lawn tractor safety

[professor]

I have been loading and unloading tractors and dozers since I was in my early teens. My Dad and Uncle always stressed safety and I have practiced safety. However at a dumb age of 54 I was nearly killed in an unloading accident. Tractor-NO, Dozer-No, small JD lawn tractor YES! We were preparing for an antique tractor at our Ruritan grounds and I was using the mower to do trimming. I carried the mower home and since tractors were coming in and needed to be registered I hurriedly took aluminum ramps placed them on concrete drive and did not anchor ramps. I backed the mower off, ramped slipped and I banged my head against the concrete. I was out for six hours with severe concussion, brain swelling and stitches on my head. Thankfully I will be fine and much smarter. I guess the moral to this story is NO MATTER HOW LIGHT THE EQUIPMENT YOU ARE LOADING/UNLOADING NOT USING PROPER SAFETY PROCEDURES CAN INJURE OR KILL!

 

[Mike_Dumond]

Good point Prof. Sometimes we take the little stuff for granted until they come back and bite us. Glad you are OK.

Now, on another note, does this happen to college profs more often?????? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif sorry, couldn't resist that.

 

[Chief]

Glad to hear you are alright. Things like this happen when you least expect it and in the blink of an eye. Thanks for sharing you incident with the forum. How did the tractor fair?

 

[kensfarm]

Back when I was in highschool.. (class of 82) I worked for a lady(I met on my paper route) mowing her yard.. taking care of her pool. Her mower got broken.. my Dad came to the rescue.. brought his Cub Cadet.. loaded in his pickup truck.. the ramps he used were wooden.. used them 100 times before. I'll never forget that picture in my mind.. one of the ramps broke.. my dad laying on his back on the ground.. kicking at the tractor so it wouldn't fall on top of him! Luckily it fell to the side.. and he was okay! That Cub Cadet must be over 30 years old and my dad still uses it today..

 

[markie61]

Same thing happened to a lady in Clifton, VA about 15-20 years back. She was driving a lawn tractor up ramps. They gave out and it fell on her.
She wasn't as fortunate as your dad - she died.
Mark