"Use your head, before you lose your head"!!

[tmajor]

I called a dealer about a used MF 235. He said, it had been tipped over backwards ... the owner had hooked a rope to the top-link pin (don't know, what he was trying to pull), needless to say, he broke the rule! "Never try to pull anything, from an attachment point above the axle"!! I know of another, who was skidding logs ... he "broke the rule", but didn't live to do it again!

 

[rd_macgregor]

It is great to follow all the "rules" and avoid bad situations. However, it is also good to have all safety (fallback) gear in place to help protect against the consequences of a mistake. I was a bit alarmed to see how many tractors on the firewood thread did not have ROPS. I consider working in the woods to be the riskiest place I operate my tractor, so not having ROPS/seat belt would make me very uneasy.

 

[EddieWalker]

What is a top-link pin?

 

[tmajor]

I agree, "the woods is a very dangerous and unpredictable environment". However, many of the older tractors don't have the ROPS or seat-belts. "Caution, experience and COMMON SENSE play a very large roll in the first steps to safety!" There will always be accidents, but most could have been prevented.

To add: Some very simple, "seeming" conditions can go bad in a hurry. As an example: taking a trailer or wagon loaded with hay bales, going down a steep hill can jack-knife and roll over, as well as going across a hill can roll over. ... "In a heart beat"!

 

[tmajor]

What is a top-link pin?

The pin or pins, that hold the top-link to the tractor ... usually behind and near the seat .... part of the 3PTH system.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks, I was thinking of something else.

 

[FredH]

This past elk season , a older gentleman was critically injured here in Oregon when He tried to use a 4 wheeler to drag out his elk . Pretty similar in details , he had tied a rope to the back of the 4 wheeler . likely the rack on the back and proceeded to take off . Made it a ways until a incline and it flipped it right over . He landed on the elk's horns , which apparently added insult to injury . :shocked:

Fred H.

 

[DarylWest]

That is cool!

 

[nybirdman]

We had a woman killed on our road a few years ago;her husband had stuck his firewood truck,they hooked up an 8N/9N to the top link to pull out.It flipped over backwards.Happens real quick.

 

[plowhog]

I called a dealer about a used MF 235. He said, it had been tipped over backwards ... the owner had hooked a rope to the top-link pin (don't know, what he was trying to pull), needless to say, he broke the rule! "Never try to pull anything, from an attachment point above the axle"!! I know of another, who was skidding logs ... he "broke the rule", but didn't live to do it again!

I recently took delivery of a new tractor and Farmi skidding winch. I was surprised the owner manual advised skidding logs while the cable was connected to the top pulley. It explains this is to prevent logs from digging in. It advises that when getting the log between 5 and 10 feet from the tractor, to move the cable to the lower pulley.