At what age did you let your son drive/operate?

[coachrusty]

Pittsburro?

Not quite that north. I am a Jeff Gordon fan and so Pittsboro is where he lived when he went to high school here in Indiana.

I am just south of Clayton, Indiana (population of 800). Home of the Clayton Cafe All-you-can-eat catfish dinner on a Friday night. It's quite yummy and you get your choice of on the bone or filet.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Not quite that north. I am a Jeff Gordon fan and so Pittsboro is where he lived when he went to high school here in Indiana.

I am just south of Clayton, Indiana (population of 800). Home of the Clayton Cafe All-you-can-eat catfish dinner on a Friday night. It's quite yummy and you get your choice of on the bone or filet.

Hmmmmm! We visit our friends in Mooresville 3 or 4 times a year. Sounds like we may be paying a visit to the Clayton Cafe on the next visit.

I won't hold it against you for admitting to being a Jeff Gordon fan I AM still a big fan of Dale Earnhardt (Sr.) (Miss him) Since his death, I've followed Dale Jr., and route for Jeff Burton and Tony Stewart, but NO ONE will ever take the place of the "MAN IN BLACK".

 

[Devildog]

Was driving the tractor pulling the hay wagon before I hit double digits Spent the rest of my years plowing near cataract in owen county till I went into the military. passed this all along to my son around the same time. Now he has found girls and has been lost ever since

 

[dirtworksequip]

First and foremost you stated that you yourself are a newbie. Before you can teach anyone to run a machine, you need to be very familiar with it yourself. After that, the earlier the better. My son has been on equipment & tractors all his life. He always wanted to be with me whenever I was doing something with equipment or the tractor.I never had him with me when there was any risk. He spent many hours sitting on my lap as I ran the hoe. He would place his hands on mine as I worked the levers. When he was 2 years old I placed him on the seat of my Jd 870 compact backhoe attachment with the engine at idle and he could actually dig a hole and pile dirt to the side. Now at 10 he is very adept at running a dozer,excavator,tracked skidsteer,tractor and just about any other piece of equipment you put him on. He is extremely aware of any safety issues. Always wears his seatbelt. If there is a situation that he feels unconfortable he will stop. I also will not put him in a situation that I know will put him at any risk.(although there is a certain risk to anything we do) You probably will have a hard time having so many kids wanting to be on the tractor with you. Just remember to never put them in a compromising spot.

 

[dirtworksequip]

Also, its not so much a matter of when they are ready.They are ready to start learning right now. It does not necessarily have to be the actual running of the machine though.Above all teach them to be safe,whether it is them operating the machine or someone else.

 

[unreconstructed]

My Granddad was born in 1866 and remembered hostile Indians. My Dad was born 52 years after that and grew up hard taking care of old parents and farming with mules and then an old JD in the late 30's. So he didn't think a think of sticking me on a UB Moline, no ROPS, no power steering, no shade, no nothing for man sized days when I was 9. Glad he did.

My wife was not impressed with my ideas of what my son should be doing at an early age. I will concede part of that to her. Its a wonder that more of us farm boys haven't been killed or maimed than we have. But I worked him as hard as I could given we were are citified. I say whatever you can do without getting them hurt, then do it as early as you can. They'll appreciate it later.

 

[Egon]

Children of the soil.

 

[Soundguy]

I'd like to add a new twist to this thread...

At what age ( I.E. how long did it take you to let your spouse / SO drive your tractor ).

Soundguy

 

[firemanpat2910]

My dad is in his 60s and I am just now letting him drive the tractor with supervision He has taken out 2 yes 2 of my kitchen windows with a riding mower, I can only imagine what he could do with a 6' bush hog.

 

[whodat90]

My son started on the lawn tractor when he was 4. (never turning blades, just steering it) Back then I'd walk behind him holding the seat down to activate the safety switch. If he got going too fast or otherwise wanted to stop, all I had to do was let go; he didn't weigh enough to hold the switch down so the tractor would die. Now he's heavy enough and tall enough (6) to operate it by himself. I put him on the kubota also starting when he was 5. He can't work the clutch yet but can reach the brake and work the steering and throttle and knows how to kill it when needed. My daughter on the other hand is currently 5, and is not interested in being in or on any vehicle without a chauffer and air conditioning. She's gonna have a hard childhood.

Soundguy, my wife has driven the kubota a bit and does fine with the gears, but can't figure out/remember how to start it, stop it, or what all the other levers are for. She's not someone you want to have help you hook up a heavy implement.

My neice comes to spend the summers with us, she's 13 now. This last summer she wanted me to teach her how to drive. I started her on the lawn tractor (never actually saw someone flop a lawn tractor on it's side before) and then once she was no longer actively dangerous on that moved her to the kub. Lemme tellya, if you mash it hard enough you don't really need the clutch. Never mind the grinding. She spent hours on it. Eventually got pretty good, but alas she had to leave before she got to drive one of the cars .

So basically, it depends on opportunity, skill, and interest. Start'em young.

 

[ihookem]

My son started last year with a Simplicity 8 horse last year. This year he drives my Kubota 7510hst. I let him mow and roto till the easy stuff. He is 9 now. I watched him carefully for quite a while. When he did somthing not too smart, that was it for the day,or untill he was ready to pay attention.

 

[mikim]

My son was 28 when I bought my tractor - he's now 32 and I haven't let him on it yet! Darn kid breaks stuff....

 

[shovelhead]

I bought a NH TC35A less than a year ago. My 13 year old son has had more seat time than I have, and when it comes to FEL operation, he is probably better than I am. This is probably the only positive result of hours of video games! A couple of weeks ago, my wife asked him if she could drive the tractor. He told her "MOM! You can't drive a standard shift. You have NO business driving my tractor!" I turned around and left so they wouldn't hear me laugh.

All-in-all, he does very well. When we picked up the tractor, I told the salesman he would be on the tractor as much as I would. The salesman spent extra time going over everything on the tractor with lots of safety information. I just keep a close eye on him and give him pointers now and then. Since he cares nothing about my interests and hobbies, this tractor has been a good bonding and educational tool. I hope y'all have the same results.

 

[JasonMac]

I've always been around Backhoes growing up.. I was running them quite young age... mostly playing with them.

I believe tractors are like having guns. My dad taught us how to shoot guns at an early age.... after he taught us the guns, there was no more curiosity... and everybody knows, curiosity is what killed the cat...

sure, get them used to it, and teach them safety... they'll appreciate it, and they won't sneak around behind your back when you are not home, and steal your keys, and get hurt...

show them everything, more often than not, they will learn to be safe..

 

[schmism]

i was probibly 7 or 8.... had to be big enough to reach the peddels.

shortly after that (perhaps 10) we were plinking crap with the .22 with dad...

 

[TrippleT]

I would suggest that safety be of paramount importance. Do not let a child ride
with anyone on a tractor. I had a good friend who was letting his small grandson ride while he was using the rotary cutter, or as we say bush hog, regardless of brand, down here. The child fell off and was cut to pieces. His grandfather never got over it.
On the other hand I have known children who would go to the fields with their fathers and were driving a tractor at an early age. I think a childs mental and emotional makeup plays a lot in the age to operate a tractor. But make sure they know the safety rules and adhere to them.
There are a lot of very good suggestions on this thread. I have a grandson who is five years old, he drives a gocart. He looks like a sprint car driver, he can slide the thing around and make long sliding turns. However, for that reason, I don't think he should learn to drive the tractor to soon LOL.