Tractor death appears accidental

[Anonymous Poster]

From the Warren Tribune Chronicle

Report: Tractor death appears accidental

This is the first time I've seen it with an 80 year old woman. I cringe every time I see young children riding on the fenders though.

 

[markct]

yea i know what ya mean about seeing kids riding on the fenders. but there are some times ya kinda gota do it tho, in some ways it is nice how some of the newer tractors were made with squared off fenders,and more grab handles and stuff. some people say that manufacturers shouldn have made it seem so much like a seat cause people will use it for that, but the way i look at it is that if ya are going to ride with someone on the tractor anyhow ya might as well make it as safe as possible, one thing that i we did to my fathers ford NAA a few years ago was to extend the left running board back almost to the axle, we were making a new running board since the old one rusted out, so i figured if i made it go all the way back to there it was safer to rest your foot on than it was resting your foot on the axle and the 3pt arm or whatever. one nice thing about my ford 8000 also is that it has a cab so i feel that makes it alot safer to have a passenger inside since they realy are kinda held in there, alot less chance of falling off. im sure the safety people of this board will get all over me for saying this but i am just saying that i feel that if having a passenger on is something ya are going to do, make it as safe as ya can

 

[Phred]

Mark,

I don't agree.

I can't think of any reason why anyone must ride on the tractor. Can you?
Go get the truck and follow along if you need to go the same place and its a long distance.

I see contruction workers do it with backhoes because they don't want to walk a few hundred yards.
not smart.

Fred

 

[RoyJackson]

If the manufacturers made it easy, the liability would be on them...not the operator.
So, from a manufacturer's point of view, one operator means one operator! .
I know a lot of people carry their kid while driving the tractor or mower. Occasionally, someone gets hurt or killed.

Do you want to be responsible for the death of your child? The manufacturer doesn't...

 

[markct]

basicly what i am saying is that alot of people do it, im not saying manufacturers should endorse it, but i am just saying that if people are gona do it they might as well do it as safely as possible. thats why like i said our ford NAA has the extended running board and the grab handle on the fender that my father added years ago. i spent lots of time in my fathers lap on that tractor, but only when we were doing relatively safe things, never mowing or using anything ground engaging where the tractor could get unexpectedly jolted etc. after i got too big for my fathers lap i rode on the fender and that is probaly where i got 90% of my knowledge on how to operate a tractor safely, sometimes my father would be the one on the fender as i got older and i was able to run the tractor but he was still there to give advice or warnings anytime i could have gotten into a dangerous situation. just yesterday i was teaching my girlfriend to rake hay with my fathers NAA, she has run a tractor before just never raked hay, i rode on the fender and was able to give her advice and tell her at an instant what was being done right or wrong. i will admit that i wouldnt ever carry a passenger especialy a child while raking hay since if ya fell off the results would be terrible, but we went around the field 3 or 4 times that way and she got the hang of it, so it served its purpose, i wont have a need to do it again. another thing is the fact that while many of you say that riding a passenger isnt ever neccesary,well thats absoulutely true if ya live on an acre and a half and ya just got a little compact to take care of your yard work, but if ya are using tractors for actual farm type work there are often situations where ya will be going greater distances. like for example often when haying i will leave a tractor at a field a good distance away, then when i go back with a different implement etc on another tractor, somone will ride up with me and operate the other tractor and then drive it home or whatever, yes there are other ways to get there but it gets to be a real pain to need to have other people to drive ya here and there when you are in a hurry(which ya always are with haying). so no it isnt absolutely neccesary but we do it outa convenience so if ya are going to do it ya might as well do it safely. also i dont see how riding inside a cab tractor is very hazardous, ya cant realy fall off, and all my tractors are pre- rops anyhow. another point is that there are some manufacturers who put a passenger seat in tractors, if you look inside the cab of a JCB fastrack ag tractor you will find a passenger seat, also Holder tractors, they are small articulated tractors with front and rear 3pt hitches, ptos etc, they usualy have a small passenger seat behind the drivers seat. a constructuion company i have worked for has one and being able to carry a passenger is very nice when doing snow removal in the winter. so maybe in the future other tractor manufacturers will realize that people do ride passengers on there tractors and they will follow what JCB and Holder are already doing. personaly i think that riding a passenger on a motorcycle is just as dangerous as on a tractor, and no one complains about that do they

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I totally disagree. Having a child or other passenger ride on the tractor is asking for trouble, whether you've put extended running boards on the tractor or not. You never know what lies ahead, or know what you might run over or if you might have to suddenly turn. Anything could knock someone off the tractor if they are not in the proper seat. Some jury-rigged running board or grab handle on the fender is not going to hold someone if the tractor is suddenly jarred. The grab handles that are on the new tractor are solely for the convienence for the OPERATOR of the tractor when getting in and out of the SEAT, not for others to sit on the fenders.

 

[markct]

well i guess i am in the minority with my opinion, but i am not saying it is a safe practice or that anyone should recomend riding a passenger on a tractor, but lets face it, alot of people do it so if you are one of the people who does it, ya might as well make it as safe as possible. and some manufacturers realize that this is done and have made there machines capable of safely carrying a passenger, like JCB and Holder, maybe others too, just they are the only ones i know of