I have a confession to make...

[MarkV]

Henro, its been a long time, glad to see you. Are you still making beer?

MarkV

 

[Bird]

I let a couple of grandkids, 6 and 7 years old, "drive" my B7100 Kubota in the pasture.:laughing: It was a 2 range HST and I put it in low range, throttle on idle, and the pasture was pretty flat and level, so as fast as they could go was still slower than I could walk alongside the tractor where I could have quickly shut it off anytime.

And of course, I started using the old hand cranked John Deere L when I was 11 years old and there was no one else around.

 

[DABSGT]

I guess that most of us on TBN found our love for tractors wile sitting on a fathers lap when youngsters. That said we were either very lucky or the persons lap we were sitting on was very careful, wise and had common sense.

 

[Henro]

It is nice to see some faces from way back when! I have not brewed for years now, but I retired on the first of this month so hope to have more time to do things that I have neglected over the past 8 years or so... I have accomplished a lot with my tractors though...hard to imagine getting much done without them.

I am pretty sure I am going to give my grandson a chance to run the loader through its movements. While the tractor is stopped of course.

IF my backhoe is on, I think I will let him work it as well. If I do I will be standing beside him, out of the way of the boom, and will probably strap him into the seat somehow just be sure he stays put. Engine at idle, things will move rather slowly. No digging, just moving things through the range of movement. First thing he will do is lower the stabilizers.

I think this will be a meaningful experience for the boy. He has always been into trucks, tractors and everything boys that are really boys like.

 

[timswi]

What county do you live in henro?...I live a few miles north of Pittsburgh too---Like 35, Beaver County.

 

[ronjhall]

Welcome back Bill.
I let my 5 year old grandson ride on the tractor. But not while working. After that first ride I had to take the key out. Never know when he would like to take it for a ride by himself. He is now 12 years old and ready to learn how to operate the tractor on his own. I still keep the key in my pocket.

 

[txdon]

Bill this summer I had a German friends come to Tx and their 11 year old son helped me with digging mesquite. We had a huge language barrier the learning was mostly with hand signals and tone of voice. Number one lesson was to watch me and do exactly as I communicated to him. He was mature and serious enough and through the test runs followed my directions perfectly. I let him dig the mesquite out himself and he got quite good at it - sometimes getting the 4'root out with just one scoop. We worked all morning till he got sunburned. To make the point to him about how safe and carful he should be he first had to give me his newly assembled 1000 piece really cool lego race car. The deal was if he broke my tractor I could break his car. He took tractor work very seriously.

I also have another relative same age and there is no way I would let him operate the tractor by himself. He does not listen.

 

[jinman]

Hi Bill, good to see your post and hear you are doing well. Congratulations on your retirement. You'll soon discover that retirement is not the "dark side."

As far as taking young kids on a tractor, I say that you need to be careful and cautious, but not to a fault. When and how do you teach a kid to ride a horse? Isn't the horse much more unpredictable than your tractor? If a child approaches a horse from behind and gets kicked, is that because the child was given a ride in the saddle with their grandpa? I don't think so. You and I are in complete agreement on the process for approaching when I'm on the tractor. I over-stress to anyone that the process is to stand clear until you get my attention. In the same vein, I also demand that some activities like using the rotary cutter are NOT spectator sports. The safe distance for loader work is not the same as it is with the cutter. Small children have to be watched by another adult. If they cannot be watched, then it's your responsibility to stop what you are doing for the child's sake. Once a child is 6-8 years old, they should understand what you mean by staying away and be punished if they don't follow your instructions.

I let my 13 year-old grandson operate my tractor and full-size TLB, but only if I am there with him. I have never let him around while I'm operating the rotary cutter. Like TxDon said, some kids take longer to mature than others. I still have to closely supervise him because he wants to get too fast and reckless. One thing for sure, kids won't learn by just watching. They have to experience some demonstration and practice seat time to become operators. Then, they want to learn to drive the car. . .

 

[DABSGT]

Training and supervision are key. The more you keep a child away from something they have an interest in the greater the chance they will get into something when no one is around. More children are injured and killed due to curiosity due to lack of knowledge than most might think. Our parents or grand parents gave us the opportunity to do things that today society would call foolish. I had my children sit on my lap when young for tractor rides but I also introduced them to proper handling of a weapon, although properly stored I never worried that they would get into them. They were aware of the danger and respected it. My oldest son, 23 yrs, can now out shoot most people I know and my baby girl, 19 yrs can shoot and will jump on a tractor to help out when given the opportunity. Experience, proper supervision, common sense and sharing our knowledge with the young is the best thing we can do for them.

 

[mikehaugen]

Training and supervision are key. The more you keep a child away from something they have an interest in the greater the chance they will get into something when no one is around. More children are injured and killed due to curiosity due to lack of knowledge than most might think. Our parents or grand parents gave us the opportunity to do things that today society would call foolish. I had my children sit on my lap when young for tractor rides but I also introduced them to proper handling of a weapon, although properly stored I never worried that they would get into them. They were aware of the danger and respected it. My oldest son, 23 yrs, can now out shoot most people I know and my baby girl, 19 yrs can shoot and will jump on a tractor to help out when given the opportunity. Experience, proper supervision, common sense and sharing our knowledge with the young is the best thing we can do for them.

These are all excellent points... as are most here.

And I know what you guys mean about maturing. I have a daughter that just turned 11 that may start "tractor training" fairly soon (thinking maybe spring). I have a niece that just turned 15... don't think I would want her sitting on the seat with the key out, empty fuel tank, loader and implements lowered, and steering wheel removed.