KIds DO NOT belong on lawn mowing equipment

[MHarryE]

I'm 70 now. Back in the earlier days, losing a child to an accident was part of life. We had unprotected PTOs, rode wherever we could stand on tractors, etc. I now look over my scars - pto shaft nearly ripped my thumb off. Axe wound to my wrist opened it up so I could see the tendons pulling - that was neat until I became faint from blood loss. I was taking hay at 8 years old. Do I think its stupid? Darn tootin. My first time as pall bearer was for a 12 year old neighbor boy killed in a farm accident. So what do I end up doing - getting an engineering job that, in part, involved going over accident reports looking at autopsy reports trying to determine how each person killed them self. Most gruesome was a farmer who left his 4 year old daughter in the cab while he got into the combine header and the daughter preceded to press buttons starting the header and combining her father - well, at least until his body plugged the machine. Still I do have my great nieces and nephew riding in the cab with me on the buddy seat but after the first bumped noggin when I had to stop quickly, we only move after they buckle their seat belt. I guess I value their lives more than my parents valued mine.

 

[budepps3760]

As a parent I asked myself what was the worst thing that could happen to my child if they did "X". If they wanted to walk on a wall 2 feet off the ground they may get a skinned knee. Ok, good learning experience. What could happen if they wanted to walk on a rooftop? Hmmm, broken neck. Better not let them do that.

Different ages allow different experiences. If you are thinking of what's best for child you never will go wrong. Reminds me of a parent asking me why did I allow my son to own 22lr and 410 at 6 years of age. They said it was dangerous. I said if a child only sees a gun on a video game then they think shooting someone is no big deal because they just shrug it off and keep going. However if they see that if you pull the trigger and take a life, be it a bird or a squirrel, death is permanent. Life is a learning experience and it's up to a responsible parent to teach their children. Different methods for different folks.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've seen it taken to extreme...

I started mowing (with a push mower) neighbors lawns for 25 cents each at age 8... had a regular Saturday morning schedule.

Some of the parents thought my parents were irresponsible for letting a child use a push reel mower unsupervised.

I've never met so many young adults that have never done anything... as in zero as I encounter today.

One of my co-workers was lamenting her 22 year old son has never had a job and asked if I could hire him... I then asked what can he do?

I then mentioned I had a rental home soon to be vacant and could use some help... needed to clean and paint, yard work and dispose of some old appliances in the basement... my co-worker of 16 years said she did not want her son around paint fumes or moving heavy things or clipping hedges... asked if he had ever helped paint their house or yard work and the answer was no...

It could just be the sign of the times... a lot of millennials have little practical experience into adulthood... they have really been sheltered to the extreme.

For my 6th birthday I received a Handy Andy tool kit... screwdrivers, hand saw, hammer, etc... it is what I wanted and I started sawing firewood...

I go out of my way to teach my nieces how to do things starting with safety first and made sure they had safety glasses, gloves, etc... explaining the reasons for things has always served me well... kids generally do better when you explain instead of tell...

Someone mentioned firearms... I was in Scouts... at age 13 went to a Scout Camp which had a range... the instructor was very thorough before the first shots were fired the NEXT day... I bet today camps no longer offer this.

My only point is it is no wonder some kids grow up clueless...

 

[oldpilgrim]

^^^ words right of of my mouth.

I walked to school by myself at age 7..... a mile each way. I had a very good bow and arrow set at about the same age, and a BB gun. My brother and I made rafts and fished off of them on the river behind the house at about 8-9 years old. We skated on that same frozen river every winter and swam in it every summer and had to pull the leeches off of us each time. i was using a Lincoln stick welder when I was 12.

Remember the movie 'Stand By Me"? Will Wheaton was me. He was 13 in the movie and the time portrayed in it was 1957-8. My age at that date. My brother and our friends did stuff like that....and more... no dead bodies though.

I tired to raise my kids that way and my grandkids too. My grandkids had .22 rifles at age 5.

Liberals, they always know what's best for us.

 

[roadhunter]

I'm 70 now. Back in the earlier days, losing a child to an accident was part of life. We had unprotected PTOs, rode wherever we could stand on tractors, etc. I now look over my scars - pto shaft nearly ripped my thumb off. Axe wound to my wrist opened it up so I could see the tendons pulling - that was neat until I became faint from blood loss. I was taking hay at 8 years old. Do I think its stupid? Darn tootin. My first time as pall bearer was for a 12 year old neighbor boy killed in a farm accident. So what do I end up doing - getting an engineering job that, in part, involved going over accident reports looking at autopsy reports trying to determine how each person killed them self. Most gruesome was a farmer who left his 4 year old daughter in the cab while he got into the combine header and the daughter preceded to press buttons starting the header and combining her father - well, at least until his body plugged the machine. Still I do have my great nieces and nephew riding in the cab with me on the buddy seat but after the first bumped noggin when I had to stop quickly, we only move after they buckle their seat belt. I guess I value their lives more than my parents valued mine.

The most dangerous piece of equipment I own is a 54 Farmall Super M.

There are so many ways to get hurt on old farm equipment it's amazing any farmers survived.

 

[roadhunter]

I wouldn't say anything to the neighbor. Let natural selection take it's course. All you can do is hope your children don't have to support his children for the rest of their life if they are injured.

The Darwin theory lives on but stupid seems to be polluting the gene pool.

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[drizler]

Stuff like this is exactly why I dont live in the city where people can be so judgemental.

