Retired state trooper injured by tractor ...

[F1520]

"Retired state trooper injured by tractor on his Bethlehem Twp. farm"

Retired state trooper injured by tractor on his Bethlehem Twp. farm | NJ.com

I do not know anything about this accident but I would guess that he tried to operate one of the controls while standing next to the running tractor and bumped the gear shift lever into gear.

Hope he has a speedy recovery!

 

[Deere Dude]

Wow. I better start watching what I am doing. I nave a tendency to do that. Having a hydrostatic drive, I find myself climbing off the tractor and bumping the 3 speed shifter and putting the tractor in neutral. Better start using the emergency brakes also or shut the thing off.

 

[JDgreen227]

"Retired state trooper injured by tractor on his Bethlehem Twp. farm"

Retired state trooper injured by tractor on his Bethlehem Twp. farm | NJ.com

I do not know anything about this accident but I would guess that he tried to operate one of the controls while standing next to the running tractor and bumped the gear shift lever into gear.

Hope he has a speedy recovery!

Sad to read about, he must have been operating an older model with no safety switches to prevent this unintentional movement. My JD is a hydro and will not move when you depress the forward or reverse pedals unless the seat is occupied.

 

[beenthere]

No one can conclude anything from the sketchy write-up of the accident. We don't know what the writer was referring to about "shifting gears".
If the tractor ended up some distance away and/or piled up against an object that didn't move then possibly it did drop into gear. Or the injured guy started it in gear.

My JD is a hydro, and I move it forward and reverse by reaching to the pedals while off the tractor. I get off the tractor while it is still running too. Most of the time I set the hand brake when I do which precludes moving it "by hand". If on a slope, it will roll on its own even when in a gear "range" as the hydraulics will not act as a brake.

But then, I climb ladders and clean the snow off my roof too, so do a few other things that are "risky".

 

[The Haymaker]

Do it all the time with my HST, no way to attach a heavy implement without it. But then, I am aware where my limbs are during the process, knowing things can roll and shift and being prepared not to be crushed, lose fingers, or worse.

Bottom line is PAY ATTENTION. Know that you can snag a lever, know you can slip and fall on a gearshift, 3pth lever, or joystick. I only egress or depart Bigger Blue from the left just for that reason, and even my 3 year old knows that if he wants to get on with me he is to go around the front of the tractor to the left hand side.

If a 3 year old can be taught to do it right, why can't we?

An accident is nothing more than two acts of complacency crashing together.

A footnote with the dramaqueen media, does it really make a difference whether it was a banker, garbageman or a retired trooper?

 

[JB4310]

With my ehydro I never, ever shut it off or set brake when I hop off on level ground. Even on slope just cock the wheels off to the side, yeah it creeps a little so what.

Move it all the time from the ground on side of the machine, my seat safety is so sensative, just a hand placed on the seat with slight pressure allows me to engage hydro pedals with the other hand. Just imagine the old timers had to do it with a gear machines, operating clutch by hand.

I know some of the super sensative safety folks are thinking it'll be me in the next news storey, but we have a far better chance of getting taken out by a drunk or medicated blue head crossing the yellow line than by working in our yards. You still drive your car 3 ft from a head on death all day, everyday!

JB.

 

[jonyyuma]

Dunnowe,,,Like State troopers are Exempt from a mistake, or Should he have Known better than to operate a tractor in unsafe manner???Baker, beggar or breadmaker?

 

[SixHoeBob]

Not meaning to offend, but this is my thinking; This is not another example of why more safety switches are needed. This is another example of why it is important to be aware of what you are doing and what can go wrong. Tractors and machinery are dangerous by nature. If a person does not have the time to think through what they are doing, they should cease what they are doing and come back when they do have the time.

Just because a person has a tractor/machine, does not mean they are qualified to operate it.

Safe operation is a learned habit that needs to be continually practiced.

When tractors become safe to the point of being foolproof, they will be
un-affordable to everybody and totally useless.

A large Nerf tractor would have no sharp edges or pinch points. Very safe, but totally useless. And then somebody would get suffocated by it.

A thirty year old tractor in good working order is not unsafe, but it does require the operator to think.

Think about what you are doing:thumbsup:

 

[beenthere]

.......Just imagine the old timers had to do it with a gear machines, operating clutch by hand.
.............
JB.

That is why we had hand clutches in those days. Deere had them for years (I grew up using a hand clutch at an age I couldn't set in the seat and had to stand to see over the steering wheel and operate the wheel brakes ). Also the Allis Chalmers had a hand and foot clutch. Their hand clutch was great.

 

[bigbull338]

a prime reason all of us should be careful round tractors.i was taught to never jump on an off tractors while they are running.but i break the rule some when some1 needs the tractor while im on it.an i know i should never do that.because your feet could slipp or you could trip or hang your foot on something.