When are kids old enough to start operating tractor?

[Qapla]

To add some perspective to this subject I have a few questions ... first let me say, I was raised in the country and until recently had never been to NY City - however, I have been to many other places like Chicago, Denver, Atlanta, Dallas, Miami and so on ...

Now, the questions :

• At what age is it safe for a child to ...
• Ride the school bus without a parent in the seat next to them?
• Ride public transportation by themselves?
• Ride their bicycle on the street or sidewalk by themselves?
• Play sports on a team - either club or school?
• Learn to water ski?
• Learn to surf?
• Learn to SCUBA Dive?
• Use power tools?
• Learn to cook or use the stove?

Just some things that were thought of by my family while discussing this thread.

 

[ultrarunner]

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.

A very good friend of mine has been driving (Legally) since age 12.

They lived on a farm and his father was injured and could not longer drive... he was the oldest of 6 children and his mother has never had a license.

He was limited to farm activity and would regularly drive the old family truck to and from town to drop-off produce and pick-up supplies... this is in California in the 30's...

When he was 17... he got a job driving a fuel truck for Union Oil to all the rural farms... delivering Diesel, Gasoline and Kerosene... some of the farmers had set-ups to run Kero on their equipment.

I contrast this to today where I know 20 year olds that are still not allowed to drive in the city because it is too dangerous and yet today... just about every teen has a cell around here, call boxes on the highway, etc... yet even with the modern technology, we seem less capable today.

Maybe it's because we no longer have military service?

 

[JoeBuyer]

I can't recall how young I was when I started driving the Ferguson TO20 pulling the hay wagon. I think as soon as my weight could hold down the clutch and I could sit and reach the steering wheel well enough. I seem to recall having to get off the seat and stand on the clutch with 1 leg. I was to do this anytime anyone was yelling. But as far as what is the right age today, I would put safety ahead of all else. I think I would even have them start off in something enclosed.

 

[WilliamBos]

It all depends on the child. I learned how to drive standard on an MF 35.


And for those that want to let lawyers, the government, and politics run your lives and raise your family, put your hand up, and wait to be answered by Uncle Sam. I am sure you will love their answer, and who knows, you may need a permit to let your kids cut the grass.

 

[RoMad]

I tend to disagree about todays kids not being able to run equipment because they are more sheltered, spoiled, or whatever else. I think because of thier use of video and computer games they pick up running equipment really fast. They just need to be taught that "real" equipment is really dangerous.
When we were on vacation one year my middle son (12 at the time) was watching my brothers old neighbor clean stumps and logs out of a creek. The old guy showed my son what the levers did and stood back and watched my son run the backhoe.
My son had never been on anything other than our lawn mower and his go-carts and within a couple of minutes was running the backhoe as well as the guy who owned it.

 

[ultrarunner]

I tend to disagree about today's kids not being able to run equipment because they are more sheltered, spoiled, or whatever else. I think because of thier use of video and computer games they pick up running equipment really fast. They just need to be taught that "real" equipment is really dangerous.
When we were on vacation one year my middle son (12 at the time) was watching my brothers old neighbor clean stumps and logs out of a creek. The old guy showed my son what the levers did and stood back and watched my son run the backhoe.
My son had never been on anything other than our lawn mower and his go-carts and within a couple of minutes was running the backhoe as well as the guy who owned it.

I think it is more they are not allowed to even try in most cases...

Case in point... a co-workers 15 year old son was playing ball and the ball went on the roof... he went and got his father's ladder and retrieved it from the gutter... the house is a single story in the suburbs and his mother is a financial analyst...

Anyway... he was ground for two weeks for getting up on a ladder without adult supervision... no exaggeration.

I stuck up for him and his mother said I would think differently if he was my child and all she has now is visions of him falling off the ladder.

My niece has helped me move cars around the yard... she was 6 and would steer and brake while I pushed... she was so proud of being able to help... zero danger and we had the safety talk...

Anyway... I was at their house one Sunday and my brother needed to push his old Mustang out of the garage... he was getting ready to sell it after 30 years... I said we can do it with the help of the kids... he looked astonished... I told him the oldest, then 7 could steer and brake while the rest of us pushed... he said no-way and then his daughter said, "Daddy, I do it all the time at Uncle's house" that led to another discussion.

Anyway he agreed and it took less time to move the car then talk about it.

