Seat safety Switch? What is the point?

[fried1765]

The fish on Friday has absolutely NOTHING to do with the title of this thread.
The totally off subject issue was raised by CADplans in post #7.
My response, was simply to answer his question.

 

[WranglerX]

So......I am nearly 80.
If I sit on my tractor with safety switch connected, and ROPS attached.....how much longer should I expect to live?
I have lived through riding my bike without a helmet, drinking from the garden hose, not having car seat belts, landing on an aircraft carrier, being shot at in Vietnam, etc. and I am STILL alive!

At my age, I think the Coronavirus, Cancer, or organ failure, is MUCH more likely to be my undoing, than a seat switch, or ROPS. (On my L48TLB, the seat switch is bypassed, and the ROPS is off).
I think the New Hampshire motto has it exactly right: "Live Free or Die"!

38,000 people die each year in automobile accidents (even with seat belts, and air bags).
That is a LOT !!
Idealistically, we could prevent ALL those deaths, if we just simply quit driving!

So... I am following you very close at 75, and so far nobody has told me what my expiration date is.... I surely don't what to rush it...

Dale

 

[WranglerX]

As I understand it, the requirement for a seat operator presence switch is based on tractor frame size. The object is to make it so that you cannot accidentally put the tractor in gear while standing on the ground and run yourself over.

Aaron Z

What about if driver is flipped off tractor and its in gear and throttled up and runs over operator ?????

Dale

 

[timbatrader]

I see the seat safety switch as an example of what I see as a common problem with safety systems someone raises an unlikely or improbable hazard the person charged with assessing it in an *** covering response puts in place a new procedure safety switch or whatever that is impractical to use and way over the top response to the perceived hazard the result is people remove or override the said procedure or safety switch which breeds a culture of acceptance of overriding safety procedures which ultimately leads to overriding safety procedures that should never be broken So My position is putting a seat safety switch on a tractor in the first place which is prone to causing frustration and problems leading to its removal actually is more dangerous than not putting it on

 

[airbiscuit]

1. I wish seat, PTO, Neutral safety switches were more reliable
2. I wish there was a light or code which indicates which switch is preventing the engine from turning over
3. I wish there was a SAFE START MODE (like semis have) to override safety switches if you need to get the tractor home

 

[k0ua]

1. I wish seat, PTO, Neutral safety switches were more reliable
2. I wish there was a light or code which indicates which switch is preventing the engine from turning over
3. I wish there was a SAFE START MODE (like semis have) to override safety switches if you need to get the tractor home

It could be done. You would have a small CPU that has multiple inputs. Those inputs would be the inputs for the various safety switches. Since it is NOT done that way now, but simply by hooking switches in series and if ANY one is open then the tractor fails to start or run. Of course you never know where to start working, and of course have no code readout to tell you where to look either... Your idea is a good one, and wouldn't really cost a fortune to implement either.

 

[Peter 315]

1. I wish seat, PTO, Neutral safety switches were more reliable
2. I wish there was a light or code which indicates which switch is preventing the engine from turning over
3. I wish there was a SAFE START MODE (like semis have) to override safety switches if you need to get the tractor home

What a waste of 3 wishes.....:laughing:

 

[airbiscuit]

I wished all three when after a big snowstorm, it was -10F, and my NH 1925 wouldn't start (seat safety switch contacts corroded).

You're right, wishing didn't help. Electronics cleaner did!

 

[Cat_Driver]

Hi All,

I was viewing a thread where the seat safety switch was the focus.

I guess I am thick headed, but I do not have seat safety switches on either of my tractors and really cannot see an advantage to having one, other than perhaps a quick shutdown should one tip the tractor on its side, or worse.

What am I missing? It sure seems like the seat safety switch causes a lot of grief to those whose tractors have them, and not having one brings no grief to those of us who do not have them.

I guess I would install seat safety switches if they are a real benefit, but I just can not see what the real benefit is!

** OK, perhaps such a switch prevents one from starting the tractor(with the key) while standing next to it. I get that. But with a hydrostatic tractor, the directional pedal must be centered to start it, so there is some protection there...

If you bounced out of the tractor by hitting some rough land or turned over you would want the machine to STOP in its tracks. Otherwise, it would either run you over or keep running with a hot engine with you pinned under it.

Sure they are a PITA, but so are seatbelts, airbags, climbing harnesses, steel-toed boots, chain saw chaps, eye protection, face shields, gloves, and all the other safety equipment ever made.

Sure is a lot easier just getting in a car and driving off, but nope they make us wear seat belts to save our lives in an accident. Go figure!

 

[BrokenTrack]

Sure is a lot easier just getting in a car and driving off, but nope they make us wear seat belts to save our lives in an accident. Go figure!

I sure wished my sister was wearing a seat belt. It would have saved 20 years of anguish for my family, and especially my parents; she was decapitated at 19 years old when her car rolled over.

 

[old and tired]

What is the point?

