Back Flip

[Lunk]

Excellent Post!

Sometimes it's way to easy to become complacent, and if you're lucky, you can reflect on it later without major injury.

Another lesson (don't ask me how I know...) is this:

When you hook your $100.00, 6" wide, 30' long, 20 ton Keeper snatch strap to a bush you are pulling out, use the drawbar, and make sure the box-blade is all the way up.

I ended up with a 25' long strap after that. Amazing how quickly / cleanly it cut it. You'd think a box-blade wouldn't be that sharp...

My .02

Lunk

 

[RoyJackson]

Here's another one...read this one when I first got on TBN about 10 years ago (but it was not a TBN post)...

Pretty sure this happened in Nebraska. Farmer left his tractor on a field overnight in freezing temperatures. He got on it the next day (morning, I suppose), started it and put it in gear. The rear wheels had frozen to the ground and the tractor rotated about the rear axle.
Killed him...

I don't normally leave my 790 outside overnight...but if I do, I used to shift into reverse gear first (just in case). That did get me into researching tractor safety and safety related incidents.

A bit off topic, but still safety related...guy was operating a 770 (very similar to the 790) and was trying to shift gears on a slope. Well, he didn't and went for a wild ride down slope. Problem was a steep drop off at the end of the slope. The tractor ended up on top of him. A 770 is a relatively small tractor, but still pretty close to a ton. He was killed too.

 

[bstrom]

You guys seen this one?


YouTube - Man Trapped Under Tractor

 

[JB4310]

A bit off topic, but still safety related...guy was operating a 770 (very similar to the 790) and was trying to shift gears on a slope. Well, he didn't and went for a wild ride down slope.

This can happen with hydro machine as well, it did to me when I tried changing ranges on a slope and hit neutral. It was a bit of a wake up, since with hydro you rarely use brakes, it took me a long second to realise I better get on the brakes.

JB.

 

[tugboat-2]

YES,..Roy Jackson,...very good point! Tires frozen down and the consequences thereof. I've had my truck and tractor tires frozen to the ground overnight and it is a worrisome experience. With the truck, probably the most likely action if you tried to gun 'er on out of there,...would be to simply "tear" the tires up.

But with the tractor, it can be a whole different matter. As I mentioned before on a much older post,...a tractor's main job is to "turn" its driving wheels. Most everything about a tractor, (especially older models) is fairly direct, firm and made to just get down and "drive" those wheels!

There is no spring suspension to absorb or warn of mistakes, just solid driveing action,.... and by golly a tractor worth it's salt will do its doggondest to get that job done! So yes,.. it will "turn" those wheels one way or another and if the wheels refuse to turn because they are frozen to the ground, or because the tow is impossible to move, (tooo big or too heavy),... that tractor won't disappoint you,... no sir, it will do its job and get those wheels turning or else "turn" the tractor over in a back flip,...but it WILL turn "something" !!!

Todays ROPS in combination with a "connected" seat-belt,.... will go a long way to providing an operator with a "lucky" second chance.

In today's way of life, we tend to just jump in the car and go,... and/or just jump on the tractor and go!! With the tractor, because they "can" be very dangerous,.. we really should get in the habit of going a tad slower,.. THINK about the task immediately ahead BEFORE beginning,.... could save your life!!

Be careful out there !!!!

CHEERS!
. . tug

 

[JoelD]

If you can't hook strap below axle level, then go under the tractor and find a spot up front to hook to. Impossible to flip the tractor that way.

Joel

 

[Renze]

With no ROPS and no seat belt on an 8N, I got away with my mistake by a combination of quick reflexes and sheer dumb luck. Many others haven't; back flips are frequently fatal. Be careful out there.

If you did nothing, your tractor would move the front axle a couple of inches further up untill the blade drops to the ground, which is the ultimate backflip safety device.
I like to pull from the toplink with the 3pt scoop to rip out trees. I can adjust the weight transfer in varying surface conditions to get max. grip but it cant move the front axle more than 6 feet before the bucket touches the ground and i loose all traction.

When tightening fencewires, i used to take the old 2011 and let it climb into the wire so the front tires are 3 feet in the air, then close the throttle so the tractor stalls. Then i have time to tighten those wires to the corner poles, works much better than a parking brake.