JD3520+ICY ROAD+CHEVYSUBURBAN=

[MossRoad]

... The question is if you are out on a road private or public would it be a benefit or liability to have a an amber flashing light on the ROPS?

In most places that I have read about, it is required to have flashers, head lights and slow moving vehicle reflectors on your tractor if it is on the road.

 

[gemini5362]

my own personal opinion is that whether it be a benefit or liability is not as important is the one question. Will it help keep me safer from being hit by a faster moving vehicle. If you think the answer to that question is yes then by all means do it. If we are talking about liability that is only money. I am aware of how important that is but no amount of money can compensate you for having to spend the rest of your life in a wheel chair or missing a limb. It cannot compensate your family for losing you. Safety first everything else a distant second.

 

[dirtworksequip]

DavidVT, thats sort of what I had envisioned when I took the hit. The blade and the front end getting tore clear off the machine. If it hadn't been for the ice that allowed the tractor to spin easily there probably would have been a lot more damage and I beleive the tractor would have at the least ended up on its side. Sure wish I had a dash cam on this one. What were the circumstances that your front axle got tore off?

Treemonkey, I would say any measures you can take to make yourself more visible would be worth the little cost that it would to install those extra saftey devices.

The whole ironic part of this episode is this is the third vehicle this guy has put over a steep hill. Everytime he does, its because he is in a big hurry to get somewhere. Oh, and two times it was at the end of his own driveway when he overshot the stone road! What does that tell you. The sad part is I like the guy, just hate the way he and his wife both drive.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I am all for making it safe as possible. I just envision some lawyer twisting things if you had an amber flashing light on or flags. They would argue that you knew that you were an impediment to traffic. Now if you didn't use those same warning devices they would argue that you didn't. I work as a Safety Person at Boeing. Usually when there is an incident we ask the question, "was the employee or company exercising "due diligence" when this happened?" Now if this is the 3rd time that person has stuffed a vehicle in the ditch I would say he is not using due diligence and have him ticketed by the authorities. He may end up causing himself or someone else more harm by that sort of reckless driving.
Right now I have no plans of taking my tractor across any public roads. After reading some of the things that have happened to you all I will certainly be making an effort to be seen if I do have to.
As mentioned it is unfortunate what happened to your Tractor. What is fortunate that everyone walked away.

 

[DavidVT]

I own two houses which are across from each other on a rural dirt road. There is what I would call a blind knoll on the town road exactly at my homes.
I have a horseshoe driveway on each which I plow with the tractor.
Naturally I have to cross the town road to go from one property to the other. I also have to transit the town road to get from one end of a horseshoe to the other.

So, while turning from the town road into the top of one horseshoe drive, a fast moving car crested the knoll and locked it's brakes when it caught sight of me. The old car which was clearly traveling too fast for the icy conditions had no control when the front brakes locked. The kid was a total wreck especially since he lost sight of me when I was thrown from the seat.

I was not exactly perfectly square to the road so the first point of contact between the car and my tractor was the right front wheel.....

I remember seeing the car and having the time to think something like, oh this is going to hurt..... I was thrown from the seat and found myself clinging to the steering wheel while hanging way off the left side. For what seemed an eternity the ground slid under and then everything stopped.

The tractor and I were pushed about 30' to the left of the drive I was entering. The front axle was sheered off and all the fluids drained into a sad pool at the front of the totaled tractor which I had put 3 hours on....

In a word, I was very lucky.

When the new tractor arrived, it was quite some time before I ventured out into the road again. I have 4 work lights mounted to the top of my ROPS, an amber strobe and a five red bulb rear facing strip on the top rear of the ROPS.

I feel safer crossing the road at night as I get more warning of approaching vehicles.

 

[AGRIMAN]

It's a sad fact as to how dangerous it is today to operate farm machinery on public roads. Those of us that have been doing it for years can tell everyone first hand just have dangerous it has become.

It seems to me years ago people just didn't drive as fast and farm machinery received more respect on the highway. People seemed to have paid more attention and would slow down and give you room.

I have been really lucky and have never been hit just several near misses, all in resent times. Today when any of my equipment hits a highway is followed by a truck if at all possible. I rather them hit my truck than my tractor. I try to teach my sons how to be careful and always watch their back, but it scares the %^&* out of me.

I have been lucky but, I have friends and know of others that have not.

A elderly farmer was killed a few years back on a small tractor after being hit from behind by a speeding car.

I rebuilt a 1050 JD for a guy that was hit from behind by a teen who didn't see the tractor because he was adjusting his radio. The guy wasn't seriously hurt, but he was lucky.

On the flip side two years ago a friend was moving his cotton picker (the size of a small house) on a bright clear afternoon with all the hazard lights flashing when he was hit from behind by a small pickup.

It was really unfortunate in many ways but by far the saddest was that the lady was killed. My friend was cleared of any liability because all the hazard light were working and he had a SMV sign.

No one knows by she didn't see it, but there were no visible skid marks so she apparently never seen it.

The patrol officer told him that the most important thing was that he had a properly displayed SMV that was in good condition (wasn't old and faded) but that still doesn't make him feel much better about it.


Be careful!

 

[Oleozz]

Dirtwork----Sorry you have to go through all this aggrevation but I'm thankful that nobody was hurt. Your story and the others makes a person very leerie about going out on a road with a tractor for any reason but sometimes it's unavoidable. Hope you get your tractor like new again.

 

[dirtworksequip]

Guys thanks for all the comments. I think one thing wrong with our modern society is that with insurance today the responsiblity has been take almost completely off the driver and shifted over to the insurance companies. "Oh,well if I damage my vehicle or someone elses property. My insurance will cover me" When I learned to drive I was taught it was my responsiblity for any damages I caused. Therefore, I always drove with above average caution. I've been lucky and never had a vehicle insurance claim in over 36 years of driving. I consider myself a responsible and safe driver and take whatever actions it takes to keep me and my family that way. I guess I'm just "Old School". I think that a lot of people just don't think anything is ever going to happen to them and that is reflected in there careless driving habits. Thats just my thoughts on where our civilization is headed. Its not good! We will be lost like the peoples before us. Aztec,Egyptians and Romans to name a couple. The sad part is, I doubt our modern society will last nearly as long as these past civilizations did.

I'll post pics later of the tractor, maybe someone here will see something I missed. Thanks again for the comments and suggestions.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[LBrown59]

Now waiting for an insurance adjuster to show up. Wonder if he knows the front end from the back end of a tractor?

Probably not.
I'm not real far away from you.
Just down the Ohio River bout 80 miles on the Ohio side.

 

[LBrown59]

If you don't mind me asking, what type of insurance do you have on the tractor? My homeowners policy offers some limited coverage on my tractor, I didn't get any tractor specific coverage.

Take care,

John

His home owners may not pay as many if not most homeowners polices don't pay if tractor isn't on your own property.