Child Safety Seats on a Kubota?

[RichNJ]

I've been thinking how to mount 2 child safety seats on my Kubota. Maybe one on each fender? The seat tether could be attached to the ROPS bar.
Just joking but I think of these things when I've got tractor stuff to do and 2 kids that love tractors. But the rule is no kids on tractors.

 

[Rick Jay]

RichNJ,

Good rule. I have the same. My 5 y.o. daughter loves my tractor, but she only gets to sit on it when it's shut-off and safely parked.

I do have a small lawn tractor (about 600 lbs.) that I let her ride on (she sits on my lap), but it's so low to the ground and light weight that I don't believe a serious injury could result.

Interestingly enough, she has become very good at steering it. It was fun to watch her at the amusement park last week as she "steered" the cars on the track (no other kids were) and the attendant was very surprised when she had already fastened her safety belt before the ride started (she gets that from sitting on the Kubota).

She has a very good understanding of safety (for her age) and realized that the Honda tractor is "hers", but the Kubota can be "dangerous" and that she must stay away when it's running. She respects the power of the larger equipment without fearing it, which I think is a good thing for someone of her age.

As I always tell her "Safety First!". Now I find she is telling me the same thing. The attached pic is her on it last summer (she was about 4 1/2). If you look close enough, you can probably see that she had the seat belt all buckled up.

~Rick

 

[TerryinMD]

No more than one person on the compact!! That is the rule. No sense in tempting fate.

My youngest daughter started to learn how to drive on our old JD 240. She was about 9 at the time. She just loved to run around on that thing. She is now 13 and hops onto the JD 4100 and has a ball mowing the yard. She has a major pucker factor on the hills (can't blame her). Just yesterday, her and her older sister complained to me that I wasn't "teaching" them how to use the rest of the implements (I'm still learning!!). That policy has now changed. They will be learning how dig, plow, bushhog, and any other chore they wish to learn and do.

Encourage and make it fun!! Explain the safety aspects and rules. It teaches the kids to be responsible for its safe usage.

Terry

 

[keeney]

NO EXTRA RIDERS, ESPECIALLY CHILDREN!

I hate to be a spoil sport, but when I worked at Toro, I heard way too many stories of how many children are killed or injured while riding on "small lawn tractors (about 600 lbs)".

I seem to also remember some obscure statistic that the majority of all riding mower injuries happen to children.

Most people think its the mower that is dangerous on a riding mower and the machine is "safe" when the mower is disengaged. However, the 600lbs (more like 800lbs total with an adult rider) can easily crush a child's skull or other important body parts.

Even if it doesn't kill them, its still a very sad thing to hear about broken ribs, arms, legs, ankles, etc when a child jumps, squirms, or falls off of the machine and gets run over or wedged between the machine and the pavement, etc.

Also, there are many stories of children who after having ridden on the machine with their parent decide that they are qualified to drive it themselves. Later, without supervision, perhaps to show off to their friends, they start the machine by themselves and get hurt. PLEASE ALWAYS REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE KEYS!

Whenever I see an adult with a child on a riding mower, I relate to them some of the stories and encourage people to think of these machines as seriously dangerous tools and not toys.

NO EXTRA RIDERS, ESPECIALLY CHILDREN!

- Rick

 

[cowboydoc]

I have to weigh in on the opposite of this. I learned to drive a pickup, tractor, motorcycle etc. before I was five years old as did most kids that grew up on a farm or a ranch. I knew the rules and I never broke them. I grew up with a respect for machinery and knew everything that it could do. My six year old drives the pickup or the tractor when we feed. She has a go-cart, 4 wheeler, and mini-bike all of which she is very adept at. I don't see anything wrong with teaching kids on machinery as long as it is supervised and they know the rules. Heck she can already ride and train horses and ropes better than most of the guys and gals at the roping we go to. I'd trust my six year old driving more than I would most of the older guys that come out to help now and then, she's a far better driver. Children are amazing and from what I can see about kids they are only limited by the limits that we as adults impose on them. There are dangers everywhere a child goes. Everyday we put our kids in the way of the #1 killer of small children with regard to accidents and don't think twice about it, automobiles. I'm not saying every kid should learn to run equipment but it's not a bad thing if they do if they are taught the proper way.

 

[Thomas]

Not being a parnet I can only reflect from past also when my little nephew became interested.
We really didn't have any books on tractor safety,just strong words and how to from the parnets also common sense<-- like when in doubt don't pull out.
When my little nephew became interested in tractors I will admit I was somewhat /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.giffor the last thing I want was anything bad to happen.
A coaching hand..positive words goes along way far as tractor safety w/children.
I feel the child should be a certain age before attemping solo drive,and only a parnet should decide...example cowboys daughter...it does start at home. Ahhh..before you know it one day you shall hear the diesel come to life as you are drinking your coffee,and moments later your child will be puttering by in which you shall feel a warm deep proud feeling w/in you.
Have a Merry Chirstmas and a peaceful day.

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

 

[Egon]

Cowboydoc:
Well said.
Egon

 

[beenthere]

Re: Child Safety amd experiences

I would weigh in with CowboyDoc on this one too. I would suggest that all children are not candidates for early driving, and are not adept at thinking about all the things that can go wrong, or what to do about them if they do go wrong. At an early age (5 and up), my children could drive the 8hp wheel horse around the acreage in low gear and no mower running. The girls didn't very often want to do it, but the boys used it as one of their toys. I was always within hearing distance, and kept track of where they were at, generally. They found out what they could do, and what they could not do. And we were lucky that no one was injured in the few incidents that were bound to happen. There is some risk, and I try to minimize that risk and still give them the experience I think they should have growing up. I would have felt very bad if one of them was injured, but also would have felt bad if they were injured in a car accident that was a result of not knowing what the car would or wouldn't do (maybe as a result of my not sharing my toys when they were young). No one knows for sure what is right, but we all have to make our own choices, and live with the consequences. I now share my toys with my grand children, as they mature to those various levels and desires. Merry Christmas

 

[MChalkley]

Richard - Well said. I treasure my memories of operating equipment on the farm. There has to be a balance there somewhere. Please teach the children to use the equipment - don't deprive them of that time with you, that knowledge, the bond they will always have with you and mechanical things because of it. But, as always, Safety First!

MarkC

 

[cowboydoc]

I treasure my memories of operating equipment on the farm

Same here Mark. I wanted a ranch more than ever when my girls got old enough to know what was going on. My most treasured moments are those when I was young on the ranch and having my Grandpa teach me to drive machinery and work a horse. Those are moments that are priceless. To him it was just work but to me it was the best time I could spend. I couldn't wait to get up at five in the morning to go and do chores or to get home from school and work horses. I think too much these days families go in so many different directions and there isn't that family time. I don't think there's any better cure for staying out of trouble than growing up on a farm or a ranch, learning life's lessons early, learning to work as a family and having respect for the things that made this country what it is.

 

[Bird]

I'll have to admit to having very mixed feelings about this topic. I grew up out in the country, was around farm animals and equipment, and like you, wouldn't take anything for the experiences I had, but sometimes when I recall some of those experiences and some of the things we did, I'm amazed that I survived. I also had my own rifle and shotgun from the age of 10 and hunted alone for small game to eat. I loved it, but I'd sure be reluctant to turn my 12 year old grandson loose with a gun nowadays. And this morning, I read in The Dallas Morning News of a 12 year old boy who was killed yesterday in Dallas. He was a passenger in a go cart his friend had just received for Christmas. Both boys wearing seat belts; neither wearing a helmet when they flipped it on a small hill. Of course, when I was growing up, no one ever heard of wearing helmets and, to the best of my knowledge, seatbelts and roll bars hadn't been invented. Like I said, mixed feelings and much more cautious than my dad was, but yes, I've let my grandson drive the tractor just a little bit and even my pickup in the pasture, and I'm sure I'll be letting him do it in the future. Just hope he and I both have enough sense to avoid any serious accidents.

 

[jhburke]

I am also one who isn't a parent. I have several nieces and nephews plus friends who have children. My thoughts on this is that where the adults who work with the children in encouraging them and teaching how to do and what not to do. These are the ones whose children seem to get along with little harm. I find it hard to keep my mouth shut, when an adult simply says there it is be careful. These adults are the ones who start screaming why did you do that when something goes wrong. JIM

 

[keeney]

Re: Child Safety amd experiences

My main point being that most people under-estimate the risks concerning small lawn tractors. The statistics show that these things are somewhat dangerous, especially to ride-along children and yet many people treat them as "harmless".

All of the same types of accidents that happen on larger tractors happen on these smaller units. They roll over on slopes and crush people. They drive over people (backing over children the operator did not realize are present is a common way for this to happen). They pin people against immovable objects. They cut off fingers, hands, toes, feet, and sometimes entire limbs with sharp blades and implements. They entagle fingers, hands, hair, clothes, and limbs in drive shafts and belts, etc. Yes, they weigh less and have less power, so the fatality rates are lower, but the injuries still often fall into the "permanent" catagory.

One illustrative story I heard was about a lady who had her riding mower roll back on her while attempting to mow up a hill that was too steep. She suffered some broken ribs. Within a week after she was released from the hospital she was killed while attempting to mow the same hill! This time the mower rolled over on her and stayed on top of her, crushing her ribcage and preventing breathing. I think the machine in this case was 5 or 8 hp and weighed around 500 lbs.

The same thing applies to the "Extra Rider" part of my caution as well. The same types of things happen to extra riders on small lawn tractors as on larger tractors. If there is not a place for them to sit that has been designed with safety in mind, then it is hard to predict what might go wrong. Most often they fall off and get run into by the rear wheel, breaking an ankle or a leg.

