Baler Accident

[Egon]

CBC News - Manitoba - Man killed in farm machinery


Farm machinery can be dangerous.

When a boy one of our neighbours had an arm severed in a baler incident.

 

[om21braz]

A friend of mine (75 years young) told me what his father noted about 60 years ago. "Just watch for more people getting hurt on farm equipment as it gets more capability". I'd say he knew what he was talking about. Sad to hear of anyone losing life or limb.

 

[Duffster]

Sad but pure stupidity.

 

[Bird]

Sad but pure stupidity.

Stupid? Yeah, probably so. But who among has not done some stupid things at times? When we were lucky, we got away with it.

 

[JoelD]

Stupid? Yeah, probably so. But who among has not done some stupid things at times? When we were lucky, we got away with it.

Could not agree more.

Sad for all involved.

Joel

 

[Duffster]

Stupid? Yeah, probably so. But who among has not done some stupid things at times? When we were lucky, we got away with it.

Playing with a baler while the PTO is engaged is a death wish, you would have better odds playing Russian roulette.

 

[Thomas]

Dang shame.
Bet some of us here had close calls over the years..whew.

Bird said it the best.

 

[Mace Canute]

I posted this in another thread quite some time ago:

Several years ago, not too far from here, a man was baling (big round bales) and was doing something that it turned out he shouldn't have... ended up he got caught up in the machine and it torn both his arms off at the shoulders. He walked to a neighbours and banged on the door for help, wife came out and **** near fainted! He was covered in blood and naked, except for his boots...did I mention his clothes were torn off also? He lived...apparently his arms having been torn off instead of cut off was what saved him. The arteries closed up a great deal because of being stretched past the breaking point. The guy that knew him and told me about him said he became kind of a bitter person after that...

Most times it's very time consuming to actually shut the machine off if it gets plugged up. Kick a bit of the material in and it disappears... a couple more kicks and then suddenly WHOOMP! it's all gone. Digging it out by hand is almost always harder and takes much longer, and to some people, time is too "valuable" to "waste" so they take dangerous shortcuts that most times work and on the odd occasion, doesn't. That's when we hear about stories like this.

Bird did put it best.."When we were lucky, we got away with it."

Some days, your luck just plain runs out...

 

[Duffster]

Most times it's very time consuming to actually shut the machine off if it gets plugged up.

What?

It is too time consuming to throw out the PTO lever before you climb off the tractor?

 

[Mace Canute]

What?

It is too time consuming to throw out the PTO lever before you climb off the tractor?

I re-read what I posted...let's just say I knew what I meant but failed to communicate it clearly!
No, that's not the time consuming part. Many times it's faster to clear the blockage (but much more dangerous of course) if the machine is running while you do so. Clearing it out when the machine is shut down is usually the time consuming part. Heck, if they carried along a good wooden pole to keep themselves clear while they poked away at it, the worst that would happen is they lose a stick.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Plenty of stories about guys getting up on large commercial chippers when they get jammed and start kicking in the tree limbs - and then the limb catches the foot and drags him in and through the machine. Happened more than a few times.

The more I read the absolute more careful I am around equipment. Now a days I turn off the equipment a whole lot more than I used to from reading all these stories.

 

[D7E]

It's amazing how often it happens . Ex boss's brother died in a mix feeder , Neighbour lost his legs in a combine grain tank and had a work mate die in a potato harvester only 1 field away from me !

 

[Egon]

Yea, they happen all the time.

Back some years in the same area another fellow was found under his combine with the top of his head missing. Straw chopper seems to have got him.

 

[Renze]

Heck, if they carried along a good wooden pole to keep themselves clear while they poked away at it, the worst that would happen is they lose a stick.

Exactly my thoughts !! i've once told that to someone on a harvest blog when he admitted having a very close call (just some rash) from not shutting the machine off when clearing a plug, because its much easier to help the machine a bit than to pull out everything by hand... I think this person had enough of warning, and gratefully accepted the advice of keeping a stick at hand to poke in the machine...

 

[MoKelly]

Man ... this is depressing.

I am relatively new to tractors and PTO's and mowers, etc.

However, reading all these stories in the safty forum has me 100% convinced.

I never get off the tractor if the PTO is engaged.

I never allow anyone to be anywhere close to me if the mowers are engaged.

Time is valuable but nowhere near as valuable as health.

MoKelly