Cell Phones: A Safety Device?

[glennmac]

My wife thinks I should take my cell phone with me on my tractor so I can call someone if something were to happen to me. At first I thought that would be silly, but I think I've changed my mind.

I am all alone when I tractor. My wife is frequently away from home and there is no one else there. And things can happen.

Now that my culvert bridge is finished, I crossed my creek today for the first time on the tractor. I started random brushhogging and trail cutting on the 8 acres I have over there. (Exhilirating Zen fun!) There were several almost accidents during this 2 hour endeavor. Three times I thought I was going to tip over when my wheel slipped into a hidden swampy ditch or hole. I repeatedly got hit with branches, some large, that could have knocked me off the tractor if I didn't have my seatbelt on. I climbed my steep wooded hill in a reverie, and then was afraid to turn around on the slope. (Tiltmeter will be ordered tomorrow.) Conceivably, I could go into the creek if the bank collapsed when I was too near the edge. I am out of sight of any other house and I don't know that anyone could hear me if I started hollering.

So, now I think: why not carry a cell phone. Do any of you do that?

Which raises another issue: where to put it? I could keep it in my pocket or I could mount it on the tractor. I have seen cell phone holders for cars in auto parts departments, and wonder if they might work mounted somewhere on the tractor.

Glenn

 

[jimmoore]

I carry my cell phonewith me all the time. I keep mine in my pocket because of the vibration. Sometime I break down across town and i can call mama to bring the wheels. jimmoore

 

[Roy]

Each one's circumstance is different. My wife has raised the same issue…. But I won't carry a phone, nor my pager, whenever I am on my tractor. Too many people associated with my employer have the numbers, use them liberally, and I use the tractor to escape "work". The only thing that I will have (at times) is a walkie-talkie, set to the same channel as my boy's.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Glenn, several almost accidents in 2 hours says you need to be more carefull. A cell phone might help if you were badly injured, but, it would be much better to prevent the injury in the first place.

Andy

 

[RickM]

I am all alone when I tractor. My wife is frequently away from home and there is no one else there. And things can happen.
I am out of sight of any other house and I don't know that anyone could hear me if I started hollering.

Glenn,
You answered your own question well enough for me. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif If you already have one then take it with you. I respect Roy's opinion too of not wanting to be bothered while tractoring. My case is that I'm not 'remote and isolated' enough to warrant having it with me on my 2.5 acres. I leave mine in my pick-up though, but normally it's not turned on. Knowing it is there to use in an emergency is valuable to me however.

 

[glennmac]

Roy, I know what you mean about work calls. But we do have the option of taking the phone but leaving it off when tractoring.

 

[ERNIEB]

I usually have mine with me. Where to carry it when on the tractor is a problem I've never really solved. In my shirt pocket, it falls out everytime I bend over. When I clip it on my belt, turning and geting off and on, it seems to slip off. Hanging it by a strap from a lever, like the throttle it bangs around.
Once I was hauling fill to a site where a foundation was to be built. There was a guy on an industrial tractor doing the spreading. On my last load of the day, he stopped me. He had at sometime dropped his cell phone, and had evidently covered it up. I used mine to call his number, and we walked around over the area to see if we could hear it ringing. We never did. Either there was to much dirt over it or it had been smashed. Since then, I always worry about doing something simular when I'm on my tractor.
ErnieB

 

[Bird]

Seems a lot of us have the same problem. I only bought a cell phone for my wife to carry in the car for emergencies, and she thinks I should be carrying it when I leave our property on the tractor, but I never have, just because I haven't figured out any convenient way to carry it without worrying about breaking or losing it. But I DO think it's a good idea to carry one. Maybe someone will come up with a good idea for a way to do that.

Bird

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I'm with Glen..

Turn it off, but have it with you.

Run over it , smash it, bury it, then get another one, and have it with you.

But DON"T be the deceased husband, father, son, etc. that was found trapped/lifeless under his overturned tractor in circumstances where he might have been able to summon life-saving help if a cell phone had been in reach.

Where to carry it? Cell phones are small and light... a neck strap,... a small leather sheath (macho tractorman-tool-looking of course), ..surely it's a challenge that can be met.

On the person is better than on the machine... reachable when half ejected from the seat, pinned and slowly bleeding to death from an unreachable but otherwise easily-controlled wound.

Heaven fordid you ever were to find a loved one in that situation... heaven forbid a loved one ever finds YOU!

Things that we can't foresee are always likely to sneak-up on us... let's at least take care of the ones that we should be able to see coming.

When I say things like this, I'm always talking as much to myself as to anyone else. It's just so damn easy to be a little bit careless...and sometimes a "little" is too much.

Everyone take care out there!

Larry

 

[Thomas]

Glenn,
When haying I do take the cell phone and its has come in handy more than once over the years, /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
but around the house I don't bother when roughing up the ground.

Walmart & Kmart have nice cell phone pouches you can put on your belt,for thats what I use or I forget the phone and have to go searching. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Your wife has a good point,so give it a try. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif


Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif