Hold that baby!!

[Rara Avis]

Mowing
YouTube - Mowing grass1
Running his FEL
YouTube - Moving little dirt

And the hits keep coming...

Funny isn't it that comments to both videos were disabled...

 

[ampsucker]

good post, although it reminds me how easily this could have been me with my little guy before i found this and other sites and starting boning up on tractor safety. my wife, even after i told her no one could operate the tractor without reading the manual and getting training and that we couldn't ride together, still wants to take pictures of the kid in the FEL bucket and of me holding him on the tractor. the kid is only 9 months old but has a natural curiousity for the machine.

i was the kid 30 years ago, sitting on my grandpa's lap, learning how to mow on an old bolens mower with no belt guards, rops, or other safety features. heck, i'm pretty sure there wasn't even an owners or safety manual for that old mower - my grand parents probably bought it used. i remember it had a dump bed rigged up on it and i used to ride in that thing all the time. i somehow also survived learning how to drive in a car with no seat belts and never had a car seat.

does that make me an "idiot", "dumb", or a bad parent? i think it just means i was ignorant because i had poor role models and wasn't aware of the safety issues. now that i have access to the internet and more current thinking about the safety issues, i try to hold my line and follow the rules. but it's hard sometimes and the natural inclination is to share the experiences on the tractor with the rest of the fam.

my neighbor has an extremely sloped front yard and i've seen him out there holding his little boy while mowing on his craftsman mower. it always makes me cringe and pray nothing bad happens to either of them. i wish i could do more, but i don't know them well enough to approach the topic in a casual way. maybe someday if we are talking, i'll slide in something about safety issues and "my rules on our tractor" and some of it might rub off as a take away.

this past summer, my wife was visiting people in the hospital on various occasions, and she encountered two families with children in intensive care due to mower injuries. despite first hand knowledge, i think she still has the attitude that it "can't happen to us".

my worst fear while mowing is that the little guy or one of the neighbor kids will sneak up behind me to say hi or see daddy or something and i won't hear or see them. i wear ear plugs and always try to look behind when backing up around trees and such, but when i get going, i know i could easily miss a small child. our focus will be on education and keeping them inside until old enough to understand the dangers, but sometimes i think the kid might actually be safer on my lap - at least i would know where he is!

hoping everyone will be safer out there....

amp

 

[curly]

I let my 10 year old daughter steer my tractor all the time. She sits between my legs. There's never anything running because we are just letting her steer around the property, sometimes driving over to the aunts house.

Yesterday we were coming back from the aunts house and Katie had found a very small frog there so I said you either leave the frog or you can't steer, so she decided to let me steer. She likes frogs Well, then the frog got loose and she acted like she was gonna go rooting around for it while I was driving. I said, nope, the frog is history, if it's still on the floor board when we get home you can have it but you ain't gonna leave from between my legs. I let her go on short rides on my scooter too, once in awhile.

She also helps me with the wood splitter, she runs the splitter while I handle the wood. She better be safe, else I'll lose a few more fingers. And she gives me haircuts and beardtrims.

I believe in being safe in the things I do, but I don't plan on living scared my whole life or teaching my daughter to be afraid of everything. I will teach her how to be safe around tractors and motorcycles though, cause she's gonna be around them all her life. I've totaled four bikes in my life....all 4 times were the fault of the car I hit (or that hit me) but I still ride and encourage others to ride too.

And we didnt have on sunscreen either

 

[rpoage]

It does look bad for this dad. That being said, like many people raised on a farm my introduction to tractors and farm machinery make this pale by comparison. I can remember sitting on my Grandfather's lap or my father's lap on a old Farmall H. If you can remember those they had no fenders and it was a long way to the ground for a 5 year old. I can't count the times I grabbed a ride back to the barn by standing on the drawbar and hanging on the back of the set. At the time it seems so innocent but it could have going horribly wrong.

 

[BlacknTan]

I know the safety police will lay into me for this, but it just doesn't appear dangerous... I can see the point about eye and ear protection for the child, however. I bet the kid is having a blast, with minimal risk...
This saafety bit can sometimes go too far.


Waking up every morning and getting out of bed carries with it a risk..

 

[WH401]

I have to agree with rpoage and blackntan, to me it doesn't seem like that big of a deal other then I would worry about the kid breathing the diesel fumes and the dust from the mower at that young of an age. I grew up riding on my dads lap as he drove a John Deere B we had as well as a IH 340. I used to ride on the rear drawbar of a IH Cub as he drove it around. It may be seen as dangerous by some people today but those videos look normal to me.

 

[Gator6x4]

I know the safety police will lay into me for this, but it just doesn't appear dangerous... I can see the point about eye and ear protection for the child, however. I bet the kid is having a blast, with minimal risk...
This saafety bit can sometimes go too far.


Waking up every morning and getting out of bed carries with it a risk..

Not the safety police ---just a concerned adult. Go to the web site below and read the article where the father had two childern on a tractor and was operating a rotary cutter.

digtriad.com | Triad, NC | Local NC Miracle Girl Survives Tractor Accident

 

[WH401]

Not the safety police ---just a concerned adult. Go to the web site below and read the article where the father had two childern on a tractor and was operating a rotary cutter.

digtriad.com | Triad, NC | Local NC Miracle Girl Survives Tractor Accident

That I understand, he never should've had both of his kids on there in the first place. One probably wouldn't be a problem, but I totally agree with your point of the article.

 

[asylum575]

My 4 year old is always trying to get me to let him ride along. Luckily the noise bothers him. Sometimes I rather him with me instead of walking around. He wants to be around, but I'm afraid of running into him. Since he doesn't like loud noises, I run my chipper and the tractor. This keeps him in. I give my wife instructions to keep an eye on him inside.
Last week, I removed my backhoe. While I was fiddling with the pins he was behind me walking from side to side, under the backhoe. It's just tough keeping him where I can see him. I enjoy the time with him, since I work so many hours, but you gotta think safety first.

 

[mjncad]

Nothing he was doing was anywhere near as dangerous as half the morons yapping on their cell phone sucking down lattes with their kid in the back seat I see every morning on my way to work.

No argument from me on this cell phone comment. I tried driving and yakking on a cell phone a couple of times and it scared the crap out of me. So I park and talk if I need to make a phone call. If it rings while I'm driving, I ignore it until I can pull over and talk safely after I see the Caller ID.

I remember as a kid I went with the neighbors to a sandy dry creek and his son and I rode on the back bumper step of a 60's vintage Toyota Land Cruiser. We stood on the bumper and held onto the roof mounted cargo rack. It was fun at the time; but recalling some of the hills we climbed, it was a good thing the vehicle didn't roll back over us.

I also remember as a kid how some of my elementary school classmates would sneak up behind a moving car in winter, grab hold of the bumper and hitch a ride on the icy streets. That one I never tried as it looked way too dangerous for me to try.

Are kids curious about tractors and other stuff? Sure they are and that's great; but since CUT's and lawn tractors don't have buddy seats, leave the kids off the rig until they have proven they are emotionally mature and physically capable of operating the tractor safely. Maybe dummy dad in the videos and my former nutty neighbor should fabricate buddy seats to teach their children how to operate the machine.

When I used to mow weeds in the neighborhood, I told people I wear hearing protection and unless you clearly mark valve boxes, PVC pipes, etc; I won't be responsible for damaging them if I hit them with the brush cutter. To me, PVC and tumbleweeds sound about the same being thrashed to bits. I also told neighbors to keep their children and pets inside or I wouldn't mow. I also told the adults if they needed to talk to me while I was mowing that they need to approach from the left-front or right-front so I would see them.

Now have I done modifications to my tractors that disable some safety equipment? Sure; but we have no kids and pets and I take full responsibility for my actions of removing or disabling the lawyer inspired items.

 

[BlacknTan]

I believe in safety, particularly for young children, but there has to be good old fashioned common sense involved also.
I'm not a bigh fan of the government telling me what's good for me or my family. I will make those decisions for myself, law or no law!

Our decisions for making thing so safe that they're virtually "idiot proof", and OSHA's blind adherence to them, is a big part of what has driven the manufacturing base of this country to other shores, where these headaches don't exist.

I'm not a proponent of stupid behavior or accidents, just common sense and the right to make one's own decisions for one's own well being.

 

[Blagadan]

I have a feeling this thread is going to go on for quite a while.......

Heres the flip side of being over cautious with your kids.... My neighbor is the quintessential safety police officer. He will not let his children within 100yds of a running tractor or any machinery..... or for that matter - ladders, ponds, even sand for some strange reason (i think it has to do with cats peeing on it??). He used to shout abuse at them if they went anywhere close. He eventually "trained them" and they got the message... "dad gets angry with us if we go out when he's working". So much so, now they are older (mid-late teens), they dont want anything to do with anything that happens outside the door of the house. DIY, tractors, machinery, or anything that their dad does when he is out on his property working...
Sorry folks, but I find that a bit sad for the father. His kids spent very little time with him because he'd shout at them if they did wrong. He approached it all wrong imho. Instead of showing the dangers and teaching them, his automatic Safety reaction was to tell them to "get inside" or "go away"..

I also admit, I followed his lead in the beginning. Having read all the safety police information on all the forums I have been a member over the years, I too was super cautious with my first born son. Now he's older, NO WAY can I get him to come out and help me. He wont even sit in the tractor when its turned off for fear it might roll away! ALL MY FAULT. I would scold him if he climbed up on anything for fear he would get hurt. He is now a very overcautious individual.
My second born (daughter) on the other hand, I was much more relaxed with her. I saw the error of my ways with my son and took more time with my daughter. Explaining the dangers to her and showing HOW things can hurt her. She spends more time with me outdoors when I am working at home and will be the first to get stuck in helping me.
I dont run the mower blades with her on the lawn mower but I do give her a ride on the mower or tractor when I get the chance. My son takes off when he hears the engines turned on, would not even entertain the thought of riding on the tractor with his dad.

It is my belief that she has a far superior sense of safety awareness over my son who is simply afraid of anything mechanical.


Teach them well folks......

 

[jimmysisson]

Blagadan - it may not be all your fault your first-born is more cautious. My grandkids are just like that and were treated identically as far as I can tell. The younger one, a girl, was born bold and stayed that way, while her brother looks around before he jumps in. It ain't all nurture, some is just plain how a person is wired at the factory.
Jim

 

[curly]

Nature vs nurture...reminds me of that Eddie Murphy/Dan Aykroyd movie, "Trading Places"...I guess it's a bit of both.

But I agree, teach em safty...not fear.

 

[Renze]

my sister in law mows the lawn on the articulated Husqvarna riding mower.
she takes 3 persons: first her 2 year old boy, and she's pregnant:
With the little boy in front of her, the kid has just an inch to spare between her and the steering wheel. As long as she's holding the steering wheel with 2 hands, the kid has nowhere to go and its safer than letting the little guy run loose in the garden where she's mowing, or have him run around on the farmyard with all its dangers.

 

[coobie]

I guess being brought up on a farm made my grandpa and father idiots also(NOT).I was always on tractors,trucks and farm machinery since I was old enough to walk,they taught me saftey and respect,believe it or not I still have all my fingers and toes(LOL).I have had my kids and grand kids on my Tractors,mowers,four wheelers,and UTV,s since ages of 5years old with me present at all times.Safety first in my book.coobie