Have you ever turned over a tractor?

[pat32rf]

I've always found that when things get hairy enough to need a tilt-meter you are too busy to watch it....I'd sooner watch out for dips and gullys than wait for a meter to tell me I've gone too far. Sorta like taking responsibility for my own fate instead of leaving it up to a meter or politician....

 

[Defective]

One of these days, I'm gonna put a tiltmeter on the lawn tractor. I'll finally find out if the ditch & the edges of the yard are as scary as I think they are.

As for the working tractors, the worst areas I've ever used them as far as tipping hazard have always been the relatively level areas. On a slope, I'm worrying about stability & I put a lot of effort into keeping track of what I'm driving over & what the tractor is doing. On the level areas, I bump into rocks, stumps, holes, small trees & occasionally...big trees.

(of course, as I've said before, my idea of the proper tools for harvesting runs along Husqvarna & Stihl lines. I aint no wheat farmer, that's for sure...)

 

[D7E]

I've been in 2 rollovers but with modern 100-150 hp tractors with safetey cabs , Luckily never without a cab .
Rollovers were common place when i worked on a custom silage outfit in the welsh hills in the UK .
Running 8-10 tractors with 10-15 ton trailers on land that was too steep to be successfuly grain cropped , Bosses paid low wages and had brand new equipment so we got a lot of over confident college kids and probably 2 or 3 incidents per year and a trailer tipped every couple of weeks , Surprisingly damage was usually minimal , Bent exhuast pipe, Bent fender , couple of broken lights , Clean underwear and a lot of polishing and apologising .

 

[Bob_Young]

No, I have not. This after 47 years of part-time tractoring on mostly no-ROPS Ag tractors. Doesn't mean it won't happen tomorrow. It does mean that I'm more determined than ever to finish my tractoring time here on earth with a clean record (which, BTW, I attribute to the Grace of God and a personal streak of cowardice).

Having grown up & mostly lived in farming areas, I know of three individuals who were killed in rollovers. One was due to reckless operation. The other two; not sure, however both were small/home residence operators that were operating their own (Ag) machines. I seem to recall work around ponds playing a part in the latter two rollovers. The large dairy outfits I've been associated with have not had any rollovers that I'm aware of.

What I fear most, when operating on steep hillsides with old Ag tractors is a cracked axle/spindle letting go. Had a front spindle break once on an Oliver 55 with a loader. Looking at the break, you could see it had been cracked for some time. Luckily I was on level ground and it didn't roll.

The best safety device is between the operator's ears....go slow, watch closely, don't take unnecessary risks.
FWIW
Bob

 

[Tig]

I hope this isn't off topic since the operator did not survive but sadly a tractor was overturned today, not to far from here. Here are the details as published in a local paper.
"A 56-year-old woman died this afternoon in a farm accident east of Prescott.
OPP (police) said they responded to a farm on County Rd. 2, about four kilometres east of Johnstown in Edwardsborough-Cardinal Twp., around 1 p.m.
According to the investigation, the lead farm tractor was attempting to pull another tractor and trailer that were stuck in the mud.
The lead tractor overturned backwards and landed on the driver, police said.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene."
Article can be found here ottawasun.com - Breaking News - OPP investigate farm death

 

[RoyJackson]

I hope this isn't off topic since the operator did not survive but sadly a tractor was overturned today, not to far from here. Here are the details as published in a local paper.
"A 56-year-old woman died this afternoon in a farm accident

Wow! That's the second 56 year old woman killed in a tractor accident within a few weeks! Both in NY too.
Here's a link to the first:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/safety/104351-ny-woman-dies-tractor-accident.html

 

[riptides]

Wow! That's the second 56 year old woman killed in a tractor accident within a few weeks! Both in NY too.

It would be interesting to see the demographics of these new "farmers".

I think the new "farmer" is actually someone who has cashed out or checked out of the suburb/city lifestyle and is trying the "farm" life. Along the lines of the mega-acre farms being "developed" into "hobby"-"mini" farms.

This in turn contributes to the population in the "country side" and the accident ratios we could be seeing.

What say TBN?

-Mike Z.

 

[john_bud]

I wonder how many of the tractors that tipped over had filled tires? I have two running tractors, one with and one without fill. The filled one feels 10x more secure when hitting a small bump. The other one will hit the same bump and cause me to rip a chunk of vinyl out of the tractor seat.

jb

 

[LOOPHOLE]

Just read where A.J. Foyt turned a bulldozer over and into a lake. Pond bank gave away and he rolled into lake. Dozer had a roll cage on it and AJ road it all the way to bottom.Landed upside down I think, he swam out- said it scared him pretty good. I'LL BET !

 

[madpogue]

.... and just imagine what it takes to scare A.J. Foyt.

(What's he doing running a dozer, anyway? He must be, what, 136 years old?)