srjones said:
I'm no expert and have often been guilty of doing unsafe (stupid) things, but here are somethings I try to remember. This is just my list...it may not apply to everyone. (It applies to everyone with an IQ above rooom temperature, some just don't deal with it intelligently!!!)
1. I keep in mind that laws of physics apply to me. Especially in areas of force and gravity. (I thought with a degree in Physics and having the secret handshake and all that I coild get a waiver.... no way, Joe [English for Jose])
3. Wear hearing protection, even on quieter tractors. (My lifetime accumulated exposure to noises has resulted in my getting hearing aids recently. Just because you don't notice a loss after tractoring or chainsawing or shooting or whatever doesn't mean there isn't one. It is insidiously cumulative and NOT reversable. Hearing aids are a poor after the fact substitute for a small measure of prevention.)
4. Wear a hat/sunglasses in the sun. Drink plenty of water too. (Take a jug or bottle with you in/on the tractor)
5. Too much bouncing around and your back will let you know about it the next day. (I can develop indigestion/heartburn from rough bouncing so I cary Tums with me which I hardly ever need otherwise, even doing aerobatics.)
6. Watch out for the things off the tractor that can get you. The branch that snaps back and smack you...the yellow jackets ground next you just ran over. (A cab has yet more advantages.)
7. There's a reason they put sheilds over the PTO. Don't get too comfortable around a spinning PTO shaft. (I have seen taped interviews with victims of PTO incidents. Don't wear loose or dangly clothes around a PTO and stay away when it is turning. They have killed and or maimed a lot of folks.)
8. Keep an eye on the tractor when your off, but it's still running. HST tractors can creep forward or backward. The brakes on gear tractors can slip. (one advantage of the HST is that it acts sort of like a dead man control. When you take your foot off the pedal it stops fairly quick except for a gentle drift if it is not adjusted properly whereas the gear tractor carries on without you which can be dangerous.
9. Never start a geared tractor while it's in gear.
10. If you let of the clutch in a hurry expecting it to be in neutral, you better be DanG sure it's in neutral.
I added parenthetical comments to the above which was already a darned good start of a list of things to think about.
Never turn the wheel a lot quickly with a heavy weight on the FEL, irrespective of tractor speed, as the geometry changes and that coupled wilth the inertial effects (See physics, above) will precipitate a roll over incident so fast that if your hand is not on the joy stick you may be over the poinit of no return before you can properly react.
ALWAYS have your hand on the joystick if the FEL is loaded heavily. Dumping the FEL even after a couple wheels are in the air can set you back down on all four wheels. Never lift a heavy FEL load higher than absolutely required and preferably a high lift is only done when the tractor is stopped or very nearly so.
New tractors have parking brakes or a way to lock your main brakes. Use them. Just because the tractor comes to a complete stop doesn't mean it wont roll a bit later, mine will.
Never brush hog near things you don't want to toss debris through, including folks who walk up to the tractor to say something. Lower the cutter, disengage it, and wait for it to stop before inviting anyone or allowing anyone near the tractor. Driving near people, stock, or even windows or siding you don't want holes in requires letting the blade stop before getting close. So far I haven't taken out a window but put holes in the siding of my mom's house.
Even a small rock or just a short scrap of wire can be a deadly missle. When I was in the service a mowing contractor had all the required chains in place and was mowing quite a ways from a sidewalk (couple hundred feet or more) when a pedestrian fell over dead for no apparent reason. The autopsy X-rays showed a small piece of old rusty wire embedded in his brain. There was a small bloodless wound to the temple. The contractor was judged not liable and in theory no safety rules were violated but his widow and kids would still miss the man and all his service training and experience were lost.
I parked a new sports car in a parking lot and a mower over 200 ft away shot a fist sized stone into the post beside my windshield. An inch either way and it would have come through either the windshield or the passenger window. What a hassle getting the Gov to reimburse me but at least I wasn't killed or injured.
There are millions of ways for combinations of things to get together and kill or injure you that can't be planned for or dealt with through planning. Some things are just inheriently risky and dangerous. You need to be alert and not become complacent because you did it before and didn't get killed. Stay sharp and maintain situational awareness. Day dreaming or thinking about other things besides what you are currently doing is a big factor in accidents. It is hard to pay attention when some of the tractor work is boring and seeminly slow paced but don't allow yourself to be lulled to DEATH.
You may walk across the street without looking either way and get away with it several times but eventually a quiet fast car (Prius??) will turn you into roadway pizza. Just because you get away with something doesn't make it safe or advisable. Accident stats are brimming full with killed and injured folks who had been doing what got them for quite a while. It is like playing Russian Roulette with a thousand shooter. It may take longer before you perforate your head but if you play long enough it will happen.
If common sense were not such an uncommon commodity the ER would not be so busy.
Pat
