Man killed trying to separate PTO shaft with tractor

[lennyzx11]

I skipped a few posts to get here.
My opinion is that he tied it to the 3 point. Either a quick hitch or draw bar across the lower link balls. Then when the tractor reared up, the lift arms free floated up providing no resistance.

And I have one shaft that I systematically have to screw with (on my posthole digger) because it’s tight. So I see the reasoning behind attempting to free it (even if wrong).

Though it does seem like a stupid accident,(aren’t they all?), I sympathize because I have done similar stuff.
BUT due to this forum and education learned here, I never ever ever put a hard pull above the center of the rear axle!

 

[Jstpssng]

Right, he has his rear tires reversed, real stupid!

Seriously, the Dad (I assume) says he hopes the kid does not land on his head, and says dont flip it. What kind of parent knows his kid could kill himself and lets it go on. Fortunately that old Ford had too high of gears and not enough grunt.

Not his son, I believe that at the beginning the narrator said the operator was also the person who restored it for him. I wondered if I was the only one who noticed those tires.

 

[Diggin It]

Very few news outlets, print or TV have field reporters that go to incident scenes and talk to people. They use snippets of news releases from public safety agencies or make a couple of quick phone calls to those agencies. Articles on TV news websites are usually no more than brief outlines that don't contain the same detail of the broadcast report and they're sometimes posted by people that maintain the website, not the reporters or news staff. I've caught errors in stories and contacted the reporter directly. They stated they only know what was in their broadcast report and wasn't even aware the story was posted on the site, let alone what was in it.

 

[MossRoad]

Very few news outlets, print or TV have field reporters that go to incident scenes and talk to people. They use snippets of news releases from public safety agencies or make a couple of quick phone calls to those agencies. Articles on TV news websites are usually no more than brief outlines that don't contain the same detail of the broadcast report and they're sometimes posted by people that maintain the website, not the reporters or news staff. I've caught errors in stories and contacted the reporter directly. They stated they only know what was in their broadcast report and wasn't even aware the story was posted on the site, let alone what was in it.

That depends on the story. Local TV and newspaper reporters do go to the local scenes and do talk to local people/authorities. That's the original story. Most TV and newspapers are now owned by large media conglomerates. The local reporters put the story into the conglomerate's system, and then it spreads across all outlets that they own. Editors select what stories they want to run. Sometimes it's a local editor, but many times it's a regional or even national editor that says "Run this story". If it meets the criteria for wider interest, places like Associated Press would pick it up, and off it goes worldwide. However, AP is waning in importance, as media conglomerates now have so many entities that they can generate their own national news service and don't rely on agencies like the AP and no longer pay for their services.

For example, this story we've been talking about in this thread appeared almost simultaneously on many Michigan news outlets, most tied to MLive. MLive Media Group was formerly Booth Newspapers.

From here:
Booth Newspapers - Wikipedia
Some of the papers they own include The Bay City Times, The Flint Journal, The Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, The Saginaw News and Advance Newspapers, the company also maintains newsrooms in Lansing & Detroit.

MLive is owned by Advance Publications, which is the 44th largest privately owned company in the U.S., and the 4th largest privately owned company in New York as of 2012. Advance also owns 31% of Discovery Channel, and are majority stakeholders of Reddit. Source:Advance Publications - Wikipedia
So off the story goes nationally.

So, yes, a local reporter still covers a local story. From there, however, it gets repeated again and again, usually with no reference to the original author, especially if the original reporter works for a TV or newspaper owned by a conglomerate.

 

[gojira]

Put it this way...if you need to tow or pull, connect to the tractor's drawbar below the PTO out shaft.

This is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen...

BTW, I just pulled a stuck PTO driveshaft apart yesterday...I'd sprayed penetrating oil on it and let it set for a couple days and rigged a couple straps to each end...one to a fixed object (trailer hitch on my truck), the other to a bucket hook. The bucket was curled enough to act as a shield in case the shaft flew apart. Then, a slow pull and, it did come apart pretty easily

Oh man, there's so much bad going on there.

Years ago I was driving on one of dirt side roads in a town near me after picking up some goodies from the local smokehouse. There was a pickup backed into a tree at a funny angle and was running, so I stopped. Turned out the guy was trying to pull a stump with his truck's winch and a loop chain; when he floored it in reverse, the chain and cable came loose and flew back through the windshield. The windshield was smashed, the rear window was smashed and the chain was in the truck bed. He was fortunate that he only was grazed by the chain; I was able to get a call into the local fire/EMTs who transported him to the hospital. He needed a couple of stitches and was on concussion protocol but otherwise ended up OK.

 

[LD48750]

Right, he has his rear tires reversed, real stupid!

Seriously, the Dad (I assume) says he hopes the kid does not land on his head, and says dont flip it. What kind of parent knows his kid could kill himself and lets it go on. Fortunately that old Ford had too high of gears and not enough grunt.

How does the mounting of the rear tires make this application "stupid"?
How would it be safer if reversed?

And as an owner of one of those old Fords, I assure you it has enough gear & grunt to flip it.

 

[MossRoad]

How does the mounting of the rear tires make this application "stupid"?
How would it be safer if reversed?

