Security & Theft Kids Riding

[Don87]

I agree withe Triple R on this subject.

Accidents do happen, but the alternative is to have the kids grow up on video games in the safety of the house................thus not learning anything about farming and potentially living off the government forever.(don't take the above references at 'face value'..........think a little).

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Heck, I can remember riding on my neighbor's fender while she pulled a hayrake around fluffing the cut hay up and then putting it in rows. I suppose if I fell off I'd have been skewered a couple dozen times by the rake before I got rolls out the side.

There is great value to having a learner ride with the operator to learn how to run the tractor and attachments. There is a risk. Perhaps a second point to consider besides the number of seats versus passengers is whether the passenger is old enough to operate the machinery his or herself. If you don't have enough seats for all the passengers AND the passengers shouldn't be operating the machinery, then they really don't belong there.

Here's an interesting thought. Anyone have their wife (or husband now-a-days) run the tractor while carrying a newborn in a baby pack (either chest or back)? Operators belted into the tractor, and the baby is belted to operator.

 

[duckhunter27]

Thought i would join in on this one, I also are to blame for letting little one have a ride or wife a guy never thinks of the worst but any how while back here in nebraska guy was working on fence with his brother and 4 year old not sure what he had for a tractor was a big cab tractor had a big hay grapple on it which he had lifted all the way up out of the way long stroy short he was working outside on fence jr hits lever for grapple comes down and goes threw dads chest brother finds him later dead.

 

[TripleR]

If I only did things that were "safe", I wouldn't have had a job for 32 years and could not leave the house; oh wait, I fell down the other day inside my house.

I guess I can get one of these things, but our instructors occasionally managed to get hurt in one of them anyway.

Redman Training and Protective Gear

 

[Deere Dude]

I have done all those unsafe things with the tractor by myself and even with toddlers and I had an unsafe job at times. If I am old enough to put myself in a position of danger, I have to remember accidents happen. But when someone puts a 3 or 4 year old in that position, they should rething how bad things happen fast.
That is to early for them to learn how to do anything on a tractor anyway. I have family members that drove tractors when they were very small, probably 5 or 6. I always thought it was cute, but after reading some of these things, I changed my mind about that. It was just a cheap way for the farmer to get another hand.

 

[RalphVa]

Way too young to be on a tractor.

I was driving a big tractor by about age 9. Younger than that, you're asking for trouble.

Ralph

 

[bigbull338]

i know im going to get blasted for this,but my great nephew came to visit for a few days.an as soon as he got here i took him for a spin on the tractor an he loved it.then when his grandpa got here he took him to see the cows on the tractor.nephew got to ride the tractor everyday while he was here.

 

[zing]

Life is always about balancing risk vs reward, and the answer is different for every person. The risk of an accident is quite low but the accident is not just a minor one it is usually fatal or disfiguring. How do you balance that with the rewards which are guaranteed (fun for the kids and you) but no near as large in scale as the damage from a bad outcome.

For me, I never let my daughters near the farm tractor since it is a hobby farm and there is no benefit to them learning how to use it, and the potential result of an accident was too big for my liking. The lawn tractor was a different story. They loved to ride with me and I would just go slow on the flat areas. Low risk, right? Wrong.

It was all good until one day I rounded the corner of my house and my 4 year old daughter ran straight at me to climb on. I hardly had time to stop the tractor before she was planting her foot on the mower deck while the blade was still spinning, and jumping onto my lap wanting to go for a ride. If she had missed that step by just a little bit, she would have lost half of that foot. That was the last time, because suddenly the risk was much more real to me.

Now if my daughters want me and I am on any tractor, farm or lawn, then they are expected to stay clear and wave their arms to get my attention. Only once I have stopped and signaled to them, are they allowed to approach closer. To me the risk is just too great. I get plenty of time playing with them at other activities, and they get plenty of exercise and time outdoors riding their bikes and playing tag, etc.

Everyone will come to their own decisions, but for me it took only one close call. I am not pushing my (and my children's) luck any further.

 

[natman706]

This is A good reminder to all of us when its comes to safety around equipment. Now I know this is a little bit off topic when it comes to children and machinery. But just the other day the mini excavator at work flipped on its side with me in it. I was lucky I didn't kill myself but am still shucken up about it. I've been using it for a couple years now and never would've had expected it to flip. The ROPS saved my life. The machine is fine which is another good thing. Its still a mystery to why it flipped but I suspect it was the soft ground near a small ditch.

Just thought I'd tell my Story

 

[MESSMAKER]

Life is a balancing act. You can't shield them from everything. Kids that never handle a gun,drive a car,ride on a tractor, mow the yard or use a sharp knife to prepare dinner face more risk than those that are locked in their room. Life is about lessons. sometimes those lessons are hard to swallow. Seeing a dog hit by a car is horrible, but a child get's a hard fast lesson that traffic is dangerous and unforgiving. I grew up on a farm and it is not a Norman Rockwell painting. Animals get hurt, animals get sick, they die. Those same animals can and sometimes do hurt people. I would contend that accidents happen, good judgment is not good enough"sometimes". Living a full rich life may well be laced with some danger. Don't live every minute worried that something bad is going to happen. Sometimes it just happens.