Operator not in seat

[Reg]

And right on cue we have a new thread in the Safety Forum titled "Man brings suit against equipment maker for operator presence switch malfunction".

Why? The bloke was mowing and was attacked by yellowjackets, jumped off the rig in a panic to get away from them but the mower, in gear, didn't shut down & ran him down.

But, of course, that could never happen to you so go right ahead and cheat that annoying safety interlock.

Yeah, I saw that (-:
There is a reference in it to this thread.
What was that again ? about unforeseen factors ?, about factors in combination ?

Oh yeah, but we don't mow when yellow jackets are out and we are standing up to scratch - so that could nev-ah happen to US.

BTW, panic WAS the wrong move , jumping off a moving machine is RARELY the best choice.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

I used to start Briggs lawnmowers with "easy spin starting" by stepping on the deck as instructed. This was back in my pre-teen years. No safeties, flaps, deadman cutoffs, etc and somehow I survived.

You can safety this and safety that and take all the thinking out of it or you can use simple common sense.

No seat switch function or RIO on any of my machines and a big "chip clip" on the push mower lever.

 

[Wagtail]

Well a big Aussie "good on ya", KennedyDiesel, for surviving the lack of safety devices 'back in the day'. Somehow I managed to survive the lack of seatbelts in cars back in the '60s. The point is that these safety interlocks are in place now and they are there so that the "somehow I survived" scenerio is reduced.

"Simple common sense" doesn't come into play when an incident, which is not of your doing or that you didn't forsee, occurs.

A quick personal story: A fortnight ago my 80yo Dad was using the electric push mower (on-lever cheated because it was numbing his hands to constantly keep it closed) when he stepped back without looking, stumbled and fell over. He took the running mower over with him because it was instictive to use the mower for balance. He's OK, but for bruises, and my Sister came running out to cut the power. The cheat has now been removed.

Somehow he survived.

 

[scobrado]

Here is the 3-way switch implemented and I'm really happy with. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-operating-pto-off-tractor-2.html#post3307077

I only use the safety override for running the PTO. Plus, I have a position for disabling the movement of the tractor by unauthorized drivers.