Two injured seriously by farm tractor

[Threepoint]

Ag tractors don't have a seat switch.

Many guys start their tractors that way. Not a problem if you pay attention. Maybe not a great idea for an 86 year old.

Or even a 46 y/o, for that matter. Especially with a tractor that size with a full cab and dual wheels on the rear! Have to move pretty quick to jump out of the way.

 

[jgedmond]

No, you still don't understand. Shorting the starter at the starter basically connects the solenoid right to the battery. The starter is already, always connected to the battery.

Amazing how so many people think that an 86 year old is going to recover and get better.

I most certainly do understand that using a screwdriver across the solenoid bypasses all of the safeties, that is why it is stupid way to start a tractor. I have done it on cars in younger, poorer, stupider days. I was simply correcting your assumption that I was referring to a "seat switch" when I was not.

 

[Jstpssng]

Gas or diesel, doesn't matter.
The starter will move and start the engine in gear

Mine wouldn't, that's why I mentioned it.

 

[LouNY]

Dang an 86 year old man still climbing up in the cab of that 130 horse tractor and so many people here ranting and carrying on about the way he was starting a 45 year old tractor and being so pious about why it may have required a less safe way to be started. He neglected to engage the parking brake when he got down from it unfortunately, it happens I wonder how many of the posters will still even able to climb up those steps if they reach his age.
No one not directly involved has any idea of why he didn't put the tractor in neutral and engage the parking brake.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have a friend that does that probably at least five times a day, 365 days a year, and I personally know he has done that for twenty five years. Pobably twenty five years before that. So that's 45,625 he did that in the time I knew him, without killing himself or anyone else. Unsafe?

 

[RickB]

Of course bypass starting is unsafe. There are always outliers but the risk of not having everything in place for a successful start is not diminished.

 

[Industrial Toys]

What if it's really not bypass starting, but the WAY a person starts their tractor? Not trying to make light of this, but it IS a reality for some.

 

[RickB]

What if it's really not bypass starting, but the WAY a person starts their tractor? Not trying to make light of this, but it IS a reality for some.

I don’t understand your question. These guys were critically injured while bypassing the safety start circuit of a tractor while standing in the travel path of a rear wheel. If you are trying to claim that is not an unsafe activity I refuse to engage in that debate. Beyond that I have no idea what your point is.

 

[MHarryE]

Regulation based on European standard is based on height to operating controls. Seat switch required if controls can easily be reached from the ground. Had family of a deceased operator sue because large machine he was operating did not have seat switch while our smallest machines did. Witness on job site saw operator get up to look at a large rock he was trying to avoid when he ran over the rock which pitched the machine. He fell off and was crushed. Operators doing stupid stuff bring on regulations because companies don’t like being sued for operator negligence. Realize the regulations are not written by people in an office who have never operated a machine. They come from companies having reps get together to figure out how to keep their customers from killing themselves and have survivors sue. Allie-Chalmers built a round baler before anyone else. An engineer involved with the machine told me 10 years after the last one was produced, A-C studied how much it would cost to buy every one built back and trash because of the continuing lawsuits. Then the company went bankrupt, problem solved.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I'm saying, that "clearly" that IS the way some guys start their tractors. Not just in a pinch or on account of malfunction.

Kind of like, I cringe when I see someone with their fingers within inches of a table saw blade. They have probably done that for many decades. Who am I to say it's unsafe?

 

[HarryVanderpool]

Good people are killed on fairly regular basis by either connecting jumper cables directly to tractor starters, or jumping starter terminals with a screwdriver.
Happens all the time. WAY, WAY too often.
I know of 3 locally.
And yet, commenters here are often quick to recommend that procedure here to posters with very obvious limited mechanical ability.
"I've done it a hundred times, no problems". Fine. Knock yourself out.
Just think about not suggesting something here that kills many people every year.
ESPECIALLY to those of limited mechanical ability.
How about this:
If the tractor won't start, FIX IT!!

 

[k0ua]

Good people are killed on fairly regular basis by either connecting jumper cables directly to tractor starters, or jumping starter terminals with a screwdriver.
Happens all the time. WAY, WAY too often.
I know of 3 locally.
And yet, commenters here are often quick to recommend that procedure here to posters with very obvious limited mechanical ability.
"I've done it a hundred times, no problems". Fine. Knock yourself out.
Just think about not suggesting something here that kills many people every year.
ESPECIALLY to those of limited mechanical ability.
How about this:
If the tractor won't start, FIX IT!!

