Seatbelts when do you use them?

[harleyboy]

I had a very close call and was VERY LUCKY!
I was just finishing 5 hrs of bush hogging and was heading back to load up.
Driving on the gravel road trying to clip the edge of the grass and was fully aware of the ditch bank conditions as i had cut there before. No seat belt not going fast and before i knew it I was lucky to be standing looking at my tractor on its side? To keep a bad story short the front wheel dropped off in to the ditch about 8" I stopped thought i could back out and before i knew it ?
Be safe things can change in the blink of an eye.
Damage shear bolt on mower and my pride.
I hope this reminds you to use your seat belt.
HB

 

[General Lee]

Dang. Glad your ok and able to tell us about it. Did you go over with it or bail at the last second? Did the tractor start up ok?

 

[groundcover]

Wow ! first , glad you are ok , second glad you got pics !

Hate it when that happens ! Bet that wouldn't have happened with R1's :laughing:

Now to your question : On the road and bush hogging but I also have a cab.:thumbsup:

 

[lockhaven]

from hearing your story the answer is from the time your butt hits the seat until you stand up to get off. Glad you are OK and this post should be required reading to all. This is a wake up call to me to buckle up ALL THE TIME

 

[bullbreaker]

Also glad your ok !
Also probably the best reason for anyone not to by-pass their seat switch if their tractor came equipped with one.

Boone

 

[Mounted Madness]

Geeeeeeeeeeeeez...glad you're okay. :thumbsup:

With seatbelts being mandatory pretty much everywhere up here when you're driving, carrying the habit over to the tractor makes a whole bunch of sense.

Totally agree with things going bad in a split second...usually insufficient warning to do the belt up.

When do I use mine? About 98% of the time, except when I'm moving the machine in and around the yard and shop.

Be safe...

 

[Coyote machine]

Looks lik eyou answered your own question with the pics and your comment about being lucky. Glad you're OK- I think that is every tractor owner's worst nightmare, a rollover.
Rule is: ROPS upright ALWAYS wear belt; ROPS down, NEVER wear belt.

 

[Mpking]

Glad you and the tractor are ok. I can see how you could easily get yourself in a bad situation there. The dropoff really doesn't look all that intimidating. Good wake up call for everyone, thanks for posting.

 

[crash325]

Looks lik eyou answered your own question with the pics and your comment about being lucky. Glad you're OK- I think that is every tractor owner's worst nightmare, a rollover.
Rule is: ROPS upright ALWAYS wear belt; ROPS down, NEVER wear belt.

from what the pictures show, I don't see how a Seat Belt would have saved you. Clearing the tractor may have been far better than riding it out. Belted in, arm caught under the tractor would have been far worse.

 

[rd_macgregor]

Because I can be kind of forgetful, I have tried to make it a habit to put on the seatbelt whenever I sit down...even if I'm just moving around the yard or between gates I will have to open an shut. Anything less than habit/routine makes it more likely I'll not have it fastened when it really counts.

Did you take the opportunity to sharpen the blades while the mower was conveniently positioned for that?

BOB

 

[Coyote machine]

from what the pictures show, I don't see how a Seat Belt would have saved you. Clearing the tractor may have been far better than riding it out. Belted in, arm caught under the tractor would have been far worse.

Tractor fatalities aren't about having an arm caught, they're about being crushed under the tractor's weight, etc. One lucky situation is not a poster for lack of general safety precautions like seatbelts.

 

[MoKelly]

Did you take the opportunity to sharpen the blades while the mower was conveniently positioned for that?

BOB

:laughing:Good sense of humor.

MoKelly

 

[Highbeam]

So did the tractor engine stall? How did you put it back up on its wheels? Did it restart easily? How fast were you moving?

I wear seatbelt and ROPS up whenever I mow. I too follow the ROPS up=SB on and ROPS down = no SB. I need to park my tractor in a low shed so the ROPS gets folded down each day.

This thread is less about seatbelts and more about rolling your machine.

 

[o2batsea]

Sorry about your mishap.
I can only go by the pictures you posted and what you wrote so if I am missing anything, forgive me. As a post mortem, my two cents:

The front wheels appear to be turned to the left and you say that you were attempting to back out. I would say that that was the fatal mistake, so to speak. As you found, this caused the unloaded RF wheel to go unsupported. This weighted the LF wheel and the RR wheel, unweighting the LR wheel. The differential would then split the traction to both unweighted wheels (they offer last resistance) What traction there was, if going in reverse, would tend to swing the front of the tractor even further into the ditch, rather than out of it. Also, with the weighted RR wheel on the ditch side it probably was too much for the embankment and it gave way.
With the weight of the loader over the front it was enough to throw the thing over on its side despite the added balance of the mower.


So in retrospect could you have done anything to save it before it went over? Is there a chance that you could have saved it if you had stayed in the seat and not bailed out? Maybe. Maybe if you had backed up straight instead of trying to steer it out, or brought a truck around and chained off the front to the truck's bumper to stabilize it as you backed it out...dunno.

 

[crash325]

Tractor fatalities aren't about having an arm caught, they're about being crushed under the tractor's weight, etc. One lucky situation is not a poster for lack of general safety precautions like seatbelts.

I'm not for or against seat belts. As you said getting crushed would have been far worse that trapped. Just as 1 lucky situation is not a poster for lack of seat belts, one save by a seat belt is not a poster for using them. Personally I have been in 2 situations where a seat belt would have gotten me killed. Not even anything to do with a tractor and I was not even driving.

Seat belts may or may not make things safer. It pretty much depends on what is being done and who is doing it.

 

[harleyboy]

Thankyou all for your concern and comments
I'm not saying that you have to wear your seatbelt! I'M glad i wasn't wearing mine. This post was to inform my fellow posters that took the time to read this of how things can go wrong quickly and to be aware. I now pay alot more attention to where i am, what i'm doing, and should i have my belt on.
NOW to answer some of your questions.
-Now that i look back and think about it I should have stopped and assessed my situation.
-I know i could have gotten out with out rolling the tractor on it's side but I made a split second decission. As for getting her uprighted I was lucky my buddy lives close bye with a full size BH. We strapped it at the rops and the top loader mount and gently set it back on her wheels. It was still on a very steep angle so he held it there until i started it and drove it down on to the level.
Quick answers
-it was still running walked over and shut it off
-i rode it out then stepped off in the direction it was rolling not sure why didn't have much time to decide.
-when we up righted it we let it sit for 30 second to let the oil drop and it started right up then went full throttle (3000/ 3500 RPM) i turned the key off but it reved for what seamed like eternity (10seconds) and blew white smoke big time. It was dieseling from the oil that ran into the air brether.
-All is well tractor and I
Thanks again and enjoy your tractor (safely)
HB

 

[dmay]

Glad your ok. Your post is just another reminder to buckle-up and rops-up no matter what you are doing.

Personally I find the stock position of my seat is tilted forward so even the slightest bump and I start to slide forward off the seat. Maybe this is a good thing because I find I always buckle up just to stay in the seat no matter what I'm doing.

 

[jonyyuma]

Thank you for posting the entire event. reguardless of why, you were lucky..My pucker factor went up at first glance of the pixs.I try to wear the belt on tractor.Unfortunately Kubota put a two piece roll-bar on my L3000. I must pull the top off to put it up in shop. Most of the time i break the rule, or forget to put in back on, if i am not using the FEL. I always have buckled my truck and car and it did save my life once...

 

[harleyboy]

Don't you think there should be a seatbelt on the BH seat?
HB