Sad day in our neighborhood

[daugen]

you know we all are going to be checking on those zerks now, and I'm going to feel like a smacked butt if I find
them on mine. I grease religiously...and to miss one altogether, not good. Luckily a relatively inexpensive plastic part but still dumb
to ruin it unnecessarily.
But even if I grease the cover properly, still can't get to the zerk fitting on the universal. Why not just cut a one to two inch circle in the cover, assuming
one could easily spin the works to get the zerk lined up with the hole. And I sure don't have any magic fingers able to turn the yellow pto knob off at just right
moment. Like a game show spinner, will it land on my hole?

And perhaps while we all look at our pto shafts we can remind ourselves to stay way away from them, and never ever get out while the machinery is running.
Or if we do, there had better be a second person there ready to instantly turn things off. The physics behind this sadly means injury very quickly.

 

[k0ua]

The La Magdalena covers do have a hole in them to reach the zerk. It is not as big as I would like it to be though.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

This guy has learned his lesson about pants on a tractor: <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=472770"/>

ya but I heard he burnt his *** on the hot metal seat. Lol

 

[Deere Dude]

I agree that the design and engineering of the things is not good. We need some smart engineer to rethink how to release the ends of the shaft covers to make easier access, or larger 'doors as you suggest or something. My Eurocardan really sucks to get the shield off. I have to look it up in the manual nearly every time. Theoretically you can service everything without taking them off, and you can, it is just not much fun.

Just as someone suggested, I went out and took my Land Pride mower PTO shaft off to see what makes it tick. I greased everything but it didn't seem bad.

One think I noticed was the bell over the mower end of the PTO is not hooked to the plastic tube. There is about 3-4" between the end of the plastic tube and that bell end where the rotating shaft is visible. I think I remember cutting the tube off when I got the mower per instruction. That is what I get for reading instructions written in English.

 

[coveredbridge]

When I was a kid maybe 13 or so my Dad and I were in the field bailing hay. Dad was an engineer on the rail road and was on call. My Mom came up to the field to tell Dad he was called to go to work. Mom walked up to the back of the tractor and stood on the draw bar to tell Dad about the call for work. I was on the wagon hooked to the bailer and saw it happen. Her dress got caught in the PTO shaft. Dad shut the tractor off when he saw what happened but the PTO tore her dress off and scraped her left leg up pretty bad. She was very lucky. That is some thing I will never forget. Be careful out ther guys and girls! It happens fast.

I have always told my wife and kids to always be cautious when approaching me if I'm operating my tractor. I may not see or hear you so don't walk right up next to (or behind me). Rather make sure you get my attention from a safe distance and I will stop the machine and get off to talk to you.

Kids listen well, wife tends to forget.

 

[oldballs]

If I did all the greasing that the video in post #57 recommended, I would probably have forgotten what chore I was about to do...........maybe it would have to be on the 25 hour maintenance day only. :laughing:

 

[OkieDave]

My guess is he did several things to cause this accident.

One thing he did is he did not have a PTO shaft shield, with the chains to prevent spinning. My guess is he lost the shield long long ago. The second thing he did was not turning off the PTO before the dismount. There was no reason to do this on a rotary mower ever. The next cause was he got near the PTO shaft. Why did he do that? I suspect he kicked at something the mower was hung up on. Why the he77 he did that I don't know but it made sense to him at the time. Of course the Kick probably brought him into contact with the rotating shaft and the rest happened in a few milliseconds.

This. A hundred times this.

I've had the chance to review several aircraft accidents (my first major was aviation); almost without fail, there is a clear chain of events, not a single one, at each and any of which the chain could have been broken. The same is true of industrial accidents, car accidents...just about any time somebody gets hurt, there were several things that had to happen for the bad outcome to occur.

I'm about to call a potential client on Tuesday regarding an incident with a skid-steer that tore the flesh from his arms down to bone and tendon. I don't know if I'll be able to discuss it (if it goes to settlement, there's often a confidentiality clause), but I can tell you that there was a clear causal chain...and that disabling safety devices on powerful equipment will not endear you to a jury.

 

[bcp]

I've had the chance to review several aircraft accidents (my first major was aviation); almost without fail, there is a clear chain of events, not a single one, at each and any of which the chain could have been broken. The same is true of industrial accidents, car accidents...just about any time somebody gets hurt, there were several things that had to happen for the bad outcome to occur.

The Swiss cheese model of accident causes.

Bruce

 

[k0ua]

The Swiss cheese model of accident causes.

Bruce

Exactly what I was getting at. It is not the one thing that causes most accidents, it is a succession of things.

Just like gun "accidents" (no such actual real thing) it is a cascading series of negligence.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I have an absolutely firm - no exceptions - rule: I don't ever get off the tractor with the PTO engaged. Period.

Sometimes it's a PITA and would be easier to just leave it running. But the risk vs. reward ratio is out of whack. Just don't do it. . . . for any reason.