Kids on tractors

[kebo]

I know this subject has been discussed ad nauseum here, but I was at my parents today doing yardwork and this tractor came by their house. They live in a rural area, so it's a common occurrence, right? Well, this one had a young lad riding on the fender. The road is a primary highway, lots of traffic including logging trucks going back & forth to the chip mill just up the road, and also a drag strip three miles up the road. Not looking to stir up a hornets nest, but just wanted to share the picture here.

 

[RNeumann]

Not a chance he could stop before something bad happened. One slip etc....

Good reminder!!

 

[oosik]

Around here there is a good likelihood the County Sheriff would stop this and talk to the "adult" driving the tractor. Enough people get hurt just farming - it doesn't need to be encouraged by these type situations.

 

[lpigott]

You are just trying to stir crap IMO. No telling how many hours I logged as a kid way younger than that riding with my dad. By the time I was that kids age I was operating tractors all day, hooking and unhooking etc by myself. Relax it’s actually none of your business.

 

[Oldoak]

You are just trying to stir crap IMO. No telling how many hours I logged as a kid way younger than that riding with my dad. By the time I was that kids age I was operating tractors all day, hooking and unhooking etc by myself. Relax it’s actually none of your business.

:thumbsup:

How did all us farm boys and girls ever survive! :confused3:

 

[HarryVanderpool]

I have no problem with the kid on the tractor.
Having the ROPS folded down is REALLY STUPID in my opinion.
But also none of my business.

 

[Thall303]

I remember one news report about a grandfather and grandson in an enclosed cab when something broke on a combine or other implement and a piece of the machinery flew through the glass cab striking the grandson in the head killing him.

The distraught and heartbroken grandfather cried and asked God why the grandson and not him.

A fluke accident for sure, but I have no intention of allowing my grandson to ride on a fender without a seatbelt.....ever.

 

[sixdogs]

Yeah, it's a really bad idea but in a way, risk taking is a part of daily life. Carrying water in a five gallon bucket carries the risk of an infant drowning. Swallowing more toothpaste than normally used to brush your teeth and you're supposed to call the Poison Control Center. And what about going over the speed limit or that window seat on the plane? There are all kinds of risks, some we choose and some we don't but I will say that the risks I have taken in life have collectively led me to be what I am and what I know and am capable of doing. In other words, I wouldn't be where I am if I didn't do what I did. Risks are a part of life, especially rural life so we either relax or go back to using hand sanitizer and reading magazines.

 

[Thomas]

I feel its the adult call at the time...I sure would like nickel every time I rode on tractor or doodlebug.

 

[oosik]

For me the "breaking point" is where you - as an adult - expose OTHERS to substantial risk. You care to do something that exposes only you to risk - that's your decision and your own business. Exposing others to risk - that MAY NOT be your decision to make. If that were my kid riding on your tractor - we would have words...........

 

[LouNY]

This post is going to upset a lot of people, so right of the bat I don't give a da*n, suck it up....
**** people that have to shove there opinions down others throats, I would hate to try and add up the thousands of hours that I have spent on fenders or standing on drawbars and wagon tongues or had riders on them, depending on the job, the implement being towed and where we were going. Is it swaddled in cotton safe, **** no, is it someone else's business **** no, do accidents happen yes, life is an accident waiting to happen. Near misses are the most lasting learning moments, they can also be fatal. We can molly coodle kids and adults an a great many will be worthless self important non productive leaches, crying everyday that it was someone elses fault , it wasn't their responsibility. Stretch your limits, grow everyday.

 

[oosik]

I agree with you, LouNY, to the point where you are making decisions that may or may not affect YOUR safety. NOBODY grows or has their limits stretched by unnecessary exposure to risk. NOBODY can make the decision to expose others to risk and simply write it off as "expanding their limits/horizons".

As an adult - what will you say to the child's parents when the child gets hurt because YOU allowed him to ride on the fender. "Oh, that's OK - I was expanding his horizons - his limits were being stretched". This is exactly where attorneys step into this picture. People can be taught safe practices without unnecessary exposure. And BTW - near misses are not going to convert "worthless self important non productive leaches".

We are supposedly the adults - lets start acting like we are.

 

[majorwager]

Safety police why society has become a bastion of litigious hypocrites. Minding everyone else's business deprives folks of the ability to mind their own. Hence the proliferation of trial attorneys, AKA, personal injury ambulance chasers, except now they don't chase any longer, they now drive the darn rig.

The greatest generation sacrificed and died so this country could evolve into a pathetic mass of desperate hysteria, Congrats.


NOTE: Folks that use ASSUME as the basis for their argument simply fulfill their own delusions. Hearing impairment is caused by close proximity to the rattling chatter spewed forth from the safety police. The finger wagging toward ones face simply confirms the hysteria. The intimidation factor is simply laughable, their faces grow redder by the moment, spit interlaced with their words as annunciation falters. Oh, wasn't listening, what were you saying?

Believe Safety Police Badges should be available from TBN to be displayed in the AVATAR. Also bumper stickers for hind end attachment, appropriate surface.

 

[LouNY]

Safety police why society has become a bastion of litigious hypocrites. Minding everyone else's business deprives folks of the ability to mind their own. Hence the proliferation of trial attorneys, AKA, personal injury ambulance chasers, except now they don't chase any longer, they now drive the darn rig.

The greatest generation sacrificed and died so this country could evolve into a pathetic mass of desperate hysteria, Congrats.

:thumbsup:

 

[oosik]

majorwager - call it whatever you like. You can do as you please with your own safety and those who you rightfully can make decisions for. DO NOT ASSUME that you have the right or authority to make those decisions for others.

 

[Coyote machine]

Wow! What a bunch of pretentious crap. The time at which the lawyers roll out is when the fool driving the tractor gets a flat, loses control of the tractor, and the kid gets killed by being run over by a log truck, or splitting his head open when it hits the pavement.
Then the father(?) hires lawyers to sue the tire company, the tractor manufacturer, the highway paving crew, and the town for putting the highway near his house.
Don't be a responsible adult, by any means. Drive blindfolded if you so desire, with no responsibility for putting a child at risk he can't control. And by no means use something like the ROPS to possibly safe someone's life- even if your's isn't worth saving.
Case closed- next.
Oh, and don't forget to blame me for my using common sense and NEVER doing something as stupid as the example given. Those who racked up 'thousands of too painful to count hours' riding on fenders, drawbars, etc., whoopie do for your dumb azzes. Consider yourselves lucky to be alive.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Coyote Machine you got it pretty well covered

 

[LouNY]

Wow! What a bunch of pretentious crap. The time at which the lawyers roll out is when the fool driving the tractor gets a flat, loses control of the tractor, and the kid gets killed by being run over by a log truck, or splitting his head open when it hits the pavement.
Then the father(?) hires lawyers to sue the tire company, the tractor manufacturer, the highway paving crew, and the town for putting the highway near his house.
Don't be a responsible adult, by any means. Drive blindfolded if you so desire, with no responsibility for putting a child at risk he can't control. And by no means use something like the ROPS to possibly safe someone's life- even if your's isn't worth saving.
Case closed- next.
Oh, and don't forget to blame me for my using common sense and NEVER doing something as stupid as the example given. Those who racked up 'thousands of too painful to count hours' riding on fenders, drawbars, etc., whoopie do for your dumb azzes. Consider yourselves lucky to be alive.

Yep another poster that never made a living having to use and work equipment, especially the older equipment that could and would reach out educate you in a heart beat. When work had to get done, not getting it done meant the failure of a farm and not having the income to continue and support your family. Some body has to protect you from yourself because you can't do it.

 

[Ortimber]

I seen a kid in a car today. I almost called the police. Very dangerous situation.

Yet we all look the other way.

Kid on a tractor- let’s all freak out, and throw the dad in jail.

Swimming pools in the back yard? Perfectly acceptable.

My kids riding around the ranch on an ATV, I’m probably commuting a felony by letting them do that.

Life is one big accident waiting to happen.
I choose to live like I am dying, because I am.

 

[Coyote machine]

Yep another poster that never made a living having to use and work equipment, especially the older equipment that could and would reach out educate you in a heart beat. When work had to get done, not getting it done meant the failure of a farm and not having the income to continue and support your family. Some body has to protect you from yourself because you can't do it.

Yeah, here we go...Like you know anything about my life and what I've done, had to do?!:confused3::confused2:
I chose to work for a tree surgeon when I was 14.(1966 on for several years). There were no bar brakes on chainsaws, no 'safety chain', no chipper stop bars on the drum chippers that ate many people drawn into them. We climbed trees with spikes attached to our legs and swung from 100' long extension boom cranes tied to a climbing line, among many other most dangerous jobs on planet Earth. There was no hearing protection, steel toed boots, safety glasses and the like. We worked on the side of streets in rush hour traffic and along highways, wherever our work took us without safety vests or warning cones, etc.
We breathed leaded gas fumes, smoked unfiltered cigarettes and drove after drinking real alcohol, (when of age).

Quote from .Lou: 'Some body has to protect you from yourself because you can't do it'.

I don't even begin to know what the above is supposed to mean- but here's an educated guess- No one was protecting me at/on my job. I chose to work the job, and my parents worried about my welfare, but knew I was smart enough to handle it. I was endangered when a Vietnam VET co-worker pulled a saw away from a tree he was cutting too fast and too far, and cut through my jeans, right above my right knee, but didn't break my skin. Oh, yeah - noone wore or had access to chaps either. I didn't sue my co-worker or my boss or the Chainsaw manufacturer, Stihl. I told my co-worker to never get near me cutting trees on a development lot, ever again.
Man enough for you, tough enough equipment for you?
BTW, what does the 'ole days' have to do with today? Must one work with dangerous equipment today to make it on the farm? Is common sense and not taking UN necessary risks with a kids life part of some Macho ingrained/inbred code for growing up like grandpa used to do back in the stone age?! Has mankind learned nothing as times progress, or are we required to do it stupid until we don't?!