Man killed in tractor accident

[jml755]

From Detroit newspapers 10-27-10:
A 47-year-old township man was killed Tuesday when his Ford tractor flipped as he tried to pull a stump. Deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff痴 Office were called to the 55000 block of 8 Mile in Lyon Township at 1:15 p.m., according to investigators. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Undersheriff Mike McCabe said in a news release. His name was not being released Tuesday afternoon. An Oakland County Sheriff痴 Office crash investigator is reviewing the accident.

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will be interested to see the details if they are ever published. This is why I don't like to use my tractor to "pull" stuff. I bought a backhoe that I use to pull stumps. It's amazing how "stubborn" some stumps can be. Even a stump as small as 8" will lift my 19,000 lb TLB off the ground, if it's got a strong root system. Aso, "spades" that attach to a FEL are safer than hooking a chain to the rear of a tractor.

 

[merrickvilleguy]

I use quick links as a safety when I pull stumps, and if it doesn't work out ... i burn them ...

gotta keep safe

 

[DJ4wd]

What a terrible way to die, I hope his family has peace of mind knowing he went home to the Lord.

 

[Willl]

I use quick links as a safety when I pull stumps, and if it doesn't work out ... i burn them ...

gotta keep safe

Quick links ?

 

[merrickvilleguy]

you know those threaded chain links (for joining chains) ... I size them so they would break before the chain/cable usually around a ton or so ... the cable or chain breaks at a much higher force, which could unsteady the tractor

5/16" or 3/8" works fine for me, and even then i can generally stop the tractor dead and spin the wheels before they break

Quick Link, 5⁄16 in. - 3511539 | Tractor Supply Company

 

[nebraskasparks]

From Detroit newspapers 10-27-10:
A 47-year-old township man was killed Tuesday when his Ford tractor flipped as he tried to pull a stump. Deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff痴 Office were called to the 55000 block of 8 Mile in Lyon Township at 1:15 p.m., according to investigators. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Undersheriff Mike McCabe said in a news release. His name was not being released Tuesday afternoon. An Oakland County Sheriff痴 Office crash investigator is reviewing the accident.

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will be interested to see the details if they are ever published. This is why I don't like to use my tractor to "pull" stuff. I bought a backhoe that I use to pull stumps. It's amazing how "stubborn" some stumps can be. Even a stump as small as 8" will lift my 19,000 lb TLB off the ground, if it's got a strong root system. Aso, "spades" that attach to a FEL are safer than hooking a chain to the rear of a tractor.

The National Ag Safety Database has an article with diagram showing a tree stump being pulled by a tractor. Height of chain influences movement of the center of gravity. This is where we get the 3/4 of a second on dry level ground to flip a tractor to the point of no return. Slope, ground conditions etc can accelerate this "much faster". Popping a clutch can really accelerate the process.
Tell your neighbors and friends to start spending some time on TBN and looking at these articles. It beats the **** out of going to a funeral.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Growing up we pulled a lot it things but Dad always made a point out of NOT using the 3PH to pull heavy stuff. How can one flip a Ford unless pulling from bar with the arms fully lifted?

I have seen the front wheels lift a little when pulling from the belly mounted hitch but with the hitch below the axle the downward force always won out because it would lift weight off the tires and they would spin.

 

[niemeyjt]

The air ambulance landed on one of our fields to take a neighbour off for doing just this with a Fordson Major. The ROPS did its job and he 'only' suffered back injuries.

I once saw a moving model made by Harry Ferguson who pioneered the TPL as a marketing tool showing where the forces go when drawbar pulling and with a TPL. Fascinating, and how quick the backflip was.

J

 

[nebraskasparks]

Growing up we pulled a lot it things but Dad always made a point out of NOT using the 3PH to pull heavy stuff. How can one flip a Ford unless pulling from bar with the arms fully lifted?

I have seen the front wheels lift a little when pulling from the belly mounted hitch but with the hitch below the axle the downward force always won out because it would lift weight off the tires and they would spin.

That's exactly what the article states on the NASD site...keep everything very low.
Having said that...even if the 3pt arms are kept low and there is any kind of slope involved where the tractor is pointed uphill or surface conditions are not dry, or your tires have already dug in a little bit changing the angle of your pull...just a few degrees can ruin your day in a fraction of a second.

Because the center of gravity is high on these small machines it moves higher yet with ANY DEGREE OF SLOPE.
I think what we need to emphasize is that you don't see a lot of huge ag equipment causing a lot of deaths...it's the small tractors we operate that have a lot of power for such a high center of gravity...and we all know by experience that this bodes no good if we exceed it.

