PHD grabbed my Father-in-Law yesterday

NIXON · Apr 5, 2006

Grizzman. Here's hoping that Your FIL recovers from this soon .
All the best, John

jinman · Apr 5, 2006

I'm glad it was a PHD instead of a rotary cutter. If had been the latter, we all might be reading a far more somber message.

It was really the fall that got your FIL into trouble rather than the tractor. There's nothing you or anyone else could have done even if you'd been right there. He got off the tractor and fell into a moving piece of equipment. I don't mean to be crass, but you will have to convince him it was more than the fall that caused his mishap. We "old codgers" are that way. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Grizzman · Apr 5, 2006

( You can back off on the 'old geezer' thing. At 67, I do a lot of things around machinery, and some of them can get one into trouble. Sorry to hear about your old father in law, for sure. But the young can get into just as much trouble, or more.

So point out the dangers, not the fact that the 'old geezer' was unfit to run your PHD and got hurt.

Sorry for the rant. You will be old some day too and have a very different outlook on how old you feel at that time, believe me. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif )

Sorry I offended you. I did'nt mean he was unfit to run the PHD, heck he is more fit than me! At 70 years old he can out work and cover more ground mushroom hunting than me /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif and I am 42. I just think he is a little too overconfident at times. He has been using tractors and implements longer than I have been alive. Now that he is older we just think he should slow down a little bit and start being more safety concious. I just returned from the hospital, the doctors are going to wait until tommorrow to operate on his arm. He has had some heart problems recently and they are concerned about putting him under. They are going to do somemore testing today. I believe thay are going to keep him heavily sedated with morphine and numb is arm. Doctor told him he won't be on a tractor or using his arm for 3 months. He is not happy about that since we were headed back to Missouri at the end of April for turkey season. First year in 20 years we have been hunting turkeys together he won't have a gun. I am just happy he is going to be OK.

beenthere · Apr 5, 2006

Not really offended, just think 'old' isn't the problem here. Being neglectful and not too bright (which isn't age sensitive) about working off the tractor around a PHD while it is running should be the active part of the message for being safety concious. And as you said your FIL had equipment experience, and should have been the brighter person to know-better. Fall or stumble notwithstanding, it wasn't the error here, IMO. The unexperienced newbie who just fell into some country estate and has his first tractor is the one that may not have figured out that one can get quickly caught up in a rotating auger or PTO shaft. Can't depend on the mfg to watch over every person using the equipment, and some try by not allowing the PTO to operate unless one is planted firmly in the seat.
Drill presses and lathes may be just as dangerous, and can rip clothes off quickly. That is why no long sleeve shirts or long hair are to be worn when operating them. But look around, many still do.
Hopefully the sue-happy lawyers don't get to your FIL as he probably could wrangle some bucks out of your liability insurance or the mfg of the PHD or the tractor mfg.

SkogenMe · Apr 5, 2006

Sorry to hear about the accident. Hope all comes out well.

I will chime in with the newbie lesson that has stayed with me for 30 years...When I was in high school, I worked in a machine shop. Lots of fun, lots of neat projects and a number of life lessons. I was drilling holes in an aluminum sheet with a big Delta drill press. The burrs were sticking so I wore some gloves....yup, the bit caught my glove and sucked me into that press before I had a clue. I didn't break anything so I know my hand can't have gone around more than once but it sure felt like it /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. Shreaded the glove and shirt (short sleeve) that I was wearing. Thankfully by that time, the switch was mounted on the front face of the press so that with the few wits I had left I could shut the press off, unwrap myself and get some new underwear /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

So .... when I got a used tiller and winch that didn't have PTO guards I did make sure I bought and installed them!

good luck stay safe

IH3444 · Apr 5, 2006

Grizzman, I was stunned a bit to read about your FIL. I'm glad he is going to be OK, and that everything is looking to turn out for the best. I kow all too well about "older" men, and their "mule headedness". My father is the same way. I hope he has a speedy recovery, and being on a farm, the physical therapy will come natural.

mikim · Apr 6, 2006

I kow all too well about "older" men, and their "mule headedness". My father is the same way ...ALL US FATHER'S ARE THE SAME WAY ..... MY DAD WAS... AND SO AM I .... AND SO WILL YOU BE .... SO DEAL WIT' IT! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif.....just part of life ya know .... I think what it is ... we don't want to acknowledge that we aren't the men we were just 5 years previous ....It's easy to say we aren't what we were 30 yrs before ..... but at some point we go downhill faster and we just can't keep up with that in our minds. On the other side .... the healthier men I know are those that still work on their place every day -- I have a neighbor in his seventies that continues to build fence and grow hay (with all that entails) with just his wife (also in her seventies) for help. My wife and I were out there building fence and stopped one day to talk to them - they were also building fence - and I was amazed at how much more tired we were than they ..... I gotta believe there's something to continuing to work for one's health in our later years. (as long as we stay out of the moving parts that can hurt us 'ol' farts') /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

cowboydoc · Apr 6, 2006

You can back off on the 'old geezer' thing. At 67, I do a lot of things around machinery, and some of them can get one into trouble. Sorry to hear about your old father in law, for sure. But the young can get into just as much trouble, or more.


I agree with you beenthere. Could just as easily happen to anyone on here. My grandfather is 90 years old and could still work circles around most 20 year olds I know. Yes be careful but the post sounded like talking to a little kid. I do think a little more respect for our elders was certainly in order.

MikePA · Apr 6, 2006

My single, biggest issue with people who don't want to use safety equipment or follow safe practices is they don't think of the effect their carelessness can have on others. They believe they are the only ones assuming the risk. The image of seeing his grandfather almost killed will stay with your son for a lifetime and while it will be a very good object lesson about safety, it's a rough way for an 11 year old to learn it.

turbo36 · Apr 6, 2006

Grizzman, some people on this board may be more "sensitive" to the age issue then others so if I were you I would take their "geezer" objections with a grain of salt. The main thing is it sounds like you love your FIL and want him around as long as possible. I would rather have my FIL accuse me of treating him like an old "geezer" then be standing over his hospital bed (or worse) wishing I would have voiced my objections to him doing something dangerous or not within his capabilities. Part of growing old gracefully is learning to accept life's limitations as you grow older.
Yeah I know there are many on this board that don't believe in growing old gracefully, they would rather go kicking and screaming /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif