PHD grabbed my Father-in-Law yesterday

cowboydoc · Apr 6, 2006

turbo,

The point that seems to be missing is this could of happened to any of us. Young, old, slow, quick, wouldn't have mattered the outcome would have been the same. The accident didn't happen because the gentleman was old, it happened because he wasn't safe. The same thing would have happened to any of us in that situation. How many of us that grew up farming and ranching never did the same thing? If you say you never did anything that wasn't safe as a farmer or rancher I'd have to say you were stretching the truth a little.

Bird · Apr 6, 2006

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gifDictionary.com defines "geezer" as "An old person, especially an eccentric old man" so I guess I qualify at 66. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif But, yes, accidents happen to folks of all ages; sometimes due to their age, sometimes due to something else.

PBinWA · Apr 6, 2006

( What safety device would have prevented this? )

Hide the ignition key so he can't turn on the tractor. If he hotwires your tractor then he deserves what he gets.

Hope he recovers from this. I'd consider hiding the keys in the future.

elad · Apr 6, 2006

Hope your FIL makes a full recovery. Sorry it had to happen.
How is your 11 year old son handling the accident? It surely
had an impact on the young man. Hope he is handling it OK.
Would be a terrible thing to witness. Prayers for all involved.

tillerkiller · Apr 6, 2006

Your FIL needs to buy a lottery ticket as soon as possible. He is as lucky as they come.

Sunny side up! This could have come out a whole lot worse.

DannyD · Apr 7, 2006

In high school back in the old days we had a boy that was chucking some wood stock, looked down the stock to see if it was "straight", hair hanging down as he had long hair..........then he had half a head of hair. Pulled it out by the roots.

scott_vt · Apr 7, 2006

Yes Danny,
Way back when, late sixties early seventies, when I still had hair /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif they would make anyone with long locks to have a hairnet on at work. They looked so bad that I decided that I would keep mine just short enough so as not to wear one of those darn things /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Now, I just shave it all off, I still have a little stubble on top /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

scotty

turbo36 · Apr 7, 2006

Cowboydoc,
Me, stretch the truth? Never! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
My wife has a habit of correcting the inaccuracies every time time I tell a story, my reply to her is that "it's my story and I will tell it the way I wanted it to happen".
Seriously though I wonder if there is any agency that has data on farm accidents grouped by age it would be interesting to see what the data is.
Growing up as kid in 7th grade I had a friend killed while pulling stumps when the tractor came back on him. One day everything is normal a couple of kids screwing around and the next day he is gone, at that age it's pretty hard to understand how that can happen.

dubba · Apr 7, 2006

( What safety device would have prevented this ) My newer tractor (and probably everybody else's) shuts off when you leave the seat with the PTO engaged. Also won't start with the PTO engaged. This is not to say that you still couldn't run into trouble with 2 people digging post holes, but at least someone would be next to the controls...

Best of Luck to your FIL

Grizzman · Apr 7, 2006

My FIL made it through 4 hours of surgery yesterday to repair the arm. Orthpedic doctor says the surgery went will and his arm will recover. He stated he will not have strength in it for 3 months. He is still in a lot of pain and my MIL says he is frequently pressing the button on his hospital bed that administers more morphine. Doc says he may come home tonight or Saturday. Spent last night removing his shirt from the PHD. Had to use a knife to cut it free. From my observation of the way the shirt was tangled in the PHD is that the PTO shaft is was the original point of contact. Shirt material was around the Ujoint. The rest of the shirt was wrapped around the top of the auger. In my opinion if the shaft had a shield on drive shaft shield maybe the accident may not have happened. I can only imagine the panic he felt when he fell into the PHD. I have talked with my 11 year old son extensively about this and he is going to be ok. He understands now why DAD preaches so much about safety. I just hate that he had to see it first hand what can happen. All in all we are lucky that Doug(FIL) is going to be ok. He will be home soon and we are looking forward to having him back. Thanks for all of the prayers.