rdbrumfield
Veteran Member
I was greasing a heavy-haul lowboy last Fri. I had greased the under parts and was finishing up in the engine compartment. The steering shaft comes out of the firewall at a faily steep angle and I asked the driver to give the wheel a turn so that I could get on the zerk. He responded with "sure, I will fire it up". I was standing between the front tire and the bumper at the time and stepped out to the side. He hit the key while standing on the running board. It sarted in gear and by the time he turned off the key it had shoved over a work table and it stopped just before going through the shop wall. The hood was open and it broke the bug deflector. The shop table I repaired easily. We were very lucky. The thing is that there were several things that led up to this accident, as most are caused by small events leading up to a finally. (1) he left the brakes off to adjust them. (2) there was a plastic sack on the seat and he couldn't see the shift lever. (3) and most important, he didn't get in, sit in the seat, depress the clutch, check the gearing, and do a proper start.
Folks, these little shortcuts are just not worth it. Over the years the manufacturers have made lockouts on our tranny, pto, seats and just about everything they can think of to make our world be a bit safer. In the end it really up to us. Be safe and happy tractoring.
Folks, these little shortcuts are just not worth it. Over the years the manufacturers have made lockouts on our tranny, pto, seats and just about everything they can think of to make our world be a bit safer. In the end it really up to us. Be safe and happy tractoring.