Security & Theft Stolen tractor!

txdon · May 17, 2005

I see you will have to send you wife to the tractor DETOX center. Too bad. If you remember, you are probably to blame. Remember last December when you gave her a chainsaw as a gift. Yep, it starts off small and the next thing you know your are sitting in the kitchen with an apron wondering when did this start? What ever you do do not regress. Immediately put this photo on your refrigerator to start the detoxing process. (No smiley here, this is serious!!!)

Mike, Is your 20 acres in Lee County, if it is this is even more serious! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

thcri · May 17, 2005

Mike,

It is nobody's fault but your own. Many men here have said the wives have to stay away. So far to date after three years my wife has not much touched the tractor. And she grew up on a farm and drove for her dad many times. But I have watched her very close and so far she has only touched it once. My problem is while watching my wife my daughter stole the tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

But if your like me you will enjoy watching them run the tractor as much as running it yourself.

murph

RonR · May 17, 2005

Well, I'm one that enjoys watching the wife have fun on the Kubota also! One of the first things we did with ours was rip out some old irrigation lines. I could have done it myself, but it would have involved getting on and off the tractor hundreds of times. With her driving, I was able to pull and re-attach a small chain to the irrigation lines and give her simple hand signals for up/down, forward/back. She enjoyed it and we did it in less than half the time it would have taken me by myself.

She'll never want to drive it on or off the trailer or do up close work. Nor will she want to do dirt leveling. She'll let me enjoy that.

But I'm thrilled she enjoys it and knows how to operate it.........

Ron

hobbyfarm · May 17, 2005

Wife Help 101:
( wife sat in the truck listening to the radio and watching )
If you let them watch too close, they get the idea - "Hey, I can drive that, it don't look so hard."
Honey, you don't drive a tractor, you operate it. Look at all those levers, you don't know what they all do, but you have to use all them levers.

( she cried about not having anything to do to be able to help )
Honey, I could sure use a cold glass of ice tea, or this would be a great time to visit your sister or that recipe you've been wanting to try, I'd love to try it when I get back from cuttin' the pasture.

( I made the mistake of showing her how to run the pto & mower )
Honey, this thing throws stuff at you, and I'd hate to see you get hurt.

See? If your good, she'll never know. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

mikim · May 18, 2005

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif That's good Don - /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif ... 20 acres is 4 miles due south of Paige in Bastrop County.... From Paige it's 3 miles S on Old Pin Oak Rd - 1 mile E on Antioch - then 1 mile S on St Delight. (distances are ~ about) haven't actually measured it yet.

Ozarker · May 18, 2005

Same here. My wife grew up on a farm in Iowa and has many hours of seat time on her dad's Farmall. She won't even look at my tractor and says it will be a cold day in heck before she ever gets on another one.

JeffRey30747 · May 18, 2005

You could tell her that you don't know if the brakes are working correctly or not. My wife still won't operate the Yanmar although I have told her that I fixed the brakes some time ago. She will operate the Kubota though, just not as much since she managed to stick it between two trees.
However, I suspect that there may be than meets the eye to this. If we both happen to be on a tractor at the same time, she gets a four year old Kubota and I end up with a twenty-five year old Yanmar. Hmm?

Jeff

txdon · May 19, 2005

Mikim, make sure you show the tractor thief Jinman's post . The snakes love blue tractors. and love to chase the people who drive them! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
Thanks Jim for the photo!

hitekcountry · May 20, 2005

Ya might want to put that ROP up and keep that gal around for a while even though she steals seat time from you.

mikim · May 20, 2005

That ROP never goes up ... didja happen to see all the trees in the pics?.... we constantly have to duck under limbs etc and from catching that ROPS about 3 times in the past and having it lift the front of the tractor straight up in a hurry - I learned it's safer to keep that thing down. The land is level and we don't do any side hilling at all ....

ByronBob · May 20, 2005

Remember last December when you gave her a chainsaw as a gift.

Would this qualify as a Jeff Foxworthy redneck joke?? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Tim_in_IA · May 20, 2005

Is that a "here's yer sign" reference? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I agree, put the rops up and cut the low branches off. Too many times I've heard of guys dying while they were mowing supposedly level ground.

jinman · May 20, 2005

Man! I must be sufferin' from pre-nuptial jitters. Even when txdon told me he needed the photo to help you with a theft problem, I didn't notice your post. This is bad. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Only thing worse than a woman who drives your tractor is a woman who steals your beer. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I'm sure glad Kathy has a tractor of her own. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

BTW: My rock bucket is also an ideal tool for grubbin' up pricklypears. I can dig the ones I need to, haul them down into a gully, and burn them. Of course, I have a bunch growing in places I can't get me or the tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

jinman · May 20, 2005

( I agree, put the rops up and cut the low branches off. Too many times I've heard of guys dying while they were mowing supposedly level ground. )

Name me two guys who died while mowing on level ground with their ROPs down. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

PineRidge · May 20, 2005

I'll bet most of the guys here can't come up with 2 names of folks that were killed because they didn't have a ROPS equipped tractor but that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen.

