Another tractor fatality...

trlong · Dec 14, 2005

( While we don't have to worry about the kinds of forces involved in an automobile crash ) 

CT_Tree_Guy,

You are probably right but, what if something goes seriously wrong (especially in your work, and some of our "hobbiest" work)? What forces might be experienced if a 2-3-4' diam. tree trunk decides to let go at the wrong time, in the wrong direction. Or... a cable snaps and whips the guilty for not checking for any wear, or underestimating the load? Forces could get pretty high.

Don't get me wrong. I don't want to spend my seat time in an enclosed roll cage. Spent two many thousands of hours on motorcycles to be that confined. Point is, I guess, use of reasonable safety equipment and trying to keep focused on what could go wrong, while still trying to enjoy the work at hand. That, and hoping some one is watching over us for the benefit of our families.

Tom

P.S. (Thought you might enjoy the pic from my deck last Fall...makes me feel better when I hear about tragedies. Merry and Safe Christmas to all.)

CT_Tree_Guy · Dec 14, 2005

While we don't have to worry about the kinds of forces involved in an automobile crash 

Tom: I hear you loud and clear about not underestimating the forces that can get generated around a tractor. And I sure do know that trees are heavy and can pack quite a punch. I should have worded that differently. I wrote that sentence while I was weighing the merits of front airbags (really! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif) and had head-on collisions in mind.

And believe it or not, I still have in the back of my mind the notion that side-impact airbags on either side of my head, activated when the tractor reaches say 60 degrees, wouldn't be the stupidest thing I could add to a roll-cage. You could get them for next to nothing out of Katrina-soaked write-off.

And I have a feeling that if I went any farther with safety features, I'd have to add an asbestos liner to deal with all the "heat" I'd take. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Maybe i should have bought a Volvo - do they make CUT's? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

And I agree, the world is too beautiful, as that great photo illustrates, to leave it any sooner than we have to.

slowzuki · Dec 14, 2005

FOPS won't stop a tree, I've seen pics of a harvester cab fops crushed by a big dead tree falling on it.

CT_Tree_Guy · Dec 14, 2005

FOPS won't stop a tree

Ken -

Trees come in all sizes. Some will crush my FOPS and kill me, some won't. But better to have a FOPS than not. You can never eliminate all danger, all you can do is try to eliminate it as much as possible.

RedRocker · Dec 14, 2005

Mine will stop anything I have on my property.

Soundguy · Dec 14, 2005

( Maybe i should have bought a Volvo - do they make CUT's? )

Well.. they do make some heavy equipment.. The GC I work for used to have a volvo loader.. it was the most usless piece of effluent that we ever drug home on a trailer.

The only thing more useless that I can think of would be a solar powered flashlight..

We called it 'lilly'... Sold it at auction as fast as we could...

Soundguy

slowzuki · Dec 14, 2005

True, something is better than nothing, just don't do things that require the FOPS to hold. Some people get silly when they think they can't be hurt and try to knock old trees over etc.

I'm guilty too as I don't wear my seat belt in my cabbed tractor. It gives me the impression I wouldn't be thrown in a roll over even though every piece of tempered glass in the thing would shatter half way through a roll /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

( FOPS won't stop a tree

Ken -

Trees come in all sizes. Some will crush my FOPS and kill me, some won't. But better to have a FOPS than not. You can never eliminate all danger, all you can do is try to eliminate it as much as possible. )

rk246 · Dec 15, 2005

I have wondered about the tractor rolling and the fops protecting you only to be speared by some sharp log/stick etc...

CT_Tree_Guy · Dec 15, 2005

I have wondered about the tractor rolling and the fops protecting you only to be speared by some sharp log/stick etc... 

Ryan - That is just about my biggest concern, and is why I think there's a serious FOPS/rollcage in my future. There are so many ways to "get it" on a tractor, the only thing you can do is take as many variables out of the equation as you can, or think are necessary for your situation.

The funny (?) thing is, you can take all the precautions in the world and they can fail to protect you, or even end up killing you. I can imagine myself in an enclosed FOPS with a 4-point harness holding me in, then tumbling down an embankment into water, the door jamming shut, and me drowning.

I still plan on building one though - it's all about percentages and probabilities, ask any actuary.