 

[Qapla]

I knew one old guy who used to pass his chain under the rear of the tractor and hook it to the framework of his tractor near the front end. He pulled going forward. He said it kept the tractor from flipping.

I have never tried it ... I use a BH to get the stumps out.

 

[blackie65]

I knew one old guy who used to pass his chain under the rear of the tractor and hook it to the framework of his tractor near the front end. He pulled going forward. He said it kept the tractor from flipping.

Sounds like a pretty good idea for those questionable situations

 

[Rickstir]

Not an official poll by any means, but this seems to be the most common accident listed on these pages. I just don't see how to educate people on a mass scale about this. One week you buy some property, buy a tractor which you have never used before, and you have set yourself up for tragedy. Sad.

 

[NorTracNY]

Rickstir,
You're absolutely correct. If you survive long enough though, you'll find this site which will hopefully keep you from killing yourself in the future. I have pulled out many trees, but always with hooking the chain at the lowest point on the hitch. I also find that the creeper gear works best on pulling them out. I would assume that I could react at that speed.

Mark

 

[beppington]

The National Ag Safety Database has an article with diagram showing a tree stump being pulled by a tractor.

Do you have a link to that? I'd rather learn that way than the hard way.

 

[Jay4200]

This kind of thing is a direct result of not being able to buy dynamite at Agway anymore. Effin' democrats.

JayC

 

[Gary Fowler]

Go watch the tractor pulls, they hitch to the drawbar which is pinned in fromt of the rear axles in most instances. When pulling the front wheels will come up but only to a point to where the drawbar starts acting like a fulcrum to lift the rear tires thus diminishing traction so the front falls again then rises back as traction is increased. As long as you hook directly to the drawbar and not to the lift arms and you are on level ground, the flip is nullified.

 

[andersonst]

Not an official poll by any means, but this seems to be the most common accident listed on these pages. I just don't see how to educate people on a mass scale about this. One week you buy some property, buy a tractor which you have never used before, and you have set yourself up for tragedy. Sad.

I agree this is truely sad, my thoughts are with the family.

That said, I sorta fall into the catagory of buy some property, buy a tractor. I have used CUT's before, both my brother and sister have JD's on their properties that I have used, but this is the first one I have owned.
I bought a Bobcat CT335HST. I have 23 acres of mostly wooded, rather unlevel property that trees and stumps have become my enemy. I always use the FEL to get the stumps out, have never used the drawbar or 3PT for that. When I drop the tree, I leave about a 3-4 foot high stump that I can "get ahold of". Usually it takes the better part of an afternoon and a rather large hole that needs to be filled in, but on unlevel ground getting the tires off the ground is a pretty easy thing to do, it's amazing what those hydraulics will lift. There are times when the stump just doesn't want to give in and thats when my F350 is put to work to pull it out. They can be a real pain in the butt, but taking your time and thinking things through is a far better outcome then the alternative.
These machines are great tools and certainly make our lives easier but they can also be quite dangerous, if the task appears to be to big, find another tool.

Steve

 

[jmc]

Keeping the front end down is not as simple as hooking the load below the axle. While that technique keeps the tractor from rotating up about the axle, the new pivot point then becomes the rear tires' contact point with the ground. In effect, the tires try to "walk" out from under the tractor. Another TBN poster made this point years ago. I'm just passing it on here because it seems to make sense.

 

[flusher]

I use quick links as a safety when I pull stumps, and if it doesn't work out ... i burn them ...

gotta keep safe

Good idea.
Another idea--don't attempt to pull a stump until you know something about the roots. That means doing some work with a spade and digging bar to uncover the horizontal roots near the surface and then cutting them (safely) with ax, sawzall--not with a chain saw (don't want to dig that cutting bar into the ground and cause another type of accident that gets a fair number of posts in this forum). Then carefully pull the stump using the drawbar that's attached under the rear axle. It takes more time, but it's better than taking that E-ticket ride on a backflipping tractor.

 

[Reg]

I am GUESSING that some folk want to add some LIFT to their HORIZONTAL pull to get the stump out ?
I have thought about doing something unusual in this direction, e.g. hook to the top of the ROPS and pull backwards using ONLY 2WD - as I said, only THOUGHT about it as a way to get some lift, it would have other problems.
The hoe works well enough, but there is something attractive about PULLING 'em out.
When I get to using the stump grinder... things will probably get dull, though safer.

We can only speculate, study accident reports if/when thye become available and consciously avoid similar steps that might lead to similar outcomes.

However it happened it is tragic