At what age did you let your son drive/operate?

[coachrusty]

Hello,

First, I am a newbie tractor owner and so I did not grow up with tractors and I am learning new stuff all the time. I have spent many an hour reading this site and soaking up as much info as I can. I have four future tractor operators in my house (9 years old, 7, 5, and 1) and so I want to be prepared in teaching them how to drive and operate mine. I am calling on the wisdom of the fathers who have gone before me. Was there a distinct point in time when you knew your son was ready? In my newbie brain one of the determining factors would be their size and if they can reach all of the controls properly. Would that be a good starting point? My two oldest boys are in 4H so they will be completing the 4H tractor safety at some point but I don't know if this is thorough enough or when the most opportune time would be for them to complete this study.

Any thoughts or ideas you could lend me would be greatly appreciated. After reading that article on the 14 year old who died in the tractor roll over where the homemade ROPS failed I have become really scared about having them anywhere near the tractor. 90% of my tractor work is mowing with tilling garden and hauling debris the majority of the other work and so I want to teach my boys everything I can.

Thanks
Rusty

 

[RebelRAM]

While I have no sons yet, I can share some experience when it comes to teaching youngsters about tractors. I grew up around them, my grandpa had me on one by the time I was a year old. I was driving by the time I was 4. My dad and his brothers were raised the same way. For the most part I learned on antique tractors from the 1930s and 1940s because those were the models my grandpa was restoring. So I got lessons not only in operating them, but how to rebuild them and make them run again.

Being able to reach the controls is a definite must! I also recommend starting them out on something smaller, not a full size tractor. Preferably a riding lawnmower size. I'm not saying they should be mowing, but there is no harm in learning how to operate a riding mower at very slow speeds with the blades OFF. When my grandpa was showing his antiques at shows, they often had slow tractor races, put it in the lowest gear and idle it down as low as it would go without killing the motor. You could walk considerably faster than most of the tractors that won these competitions. The garden tractor class was always fun to watch and it's the one we competed in most often. It was also fun seeing those old 2 cylinder John Deeres compete where you could see the wheels turn inch by inch as each piston hit! Still very good experience for young boys at slow speeds to where you can be right there beside them as they learn.

I was fortunate that most of the old John Deeres that my grandpa had were the 2 cylinder kind with hand clutches. Much easier to reach then pedals when you have short legs. But at the same time my dad had Cub Cadet 682 with a hydro with a lever on the dash, so that too was easy to learn and control.

So a suggestion here would be to aquire an old Murray or other cheap riding mower, one you can work on with your boys. Make it their tractor. Move the seat on it so that it fits them. Who says that a young boy's first driving experience has to be a go-kart? Take the mowing deck off the tractor if you like, after all this is supposed to be fun anyways right?

And I can't emphasize enough, go over the safety rules again and again with your boys. Make sure they know the rules and can explain the rules back to you. Not only should they know the rules, but also understand why specific rules are there.

Some of my favorite basic rules:

1. One person on a tractor at a time, others should stand far away to prevent getting run over.

2. Always always check to make sure the transmission or hydro is in neutral before starting and make sure no one is in front or behind the tractor when starting.

3. Always look completely around you when operating a tractor at all times, you must know what is around you.

4. Know how to kill the engine!

5. Know how to get the tractor stopped if it is rolling

The important thing to remember is to continually teach the kids more. As they gain experience it will help. But never stop learning. To this day I am still learning new things about tractors. Definitely get them involved in the 4H program.

 

[RalphVa]

I was driving a big tractor by the time I was 8 or 9 years old. Think I was even plowing fields by around age 9 or 10. I really don't remember what instruction my father gave me other than show me where all the controls were. I've always been mechanically minded and somewhat safety savvy; so, that was all that I needed.

You NEVER want to turn equipment over to a kid or ANYONE who won't respect it. If they've horsed around with anything at all, you'll have to teach them a little bit more about what they should and shouldn't be doing.

Ralph

 

[kennyd]

My daughter, now 11, learned to drive my tractor last year. I learned on a old international at age 7 bailing hay on my cousin's farm.

I do not think there is a specific age # to put to this question. I belive it is more of a maturity/attitude thing.

Attached is a picture of my oldest give my other 2 (now 8 and 6) a hay ride.

 

[Marcussen]

Mmy daughters started mowing with my 8N when they where 10 and 12, I showed my oldest at 12 and the younger one had to do what the older one did so she started at 10. Mowed 20 acres at that time so we took turns.

 

[2manyhorses]

This mom began bush-hogging when 13 on a Ford 3000, but that was in GA where it was relatively flat. I am just now teaching my almost 16 yr.old daughter on our MF 1180 here in the foothills of N. VA. I agree that the maturity level is probably the best determinant of readiness. Ask yourself if the child would be capable of making a safe decision in an emergency and keep a watchful eye for the first 50 or so hours. Also make sure you have a roll bar, or even better, a cab. Am considering upgrading to a cab so that my 13 yr. old son can also start learning...can't wait to get some help!

 

[dieselsmoke1]

I was pulling tobacco and watermelon trailers at 6 and discing at 11. My daughter was doing the same at 7 and 12. She's a "Daddy's girl" and has ridden with me hundreds of hours on a tractor, most in a cab but I'll admit some were not. My son was a bit later, about 10 before he was on his own (with supervision).

The only time I got seriously spooked was when I parked my MF1135 with a 16' disc behind the house and left. Upon arriving home several hours later I found my little girl had driven the tractor 1/2 mile down the road, unfolded the disc and resumed work in the field.

Daddy was mad as **** and as proud as he could be at that moment.

BTW she married a while back, bought a house and needed to do some yard work. I gave her a 1 hour lesson in CUTs and FELs, lots of warnings, advice etc., and turned her loose. Knew it would mean more to her if she did it herself than if Dad did. She did great.

 

[MossRoad]

I let my oldest daughter start putting around the yard on our Power Trac PT425 when she was 12. That's when her feet could reach the pedals. She was an itsy bisty kid. This summer I had her dragging logs out of the woods to a pile while I worked the chains. We got a lot done and it was fun working with her. When I think she is ready, she will progress to the FEL and then on to powered implements, but I don't think I will ever let her use the brush hog... just too dangerous. We'll have to see...

 

[ovrszd]

I am really enjoying this thread. I'm all about teaching kids early. What pleases me most about this thread is that there isn't any posts condemning kids on tractors. Hopefully there will be a lot more posts with positive information and none of the above mentioned criticisms.

At age 7 I was running a Ford tractor pulling a square baler and wagon with my Dad piling the bales on the wagon. That was a tractor without live PTO. I knew how to get the baler running, then get the tractor in gear and start moving without the baler stopping and without throwing my Dad off the wagon!!!! I could also change tractor gears in time with the baler plunger, again without throwing him off. My boys all knew how to run our tractor by the time they were 9.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I have a picture hanging in my office (home) of my father and me, sitting on his 1951 8N. I was 4 at the time. The 8N had a gravity dump manure loader. We were dredging gravel out of a creek bed to put on the driveway at the farm He was "teaching" me to operate his new tractor. In the picture, I'm sitting on his lap, he's working the pedals, and both of us have hold of the steering wheel.

Next to that picture, there's one of me on his '57 Massey Ferguson 50, plowing, all by myself. Tractor was brand new. I'm 10 years old in that picture.

On the opposite wall is a picture of me and my son, who's 3 in this picture, sitting on my lap, in the cab of a John Deere 4250 I owned for a few years. He has a grip on the wheel, and a smile on his face. By age 9, he was driving it on his own. At age 11, he won the "Tractor Rodeo" at our county 4H fair. (11 to 13 age class) ( He backed a 4-wheel farm wagon through an obstacle course without touching any cones, and without stopping once. I doubt I could do that now OR then)

Some people will question the saftey of turning a youngster loose with a tractor. With PROPER training and supervision, I see it as the best way to make sure they grow up respecting power equipment. I've seen hundreds of kids under 12 years old who had better skills and more respect for tractors than most adults.

There's a local excavating contractor that we use on most of our jobs. (I work for a general contractor) He won't hire an operator who didn't grow up on a farm. They know how to operate equipment without destroying it, and have more respect for the dangers involved.

TEACH 'EM YOUNG, TEACH 'EM RIGHT.

To the original poster, Coachrusty: Where are you lacated? I saw 30 minutes west of Indy. Is that near Mooresville? (I have a friend who lives there.)