower and slower.
Anyway, the other day, I hooked the 3-pt. harrow back up after doing some maintenance on the scarifiers and drove off to the riding arena. I made it around the ring a couple of times and reflexively (at this point) reached back to tap the bolt back into place. I discovered that I had placed the bolt in backwards, with the end rather than the head sticking out where my hand was.
So, what do I, being a safety conscious tractor operator, do? Do I shut the tractor down, dismount, walk behind, pull the bolt, reverse it, remount and restart? Nope! Do I shut the tractor down, twist around in my seat, pull the bolt, reverse it, untwist and restart? Nope!
Are you ready?
Here's what I did: I depressed the clutch, leaving the tractor IN GEAR (2nd gear, high!) and ignoring completely the throttle, which was set at about 1900 RPMs, and depressed the breaks. I then twisted myself into a pretzel in my seat so that I could use both hands to reverse the bolt, since when I pulled the bolt, the top link would drop. There I am twisted in a pretzel, but of course, the top link hook-up is below the back of the tractor seat. So, of course, I lean backwards over the seat, twisted like a pretzel, continuing to depress the clutch and the breaks with my tippy-toes while the tractor is IN GEAR (2nd gear, high!) and revving at 1900 RPMs! To make matters worse, just as I start to pull the bolt, I think to myself that it is highly unlikely that I could be doing a more idiotic thing. It registers as plain as day that I am fully conscious of the fact that if my clutch foot were to slip just as I pulled the bolt, the tractor would lurch foward and I would likely topple over the back of the seat, dropping the top link in the process, and find myself head down and being dragged to death, or near to it, while trapped between the sway arms. Do I listen to myself, stop what I am doing and follow one of the safer procedures detailed above? Nope! I pull the bolt with one hand while balancing the top link with two fingers of the other (I am twisted, stretched and leaning so badly that I can't get my whole hand around it), quickly reverse the bolt and slide it home.
And guess what? Just as I am untwisting, unstretching and unleaning, my clutch foot actually slips! I caught it before I lost the clutch pedal completely, but it definitely slipped. The idiocy and extreme danger of what I had just done hit me in the chest like a truck, even though I had been perfectly well aware of it while I was doing it. I hung my head for a minute, thanked my lucky stars, and then drove off and finished the job.
So, I make public my idiocy in the hopes that it will give some some pause. We generally know perfectly well when what we are doing is idiotic. Do not be an idiot like me; practice safe tractoring and listen to yourselves!
On the property that my wife and I manage, we have a much abused poorly maintained tractor whose top link pin was lost long before we took over. Rather than buy a new one, lazy me just slides a long 3/8" bolt through the holes and holds the top link in place that way. At first, I used a nut, but the rattle rattled the nut off, so now, I just slide the bolt through without the nut. The rattle rattles the bolt out of the holes unless I reach back every now and then and slide it back into place. Note that as the bolt bends from the force of dragging, it slides out of place slower and slower.
Anyway, the other day, I hooked the 3-pt. harrow back up after doing some maintenance on the scarifiers and drove off to the riding arena. I made it around the ring a couple of times and reflexively (at this point) reached back to tap the bolt back into place. I discovered that I had placed the bolt in backwards, with the end rather than the head sticking out where my hand was.
So, what do I, being a safety conscious tractor operator, do? Do I shut the tractor down, dismount, walk behind, pull the bolt, reverse it, remount and restart? Nope! Do I shut the tractor down, twist around in my seat, pull the bolt, reverse it, untwist and restart? Nope!
Are you ready?
Here's what I did: I depressed the clutch, leaving the tractor IN GEAR (2nd gear, high!) and ignoring completely the throttle, which was set at about 1900 RPMs, and depressed the breaks. I then twisted myself into a pretzel in my seat so that I could use both hands to reverse the bolt, since when I pulled the bolt, the top link would drop. There I am twisted in a pretzel, but of course, the top link hook-up is below the back of the tractor seat. So, of course, I lean backwards over the seat, twisted like a pretzel, continuing to depress the clutch and the breaks with my tippy-toes while the tractor is IN GEAR (2nd gear, high!) and revving at 1900 RPMs! To make matters worse, just as I start to pull the bolt, I think to myself that it is highly unlikely that I could be doing a more idiotic thing. It registers as plain as day that I am fully conscious of the fact that if my clutch foot were to slip just as I pulled the bolt, the tractor would lurch foward and I would likely topple over the back of the seat, dropping the top link in the process, and find myself head down and being dragged to death, or near to it, while trapped between the sway arms. Do I listen to myself, stop what I am doing and follow one of the safer procedures detailed above? Nope! I pull the bolt with one hand while balancing the top link with two fingers of the other (I am twisted, stretched and leaning so badly that I can't get my whole hand around it), quickly reverse the bolt and slide it home.
And guess what? Just as I am untwisting, unstretching and unleaning, my clutch foot actually slips! I caught it before I lost the clutch pedal completely, but it definitely slipped. The idiocy and extreme danger of what I had just done hit me in the chest like a truck, even though I had been perfectly well aware of it while I was doing it. I hung my head for a minute, thanked my lucky stars, and then drove off and finished the job.
So, I make public my idiocy in the hopes that it will give some some pause. We generally know perfectly well when what we are doing is idiotic. Do not be an idiot like me; practice safe tractoring and listen to yourselves!
