Using bucket as work platform.

[mrutkaus]

Great pictures! Boy, a tractor would make you a king in those circumstances...

Mike

 

[Chuck K.]

That's funny Chuck, I got a kick out of your photo.
Looks like you made that just so you could get in there and drink a cooler full of beer!
2x high lol...

Glad you like it Rob, I plan on making a metal version similar to one posted on here when things slow down due to the hurricane.

I noticed in a photo my wife took that the people erecting my shop even used it.. Big Joe (in pic) was scratching his head over the situation....

 

[patrick_g]

You can walk across the street without looking either way and maybe not get killed but that doesn't make it safe. Not getting killed (so far) is not a good gauge of risk.

Some things are just not safe no matter how described nor how much appreciated by other folks who either don't care or don't understand the level of risk.

Most people are not good at risk assessment, especially when the frequency of occurrence (odds of it happening to you) are really low but the severity of the outcome, should it happen, is really high.

Many think Oklahoma is a super unsafe place due to tornadoes. Tornadoes have done a lot of damage in Oklahoma. A statistical analysis of tornado danger near the geographic center of "tornado alley" (goes through Oklahoma) shows that the odds of a residence receiving significant tornadic damage (not just losing a few shingles and not necessarily being leveled but receiving serious damage that effects habitability) is on the order of once in 4,000 years.

There are a lot of folks with storm shelters (safe rooms) who on occasion when conditions suggest, go to them until the danger passes. Why? Although on average a residence may receive significant damage on the order of once in 4,000 years, what if this is YOUR YEAR?

Tractor hydraulics don't catastrophically fail all that frequently, especially if everything looks to be in good shape BUT it does happen. Why attract an epitaph on the order of "he was pretty sure it wouldn't happen to him."

I do dangerous things all the time and sometimes I get injured, mostly superficially as in bruises and abrasions but sometimes a broken bone or laceration that needs treatment (put thumb in table saw or such.) I do try to avoid intentionally risking my life in easily avoidable situations, especially when there are reasonable alternatives. The scarier events I try hard to not repeat so over time I tend to ratchet up my caution a click or two at a time.

Pat

 

[davitk]

Just to stir the pot.

 

[Soundguy]

I vaugely remember using my loader as a roof-lift by tying a couple pieces of bailing twine to the spool control so I could lift/lower myself.. was'nt great.. but it beats the wife trying to do it and dumping the bucket on me..

soundguy

 

[Egon]

Having spent most of my life working on industrial type sites subject to all the Government regulations plus company regulations which exceeded Government regulations and having seen hydraulics fail at inconvenient moments I'm at a loss as to why anyone would want to use a tractor bucket as a man lift. This is the same type of situation as working under hydraulically suspended loads like dozer blades or rear mowers. It could be hoped that the gene pool promoting this use does not reproduce.

On the other hand there are properly designed hydraulic operated machines in the work place for man basket operation. There are also other properly designed machines for lifting objects that work far better than a loader bucket.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Having spent most of my life working on industrial type sites subject to all the Government regulations plus company regulations which exceeded Government regulations and having seen hydraulics fail at inconvenient moments I'm at a loss as to why anyone would want to use a tractor bucket as a man lift. This is the same type of situation as working under hydraulically suspended loads like dozer blades or rear mowers. It could be hoped that the gene pool promoting this use does not reproduce.

On the other hand there are properly designed hydraulic operated machines in the work place for man basket operation. There are also other properly designed machines for lifting objects that work far better than a loader bucket.

So taking a risk = stupid. Perhaps there are other ways to generalize stupid with higher accuracy.
larry

 

[davitk]

My father was a general contractor. One of his most prized possessions was an old (it was 80 years old when he bought it back in the early 50's), stout 40' wood extension ladder; he was a big man and one of the few who could set it. I remember distinctly the day my little brother, then two years old, was noticed at the eve of our 3 story house looking up at Dad working on the 10 pitch roof He survived Since that time my brother has cut that ladder into pieces - he was carrying a bundle of shingles, broke through a rung, then two, then three..... He survived. Dad would not let go of that darn ladder until he saw it in pieces - actually come to think of it I have a few of those pieces in my barn.

Put me in a loader bucket any day, I will manage my own risk thank you very much.

 

[2manyrocks]

I have a machine with a ROPS that has a rollbar behind the seat and in front of the steering wheel. Sort of forms a cage. Well, it's convenient to stand on to cut low lying limbs, too, it doesn't move, and its easier than carrying a ladder around in the field.

But let's admit that this thread reached its high point with Spyderlk's post #185.

 

[tallyho8]

Yes, there are risks in everything. One of my friends who is (was) a fireman and was skilled in climbing ladders fell off one while painting a house breaking a leg, arm, ribs and a vertebrae. My neighbor in the next horse barn down the street fell off a ladder and is now paralyzed from the waist down. One of my best friends fell off a ladder and lost full use of his right hand and had to change occupations. All this within a period of 1 year.

I have many friends who have used a fel as a lift and none have ever been hurt. Perhaps people are more careful on a fel than a ladder as they know they are risky.