BX2200 Seat Belt Killing Me

[boustany]

Here's the problem. When I mow, in particular, I bounce around a fair bit. The auto-retractor seat belt takes every advantage to tighten, and doesn't let go. Every few minutes I have to stop, unbuckle, and rebuckle.

Any suggested strategies for stopping this?

 

[gsganzer]

Put something on the strap so it can't retract all the way.

 

[brinet]

thus the problem with wearing the seatbelt. Do I DARE ASK how many people really wear their seatbelt because of this issue?? I have tried several things, but there is no easy solution. Besides, I recently had a need to JUMP off the tractor to avoid injury. Due to the circumstances, I think taking the time to try to remove the seatbelt from my half sliced thru body would have been just enough time to cost me my life! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Before I get Flamed, be honest. The seatbelt doesn't really work, at least not for someone that is still alive.... I have lost all feeling in my legs to the point of not being able to push the go peddle because of the circulation being cut off. I also have been physically CUT by the belt is was so tight. I think that if it was really INTENDED to be used, it would work. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

I became so frustrated with this, but still have no solution. Don't ask me what my final solution is.....

 

[kofronj]

I use a medium-size spring clamp clipped to the belt right where it goes into the retractor. That keeps it from ratcheting down. This works great, and I can tractor for hours without problem.

No offense, but if you had to jump off a tractor before your body was sliced in half---you're not doing something right.

 

[MikePA]

For as long as there have been seatbelts, on tractors or any other vehicle, people have been coming up with situations where wearing the seatbelt is less safe. However, the existence of such circumstances doesn't change the fact that for the vast majority of people, in the vast majority of situations, wearing a seat belt is safer than not wearing one.

It'd be nice if manufacturers could use the automotive belts that only tighten in the event of a crash. Perhaps it's a case where things do not happen fast enough on a tractor that would allow such belts to work correcly?

 

[brinet]

I'll have to agree, and you will not offend me by carrying your statements even further. The situation I was in was this (for those who are curious): I had been spraying the lawn with a tow behind tank sprayer, therefore the grass was wet and slippery. I stopped for a minute to check the tank. When I returned to the tractor and removed the brake, I looked back to make sure the tank pump was working. Thanks to the "creeping" problem of the hydrostat, the tractor had started creeping forward toward a short slope in the lawn. When I realized what had happened, I tried to "reverse" the tractor, stop with the brake, etc. The problem was that I was on wet grass with 25 gallons of water/chemical pushing me and 4' away was an 8' high retaining wall. I wasn't about to be on the tractor if it went over the wall, SEATBELT or NO SEATBELT!!!!

(BTW, the tractor stopped at the wall thanks to a 2" lip, just enough to stop the "creeping" motion)

Now I would NEVER say it isn't a good idea to wear your seatbelt , but to be HONEST, IF ANYONE IN THIS FORUM ISN'T HAVING A PROBLEM WEARING YOUR SEATBELT, you probably don't know your tractor came with one! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[brinet]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Put something on the strap so it can't retract all the way. )</font>

To put something on the strap means to remove something from the strap when dismounting the tractor. This is one of the things that I tried, but found that if I didn't remove the "something" from the seatbelt, the seatbelt itself became a potential safety hazard (tangled in other stuff) not to mention the major inconvenience in having to do this just because the seatbelt doesn't work properly...

 

[botalvr]

I have found the very same problem. The only time I wear it is when I am using the grader box or working on a steep slope. Having caught a root or two with the box, without the belt I would be speaking in a much higher voice right now.
/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Now I would NEVER say it isn't a good idea to wear your seatbelt , but to be HONEST, IF ANYONE IN THIS FORUM ISN'T HAVING A PROBLEM WEARING YOUR SEATBELT, you probably don't know your tractor came with one! )</font>

I'd have to disagree a bit, since I wore mine all the time. But then I'm accustomed to different kinds of seat belts since I've been wearing them all the time since 1962. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[JerryG]

It is totally amazing how many different excuses that people can come up with for not wanting to wear a seat belt. It is a fact that seat belts save lives, whether in car or on tractors. The amount of people that die when wearing seat belts is extremely small compared to the number saved by them. If it is uncomfortable, put a clamp on it or something, but use it.