Sometimes parents really don't give kids enough credit...

All I can say is I'm thankful for the summers spent on my Grandparents Dairy Farm as a small child... !!!

 

[s219]

We all know how easy tractors tip over and the like, and look how many grown adults have come here to report an accident. I think a well trained kid could handle "nominal" operation of a tractor, but I don't think they have the mental capacity to think about multiple hazard scenarios or anticipate problems. That only comes with age and experience.

 

[nwngunner]

My grandfather had me plowing the snow in the drives with our old truck @ ten years old. I never ran the tractor until later in life as we old an old farmall H and there was no way i could steer it untill i was like 16. Still that narrow front scared the crap out of me and stayed away from it.

The same thing can be applied to when do you take your kid out and teach them how to shoot. I was 6 when i started shooting. Also said above when do you start your kids helping with power tools. I have been working with my father and grand father with power tools from about the same age i could shoot. Lots of time was spent on safety and things were not toys. I seen what could happen when you dont pay attention to what you are doing. I agree with the comment above about video games and children, it does improve hand eye coordination at a much faster and earlier point then previously.

It depends on the child. If and or when i ever have children, i to will be taking my children out to learn all the things i was taught. I

 

[tessiers]

We all know how easy tractors tip over and the like, and look how many grown adults have come here to report an accident. I think a well trained kid could handle "nominal" operation of a tractor, but I don't think they have the mental capacity to think about multiple hazard scenarios or anticipate problems. That only comes with age and experience.

I believe my daughter at 8 has better mental capacity than a lot of adults driving around. She is calm, collected and asks a lot of good questions. She realizes the tractors can do a lot of harm. She can not drive the new JD because she isn't heavy enough to press clutch and seat at the same time, however she is good on the older tractors and I trust her more than I did her mother at 25. She was straight from the city and never touched an animal bigger than a ****zu until she fell for me. I was working on fence lines along the road a few years ago and had trash strewm for about 1/2 mile. I put my 4 year old on the seat creap gear and let her steer while I walked along side and picked up trash throwing it into the bucket. A lady stopped and cussed me in good shape threatening to call the cops, why I don't know, no one was in any danger. It is all in the eye of the handler I guess. A lot of kids die just being born so I fugure if they make it through that we ought to teach them to make a living anyway.

 

[Farmagain]

My Dad walked behind me as I learned to drive our International Farmall in first gear at age 10. By 11 I was plowing on flat ground, and driving tractors to pull trailers to pick up hay. My Dad sort of categorized the danger level and kept me off steep hills and such, but by 12 I could drive about as good as anyone, and a lot better than some of the adults that worked for him intermittently. I think it is the parent's responsibility to teach and assess their children's abilities and keep them safe, but at the same time don't restrict them unnecessarily. By the time I reached age 16 I had over 3000 hours of driving time on one tractor alone, not to mention the dump truck, pick up truck and bulldozer starting at age 15. Times are different now and I don't know a single 16 year old that I would trust on any of my equipment, but they didn't grow up on farms. Just like some kids have great aptitude to play musical instruments, some kids have higher aptitudes to operate machinery than others. Just my opinion.

 

[RaydaKub]

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

The worst I did was I hooked the field cultivator on an old barb wire fence. I had to just shut it down and walk home to get my dad. I didn't have the knack to back up in a turn yet. I felt bad, but it wasn't any big deal to my dad.

 

[kootch88]

I started driving my Dad's 12 hp Craftsman at 6 or so and drove a 10 speed international (in first gear) in the field at about the same age. The old Farmall I was allowed to drive in low gear at about the same age, but the owner had to put it in gear because I couldn't push the peddles standing up. I was too short for the seat and not strong enough to push the clutch in. He had all of us taking a turn at the truck and the tractor. I know we were going a mile an hour, but it was great experience and safe. It also kept us interested and excited to get our turn at the wheel.

 

[Bird]

Thread has been pruned to remove the political discussion and some impolite remarks.

 

[yelbike]

Thread has been pruned to remove the political discussion and some impolite remarks.

Thank you.

