PTO Safety Question/Experiences

[CobyRupert]

I shut my tractor down, put up orange safety cones, one on each corner of the tractor 5 feet away from the tractor. I also put bollards 15 feet away from the orange cones. I run yellow caution tape between the bollards with no more than 1 inch of sag. I install my portable yellow rotating beacon and hard wire it to my battery (tractor is off for safety). I have my wife as a spotter in case something goes wrong. I alert the local medics that I will be hooking up my PTO and to be on the ready. Then and only then do I hook up my PTO shaft.

..... NOT.... I do it with the tractor running.

I'm pretty sure you're also suppose to disconnect the battery cable!

I'm mean WHAT IF....

 

[LD48750]

I'm pretty sure you're also suppose to disconnect the battery cable!

I'm mean WHAT IF....

Don't forget safety glasses & rubber gloves when working with or around the battery.

And have someone standing by with a fire extinguisher.

 

[BHD]

from the CDC

Who’s at Risk?
Approximately 2,050,000 full-time workers were employed in production agriculture in the US in 2017.
Approximately 1.4 to 2.1 million hired crop workers are employed annually on crop farms in the US.
An estimated 893,000 youth under 20 years of age resided on farms in 2014, with about 454,000 youth performing farm work. In addition to the youth who live on farms, an estimated 266,000 youth were hired to work on US farms in 2014.
Fatalities
In 2016, 417 farmers and farm workers died from a work-related injury, resulting in a fatality rate of 21.4 deaths per 100,000 workers. Transportation incidents, which include tractor overturns were the leading cause of death for these farmers and farm workers.
The most effective way to prevent tractor overturn deaths is the use of a Roll-Over Protective Structure (ROPS) with a seatbelt. In 2014, 62% of tractors used on farms in the US were equipped with ROPS. If ROPS were placed on all tractors used on US farms manufactured since the mid-1960’s, the prevalence of ROPS-equipped tractors could be increased to over 80%.
Injuries
Every day, about 100 agricultural workers suffer a lost-work-time injury.
From 2008-2010, 50% of all hired crop worker injuries were classified as a sprain or strain.
In 2014, an estimated 12,000 youth were injured on farms; 4,000 of these injuries were due to farm work.

we live and work in a dangerous environment, why take unnecessary chances,

 

[CobyRupert]

Love it.

I turn my massey off to hook up pto, has nothing to do with safety.
When tractor is off, the tractor pto can be turned by hand to line up with the shaft. If the tractor is on, it doesnt turn, making you turn the shaft to get it to line up. So much easier to hook up with the tractor off.

Pardon the sidetrack, but..
This seems odd to me. Does it have a PTO brake that "de-energizes"/releases when tractor is off? Do you need to install an overrun PTO clutch when running a rotary cutter, etc..

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Pardon the sidetrack, but..
This seems odd to me. Does it have a PTO brake that "de-energizes"/releases when tractor is off? Do you need to install an overrun PTO clutch when running a rotary cutter, etc..

Dont know.
It has 540 pto, with manual engage.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Dont know.
It has 540 pto, with manual engage.

Does it have an overrunning PTO clutch?

If it doesn't, then it does not care where the "power" is coming from.

If the bushog is spinning, and you press in the tractor clutch, you disengage the engine from the transmission, but not the kinetic energy from the bushog, so it keeps propelling the tractor along. Most of the time a person kicks it out of gear, but then a person has to wait until the mower winds down before they can push in the clutch and get the tractor into gear again.

An overrunning pto clutch is just a one way clutch; power goes to the bushog, but not back to the tractor.

Old tractors did not have this, but all the new ones do. They do however make add on overrunning clutches which for $30 is well worth it.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

If it has overrunning, it's built in. Around 1980s model.

 

[mikester]

Is it really a safety issue to connect the PTO while the tractor is running? Is any one aware of a mechanically activated PTO, like the one on my tractor, ever activating without the operator intentionally moving the activation lever?

Here's a short self assessment . If you answer TRUE to one or more of these then tractor safety probably isn't an issue for you.

Tractor Safety Self Assessment Survey

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Aced that test. Think that qualifies me to connect while spinning...

Footnote: that was a joke son, a gag. I keep pitchin em, you keep missin em. Ya gotta keep your eye on the ball. Eye Ball. I almost had a gag..

 

[Cougsfan]

from the CDC



we live and work in a dangerous environment, why take unnecessary chances,

I think we should outlaw farm workers, after all, some got hurt, even killed. Driving a car is OK though.