And as an owner of one of those old Fords, I assure you it has enough gear & grunt to flip it.

I'm just guessing that if the rear tires are mounted incorrectly, with the tread facing the wrong way, they'd slip a lot easier going forward VS if they were mounted in the correct direction. The tires slipping may have prevented a rear flip over.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I once read, that there is a good reason to mount them that way, for certain applications, but don't remember why.

As far as the FORD tractor goes. If someone had no experience, how are they to know any different. I pulled many hawthornes out as a twelve year old kid. If our tractor didn't have a drawbar down low, I'm sure I would have hooked it anywhere I could, not thinking of the physics.

 

[Diggin It]

That depends on the story. Local TV and newspaper reporters do go to the local scenes and do talk to local people/authorities.

Yes, and this is not the kind of story they would go out on. Staff and budgets are limited, so News Directors pick and choose which stories to send field reporters to. Unfortunately, they often only choose to send a camera operator to get footage without interviews. In the 70s and 80s, I can remember being on incident scenes in a big city and seeing multiple TV crews and several print reporters and photographers all scurrying around in different directions.

 

[Jstpssng]

I once read, that there is a good reason to mount them that way, for certain applications, but don't remember why.

As far as the FORD tractor goes. If someone had no experience, how are they to know any different. I pulled many hawthornes out as a twelve year old kid. If our tractor didn't have a drawbar down low, I'm sure I would have hooked it anywhere I could, not thinking of the physics.

I once asked somebody why he had his front tires on his 4WD Kubota mounted backwards. He said that he used to work on a pig farm, and they found that with the front tires reversed it was easier to back out of stalls with a bucketful of manure. Then again I asked someone who had his tires reversed on his JD who replied that he didn't want to take the time to dismount them from the rims to switch them around.

To be honest I thought the guy on the 8N seemed to know what he was doing, and the right time to throw in the clutch; while he had the tractor jumping, he never stalled or lifted the front off the ground.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I don't recall that the tire matter was simply an issue of direction you want the most traction, but more application. Maybe better floatation, pulling the material inward rather than digging a rut and pushing it outwards.

 

[Wagtail]

I'm just guessing that if the rear tires are mounted incorrectly, with the tread facing the wrong way, they'd slip a lot easier going forward VS if they were mounted in the correct direction. The tires slipping may have prevented a rear flip over.

A lot of tractors around here have the tyres 'reversed' due to the steep gradients of their fields.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I read, they do that for hard surfaces too, but beats me, why.

 

[Jstpssng]

I seem to recall a similar discussion last winter when a poster said that they are mounted backward on manure spreaders because they wear a lot less. The same most likely is the case on pavement.

 

[Industrial Toys]

With a ground driven implement, it's also backwards.

 

[MossRoad]

Yes, and this is not the kind of story they would go out on. Staff and budgets are limited, so News Directors pick and choose which stories to send field reporters to. Unfortunately, they often only choose to send a camera operator to get footage without interviews. In the 70s and 80s, I can remember being on incident scenes in a big city and seeing multiple TV crews and several print reporters and photographers all scurrying around in different directions.

Sure it is. The reporters at our local TV stations and newspaper go out on these kind of stories all the time. Local news is their meat and potatoes.

 

[Jstpssng]

Sure it is. The reporters at our local TV stations and newspaper go out on these kind of stories all the time. Local news is their meat and potatoes.

You are fortunate. The "local" news stations and paper are 90 miles away in Bangor Me... but to read/watch their news one would think they are based in Portland, 100 miles farther south. I'm still trying to find out why the main artery through one town I drive through was shut down last Thursday. We can't even get a hard copy paper up here anymore, and their online version is so invasive that I refuse to use it. Besides, a subscription requires "autopayment", and that's a deal breaker for me.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I lament the fact that we have not had local TV coverage for a long time. But I guess some far away news piece that is more interesting (and entertaining) would trump their slow news days and community oriented coverage to the point of being financially unsustainable.

 

[goeduck]

How does the mounting of the rear tires make this application "stupid"?
How would it be safer if reversed?

My comment was a play on the post I was responding to. You would have to look at it in context. It was not intended to be serious.

 

[MossRoad]

You are fortunate. The "local" news stations and paper are 90 miles away in Bangor Me... but to read/watch their news one would think they are based in Portland, 100 miles farther south. I'm still trying to find out why the main artery through one town I drive through was shut down last Thursday. We can't even get a hard copy paper up here anymore, and their online version is so invasive that I refuse to use it. Besides, a subscription requires "autopayment", and that's a deal breaker for me.

You can't get a hard copy paper because, most likely, they'd lose money delivering it that far. Our paper used to cover 7 counties. We had some routes that were 70 miles! Once it gets to a point that there's so few customers on a route that they lose money transporting the paper out to those customers, they have to stop service out there. It sucks for loyal customers of 40, 50, even 60+ years. But that's the nature when you're on the tail end of a dying technology (printed news). Electronic is the only way they can go to reach those far out customers.

On another note, I don't understand people's aversion to autopayment. :confused3: We've been using it for 30+ years. Only problem we ever had was cancelling something (can't remember what). Took a few months, but we never lost a penny.