 

[Groo]

I learned to shift the old Dodge when I was 10 or 11. I had been steering stuff for a couple of years by then. Dad got the Kubota a couple of years later. I took to it naturally. I went off to college, and moved away for many years. When I came back, it was like I had never left (save for the new dents:laughing


Some people have more ability to operate machinery than others. Dad knows how to do everything, but knows I can do it all better. My Brother is a step below Dad in machinery operating ability (and driving), maybe that is why little brother is so overly cautious in life. In all honesty, talent level was pretty apparent even back when we were younger, and hasn't changed much over the years. Sure anyone can learn to be better, but different people learn at different rates and hit different ceilings.

 

[ham]

I started at age 8 on a cabbed 4020 blading summerfallow. Dad started me out and came back at noon to get me for dinner, then back at it till 5 PM. I didn't have any problems. The cabs were loud so I played the radio louder.

I think each kid is different and you have to be a judge of maturity. You don't put a kid on a tractor to grow him up. You have to have a grown up kid.

Today some of this stuff is so expensive I think the bigger question is how much can you afford to lose.

 

[Triguy1]

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

Well sure. I did flip a cultivator over into a ditch after my Grandfather told me to be careful and not do that. As it happens, once we fixed it, he did the same thing trying to show me how to do it properly...

I also listened carefully as he explained what to do next with the cultivator. Then he was very unhappy (only time I heard him cuss) when it turned out I cultivated over a freshly planed field. As it turns out, that field did better than any of the others that year

Jon

 

[jonyyuma]

I think each kid is different and you have to be a judge of maturity. You don't put a kid on a tractor to grow him up. You have to have a grown up kid.

Today some of this stuff is so expensive I think the bigger question is how much can you afford to lose.[/QUOTE]

This aspect and the chance of a lawsuit, make it a careful decision..I cannot affort to hurt one of the kids, even if it destroyed the tractor??

 

[KubotainNH]

Some people have more ability to operate machinery than others. Dad knows how to do everything, but knows I can do it all better. My Brother is a step below Dad in machinery operating ability (and driving), maybe that is why little brother is so overly cautious in life. In all honesty, talent level was pretty apparent even back when we were younger, and hasn't changed much over the years. Sure anyone can learn to be better, but different people learn at different rates and hit different ceilings.

Many good points on this whole thread but this one is spot on. The kid has to have the aptitude, maturity and be big enough to reach things. I learned very young how to steer and shift 3 on the tree. Learned to drive an old dozer from the same old fellow that I helped at times. I was also taking apart/repairing bikes & motors by this point. Mechanical things enthralled me.

Now I have 3 kids, the youngest is 16. He's the most mechanical and is always asking to drive something. The others also have learned from me including his older brother, we rebuilt a dead Civic for his 1st car. They've all driven our 4wheeler on level ground, auto clutch and stayed in 1st gear. They start off with me behind them. Also can drive the mower when heavy enough to keep the safety on the seat depressed, the clutch isn't really needed on it. Always with a watchful eye until I know they will be safe on it. The kubota came later because you have to reach the clutch but again supervised for the most part although they can get it out of it's home by themselves. If we had snow this past winter it would have been the plow truck to learn.

I have friends that would have no aptitude for this but they are great artistically like with music. Me, I cannot carry a tune. We're all different but I try to make sure my kids all know a bit about their surroundings, lucky for them I have the knowledge to teach them about things like motors, appliances and electricity. Not everyone does.

 

[fgross335_2210]

I started mowing with dad's JD110 LGT at age 6 and driving his 2520 tractor doing tillage work at age 10.....when we bought the 4230 in 1977 I drove it home about 25 miles from the dealer at age 14...big thrill. Also started driving his truck around on the farm (and a short distance on the road from the homestead to the fields) at age 14. By age 12 I could do just about every farm chore except combining, dad was a lot more patient operating our Gleaner "E" then I was. By age 17 I was running the Gleaner "F2" that we moved up to. Never really did much planting, that was another of Dad's favorite things, but did handle both the traditional corn planter and drilled in beans a few times.

I left the farm after high school but remembered the lessons....started my son out on my 335 LGT at age 9 mowing our 2.5 acre yard....since then the 2210 CUT, snowmobiles, chainsaws, boats, jetskis, etc...he has even driven the truck and snowmobile trailer rig a few times (23 foot trailer...does a great job).....so for him going through driver's training and getting his license was a straightforward deal. He's been driving for almost 3 years now accident and ticket free and I believe the respect he learned for machinery at a young age was an important lesson for him.

So sad that he's in the minority these days.....not like when we were growing up 30-40-50 years ago...the times have changed. The lessons stay the same!