Tractors and kids

[cowboydoc]

The oldest is 7 going on 30 and the younger one is 5 and going on 5 /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif. The younger one drives the gator and mule but not anything else. She isn't quite as capable as her sister and I doubt I will have her driving the tractor when she is 7. She just isn't as careful and isn't more mature like her sister is. That's where I was talking about that it all depends on the individual.

 

[dmccarty]

Bird,

Its really funny but prior to this past weekend I would be and
was VERY against having more than one person on the tractor
at any one time. My kid has been on the tractor numerous
times and really gets a kick out of sitting in the seat and
moving the stuff around. She likes to do the same in the
cars.

For some reason this weekend I was watching her and
remembering when I was 4 or 5 and my dad put me in his lap
and let me "drive" the old Corvair. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif That was a big smile
day that I still remember! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I was driving a column
mounted, manual shift Jeep before I was a teen. Those where
good and memorable experiences.

Which got me back to having the kid along for a ride...

And it would only be a ride not work. Down the driveway and
down our private road. I seldom use the tractor in B range
much less C so it would be 4 gear in A range at the most. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'm still a pondering. I have been thinking about letting her
"drive" the F350 while sitting in my lap on our private road.
The smile would be a mile wide. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Now there is a method to my maddness besides being a smile
provider. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif One thing that I learned and I hope holds true
is that kids get into trouble because of curiosity. Take away
the curious factor by letting them hold/use/experience
something in a controlled manner then the danger is lessoned
greatly. I never was curious about firearms simply because
I was using them at a young age. They had no dangerous
attraction because they where no more special than a hammer
or a screwdriver. Parents sometimes overreact to what the
kids do. Instead of Just Say No, /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif they should say no
and explain why the no. Let the kid use/handle whatever
they are curious about while you watch. Get it out of their
system. Then when you are not around they are a lot less
likely to grab something that will hurt them since the curiosity
factor is gone. Hopefully.

My daughter and I had a long talk at dinner about power
outlets. We have the "saftey" plugs in the outlets and she
had been given the NO! as a little kid but she can now
understand the WHY behind the NO!

So part of the tractor ride idea is to provide the big smile but
also let her have the experience and see what it is all about.
And take away some of the curiousity. Once we actually
live on the property. I'm going to sacrafice a watermelon or
two the rotary cutter so she can see the danger. I'm still
trying to figure out a demo of the PTO shaft danger....

Later,
Dan

 

[19th_VA]

dmccarty,

I think you're thinking about kids and the attraction to things forbidden is right on. Probably more true for boys but each is an individual. My parents wouldn't let me ride minibikes or anything remotely "dangerous." I was sneaking the car out of the garage when I was 14. Let's not forget that when we are old and gray (oops, I'm already gray and after two hours working in my 4.5' attic last week, I feel really old), the memories of those smiles will still be with us, even if we have forgotten most of what we ever learned.

 

[cowboydoc]

Take her favorite toy and put it in the shaft. I didn't actually take their doll but one just like it. First I let the pto take it and that ripped a leg and arm off. Then we ran over it with the rotary cutter. They got the point. They still will tell the story to anyone standing around about how you will get all torn up and killed if you go by the pto or the equipment on the back of the tractor.

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I was driving a column mounted, manual shift Jeep before I was a teen )</font>

Doesn't everyone have a favorite aunt? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif I started driving my aunt's '47 Ford Coupe when I was 11; before that I just had to get up in the seat beside her to steer. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

And I started following my dad around squirrel, rabbit, frog, and quail hunting when I was 5, but didn't actually shoot a gun until I was 10 (except for the BB gun I got when I was 8) when I got my own .22 (bought with money from my hog raisin') and very shortly after that also got a 12 gauge and frequently hunted by myself from then on.

Gun "safety" was a little different back then, too. I was the oldest of 5 children and we ALL knew that dad's .22 and 12 ga. were always loaded and kept in the closet in his and mother's bedroom, but we also knew that you don't touch them. MY guns had to be unloaded before entering the house.

I know a lot of police officers follow the "recommended" practice of unloading their weapons at home, but I also knew of one officer who discovered, when he needed his sidearm, that he'd forgotten to reload when he went to work. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Mine were always loaded and our daughters grew up knowing that they weren't to be touched.

 

[bgott]

That would probably work with a girl but a boy will want to follow you around so he could throw stuff into the pto shaft or under the mower deck just to watch it explode. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[19th_VA]

You got that right!

 

[ScottAR]

Old Bath towel or mat would make the point. I saw a demo at a farm show once that used a burlap dummy stuffed with fluff. The dummy hit the shaft and then the fluff was flying. I got the point at 7-8.

 

[Egon]

Oh Dear; from the information given on this thread I see impending hardship for tractor owners. It becomes quite obvious that child labour laws are being ignored and we may be subjected to very scurtinous observation by the authorities who administer these rules and regulations. That means more people will be hired to oversee, enforce and prosecute these violators. Needless to say taxes must be increased to accomodate the increased budget.

Egon

 

[bgott]

I heard that! You're better off using illegal aliens, er, undocumented immigrants. They work cheaper and the government pretends that they aren't even here!