When are kids old enough to start operating tractor?

[yelbike]

I having a round table discussion the other day, and the subject came up of when people started operating tractors. An older fellow said he had his 7 and 9 year old grandsons cutting grass with his riding mower.

It stunned me a little, I intiatally thought it was too young. Then I was thinking back, geez I learnt to drive a boat when I was 10 years of age. Of course it was always under the direct surpervision of my dad. By 14 years of age I was guiding people by myself though larger bodies of water in pretty adverse conditions.

Anyways......my son is 9 years old, is that to young? I've been teaching him with my john deere z465 (Its a zero turn mower).

 

[magicheater]

Maturity level and proper tutoring for children is important, skill level is dependent on seat time so it would be possible to have a 14 yr. old with a greater skill level than lets say a 40 yr. old new operator. The parent would ultimately determine the age of induction to tractors/machinery. All kids are different, I know some at 10 that have more on the stick than some 20 year olds. Most are the product of environment, hard to make a blanket statement about "the right age".

 

[nspec]

I drove a Cat D-8 on the farm when I was 10. I had a little help. At 12-13 I was regularly loading the mixer wagon with grain and silage with a front end loader then running the mixer to feed the cows all on my own.

I say get 'em learning as soon as they can safely reach the pedals - with ample supervision. It will benefit them greatly later in life.

 

[jcl22]

I drove a Cat D-8 on the farm when I was 10. I had a little help. At 12-13 I was regularly loading the mixer wagon with grain and silage with a front end loader then running the mixer to feed the cows all on my own.

I say get 'em learning as soon as they can safely reach the pedals - with ample supervision. It will benefit them greatly later in life.

X2

I agree its how i learned and the way im teaching my kid she 10 and has a smile on her face the whole time she idling around the yard on a 45hp new holland, know when in time it turns into real work it my be a different story.

 

[RaydaKub]

My dad had me out doing primary tillage when I was 6. He would patiently explain what to do, then show me one round, then let me drive 3 rounds with suggestions, but let me do it all. He'd hop off and start planting behind me. I never applied chemicals, just disk and field cultivated. He used maybe 12 end rows for corn when it was just him and probably 20 for me.

Maybe I was exceptionally suited for this and maybe he was extremely good at explaining it. I know a lot of 14 year olds I wouldn't let touch a garden tractor, muchless something bigger. But 9 years old? Good grief! Get'em out there! I taught our pastor how to drive 2 tractors one time after my dad bought a day's labor from him on a fund raiser. I was only 8. :thumbsup:

 

[ultrarunner]

I was steering the tractor alone up and down the rows turning the hay at age 4... of course I was not alone in the fields..

At age 10, I was allowed to drive the tractor with grass into the stable to feed the milk cows and at age 13, my grandfather allowed me to cut the grass with the sickle mower mounted on his tractor.

It was something I really enjoyed... my brothers were not interested in the least...

I would say every circumstance is different... maturity, aptitude, equipment, terrain and conditions...

 

[Professor Marvel]

I see in the news this week that someone thinks children should be breast fed until the ages that you folks were running equipment. Looks like a big disconnect between what you (and I) and other parts of society think is acceptable.
Just seems to me that things get crazier and more pathetic every day.

 

[wedge40]

I was cutting grass on a rider when I was 9 or 10.. I really think it depends on how mature the kid is.. Heck I've seen adults I wouldn't trust on machinery.

As far as the farm act is concerned I'm glad it didn't pass and doubt it will go very far. Growing up local farms used a lot of child labor to get menial things done. If this were stopped then the only farming left will be corporate farming..

Wedge

 

[Qapla]

I started driving our Ford 9N when I was 8. By the time I was 9 I was the one in the seat when we pulled stumps - I had trouble with the heavy chain but could reach the pedals and drive the tractor so my Dad handled the chain.

I was also pulling a set of drag-disks (we didn't have any 3-point ones) on about 10 acres. By the time I was 12 I was also bush-hogging. I worked for a neighbor harvesting corn when I was 14. The following year, when I was 15 (back then we could our operator driver's license at 15) I not only drove the tractors during the harvest but, when we needed to go get some parts for one of the tractors, I drove the semi-tractor into town because I knew where the tractor store was.

BTW- I was also driving a boat before I was 10.

