Seat belt?

cowboydoc · Jul 9, 2003

DocHeb probably has alot more stories from being in the ER but I know when I did my rotation in the ER there were hundreds of people with stories just like yours where people didn't think that would happen. Or they thought like you they were good enough athletes they didn't have to be careful. I don't like them either but I do wear them. I've seen enough of what happens when people don't to know that I don't want to lose my life or limb because of something stupid. Too much to lose anymore. The thought of my little girls having to grow up without a dad has made me much more cautious and one heck of alot less invincible in my own mind, /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

MossRoad · Jul 9, 2003

Yep. Having a family sure puts it in perspective /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Soundguy · Jul 10, 2003

( my point. I AM always on alert )

No offense.. but that is wishfull thinking. It may be true that you are on alert to 'percieved' threats.. but some things aren't obvious.

Like the tail wheel or side deck of a mower hooking an obstruction that went un-noticed in the underbrush, and drastically swinging the tractor over to one direction. That can / has happened to me.. happens and is finished in less than a second. No time to react... really hardly time to comprehend.
As much as i would like to think I was always alert.. it is the unseen things that will get us.

I've also had a front tire drop into a gopher den. I actually saw the hole and avoided it.. but the tunnel colapsed a few feet from the entrance, just as the tractors weight went over it... Again... by the time I had the clutch in, and the brake on, the whole tractor had already bumped on past the den...

If you are going to keep on with the superman thing, make sure you go get some good life insurance to take care of your familly, and always say I love you and good bye when you go out to to some tractoring, as chances are, eventually you won't be comming home. Look up the dpt. of ag's website of tractor based injuries and fatalities..

Good luck ( you'll need it! )

Soundguy

StoneHeartFarm · Jul 31, 2003

( The older I get the better I was. )

Hey, I resemble that remark! The trouble with kids today is they don't realize how great we really were when we were their age! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Steve

chrisjbell · Jul 31, 2003

That thing rolls and it'll happen so fast, and the weight involved is so great (compared to your mass - no matter how big you are, the tractor is heavier) that jumping isn't something you should plan for.

Plan to stay in the seat - think of it like a race car. In those, there is a cage or tub that is meant to contain a driver in the event of an accident. Same is true for a passenger car or truck, although not to the same level of safety.

Your tractor is designed so that the safest place is in the operator's seat. Your ROPS will keep the tractor off your head and body, and if your seat belt is on you'll stay there. Instead of planning to leave the seat, plan on how you'll pull and keep your arms and legs into the safe area of the operator's position - you'll have little enough time to pull *that* off in the case of a rollover.

While we love to refer to our tractors as "toys", they are pretty dangerous peices of heavy equipment. And the more hours you have the greater the chances that something will go wrong, rather than the opposite. Most of the younger or less experience operators I know talk about how nothing bad has ever happened to them. Most of the older and more experienced talk about how glad they are that they used the safety equipment because it saved life and / or limb.

Wannafish · Jul 31, 2003

So far I've seen reaction times listed, but have not seen anyone mention that every time our tractors get a little tippy, as we react, we watch to see how far it's going to go. I don't imagine many people on this site ever jumped off their tractor as it was STARTING to tip (Gosh, 99% of us would be on the ground daily!). My point is, even if you have 1.5 seconds, you are most likely going to use up most of that time comprehending what is happening and making the decision TO react; then comes the actual reaction.

I rolled my dozer once (thankfully it had a 4-post rops) when a bank gave way...I am very well aquainted with the "Pucker-Factor" Please - always wear your seat belt.

Rick

RedDog · Jul 31, 2003

Geez!! All the safety people.

I wonder how many of ya drove older tractors all these years without ROPS and seatbelt /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I rode a bicycle while growing up without a helmet /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif And I bet all of you did too. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

RedDog Kioti DK 65 with seatbelt off, and ROPS down--- won't fit in garage /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

gsganzer · Jul 31, 2003

You're not kidding about the older tractors without ROPS. I used to bale hay with an old "M" on some pretty steep terrain. Fortunately that tractor has a really wide stance. It still gave me the "pucker factor" when I'd drop a wheel in a fox hole. I have some fond memories of the days spent on that old iron.

A bit off the subject: I was out raking hay for baling one day and dropped a wheel in a hole. The tractor didn't roll, BUT!!!! The muffler wasn't clamped on tight enough and went flying off, landing in the dry hay. It immediately lit fire to the hay! A jumped off and started kicking the muffler to open ground, igniting fires all along the way. I finally yanked off my shirt and used it to grab the muffler and put it back on the exhaust pipe. I then proceeded to frantically stomp out the multitude of fires before they engulfed the remotely located 100 acre hay field. It must have been a site to see a 16 year old kid scrambling in a dead panic. I think I went past the "pucker factor". The memories of those days, some of which I'd love to forget.

Bird · Jul 31, 2003

Raking hay with an "M" and the muffler coming off? About 5 years ago, I was working with a neighbor baling hay for another guy. My friend was doing the raking with one of his two "M"s, and I was doing the baling with his 1755 Oliver. We had hay on both sides of a rather deep dry wash (don't think you could call it a creek) and there was a place where someone had obviously been crossing with either a 4WD pickup and/or a tractor; some big rocks down there, built up a little in the middle, but steep banks. It was either cross there OR go out a gate down the road, around the house, etc.; i.e., a little distance to travel. So we talked about it before we started baling and decided that with the baler and rake, it was just too dangerous to cross there and we'd take the time to take the road.

I don't know what he was thinking, but when we finished that side of that wash and I was following him out of the field, he turned right down that path across that wash, rolled down at an unbelievable speed, the tractor almost got sideways, hit some big rocks, bounced him in the air above the seat, the muffler bounced plumb off, and I thought he was a goner for sure. But he got it straightened out and went on up the other side to level ground before he stopped. Needless to say, I got off my tractor (without going down in that wash) and ran to see if he was alright. And that's when I learned that his old "M" only had a working brake on the right side /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif, so when he hit the brakes, that's what turned him and caused him to hit the rocks and bounce, so he had to let off the brake, keep going, and hope for the best.

But I can tell you that for a few seconds, I sure thought I'd lost a good friend that day.

MossRoad · Jul 31, 2003

Geez!! All the safety people.

I wonder how many of ya drove older tractors all these years without ROPS and seatbelt

I rode a bicycle while growing up without a helmet And I bet all of you did too.

RedDog Kioti DK 65 with seatbelt off, and ROPS down--- won't fit in garage 

People use to eat food canned in lead containers, too. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

The point is, we all continue to learn as we get older. Best wishes to you and yours'.