Co-worker hurt while using tractor.

[manganos]

A co-worker and a friend was involved in a tractor accident. He was using an auger to dig three holes for a gate. He got off the tractor to put pressure on the auger and his long sleeve shirt got caught up in the auger. The next thing he remembers was that he was on the ground trying to stand up. He had trouble getting up and that is when he noticed his right arm missing. The auger had ripped it off at the shoulder blade. Not only did he end up loosing his arm but the auger twisted his body into itself cutting both legs deeply and taking part of his ear off. He had used this tractor day in and out for years. He asked me to post and tell about his accident so he could hopefully prevent this from happening again. Remember ...even though you have dug 100's of holes ...or bushhogged 100's of acres; the tractor does not discriminate. Use common sense and be safe. After seeing Mr. Thompson in the hospital I now take extra time while doing common chores. Please take your time people! Thanks! Chris

 

[Bird]

Good reminder, and good advice, Chris. Sure hate to hear about things like that happening to people.

 

[njrqs]

Chris

Yes that sounds like a nasty one indeed.

It is good to post these sorts of things so we don't get complacent.

 

[Harv]

Wow, Chris. I'm really sorry to hear about your friend.

Tell him that his story has not fallen on deaf ears. Probably just saved one or two of us from a similar experience.

 

[Alan L.]

I just read that to my wife. She is bad about wanting to help position the post hole digger. When she gets close I stop and tell her I ain't starting it again until she gets away.

 

[Thomas]

Sorry to hear about your friend Chris.

Your right..just take your time,for one has all the time when it comes to safety.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color=blue>...Remember ...even though you have dug 100's of holes ...or bushhogged 100's of acres; the tractor does not discriminate...</font color=blue>

In the name of God, I will pray for your friend.

Approach each job with your tractor as if your life depends on it... because it does...

 

[b249]

Chris,

Very sorry to hear of this.

This is a good reminder as I'm sure many of us work w/ our equipment alone (I know I do much of the time) and to have this happen w/o any help around would surely be fatal.

b249

 

[rf33]

Yikes, that one sure sounds terrible. It is a good reminder of just how quickly things can go from good to very very bad when working with equipment.

I too will be praying for him and for his family.

 

[Miklos]

Man I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. My prayers are with him.

A post hole digger is one implement that I will NEVER buy for my tractor. I will either dig them by hand or rent a Bobcat with an auger.

 

[Inspector507]

I just bought a post hole digger, it works great. I WILL NEVER get off this tractor with an implement engaged. It just plain is not safe.
My 2 cents worth I guess.

 

[rf33]

Miklos,
I am not sure that it is a good assumption that the tractor driven post hole diggers are necessarily dangerous, nor should it be assumed that a bobcat driven one is necessarily safe. Digging by hand might be safer, but I think you might not get alot done. I think that the real lesson here is to only operate the tractor or its implements from the seat of the tractor. There have been a few other discussions here about some close calls with tipping the tractor over onto yourself by operating the loader from the ground. I think that, although there are risks with everything, the best advise is to stay in the darn seat, and if you must get down to check something out or to chain something up, etc. shut down the PTO, put on the brake, put the FNR lever in Park, whatever applies to your tractor to make it not go anywhere, and have nothing spinning.

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>"Digging by hand might be safer,..."</font color=blue>

Ron,

Although I agree with everything else you said in your reply, I would slightly disagree with the digging by hand might be safer statement. Notice I said slightly disagree. I have a good friend who has a 1/2 of a right foot that was the result of an off line manually operated post hole digger! /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif

I think what this tells us is exactly what has already been mentioned. It doesn't really matter what a person is doing. Danger lurks around the corner with any job/project/activity IF we, as the operator/laborer/participant fail to pay attention and understand the risks that are present in the job/project/activity.

 

[Miklos]

RF33

I should have stated in my previous post that one of the reasons for not ever purchasing one is the ground I have to dig in. There is about 6~12" of top soil, then hard clay with round river rock that range in size from 3 to 8" around. Once you get thru the clay/rock mix at about 24~30" depth, then you hit hardpan clay that is just one stage back from rock. Most any auger can easily get thru the top soil. Once you hit the rocks, you quickly wind up with a stuck auger if you can not reverse your auger. Once you get thru to the hard pan, without serious down pressure, you can only scratch the surface. Without reversible pto and down pressure a tractor with an auger is useless on MY property. Been there, tried that and it doesn't work.

With a Bobcat mounted auger I have never had to get out of the seat when drilling holes. The main reason is the ability to reverse the auger when it gets jammed in the rocks. For this simple reason, it is much safer for ME to use on MY property. When I drilled the 24" diameter holes for my pole barn with a Bobcat mounted auger, some holes took almost 2 hours per hole.

In the right type of soil and ground condidtions, a tractor mounted auger is perfectly safe as long as the operator remains seated on the tractor when the PTO is engaged. All helpers must stay a safe distance away when the PTO is engaged.

Like most everthing else in life, there are many different circumstances of use that can turn an implement from a safe, effective tool, to a useless health hazard. Get the right tool for the job!

Be safe out there.....

 

[toddwulf]

Wow, Sorry to hear about anyone getting hurt - particularly that bad. Best wishes to him and his family. Every once in a while I cruise through this section of TBN to get a dose of reality and bring my tractor cockiness back down to earth. It doesn't pay to be complacent.