Let's be careful out there, John

Roger2561 · Dec 15, 2005

Last year I retired as a volenteer emergency medical technician after 16 years of service for my town. One Saturday morning we had a call for an emergency trauma call for a tractor roll over. Arriving on the scene we found the tractor flipped over with an elderly gentleman pinned under it. The steering wheel crushing hi into the ground. It was obvious that there was nothing we could do to save him. The crushing injuries were too great. It appeared that he was being the kind of neighbor that NH people are famous for and helping his neighbor by moving a large pile of gravel with the FEL. This tractor was an older model without ROPS or seatbelts. The work being performed was on a bank that had a 10 foot drop. From what we could gather is that this kind man was backing up with a full FEL and for some reason the rear tire fell into a hole causing the tractor to flip completely over, crushing the poor guy under the full weight of the tractor. The most difficult part of the job was dealing with the loved ones who lost their father, husband, neighbor, etc..., not the dead man. And the guilt the neighbor experienced was heartwrenching. This gentleman was an experienced tractor operator. It took only a moment of loss of concentration that cost him his life. Everytime I get on my JD4500 my thoughts immediately go to that day and the loss those kind people experienced, hoping that I do not put my family through the same thing.

rk246 · Dec 16, 2005

Unfortanately I see it all too often and its not ever really the dead person that is the hard part (unless it is a kid) its the loved ones and family that lost the dead person... especially if it was unexpected...

IslandTractor · Dec 16, 2005

( I have wondered about the tractor rolling and the fops protecting you only to be speared by some sharp log/stick etc... )

I am sure there are specific instances where seatbelt/rops would be a disadvanatage. However, you have to play the odds here and the odds clearly favor wearing seatbelt/rops. I think the analogy for automobiles would be whether to wear a seat belt when there is a risk that the car might end up in a river with the seat belt preventing escape. Your chances of ending up at the bottom of a river are far lower than being crushed against the steering wheel or thrown from the vehicle in a more typical crash scenario. Safety gear is for risk reduction, risk elimination is not usually possible.

CT_Tree_Guy · Dec 16, 2005

Roger - I would have replied sooner to your eloquent and moving post, except that it moved me a little too much and I just couldn't respond to it right away.

That sad, sad story is repeated around two hundred and fifty times every year in the US. Two hundred and fifty fine men or women are killed, two hundred and fifty families are torn apart, over five hundred children just lost their mom or dad, and thousands of friends and relatives are left grieving, with an unfillable hole in their hearts and lives.

Sit down, buckle up, start engine.

rk246 · Dec 18, 2005

I'll second that, always, always, always.... The more we talk about it the more convinced I am, reading these posts have done well for me also, I have started taking things way slower and thinking everything through much more...

BruceNorthEast · Dec 19, 2005

I was reading of a skid steer fatal accident recently.

There was a crew working at a development and one guy in the tractor/skid-steer. The protective fencing on the sides was removed and the people reconstructing the accident believe that the driver saw/heard the hydraulic fluid spray when it tore open on a stump and he stuck his head out to get a better look, he didn't get it back in time - the loader arms now moving because of the damaged line caused massive head trauma.

I've had many close calls in life, several my own fault because I either didn't think or was in too much of a hurry, or simply too lazy to be careful. I try to catch myself now, and remind myself not to let laziness make me careless. Now all I need is self discipline...

Bruce.

rk246 · Dec 20, 2005

I think fatigue also often plays a large role. In my job we end up being up a lot in the middle of the night. They say being up 24 hours straight is the equivalent to being legally intoxicated, I believe it, I know my mind is not always straight when I have been up all night on calls and am very tired... Unfortanately I always feel the need to get stuff done and perform the tasks I want to do around my place when I get home, probably not always the smartest thing to do...

Buckie2 · Jan 18, 2006

This post subject is near and dear to my heart. The near misses, dumb moments and "almost" accidents on a tractor should be enough to scare the pants off just about any of us. I came within about a foot of driving my tractor off the edge of a bridge embankment that had no railing. I was listening to the radio with headphones, drinking Gatorade and generally paying no attention. The ONLY reason I am alive today is the right front tire hit and bounced off a very large rock that was the last barrier between me and a 30' ravine. I jerked the wheel less than 12 inches from the drop off.
Stupid does not begin to describe how I felt! Shook me up badly.
Thanks to everyone for reminding us that these tractors are just like guns......only as safe as the shooter, only as safe as the driver.
buckie

JasonMac · Jan 19, 2006

One of my schoolmates got killed by PTO Entanglement. She was only 13 years old , I was 12. She was a farmgirl, But I remember it like yesterday, she reached for the pto lever to shut the machine off for her father, instead of getting on the tractor, and before her father could stop her, Her pull strings from her jacket yanked her in... It was til this day the saddest and most horrific death we've ever had in this town. She was a great girl that everybody loved.