Safety Belt, For God Sake were your Seat Belts

[actionaj]

I got in the habit of using mine. It feels more comfortable with it on keeps you tight in the seat and your posture straight.

 

[sld]

Very tragic thing.

I am torn on the seat belt thing. The logical side of my brain tells me if something starts to go bad I need to the ability to get off the tractor fast.

My tractor is a small Ford 1210 4X4 with rops. It does not have a seat belt and even though I have never upset it, I feel better without the seat belt in order to make a hasty exit.

In a small tractor like mine, does anyone else see this logic? I have young kids and don't have a death wish but I am not convinced, yet, that being strapped in is the best thing to do.

Educate me if I am wrong, please.

 

[farmboy12]

I agree with the note to keep it off. Just to get off quick.

The only time we wear seat belts, is when we're lifting a high&heavy load. Or when we take the tractor on a major road for more than a minute.

I take the TC30 and Ford 1620 to different lots to cut grass, on hilly ground. I don't wear my seat belt. I do think about something happening, and no one fining me for a while. However, I think I would rather someone close to me to see me, and know I was gone, then to have them see me suffer.


Kyle

 

[dirtworksequip]

Your chances of not getting injured or killed will always be better if your in the seat with a seatbelt on. Unless you just drive off a highwall or cliff. Years ago there was a dozer operator working on the slope of a dam project and the dozer quit on him.The slope was a 3 to1 about 300 feet long to the toe. When the dozer stalled it started to roll back down the slope of the dam and he jumped to get off the machine. He didn't clear the tracks and was run over and killed by the dozer. The dozer continued down the slope and came to a safe stop at the bottom. If he had stayed in the seat, he would have had a wild fast ride but would still be alive to tell the story.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[jimmyj]

Hey Kyle,

You have commented a few times about not wearing a seatbelt. I don't have nearly the tractor time under my belt that you do but it worries me. It just seems like it is dangerous to take a risk you don't have to. Please respectfully take it from a guy with a few more years on ya, weird stuff happens and it can happen very very fast - I know that some of the time when trouble comes we have time to react, but not always. It's the not always times that kill and maim.

Best wishes, please don't be offended by my comments.

Jim

 

[dirtworksequip]

The point I always try to stress is to ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEATBELT! It seems some people feel that there isn't a need to wear a belt unless they perceive the chance they might be in danger of an accident. Chances are at those times of perceived danger they will actually be more cautious and lower the chance of an accident. Its the time that you don't perceive a chance of an accident and don't have your belt on that can get you killed. Less percieved danger plus less caution equals a greater risk of an accident. Don't take that chance. It's not worth it.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[Bird]

Very tragic thing.

I am torn on the seat belt thing. The logical side of my brain tells me if something starts to go bad I need to the ability to get off the tractor fast.

My tractor is a small Ford 1210 4X4 with rops. It does not have a seat belt and even though I have never upset it, I feel better without the seat belt in order to make a hasty exit.

In a small tractor like mine, does anyone else see this logic? I have young kids and don't have a death wish but I am not convinced, yet, that being strapped in is the best thing to do.

Educate me if I am wrong, please.

Yes, you're definitely wrong, but I wouldn't know how to "educate" you or get you to change your mind. Being able to get off fast might sound like a good idea, but I can assure you that things can go wrong so fast that you won't even have time to attempt to jump off, much less actually get off. And even if you could jump off, there's another little problem. If the tractor rolls to the right, there's no way you would be able to jump to the left, and if you could actually jump to the right, you'd probably hit the ground a fraction of a second before the tractor landed on top of you.

In 1995, a neighbor bought an old dozer with a fresh new paint job; looked good, ran good, but no brakes. He didn't really know how to operate it, so he got another neighbor (experienced operator) to assist with cleaning some land. They were both on the machine going uphill when the engine stalled and it rolled backwards down the hill and hit a tree which threw both of them off the machine. I wasn't there when it happened, but was a few minutes later and directed the helicopter in to take the guy with a broken neck to the hospital. He lived another 7 or 8 years, but never walked again. Another neighbor and I built a wheelchair ramp for their house.

I have no doubt at all that a seat belt saved my life on December 29, 1965, when I was a passenger in a car that hit a tree head on hard enough to break my seat belt, but it slowed me down enough I survived.

And when my daughters started driving, they knew I'd be taking their drivers license away from them if I ever saw them driving without the seat belt on.

As with many things, it's been such a habit for me since 1962 that I'm just not comfortable in a car or on a tractor without the seat belt on.

 

[dirtworksequip]

Good points Bird. Here's a pic of our Cat 287B MTL resting on its side. As I said before it's not what I had planned for the day. I did have my seatbelt on, but I didn't percieve any danger in the task I was doing. That was my mistake. I got comfortable and therefore careless. Although I wasn't hurt and there was only minor damage to the machine. I could have spent the day a lot more productively if I hadn't had to take an hour out of the day to get it back on its tracks,plus 4 hours the next day replacing a broken pin bushing. Accidents happen when you least expect them. Please, ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEATBELT.

Sincerely, Dirt
If you want to read the whole story? Do a search for "I knew I should have stayed in bed today"

 

[farmboy12]

Hey Kyle,

You have commented a few times about not wearing a seatbelt. I don't have nearly the tractor time under my belt that you do but it worries me. It just seems like it is dangerous to take a risk you don't have to. Please respectfully take it from a guy with a few more years on ya, weird stuff happens and it can happen very very fast - I know that some of the time when trouble comes we have time to react, but not always. It's the not always times that kill and maim.

Best wishes, please don't be offended by my comments.

Jim

I am no way whatsoever offended. Also, something to point out, half our tractors don't even have seat belts. So sometimes, the option to wear one is unavailable.


Kyle

 

[aczlan]

I agree with the note to keep it off. Just to get off quick.
The only time we wear seat belts, is when we're lifting a high&heavy load. Or when we take the tractor on a major road for more than a minute.

the problem is that you cannot get off fast enough and get clear when the proverbial manure hits the fan, last year I rolled a Cub Cadet lawn tractor (~20hp, 50" deck hydro tranny), I was going up a 30/45 degree slope and the back (turf) tires hit a slippery patch, the tractor started to slide backwards and by the time I could react I was on the downhill side of the tractor and it was on its side, I got up and pushed it back upright, then shut off the motor (I have the motor kill switch disabled, but the deck kill switch works, it shuts off the deck if you get off the seat, then you have to turn it off and back on for it to turn on again)
The whole sequence of events from when the wheel started to slip until I was on the ground was 2-3 seconds, if the edge of the deck had not dug into the mud the tractor would have gone all the way over onto me before I could have done anything.

If you are on a tractor with ROPS and try to jump off odds are that you will end up pinned under something, also if you hit a bump (like the person in the accident at the start of this thread, it is very possible that you could fall of the tractor and get run over or entangled in whatever implement is behind the tractor.

I take the TC30 and Ford 1620 to different lots to cut grass, on hilly ground. I don't wear my seat belt. I do think about something happening, and no one fining me for a while. However, I think I would rather someone close to me to see me, and know I was gone, then to have them see me suffer.

If you are on a ROPS equipped tractor using a seatbelt you are far more likely to walk away from an accident than on a non-ROPS tractor, or than on a ROPS tractor without a seatbelt (the same goes for seatbelts on cars)

so, do your parents a favor and wear a seat belt, because (to me, no offense to anyone here or anywhere) the only thing worse than dieing in a tractor accident would be to be live and be paralyzed from a tractor accident.

Aaron Z