Is this safe?

sweettractors · May 12, 2004

Funny you should mention riding on a drag--When I was 16 and my cousin from the city was 15, I was discing a field and she was riding on the wide sled drag behind the disc. Safe, I thought? I looked back and she was rolling on the ground and I did not know what happened. She had lost her balence and fell forward and the drag rolled over her--I thought I had killed her. Luckily she was really scared, but not hurt. It was fall of the year and she was wearing a big thick winter coat and I guess that and the Good Lord Above helped protect her.-- Ken Sweet
Sweet Farm Equipment LLC *New 36-92 inch "First Choice" Roto Tillers & 5 ft Sickle bar Mowers*

Soundguy · May 12, 2004

( Just about every year someone gets killed riding on a hay wagon )

Just about every second someone dies in a car accident.. yet I see them on the roads still.

About every 6 minutes someone chokes on a piece of food.. its still legal ( for now ). There are even statistics for people who have tripped on shoe laces and died... and they are still legal.

At some point you have to draw a line and figure that just crawling out of bed starts to expose you to some liability and chance of danger.

While I am ALL for safety.. some things are still common sense.

The comment about someone riding in a trailer is a bit ludacris... During hay season I see teams of people on the back of trailers behind haybines.. or for bailers with chutes.. Even bailers with kickers that drop on the ground usually have a following crew with men throwing bales on the trailer and being stacked by others..

The very act of living is inherently dangerous.. all we can do is try to mitigate it as much as possible.

All that said.. and you will probably get sued if a neighbors kid falls out of the trailer on the hay ride.. Heck.. a guy in our neighborhood got sued because a jogger tripped and fell in front of his house?!? go figure.

To the fellow doing the hay ride... if ya do it.. go slow! and make sure your homeowners ins. is paid up...

Soundguy

Soundguy · May 12, 2004

( she was riding on the wide sled drag behind the disc. Safe, I thought? I looked )

Farm life aint safe.. Funny enough.. I've done the same thing.. neighbor was dragging his areena, and had a telephone post behind the drag as a leveler.. and we took turns riding on the phone pole using a rope from the tractor as ballance... work and fun.. dangerous? yep...

Look at horses. Many states have equine liability laws that state that if you are at an equine event ( even spectators ).. and ya get hurt.. the event/owner aren't responsible as horses are dangerous.. and if you are voulentarilly there.. its your choice..

If I had to count the number of times a horse has bit, kicked, or stepped on me.. well.. it'd be a tough job... same with cows.. Let me tell you.. 1200# of prime rib is heavy when its standing on your foot.. and doesn't really want to move...

Soundguy

EddieWalker · May 12, 2004

After reading all the good advice, I don't have anything to offer as to which is better, wagon or platform.

I did have an idea about the platform. Build yourself a set of pallet forks that attach to your 3pt hitch. They are very common and quite useful. Then build a platform with railings that you pick up with the pallet forks. A hole in the end of the forks would lock it in place.

I've seen this setup used in all sorts of construction sites, even union jobs with OSHA present.

Another advantage would be a great platform for hauling tools, equipment and materials around.

Whatever you decide, take pictures!

Good luck,
Eddie

sweettractors · May 12, 2004

Let me tell you.. 1200# of prime rib is heavy when its standing on your foot.. and doesn't really want to move...


Aint that the truth--We just recently had a 17 yr old neighbor boy get his elbow pulled out of socket trying to restrain a 1200 lb Mama cow. I witnessed that and it was very, very painful. 3 months later and he is fine. --Ken Sweet
SWeet Farm Equipment lLC *New "First Choice" 5 ft double action sickle mowers for CUT tractors*

slowzuki · May 12, 2004

Hmm, some of my best memories of the farm are hay wagon rides with horses pulling. Our province banned hay rides about 15 years ago because someone in a car rear ended a wagon and killed a bunch of people.

Luckily we were still allowed to ride the wagon when actually haying /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

Yup it is dangerous, even at deck level its a ways to fall facefirst to pavement.

But I could have slipped in the shower this am and become a vegtable, I could have died 3 weeks ago when I was hit by a drunk driver head-on.

Look at look risks and figure whats acceptable to you. Wagon rides in controlled conditions aren't very dangerous. Just by staying off a public road makes anything you chose to do much safer.

have_blue · May 12, 2004

( Funny you should mention riding on a drag-- )

Ken, I forgot to mention a horse was pulling the drag. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

sweettractors · May 12, 2004

Ken, I forgot to mention a horse was pulling the drag. 

You must be in your upper fifties + to remember doing things like that? Ever see a horse get spooked and run back to the barn with a Drag or Double Shovel still hitched? Man, that was fun /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif--Ken Sweet

Bird · May 12, 2004

( hay wagon rides with horses pulling )

When I was a teenager, I once helped a couple of friends of mine - brothers, one my age, the other a year older, to haul corn shocks from the field to the barn using a wagon pulled by a single mule. On one trip, we had piled the shocks just as high as we possibly could on that wagon, they got up on top in the middle, and I was driving the mule. The two brothers got to scuffling up on top of the pile and the younger one threw his brother off and the wagon ran over one of his ankles. We had quite a job trying to lift him up onto the wagon again with him crying and screaming in pan to get him back to the house. Fortunately, it turned out not to be broken as we first thought; only very badly sprained.

Bird · May 12, 2004

( Ever see a horse get spooked and run back to the barn with a Drag or Double Shovel still hitched? )

I've never seen that; bet it was exciting. But I'll never forget watching my Dad plow with a team of mules. Those mules would simply plod slowly along all the time he was plowing, but when he headed back to the barn, they suddenly came alive and it was just about all he could do to hang back on the reins to keep them from running all the way to the barn.