I have to agree with the comment that almost everybody underestimates the risk they and their children take all the time riding in a car. Humans are just bad at the types of decisions involving infrequent occurences of things with really bad consequences. Considering that the stats are about 50% of all new drivers are involved in some type of an accident within the first two years of getting their license, it is amazing that we ever let any teenagers drive a car!

It is clear that certain risks need to be balanced against children learning to take care of themselves and grow up. I just wanted to point out that in this case the risks are higher than many people might think.

- Rick

 

[blurrybill]

Re: Child Safety amd experiences

Although new to TBN, I couldn't fail to respond to posts on this thread -- I have been reading the various forums, long in advance of acquiring my 32 hp or so tractor. Part of my motivation is so I can enjoy the tractor experience safely. In my clinical practice, I freely admit to my patients that I don't have all the answers as a psychologist; hence, my willingness to seek them out on TBN and other places as I try to learn more about tractors.

All that considered, we all survive almost in spite of ourselves or our parents sometimes; and, we need to keep that in mind. No doubt many besides me rode in the back window of the car as kids, perhaps to escape the blue smoke cloud Dad was emitting or just so we didn't have to ride the "hump." So, most of us had good parents -- like someone said, however, we may have been lucky to survive childhood.

One thing I am a bit familiar with is cognitive development. I have a brilliant 7 year old daughter who will not be driving either of my tractors for several years. Her skills on machinery (achievement) will be enhanced by her aptitude and by experience reflecting her developmental age. In brief, a child does NOT have the capacity to make judgments and decisions about what is safe and what is not at the same level as an adult, regardless of exposure at a young age. I agree wholeheartedly with cowboydoc about the values gleaned from living next to the land. It develops a sense of responsibility, work ethic and does build strong family ties and values and, in my view, a spiritual orientation. Nevertheless, kids along with adults make lots of bad decisions --even with exposure --I read enough on TBN to know that. And, It doesn't matter how close we are to them when they roll the tractor -- we can simply get there faster to view the injuries.

We can share all the great things about rural life without putting our kids at risk. We have always made the smart and right decision for them - AS LONG AS THEY DON'T GET HURT. Once they do, then we've made a bad choice in allowing them to do something they probably shouldn't have been doing. Then, we live with the pain for the rest of our lives. Trust me, I deal with this regularly with clients grieving and regretting their decisions. Read the stats on kids and 4 wheelers, tractors, etc. Is it worth it?

People are all unique. I work with drinkers who can down a case of beer at a sitting and stand up and walk easily to their car and drive away ( I'd be in a coma). According to them, they are not impaired, but are they? By definition, judgment is impaired at that level. Kids hopefully are not allowed to drink, but sans alcohol, they still don't think like a rational, mature adult.

One personal anecdote: I have a veterinarian brother-in-law who had a younger brother my youngest sister's age. All in their family helped with chores, fed animals, rode and trained horses, etc. At 11, this younger brother was allowed to mow the ditches on a utility tractor. He would have been 42 this year, same age as my sister -- the tractor rolled and killed him. To paraphrase A.E. Housman, he was a "lad who died in his glory and never grew old."

Sorry about the length guys; call me a whimp, but there are some risks I just won't take. Thought I'd balance the thread.

Bill

 

[MChalkley]

Re: Child Safety amd experiences

Bill - That was very well put, without a doubt. I don't think anyone would argue with you, either. As is commonly said, hindsight is 20/20. And it's true that those of us with wonderful memories of operating equipment on the farm are the ones who lived to have memories. Many children didn't.

So, you've balanced the thread, which was your intent. And you've done an excellent job of it, too. I don't have children, so it would be a moot point for me to say what I would do - I'm not in the situation, so I can't know. Still, I would hope I could find some way of allowing them to participate - SAFELY. Thanks for your input, Bill. The whole issue bears very serious consideration.

 

[blurrybill]

Re: Child Safety amd experiences

MarkC,

Thanks for the kind reply. BTW, one can work with addicts without being one... Your comments about parenting/decision making are as valid as those of any of us. I admit that I am a protective parent; we worked a long time at having a child. I hope I have thought through things enough to "let go" when needed. Should my little Laura get frustrated with her old Dad if she can't do everything she wants, I'll be able to live with it, and, around machinery she'll be able to as well.

 

[keeney]

I dug up some more concrete numbers. They were not quite as bad as I remember, but still notable.

Some of the stats are mixed in with walk-behind mowers, but they also indicate that 3/4 of all mowing accidents involve ride-on vs walk-behind.

Reported injuries per year:

Emergency room: 20,000 to 50,000 depending on source. 14 to 20% are children or something between 2,800 to 10,000.

Hospitalization: 7% of above or 1400 to 3500 total, 196 to 700 children.

Death: 75 total, 15 of which are children.

One source quoted the injury rate at 2.5 injuries per 1000 machines in use.

Here are some of the links where I found the info:

http://www.kidsource.com/CPSC/riding.mower.cpsc.html

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1728.81217

http://www.rainbowpediatrics.net/faq/13.7.html

- Rick

 

[MChalkley]

Rick - Sobering. No matter which of them is right.