Put you handbrake on

[Tollster]

Good to hear you made the right decission, it could have cost you more than damage to your rig. It also good of you to post this near miss, as many would never fess up to some things such as this.
I just purchased my first real tractor, one that exceeds 500 lbs. So its stories like this that have a impact on a new user such as myself.
Thank you and we are all glad your here to share it with us.
Tollie
2004 BX23

 

[GerardC]

<font color="blue"> One of the first things they told me when I was a kid and started working construction (on a power plant) was to not try to stop anything that was falling.</font>

When I was an apprentice in the Mold making field, that was what we were told also. A piece of falling steel can be like a razor blades cutting edge. Gerard

 

[hhw]

Glad to hear all worked out well.

For the bulk of my career I flew helicopters. As you know, whenever an incident/accident occurs in the aviation world there are a lot of "Mon. a.m. Q.B.'s." The one thing I remember from reviewing these issues was that one investigator beilieved that it wasn't when the first problem developed that the issue became critical, but when a second problem compounded the first.
As an example, an aircraft entering weather conditions requiring flight by reference only to cockpit instruments. This is not yet critical. However, if the pilot is not experienced in this type of flight it may become critical.

In this case the fact that the brake was not set was a problem. Not yet a potentially critical problem, until the attachment holding the tractor in place was lifted from outside the appropriate operating station. Now the situation can quickly become critical.
Lots of words to think about. Especially for me, I operate my attachments from " off the seat " all the time, and I never use my parking brake. I think I will now!!! I think I will also take a closer look at what types of "operations" I'll do outside the stations.

Again, glad to hear all worked out well, I will remember; it could've been me.

 

[keeney]

I would also discourage operating the 3-point, FEL, or any other attachment when not at the operator's station because:

1. Being in the seat keeps you in a known safe location - the attachments are designed to not intrude or injure somebody sitting in the seat. If the machine rolls over, the seatbelt/ROPs will prevent being crushed. Its the safest place to be.

2. You are in control of the other aspects of the machine. The brakes, steering, etc. You are not going to have a run-away or roll-away machine. An operator in the seat will be able to deal with the situation a lot better.

3. Good habits like checking the state of all the control before starting the machine become routine every time you get on. If your standard routine involves checking the clutch and brake before starting, you are not going to have unexpected movement. Doing stuff from the ground takes the operator into unfamilar operations - they may not go through the quick safety routine normally used when starting the machine.


My own bad habit in regards to this is simply starting the tractor while standing beside it. If it was in gear and the safety interlock failed, it could easily run me over. Also, because of position control on the 3-point, the 3-point could lift unexpectedly on startup leading to the situation described.

- Rick

P.S. On checking the state of the controls. Now that I have a young child who likes to occasionally climb on the tractor when it is parked, there are a lot of extra precautions I need to take. A: When starting, any control can be in a random position - I can't assume its how I left it when I parked. B: I need to make sure that all the lift mechanisms are lowered so that random play on the supposedly inert machine doesn't lower something heavy, and also that even if the brake is released, the machine is not going to roll.

I know that keeping children off the equipment, even when parked is best, but its not always possible to 100% enforce, so additional precautions are prudent.

 

[PineRidge]

I don't have any young children so I admit that at times when the tractor is parked in the barn the key is left in the ignition. If however my children were young the key would be removed whenever the tractor was not running.

 

[LBrown59]

But you never know when another kid or anybody else might come along so it's always a good idea to remove the key.

 

[GerardC]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I don't have any young children so I admit that at times when the tractor is parked in the barn the key is left in the ignition. If however my children were young the key would be removed whenever the tractor was not running. )</font>

I never remove my key unless it's parked outside briefly when I leave for something at the store etc; or we have company over and the tractor is outside. You never know which adult might take it for a ride /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. Gerard

 

[Jagmandave]

I used to run a Marine travel lift (pulled by a truck tractor)at a local marina, putting boats in and pulling them out and towing them to a drydock spot. One of the other guys had dropped a 54 footer into the bay and left the truck and lift on the ramp. I needed to move another boat so I jumped in, kicked in the clutch to start her up (one foot on the brake pedal of course) and promptly rolled right back into the bay, water all the way up to the top of the driver's seat! The truck had been parked long enough that the air brakes had bled down (it was an old truck) and he hadn't set the park brake! With the load of the travel lift on the back and the engine under water it took 4 4wd pickups, two 2wd trucks, a station wagon and a Ford tractor to pull it up enough to get a new battery in and dry up the electricals. There is no scarier feeling than to not be able to control your vehicle, even at slow speeds like this!