Each person is free to make their own decision for using or not using a ROPS it's a personal choice at best. But with the way things normally happen and sometimes real fast there might not be any coming back from an unwise choice regarding using a ROPS.

Call me a sissy, I use mine on all types of terrain and really don't feel bad because I do.

jinman · May 20, 2005

( I'll bet most of the guys here can't come up with 2 names of folks that were killed because they didn't have a ROPS equipped tractor but that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. )

PineRidge, I can name the name of a fellow who was almost crushed because his ROPS was folded up. The fellow's name is Jim Inman, and his ROPS barely hit a big oak limb ( 12" diameter) just right to shear it off and pin him against his steering wheel when it hit him in his back. The limb continued down behind the seat and bent the handrails on top of the fenders. If that limb had been another 6" forward, it would have hit me right on top of my head.

Putting the ROPS down to work around or under trees with low hanging limbs is a darn good idea. Telling a person they should trim up all the limbs on 20 acres before using their tractor is like telling you it's unsafe to operate your tractor in the snow. To back up a theory with some un-named "guys" who were "killed" while mowing on smooth ground with the ROPS down is junk science in my opinion.

Nobody is a wimp for keeping their ROPS up when they can. But folding it to work under low hanging trees is not only a good idea, but it might keep you from getting hurt seriously like almost happened to Jim Inman. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Okay, my "hot button" has cooled. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'll climb down off my soapbox now. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Kyle_in_Tex · May 20, 2005

TxDon, I am typing this from the floor, I still can't seem to catch my breath.

Mikim, since I'm down and out from Txdon's very, very serious post, You can always come over and get a tractor "fix" here. There's always plenty of tractor chores over here.

Tim_in_IA · May 20, 2005

jinman,

Sorry I don't have names for you and that you think I am preaching junk science. I do know that I have heard of this locally in the past. People mow over the same areas and think they're safe, or they go a little too fast one time and then someone is finding them a few hours later since they didn't come home. Land changes, ruts form, vegitation hides the changes etc...

He can do whatever he wants with his rops, as can you. I am glad you are okay after your close call. I guess if a branch was low enough to hit the front of the tractor and dent the sides in if you wanted to mow there you'd cut it, or at least I would, so it makes sense to me that if it was going to hit the rops and I absolutely had to make that last close pass I would cut the branch down. An operator needs to know the dimensions of his machine. Chances are (and I am just speculating here, so more junk science follows) that if you are mowing that close to the tree line the ground cant be worked up as well due to obstacles, and you are likely to find a few whoopty doos and ruts anyway.

It is obvious from the feedback he got that he is aware of the intentions of the rops design and has decided to leave it down, so that is his call and yours in the end. I just enjoy reading all your posts so much that I wouldn't want it to stop. No offense intended.

I guess since his wife was a new tractor operator (and I am guessing at that too since I don't know if she has operated them her whole life) that it brought me extra concern as she may not be as used to the machine as he is.

PineRidge · May 20, 2005

Jim I guess it can go both ways. In my area a guy I have known for years, Bill Yengling was working on flat and level ground with his ROPS folded down. He was dragging trees out of a wooded area that he had previously cut. Since he was working in a flat wooded area with low branches he figured what the heck no harm no foul.

Anyway Bill had a large tree chained to the back of his Deere and was dragging it out of the woods when the branches from the first tree helped to pull over another dead tree that was still standing. The dead tree came down on Bill and the only thing that most likely saved his life was the fact that his son yelled at him as the tree started to come down and he did have some time to bail. The tree splattered the steering wheel.

Several cracked ribs later Bill now preaches ROPS safety to whoever will listen to his story.

I don't get mad at you or anyone else if they decide not to use all the safety equipment that the manufacturers installed that's your choice, we all make our own decisions.

BTW: Glad you weren't hurt with your accident.

jinman · May 21, 2005

Tim and Mike, I don't want to turn what is a fun post into an endless debate over ROPS use. I just think we have to respect each other's reasons for use or non-use of some safety features and realize there are reasons and times we can't always use them. Would a cage like a skidsteer be safer than just a ROPS? Of course! Do we all have those? No, and we are not likely to see that option. Has anyone ever operated a tractor in the snow/ice and lost control and been hurt? Yes, but I bet you'll be out there plowing snow next winter.

Hey! We are all wanting the same thing here. and I think we all certainly respect each other's opinions. My comment about "junk science" was not personal and relates to many of my own comments. I also tend to generalize and draw conclusions without specifics. It's human nature. I just happen to have firsthand knowledge, and this issue "tripped my trigger." I hope you both understand I'm saying all this with a smile on my face. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif