It can never be repeated enough times

[Bird]

Amen, chuckp! And they've been doing it a long time. I was one of the beneficiaries of their service in the late-40s (had polio when I was two years old - before doctors knew what it was). I was one of the lucky ones; just a couple of surgeries on one foot and ankle; there were a lot of kids there who were a lot worse off.

Bird

 

[HBTC]

Mark

I would have tried for the mother in my lap and fasten the seat belt. But that might be another story.
All jokes aside, an other headline in the local paper could have been "Local contractor molests young disabled girl on tractor". I believe I would have said I'm sorry my insurance doesn't allow for riders, but you can set on the machine for a while. This day and time one cannot be to carefully or know who to trust. IMHO

H

 

[MChalkley]

H - It's a sad reality that we have to think in such terms nowadays. I did think about it, though. That's why I presented it as their choice: You decide, but I can do this if and only if we do it this way, so there isn't any danger of her falling off.

MarkC

 

[Thomas]

Roy,
I agree one can never express enough tractor safety!!
With in 2 years one gentleman was hurt and another was killed in tractor roll overs.
The AG schools make a strong point today about tractor safety,but I for one have had close calls and knew better.
It can happen to anyone at anytime so beware.

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

 

[TomG]

Yes, I'd do the same. You can't pass on doing a good thing for a child, and taking calculated risks for good causes can't be denied.

I'd add one thing. I'd want to have a 3rd party adult present. I believe in teaching the rule is: No contact with a student unless a 3rd party adult is present.

It's probably a good rule, but like all good rules it has exceptions. I believe a teacher I knew broke that rule on occasion. There are defining emotional moments when that's the thing to do. You can't let some moments pass to comply with all rules. The teacher took occasional risks, and was a good teacher because of it. She also gained rewards as a result. Sounds like you did too.

Sad story about the boy. I can remember being sort of scoffed at on another board for pointing out the hazards of exactly the same subject. I also remember riding on the axles of a Farmall while my cousin was plowing. Sort of surprising some of us get to be adults. Too bad others don't.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Muhammed!Re: It can never be repeated enough times

Would it be possible/appropriate to move this thread to the "safety" section? Lots of concerned comment here.

Thanks for your attention.

Larry

 

[MChalkley]

As a follow-up to this original story, a couple weeks ago (when I was on my way out of town to work on the project that kept me off the board for a little over a week) I saw something very unsettling. I was only a mile and a half from home when I passed a young mother with a kid less than two years old riding in her lap as she mowed the grass using a riding mower. Here I am, with over 40 feet of truck and trailer on a narrow two lane road and very little shoulder. After immediately thinking of this thread, I put the flashers on, pulled as far off the road as I could, and ran back to her. She wasn't even wearing a seat belt - I don't think there was one on the mower. I gave her the short version of the story and you could just about see the blood drain from her face. She said she was trying to get the grass cut so her husband wouldn't have to do it when he got home. I told her I suspected he wouldn't mind, especially if she explained why. She gave a little half-laugh and said the hard part was going to be explaining how some of it got cut and why she stopped.

The amazing thing was that nobody had an accident because I did something very unsafe by stopping in a place where I couldn't get all the way off the road. And if I see something like that again, I'll do it again.

MarkC

 

[Bird]

Before the days of seat belt laws and air bags, I lost count of the number of cars I stopped to talk to mothers and dads driving with a small child sitting or standing in their lap. In the event of a collision, the kid would provide enough padding between the steering wheel and driver to protect the driver, and you can imagine what happened to the kids./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird

 

[bpence]

Mark, if more folks took an interest in the well being and safety of others like you did, I believe we'd see fewer tragic incidents involving power equipment. I've stopped and asked friends and neighbors to reconsider having their kids on their laps or even having younger children operate riding mowers/tractors. A couple of times I've been told to mind my own business, while other times I've been thanked for reminding them of the safe operation rules they might have overlooked.

Anyway, like you, I'd stop a 40' rig and park it on a narrow shoulder if I saw what you did. Good job.

Bob Pence

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Speaking of hydro pedal sticking, have any of you ever done any land clearing and had a branch jam the pedal on?

I've had that happen a number of times on my Ford and a couple times on the L35 already. My decades of car driving just instinctly puts my foot on the clutch and then in a more relaxed state grabs the key. (On my Ford the key doesn't turn the tractor off, you have to force the hand lever off)

I was just wondering what it would be like to have HST and have this happen. Seems like it could be a problem and hard to stop very quickly at least reflex wise. I suppose someday I'll find out in the BX but thankfully with that it is low enough to the ground that I can just put my foot out and hold it /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.