Fatal Tractor Rollover

[Citydude]

Having lost two cousins to tractor accidents, this is hard to hear. Prayers for the families.

 

[dodge man]

Door was open, glass broke, or he broke the glass when he was thrown and then exited.

 

[LouNY]

All the larger tractors will run at least 18 mph, many will limit out at 25 mph with front suspensions some will get up to 35 mph.
Per the article the equipment got to fish tailing and he lost control.

"CASS COUNTY, Mich. — A 23-year-old died in a tractor crash on Saturday afternoon, according to the Cass County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff Richard J. Behnke said deputies responded to a farm tractor crash on Garrett Road, north of Middle Crossing Road in Silver Creek Township around 12:05 p.m.

Deputies said an investigation of the crash showed that a tractor pulling a farm implement lost control and jackknifed, causing the driver, 23-year-old Nathan Scherer, to be ejected from the cab.

The tractor then rolled onto Scherer, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, deputies said. "

 

[Yander]

I've nearly put our cabbed tractor in the ditch by looking back while going at full speed down the road. Very easy to do. I use my mirrors now. Was a scary moment because the ditch was a deep one and it wouldn't have been pretty.

 

[Thomas]

Special thoughts prayers for family.

 

[sixdogs]

What happens in a lot of rollover fatalities, either car or equipment, is not that the driver is thrown totally clear of the vehicle and then rolled onto but rather partially ejected from the side window and then rolled onto. The flopping action of the vehicle tosses the occupant sideways and partly out the window. You don't know for sure exactly what happened but this from a friend that has dealt with a lot of rollovers.

Such a tragic accident.

 

[rockinbbar]

Bad deal. Sorry for the family.

I run my tractors on the road quite a bit, pulling implements most of the time.

Both mine will run faster than you want to run a tractor down the road... I rarely exceed 20mph though. Even at 20mph, you think about how bad things can get when something messes up with that many pounds of metal running 20mph, and it may make you use more caution.

 

[LHF2019]

Soil conditioners are pretty well balanced. The tractor probably does not exceed 25 mph. Most of the smaller ones which it looks like it is still maxes at 18-20 mph wide open. 2 possibilities I see. 1. Not his fault entirely. Accident due to inexperience. On coming traffic and he moved over some and it dropped off the edge and the tail started wagging the dog and he was unable to correct properly. Instinctively over correcting and getting back on the road instead of staying off road and easing back on.

2. On his cell phone and lost control. Entirely his fault. My cousin had an employee drop his on the floor of tractor and ran off the road while towing a sprayer and tangled with a tree.


Without knowing model of tractor it is hard to say if he lacked the correct size of tractor for implement.

Specs for implement. I would suspect support wheels for wider wing width but may also be an option. They have extremely long tongues and once they start weaving it will take a lot of experience to bring it back under
control.

3-Section Soil Conditioners - J&M Manufacturing

J&M 3 section soil conditioners are available for 12' to 45' working widths. Choose between 13”, 16”, or 13”/16” baskets to accommodate your soil needs.

jm-inc.com

TF212 MODELS​

Working Width	Transport Width	Base Width	Wing Width (Each)	Weight (13" Baskets)
20'	13'–5"	12'	4'	4,415 lbs
22'	13'–5"	12'	5'	4,645 lbs
23'	13'–5"	12'	5'	4,760 lbs
24'	13'–5"	12'	6'	4,875 lbs
26'	13'–5"	12'	7'	5,105 lbs
27'	13'–5"	12'	7'	5,220 lbs
28'	13'–5"	12'	8'	5,235 lbs
29'	13'–5"	12'	8'	5,450 lbs
30'	13'–5"	12'	9'	5,565 lbs
31'	13'–5"	12'	9'	5,680 lbs
32'	13'–5"	12'	10'	5,795 lbs
33'	13'–5"	12'	10'	5,910 lbs
34'	13'–5"	12'	11'	6,025 lbs
35'	13'–5"	12'	11'	6,140 lbs

 

[careyo63]

Seems odd the tractor looks to be turned around laying backwards. Going to fast and the implements Blades don't look to be in the position to be mowing. No uncut pass so he may not have been mowing. Hauling !!! down the Rd.? We've all pretty much BTDT. My BA. F-250 They Chipped the motor. True. How do I know. 3500rpms. 4th lockup. 373 they kill the Ing.. Frist trip to Fla. Int.75 late night. My father retired from ford and one of his dealers offered it to him. They window sticker states not to be used as a Emergency Veh...