Some do post caveats "to make sure it is out of gear and parking brake set to prevent running over yourself" One poster who was fairly regular here did run over himself. He survived, but was injured pretty badly.

But you are correct it is a bad thing to do to tell people how to circumvent safety circuits. Because the people that have to ask don't have mechanical and electrical skills. If they did, they would not have to ask.

 

[HarryVanderpool]

....you are correct it is a bad thing to do to tell people how to circumvent safety circuits. Because the people that have to ask don't have mechanical and electrical skills. If they did, they would not have to ask.

Well said!

 

[Industrial Toys]

My guess is that if some guys tractor does not have a working dash mounted start switch with neutral interlock, it most likely doesn't have a working parking brake either.

 

[jgedmond]

My guess is that if some guys tractor does not have a working dash mounted start switch with neutral interlock, it most likely doesn't have a working parking brake either.

Like a previous poster said maintain your equipment. If you can't afford to maintain your equipment, maybe you need to get rid of it.

My Mahindra's neutral safety switch was a $50 piece of plastic crap and kept failing. I replaced it with a $5 momentary push button switch. While this setup allows the tractor to start it in gear, having to push the switch reminds my to put it in neutral. I always start from the seat in neutral and put the clutch in. My life / well being is worth than a few dollars. There are safer workarounds than starting from the ground if you give it some thought.

Not bashing the guys in NY, I certainly hope that they fully recover. Apparently they just got complacent and it bit them. "We always did it this way" is not a good reason to keep doing it that way.

 

[Industrial Toys]

All I can say, is humans can and do have very varying realities. One guy has had dozens of tractors in his daily life for half a century, the next guy, just bought his first Kioti.

Some guys still remember starting their tractor with a nasty old crank, out front, so using a screwdriver standing at the side, is quite safe by comparison.

 

[jgedmond]

All I can say, is humans can and do have very varying realities. One guy has had dozens of tractors in his daily life for half a century, the next guy, just bought his first Kioti.

Some guys still remember starting their tractor with a nasty old crank, out front, so using a screwdriver standing at the side, is quite safe by comparison.

Yes, I am just buying my first Kioti, but I guess you just ignored the rest of the post. Are you intentionally being obtuse or just obtuse? I guess 1969 (half a century ago) was the epitome of tractor technology in your reality, so you can just live there if you want to.

 

[Jstpssng]

Good people are killed on fairly regular basis by either connecting jumper cables directly to tractor starters, or jumping starter terminals with a screwdriver.
Happens all the time. WAY, WAY too often.
I know of 3 locally.
And yet, commenters here are often quick to recommend that procedure here to posters with very obvious limited mechanical ability.
"I've done it a hundred times, no problems". Fine. Knock yourself out.
Just think about not suggesting something here that kills many people every year.
ESPECIALLY to those of limited mechanical ability.
How about this:
If the tractor won't start, FIX IT!!

I've only had it happen once, but you can hook up battery to battery and still have the starter engage. It's best to set the brake (or trig the wheels well) and put the tractor/vehicle in neutral first.

 

[Diggin It]

I'll hazard a guess that an 86 year old who has possibly had the same tractor for decades (we don't know if he bought it new or used, or when) may have been doing the same things the same way for so long that he was more or less on auto-pilot and just simply missed a step he'd taken thousands of times before.

And no, I don't believe he'll recover anywhere near fully, if at all. His field days are done. Maybe the son's too. Which brings up the question, what happens to the farm/property if there isn't any other family?

 

[wheelbuilder]

I'll hazard a guess that an 86 year old who has possibly had the same tractor for decades (we don't know if he bought it new or used, or when) may have been doing the same things the same way for so long that he was more or less on auto-pilot and just simply missed a step he'd taken thousands of times before.

And no, I don't believe he'll recover anywhere near fully, if at all. His field days are done. Maybe the son's too. Which brings up the question, what happens to the farm/property if there isn't any other family?

Or maybe one operator had his way of doing this, but the other took over and presumed the first guy did it his way. I can see different processes causing a problem.
Familiarity breeds contempt. It happens to everyone to a degree. We've got to stay alert and mindful of what we're doing.