My daughter sits on my lap when I mow all the time. Been that way since she was 5 or so. We used to take tractor rides on grandpa's lap when I was a kid every time we would visit, sometimes he was even mowing. I guess I don't see what is so dangerous about doing so as long as the conditions are safe (flat lawn, smooth ground, slow speed, etc)



It's always interesting to see the different perspectives of city folk from country folks. What to one man is unacceptable bahvior/ child abuse is another mans quality time with kids/grandkids.

But that's ok. I also take the guards off my grinders and occasionally don't wear the proper PPE. You know, an all around outlaw.


You definitely do have a very valid point there. That goes double for the grinders. How anyone who leaves the guards on gets anything done is beyond me, use a shield !

 

[MossRoad]

To each his own....

We used to think lead pipes were great. So were lead food cans. Seat belts in cars were stupid. And Anna Nicole married for love.

Stupid city folks' kid got run over by a tractor... oops, they were country folks...
5-year-old injured after being run over by tractor in Clark County

Stupid backhoe operator kills his own child...
Authorities ID child run over by tractor in Golden Gate Estates

Stupid father ran over his own son...
5-year-old boy run over by tractor in Flagstaff - CBS 5 - KPHO

Stupid 5 year old...
5-year-old injured after falling off tractor in Charlestown - WDRB 41 Louisville News

Hop on son... oops...
8-year-old Adams County boy dies in tractor accident - NBC Right Now/KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA |

Father backs over three year old with lawn mower.... then their house gets robbed while they are at the hospital....
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/boy-family-robbed-lawn-mower-1.3599003

Stupid farmers...
https://au.news.yahoo.com/qld/a/32538521/toddler-critical-after-tractor-incident/#page1

Another city slicker kills his child... oops, corn farmer...
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...y-Little-Britain-Township-Farm-336640951.html

Anyhow.... you get the point... at least you should, but live and let live, for sure, cause, you know, I'm totally more careful than these idiots ...

The most heartbreaking accidents occur when small children even infants- are allowed to 途ide along while their parents or grandparents are using a riding mower or small tractor. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission statistics show that each year, 800 children are run over by riding mowers or small tractors and more than 600 of those incidents result in amputation; 75 people are killed, and 20,000 injured; one in five deaths involves a child. For children under age 10, major limb loss is most commonly caused by lawn mowers. Never allow a child on a lawn mower or small tractor while youæ±*e using it.

 

[roadhunter]

So we've moved from lawnmower to tractors?

I bet it wasn't hard to find instances where a farmer was injured by a tractor. What's next ranchers injured by cattle and horses?

I may just stop mowing all together. It sounds dangerous.
There are approximately 180,000 lawnmower accidents per year
The leading cause of lawnmower accidents is contact with its rotating blade.
Another cause of accidents is the throwing of objects, such as small stones, by the blade
Burns may occur as a result of a person touching a hot surface of the exhaust system of the engine of the mower. In addition, fires can result when there is leakage of gasoline for any reason, and the gasoline vapor is ignited by a spark from the ignition system of the engine (including the battery, if there is one), or by an abnormally hot surface of the exhaust system. Injury can also result from contact with an inadequately shielded part of the propulsion system, such as a sprocket wheel or gearing.
The remaining causes of injury apply only to riding type mowers. One of these causes is the potential instability of such a mower, which may cause it to overturn under certain conditions.
Because of the operator痴 limited visibility to the rear, a riding mower may be subject to back-over accidents, in which the mower runs over a child or other person while going in reverse.
Finally, the mower may stall while climbing up a steep hill, and the brakes may not be strong enough to hold the mower on the hill or allow it to descend gently, with the result that the mower plummets down the hill, and crashes into a tree or other obstacle, or else overturns.

 

[FTG-05]

To each his own....

We used to think lead pipes were great. So were lead food cans. Seat belts in cars were stupid. And Anna Nicole married for love.

Stupid city folks' kid got run over by a tractor... oops, they were country folks...
5-year-old injured after being run over by tractor in Clark County

Stupid backhoe operator kills his own child...
Authorities ID child run over by tractor in Golden Gate Estates

Stupid father ran over his own son...
5-year-old boy run over by tractor in Flagstaff - CBS 5 - KPHO

Stupid 5 year old...
5-year-old injured after falling off tractor in Charlestown - WDRB 41 Louisville News

Hop on son... oops...
8-year-old Adams County boy dies in tractor accident - NBC Right Now/KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA |

Father backs over three year old with lawn mower.... then their house gets robbed while they are at the hospital....
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/boy-family-robbed-lawn-mower-1.3599003

Stupid farmers...
https://au.news.yahoo.com/qld/a/32538521/toddler-critical-after-tractor-incident/#page1

Another city slicker kills his child... oops, corn farmer...
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...y-Little-Britain-Township-Farm-336640951.html

Anyhow.... you get the point... at least you should, but live and let live, for sure, cause, you know, I'm totally more careful than these idiots ...

The most heartbreaking accidents occur when small children even infants- are allowed to 騾琶de along while their parents or grandparents are using a riding mower or small tractor. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission statistics show that each year, 800 children are run over by riding mowers or small tractors and more than 600 of those incidents result in amputation; 75 people are killed, and 20,000 injured; one in five deaths involves a child. For children under age 10, major limb loss is most commonly caused by lawn mowers. Never allow a child on a lawn mower or small tractor while you豎*e using it.

Year Deaths Vehicle miles travelled (billions) Fatalities per 100 million VMT Fatalities per 100,000 population

2014 32,675 3,026 1.08 10.25

[ETA: yea, just as I figured, it didn't line up. See chart here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year]


32,675 people died - IN ONE YEAR ALONE!!!!

Obviously, we need to stop driving IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!!!