 

[LHF2019]

Seems odd the tractor looks to be turned around laying backwards. Going to fast and the implements Blades don't look to be in the position to be mowing. No uncut pass so he may not have been mowing. Hauling !!! down the Rd.? We've all pretty much BTDT. My BA. F-250 They Chipped the motor. True. How do I know. 3500rpms. 4th lockup. 373 they kill the Ing.. Frist trip to Fla. Int.75 late night. My father retired from ford and one of his dealers offered it to him. They window sticker states not to be used as a Emergency Veh...

mowing? Before offering any opinion you better know what an implement is and what is going on. I even provided a link above that you could have looked at to educate yourself.

 

[nebraskasparks]

I still groan after all these years when a young life is lost. Please use your seatbelts and ROPS.

The 7 Most Common Farming Accidents

In some cases, you may need workers’ compensation to cover your farming accident injuries. Learn about the top 7 most common farming accidents on our blog, at Ufkes & Bright.

www.ufkeslaw.com

 

[WinterDeere]

Still safer than working around draft animals.

 

[MossRoad]

Could also have been hitting the brakes and only hitting one pedal with them not locked together for road travel. All kinds of possibilities and speculation.

 

[careyo63]

My guess the mower was lifted and he ran off the Rd. The weight offset the Front end and the kid lost control. JMO The blades are lifted so he wasn't using the mower at the time and the grass reflects that. Educate Your opinion that was mine. Didn't read yours.

 

[LHF2019]

Didn't read yours.

You should have because again what your what you are talking is not even close to being relevant.

3-Section Soil Conditioners - J&M Manufacturing

 

[nebraskasparks]

I still groan after all these years when a young life is lost. Please use your seatbelts and ROPS.

The 7 Most Common Farming Accidents

In some cases, you may need workers’ compensation to cover your farming accident injuries. Learn about the top 7 most common farming accidents on our blog, at Ufkes & Bright.

www.ufkeslaw.com

Another good resource to text to your family and friends during this season

Tractor Accidents - Farm Injury Resource Center

According to the National Safety Council, tractor accidents are the leading cause of injury and death among farmers and farm workers.

farminjuryresource.com

 

[CliffordK]

What happens in a lot of rollover fatalities, either car or equipment, is not that the driver is thrown totally clear of the vehicle and then rolled onto but rather partially ejected from the side window and then rolled onto. The flopping action of the vehicle tosses the occupant sideways and partly out the window. You don't know for sure exactly what happened but this from a friend that has dealt with a lot of rollovers.

Such a tragic accident.

Each accident is different. What seems to be the common theme is that it happens quicker than one expects, whether it is a tractor rolling onto its side, turning turtle, or flipping over the rear end.

Without ROPS, if the tractor turns turtle, or flips over the back, then the operator doesn't have much of a chance.

With ROPS, the question is whether the operator will fall quicker than the tractor. For a low speed flop to the side with ROPS, there likely is a point near 45° where the tractor has passed the point of no return, but still is rolling slowly, and if an operator slips and falls, they could land in a danger zone before the tractor hits the ground.

This accident appears to have been a high speed accident, and the dynamics would have changed. A modern car likely would have spun out, slid sideways, but might have stayed upright.

With the tractor, once it hit a high speed over-steer, it likely didn't want to slide sideways, and the implement may have hit the rear tire at a 90° angle and forced it to remain sideways. All causing a massive deceleration and throwing the operator into the side window, and ultimately tipping the tractor, all with unfortunate results.

 

[careyo63]

The Infamous roll over My mother was the Kids School bus Driver! Seen the Rescue squad there when it happend. The roll over was a small CUT chained to a fence post. And the Throttle linkage was loose at the Inj. Pump and the Kid couldn't cut it off causing the tractor to roll over on him. She knew Wayne also. Ford was selling Tractors at the dealer then and my father was the Dealer Rep. for Ford credit.

 

[MossRoad]

Seems odd the tractor looks to be turned around laying backwards. Going to fast and the implements Blades don't look to be in the position to be mowing. No uncut pass so he may not have been mowing. Hauling !!! down the Rd.? We've all pretty much BTDT. My BA. F-250 They Chipped the motor. True. How do I know. 3500rpms. 4th lockup. 373 they kill the Ing.. Frist trip to Fla. Int.75 late night. My father retired from ford and one of his dealers offered it to him. They window sticker states not to be used as a Emergency Veh...

He wasn't pulling a mower.

 

[MossRoad]

My guess the mower was lifted and he ran off the Rd. The weight offset the Front end and the kid lost control. JMO The blades are lifted so he wasn't using the mower at the time and the grass reflects that. Educate Your opinion that was mine. Didn't read yours.

He wasn't pulling a mower.