Safety Tips For Beginners

[CobyRupert]

Take it slow. Learn your equipment, what it can and can't do....
.....Again, my advice, go slow and don't exceed your comfort level.

Go slow!
You can think that you've thought things through, and can have expectations about the way YOU WANT things to go, but Mother Nature is a b**** with plenty of surprises in store and has something to say about how things will actually go. At least when you go slow, you can hopefully see some of these surprises slowly unfold and can react.

 

[MossRoad]

And keep in mind tractors can tear up a lot of property in a hurry. Around buildings, they can take the side out of your house with one wrong move, They excel in tearing out fence if you let them.

Yes! I put an air hose pass-through port through the siding on the side of my garage with my toothed bucket shortly after purchase. :laughing:

 

[k0ua]

Yes! I put an air hose pass-through port through the siding on the side of my garage with my toothed bucket shortly after purchase. :laughing:

There has been a tree or two around here that has suffered the wrath of my momentary inattention. So far the house and barns have fared well.

 

[SmallChange]

Great list so far. It's hard to add to it!

-Get used to thinking about the brake pedal on a tractor as less powerful than the one on a car. If you're in a typical working ratio you can stomp on the brake and nothing much changes.

-Changing gears or ranges isn't for coming up to speed, as it is on a car. You generally start out in whatever gear you want to do your work in.

-You can probably mess up the FEL bucket by trying to do work at just one point on it, as in prying up something narrow, or by chaining something to it at a spot where it's not very strong.

-It's probably a good idea to paint bullseye targets on the sides of your barn door or garage door frame, and whatever is overhead, and also on the corners of buildings around which you do the most maneuvering. Put extras around 1 to 4 feet high. Never mind why.

 

[seville009]

I always try to have something attached to my 3pt hitch when doing loader work, like moving dirt. Brush hog is a nice counter weight. Not only help balance the tractor and make it less tippy, the added weight helps with traction. Just be mindful of having something back there.

Don’t need that for snow work usually

always use commin sense and take it slow.

 

[dougtrr2]

When your ROPS is up (mine always is) be aware of tree branches especially backing up. It will push them out of the way and then you can really get slapped with them as you pass. DAMHIKT

Doug in SW IA

 

[SmallChange]

You might like this book:

National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation Program: Student Manual
by Penn State, Ohio State University Extension, et al. | Jun 13, 2013

I got it a few months ago and have enjoyed browsing around in it. This isn't a spectacular handbook, nor a fascinating read straight through, but it does have more than enough to be worth it. It is making me think!

 

[Cat_Driver]

My best advice is WORK SLOW around equipment that can kill you. Move slow, think twice, have ALWAYS have three points touching when climbing on and off. NEVER EVER work on the tractor or add impliments while the tractor is running even three pint hitch attachments. Adjust then shut down adjst shut down. NEVER have anyone within 30 feet of you and your tractor, including animals.
My wife was near me when I picked up some brush a limb was sticking out as I swung around and I almost hit her.
Worst one was when I was killing a dumpster with brush. I was lifting a load of brush and there was a metal pipe stuck in the mix. Tractor STOPPED ( following my own rules) , load in the air hanging 3 feet over the rail of the dumpster, I motioned to my wife to grab the pipe and pull it out so I didn't dump it.

She climbe between the grapple loaded with brush in that three foot area, I say and waited till she cleared the pipe, while waiting in the cab of the tractor. I decided to drink some water as I reached for the water I bumped the hydraulic loader lever and the entire load dropped by an few inches. Thatscared me so bad I stopped working that day.

We all know even with the tractor OFF you can release hydraulics - It just did not register under those condition. That's how bad accidents happen.

That is now where my rule of NO ONE EVEN gets with 30 feet of me on my equipment - NEVER AGAIN.

That simple lapse of thinking could have killed someone.

 

[MechanicalGuy]

There is a condition that people put their front loader in where the cylinders are fully extended and then they back drag and break the cylinders. This is something you should educate yourself on. Do a few internet searches to find out what I'm talking about. Search "I broke my loader cylinders" or like that.

 

[aczlan]

My best advice is WORK SLOW around equipment that can kill you. Move slow, think twice, have ALWAYS have three points touching when climbing on and off. NEVER EVER work on the tractor or add impliments while the tractor is running even three pint hitch attachments. Adjust then shut down adjst shut down. NEVER have anyone within 30 feet of you and your tractor, including animals.
My wife was near me when I picked up some brush a limb was sticking out as I swung around and I almost hit her.
Worst one was when I was killing a dumpster with brush. I was lifting a load of brush and there was a metal pipe stuck in the mix. Tractor STOPPED ( following my own rules) , load in the air hanging 3 feet over the rail of the dumpster, I motioned to my wife to grab the pipe and pull it out so I didn't dump it.

She climbe between the grapple loaded with brush in that three foot area, I say and waited till she cleared the pipe, while waiting in the cab of the tractor. I decided to drink some water as I reached for the water I bumped the hydraulic loader lever and the entire load dropped by an few inches. Thatscared me so bad I stopped working that day.

We all know even with the tractor OFF you can release hydraulics - It just did not register under those condition. That's how bad accidents happen.

That is now where my rule of NO ONE EVEN gets with 30 feet of me on my equipment - NEVER AGAIN.

That simple lapse of thinking could have killed someone.

Another rule: NEVER get under something being held up with hydraulics. Doesn't matter if the tractor is on or off, a blown hose or a bumped lever will end your day in a hurry.

Aaron Z