The point is so that the companies can defend itself from another law suit. They are there because someone (before having safety switches) was able to demonstrate there was a need for them.

Case in point, John Deere selling small tractors without proper ballast to offset what the loader can safely lift...

 

[oosik]

I can start my Kubota M6040 while standing next to it. A practice I've since discontinued. If my chipper is installed - a buzzer will sound for about ten seconds - when I stand to get off the tractor. Nothing stops and after the tens seconds the buzzer shut off.

 

[k0ua]

We are a litigious society. When we do something stupid like operate our tractor without proper ballast or start it while standing on the ground without making sure it wont run over us, we want it to be someone else's fault. We want to be make whole. We cannot accept that we "messed up" and go on if we are still alive or our relatives accept we were stupid. No they want a big wad of money to compensate them. "I didn't know" becomes an excuse for not reading the owner's manual. And besides, corporations have deep pockets, and they can afford it. Lets get some while the getting is good. So that is why we have safety equipment. It saves lives sometimes, it saves injuries, it saves money. Sure it is a PITA sometimes when it doesn't work and leaves us stranded in a field. But it is the price we pay for the way in which society thinks. 100 years ago it would have been unheard of to sue a company for a mistake YOU made. But not today. We want to be "made whole" and then some. We don't want bad things to happen to us EVEN if we are as dumb as a box of rocks. First you must place blame, and it is ALWAYS someone else's fault. This the the order of things.

 

[RjCorazza]

I sure wished my sister was wearing a seat belt. It would have saved 20 years of anguish for my family, and especially my parents; she was decapitated at 19 years old when her car rolled over.

Drifting off topic, but your post reminds me of exactly what PTSD is. I was instantly taken back 30 years to a foggy, damp early morning where a very young lady was partially ejected through a moon roof during a slow speed car roll over on a bank adjacent to the roadway... Boyfriend messing around. I didn't know these folks, but add it to the hundreds of other "1 in a million" accidents over the years and they take a toll.
Sorry for your loss.

 

[22R]

While I am all for safety and there have been some good things from all the interlocks, On a similar note I rebuilt a 19" 2 stroke lawn-boy I use rarely for push cutting. It has a throttle and a Red kill button (That is it). It is sure light and nice to operate. two things though ya gotta be a lil smarter than the machine and love the smell of the two stroke oil in da morning. Be safe and think Guys.

22R

 

[PILOON]

But to get a ticket (seat belt) for driving to the mail box 1/4 mile from a dead end?
50 (or more) cyclists blow stops at a bicycle crossing while the LEO is standing there? (says he did not see them)

10 MPH on a dead end with 2 cars/hr still gets U a fine around here, but drive a 4 wheeler or bicycle without a helmet is OK.

I thing something is screwed up.

 

[Peter 315]

No seat belt or helmet required in NH.... seatbelts only in a cdl truck

 

[newbury]

As a teenager, our next door neighbor rented a skid steer to remove some railroad tie retaining wall. you got the bucket wedged in between two layers and instead of them coming apart, they stayed attached, so he picked up the whole 20' long wall. Predictably, the skid steer tipped forward and landed on its nose (ended up tipped forward at a 45 degree angle).
He did not have a seat belt on and was unable to run the hand and foot controls at the same time to lower the boom and let the skid steer tilt back down.
I was able to get in it, buckle up so that I could hang off of the seat belt, then start the skid steer and drive it forward as I lowered the boom so that it ended up flat on the ground again.
It made all the difference in the world having a belt on.

Aaron Z

So someone did something REALLY STUPID you got in and saved his MACHINE. What would have happened if you didn't?

I will second the seat belt needed. Some of the slopes I operate on here requires the seat belt belted in so you can actually operate the tractor. Otherwise you slide forward in the seat up against the steering wheel. The seat belt makes operation much easier.

Then maybe the slopes are too steep.

So... I am following you very close at 75, and so far nobody has told me what my expiration date is.... I surely don't what to rush it...

Dale

Did you check closely for a barcode?

No seat belt or helmet required in NH....only in a cdl truck

They require helmets in CDL trucks?

 

[Peter 315]

So someone did something REALLY STUPID you got in and saved his MACHINE. What would have happened if you didn't?

Then amybe the slopes are too steep.


Did you check closely for a barcode?

They require helmets in CDL trucks?

No just seat belts....

 

[WM75Guy]

Should I be wearing a hard hat for falling meteorites?

No, because the hard hat WILL NOT save you from a falling meteorite, so no use wearing it. The velocity is too great. It is gonna smash yer punkin head. And that's that...

What the hard hat lacks is a sufficient crumple zone. Wrapping multiple layers of crinkled up tinfoil around your head before putting on the hard hat will improve your odds of survival.

Also the TBN rule applies, no pictures, it didn't happen. :thumbsup:

As to the original question, I wear my seatbelt, keep the ROPS in the up position, and don't disconnect safety devices. I figure they are there for a reason. Treated too many people in the ED that didn't heed safety precautions or disconnected safety devices. I try not to be a statistic like them.