 

[tonyoz]

I was steering my dads tractor(Fordson Major) at 4yrs old when he was poisoning rabbits. He would put it in a low gear then tell me where to head to then jump off and start laying out the oats that were on the tray.In those days he had 600 acres, 600 starving sheep and about 6 million rabbits, and thats no exaggeration.During the school hoildays was TRACTOR TIME helping with the cultivation and other farm duties. 14yrs later I left to make my own way in life and that farm was carrying 3000 breeding sheep and 140 acres of crops
Now some new age councillor would say that it was a missed opportunity to become a lawyer or some such and stop kids working with their dads as exploited labor but geez I loved it then and still do. Aint nothing like fresh air and the roar of a sweet running engine.:thumbsup:

 

[Rhinorider]

I'm with the concenus here. Depends on maturity. I ran a JD 350 dozer when I was 7 and D-9's buy 12. It seems to me that my generation (boomer) has dropped the ball by not educating our youth on mechanical abilities. There are members of my family that have a hard time finding the pull rope on the mower, let alone getting on a piece of machinery.

 

[930ck]

Ran a wd 45 allis by myself springtoothing at around 10 years old, wasnt strong enough to push in on the clutch so my dad would get me going, then jump off, told me if something went wrong or I finished, just turn tractor off. My dad did make sure to start me away from the edge of the field. By that age I had logged many hours of fender time.

 

[Darrenone]

To me it is about the child, each very different. My son is a very cautious child and listens very well to what I tell him about equipment. We talk about how dangerous machinery can be and that they are not a toy. I had him on a 4 wheeler with me before he could walk. He is 5 now and can drive my zero turn mower better then my wife. I don't actually let him mow, but he drives it very well. He can drive my fathers dozer with me sitting in the seat with him, he has operated mini excavators, again with me or relative in the seat with him. He operates the back hoe on my Kubota very well. I believe all these experiences help him in life. He learns how to judge distance and speed, learns common sense and how to be cautious with equipment. I do believe all of this will help him as he gets older.

 

[Triguy1]

I am all for teaching young and letting them experience the kinds of things that I did. One limiting factor is the seat nanny on my BX. My 9 and 10 year old are not heavy enough to run it, though I was out operating heavy equipment at that age. I will not override the safety equipment as it is there for a reason, but that means that my kids will have to delay the true independent experience. That may be ok, I guess.

 

[Domush]

I agree with many of the replies, any age would be entirely arbitrary.

I think you are old enough when you are able and willing to respect the dangers inherent in operating a Tractor and not one day prior.

 

[FinMod]

As I was mowing yesterday, I was thinking of just this topic. I have 2 boys just shy of 9 - one of which has been looking forward to driving the tractor. He is generally a bit unfocussed, but understands a tractor is serious and brings his "A" game. When I quiz him on the steps for stuff like mowing, he works straight through a mental list - ROPS, seat belt, engine speed, PTO position, PTO, etc. I am sure he could mow the flat, football field sized section of our lawn but for one thing. He is thin and cannot reach the pedals with enough weight on the seat to go forward and still keep it running. When I drove tractor (at about his age) I had no ROPS, no seat belt and had speed controlled by hand throttle. My question on this topic is around pedal extension or an alternate solution for a short light driver on a John Deere 2520?

Thanks, Ray

 

[radioman]

Well -- I'd say it depends on kids maturity. Problem is that 20 years ago, alot of things were more manually done, kids were given more heavy duty responsibilities. Now things are more automated, taken for granted, less time was taken to teach young kids value of hard work. So the age to start using tractors or heavy eequipment seems to go up proportionally to the poor attitudes of kids these days.

I wouldnt be surprised to see a 7-10 year old driving a tractor on a farm compared to a 18 year old learning how to drive a riding mower in suburbs. Stereotyping? yes I am unfortunately.

 

[bucktaker]

While I agree with the general tone of of maturity lets not forget the tragic news of some young child who is seriously injured or killed while operating machinery. Accidents do happen often. Proper supervision and maturity are the keys in this disscusion.

 

[wedge40]

Of the people that started at an early age. how many things did you run into and what..
I was on riding 3 speed mower.. I do remember screwing up and riding the thing up one of the swing set poles.. Managed to stop in time and was worried that Dad would see the paint missing on the Cub and have a cow. Funny thing was about a week later he ran the thing into the cloths line pole.. Same spot same paint.. LOL

 

[yelbike]

Thanks for the comic relief!!!:laughing::cool2: