Seatbelt saved my life....

[Redgoatea]

So my dad and I decided to do some shaping and grading today on one of our hillsides. He in the Kubota excavator (kx121-3) and me in the JCB skid (1110T). Before today I have never used the seat belt in the skid I had to find it just to put it on. Usually I'm just hauling dirt, rock, compost, or pulling down trees and cutting trails in the woods. Today's work seemed like seatbelt work for some reason.

So coming down the hill at one point I got to the base and dumped the load of dirt I had just scraped off. Instead of backing up the hill I decided to pull forward and turn around so I could inspect my work. I drove over my dirt pile and forgot to lower the bucket from dumping. (I know rookie mistake from being in a hurry.) As soon as the tracks crossed the peak of the pile the skid toppled over. The bucket being up did two things. First it set me off balance enough to topple over and second it stopped the skid from doing a complete forward rollover. So I was left facing straight down hanging by my seatbelt wirh the tracks pointing vertically up to the sky. Had I not been wearing it I'm pretty sure I was leaning forward enough that my weight would have pushed the lap bar out of the way as I tumbled out of the cab onto the ground right where the bucket would have come down and crushed me.

Wish I had the chance to take a pic but didn't have a camera and couldn't have gotten out anyways. My dad came over with the excavator, grabbed onto my bucket and pushed me back up the right way. We laughed about it and then I told him to put his seat belt on. He did.

Thanks for reading. Be safe and wear your seatbelt. I know I will from now on. 7

 

[dcyrilc]

Glad to hear that you're OK. I enjoy reading your replies to the different threads. Kinda like hearing from a neighbor since you're just south of us.

Be careful and stay safe.:thumbsup:

 

[Redgoatea]

Hi Cyril hope all is well up in the north for ya. Almost time for the rains to start.

 

[First one]

Wow, that must have been a pucker factor of about 8:shocked: Glad your ok and your dad to ,bet he was alittle freaked out until he saw you were ok :thumbsup: You know I have a cab and don't wear my belt either, that feeling of being unsafe inside that cab does't cross my mind until I pick up a back wheel or get alittle tippy. When doing things around the house I don't even thing about it, but there are times good old common sense kicks in .Keep on skidding and be safe:thumbsup:

 

[Thomas]

Whew..to close for comfort,glad your still w/us.

 

[dcyrilc]

Hi Cyril hope all is well up in the north for ya. Almost time for the rains to start.

For us it started about a month early. It's had trouble getting out of the 60s all summer. A few hot days into the 90s, but then right back to the mid 60s.

 

[rd_macgregor]

For me, anything that I should be doing routinely HAS to be a habit. This means that I routinely fasten my seatbelt when I take my seat (in the car or tractor). When you are doing a lot of short-hop things, with frequent mount/dismount cycles, this is irritating, but I still do it, so as not to get slack and lose the "habit".
Last night I was working in the woods on narrow, tilted trails, going slow and belted in, but I wondered what damage the gallon of chain lube, the axe and other misc. paraphernalia loose in the cab might do to me if I rolled over.
BOB
edit: it is too easy to lose the seatbelt in my tractor; the car manufacturers have done a lot better job of making/keeping the seatbelt accessible, so it is easier to use routinely. rdm

 

[JCB]

the car manufacturers have done a lot better job of making/keeping the seatbelt accessible, so it is easier to use routinely. rdm

That's a good point. I don't always wear a seat belt on a tractor, and sometimes it's a fight to get the thing clicked with a big gloved hand.

It would be nice to see more prominent and easy to use restraint systems.

 

[dcyrilc]

When I got my tractor last spring, it came with a ROPS and no seatbelt. That's one of my projects for this winter. Install a seatbelt.:thumbsup:

 

[Qapla]

... We laughed about it and then I told him to put his seat belt on...

SO, how many changes of clothes do you carry in that loader :laughing:

I can appreciate your experience ... I have seen many SSL operators make similar "rookie" mistakes on jobs. I'm not sure if they ever went totally vertical, but several have needed help to get the machine back on the tracks.