Older Tractors are More Dangerous

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( It's usually due to people not using common sense )</font>

Agreed.. It is not that the tractor is dangerous.. it is the activity that is dangerous. it would however be correct to say the older tractors have less safety features.. but not that they are more dangerous. If the correct pull point had been used.. the tractors front could have actually been pulled down.. preventing a backflip., reguardless of the presence of a rear implement. Anyone stupid enough to use the 3rd link as a pull point is more or less removing themselves from the gene pool.. Every tractor manual I've ever seen.. including the old ones from the 30's say not to pull from a point higher than the axle.. and never from the 3rd link.. And nobody has any buisness on a piece of equipment without having read the manual.. etc..

Soundguy

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( had there been a ROPS/seatbelt on the tractor (and both used) death might have been avoided.
)</font>

Had the chain been hooked up correctly, death might have been avoided...

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( They are more dangerous than you might think because most of them do not have a drawbar )</font>

Sure they do.. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif It's got 11 holes in it and connects between the lower lift arms.. then you use 2 2-piece stays to hold it down... Course.. you'r talking about a swinging drawbar.. and with that in mind.. not some.. but NONE of the 9N / 2N had the under diffy mounted drawbar bracket. However the 8n did have the tapped holes for the drawbar bracket under the diffy.

I've seen lots of aftermarket mockups onthe 9n, including a good looking one where the guy attatched a section of beam across the bottom of the 9n and attatched it to the axle using the fender bolts on either side. that was the bracket for the drawbar.. and then he used the 8n bracket face that goes on the 4 bolts around the pto flange as the sliding point for the drawbar.

A pretty neat setup. Lowered the ground clearance a couple inches.. but made for a real beefy pulling point, especially since the fender mount points were also the aftermarket rops attatch points.

Soundguy

 

[johan3400]

Any equipment new or old is dangerous if used with poor judgement. I have driven the old tractors for years without episode. Most of us who were raised around the farm have had close calls. Now we get complacent because we have all the saftey features. Old or new tractors we all need to keep our focus on our tractor operating. The difference between accidents and a safe day is common sense and focus. IMHO

 

[ronnie2005]

You know, the tractor evolution has came about because so many of us have moved out of the cities on to small farm-ette's. The CUT manufactures have been trying to keep up , but, a new tractor is expessive. Not everyone can afford the new ones, so they buy a good old one. It worked great on a 100 acre farm, it should do fine on 5-10 acres. In most cases you have folks that are under 40 and not use to operating something older than them.

The auto companies have done the same thing. Todays cars, suv's, and light trucks. All you have to do is point it in the right direction and push on the gas. You have power steering, power brakes, automatic transmission, abs, traction control, computer controlled engines. To operate todays cars you don't have to know how to drive, unless you really exceed the rules of physics, the computer will keep the car under control. Now you take a generation that has grown up with this technolgy and put them in a car from the 40's-50's and the'll have an accident before they make it around the block.

Before cars, we had horses, and those same horses pulled our plows because we didn't have tractors. We've done alot to make our lives easier, but we have forgotten allot along the way.

How many of you still have horse drawn buggies or surries or sleighs? And how dangerous are those in the hands of someone not trained?

 

[cowboydoc]

<font color="red">How many of you still have horse drawn buggies or surries or sleighs? And how dangerous are those in the hands of someone not trained?
</font>

Exactly my point on tractors. Also if I had an older tractor that was prone to safety issues I would sure as heck get a ROPS and a seatbelt. I've never heard of anyone being killed who had a seatbelt on with a ROPS. All of our tractors have ROPS on them. It's the cheapest life insurance you will ever buy. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[keeney]

In my book, being "stupid" is when you know something is dangerous and do it anyway.

Many of these people did not know what they were doing was dangerous. Their actions were based on ignorance and lack of training.

For cars, we have attempted to correct this situation with a formal training and certification program - its called getting your driver's license. Supposedly you have been taught what is dangerous to do in a car and how to avoid doing it.

Nothing like that for tractors.

Of course if we tried to make some laws requiring mandatory training to operate a tractor, people would cry about their God-given right to do as they please.

- Rick

 

[SkyPup]

According to latest statistics, a little over 400 fatal accidents happened on tractors in the US last year.

That is nothing compared to the carnage and trauma on the nation's highways each year with 43,000+ fatalities.

Just in our state alone, the Florida Highway Patrol just reported that during the month of January, 2005 there were 278 automobile fatalities.... that is truly sick /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[slowrev]

imho th one part on a tractor that causes almost all fatalities is the nut that holds the steering wheel. Same in Auto's.

Ben

 

[virgil]

mean ole tractor.... what we really need is a 90 day cool off period, registration, various requirements and restrictions, and a well funded brand new branch of the goverment to regulate these mean ole machines.

My father was run over by one of those "mean ole machines" on my 6th birthday. It finally killed him many years later.. My dear ole dad was not THINKING when he got hurt.