Man killed trying to separate PTO shaft with tractor

[Industrial Toys]

There are very detailed accident reports available on line. Make for very interesting if not sad reads.

I'm guessing the PTO had little to do with the accident.

When there is a traffic accident reported, you don't get the Detailed Police report. Curious why people think such accidents like this merit otherwise.

It was an "accident" involving a tractor, and the mans gone.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Thanks Cat, I was wondering many of the same questions that a good reporter could have passed on to edify the tractor market that surely would be interested in Michigan!

RIGHT? Me too!
Amazing how there are so many know it alls that can read a few ambiguous lines in a badly written article and have all the answers.
Not so with people that actually want to know intricate details to actually learn something to prevent a similar disaster.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Being an older Oliver tractor I suspect it was connected to the drawbar, and yes the older tractors had light front ends and would pull the front end off the ground and tip over backwards. Many a farmer was killed when plowing and the moldboard would catch a stump or something, and over they would go.

Playing Columbo here:

1) If it was connected as you say wouldn't the drawbar, PTO shaft, and implement actually prent the tractor from "flipping" over backwards as that is where the buddle of equipment is?
2) Wouldn't the drawbar be the first thing to hit the ground like a "wheelie bar" on a dragster and stop the flip?
3) With the drab bar connected how can the tractor flip backards with a hardened steel shaft preventing the backward motion like a wall brace when building a house?

I could go on but I'm boring myself!

 

[radios1]

older tractors don't have ROPS, and it did take a number of deaths to get them to be standard equipment.. a few more deaths.. https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/safety/258450-man-killed-pulling-tree-over.html https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/safety/186819-man-killed-tractor-accident.html https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/safety/40059-man-killed-while-driving-tractor.html https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/safety/27355-man-killed-tractor-rollover.html and this one too.. https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/187202-ga-man-tractor-killed-africanized.html common sense needs to be used at all times!..

 

[Industrial Toys]

More speculation. Doing a job like this alone, is much more dangerous and prone to freak accidents. That FACT is much more important than establishing the geometry and tractor weight.

 

[CobyRupert]

Playing Columbo here:

1) If it was connected as you say wouldn't the drawbar, PTO shaft, and implement actually prent the tractor from "flipping" over backwards as that is where the buddle of equipment is?
2) Wouldn't the drawbar be the first thing to hit the ground like a "wheelie bar" on a dragster and stop the flip?
3) With the drab bar connected how can the tractor flip backards with a hardened steel shaft preventing the backward motion like a wall brace when building a house?

I could go on but I'm boring myself!

Mixing what we know with some speculation:
According to the story, the PTO shaft was chained to tractor and a tree. There was no mention of an implement that could stop a backwards flip.
Being chained, the chain would pivot at it's connection at the tractor, so the PTO shaft also would not prevent a backwards flip.

We don't know if the chain was connected to a drawbar, or what type of drawbar if it was.
It could of been a cross-drawbar on the 3 point hitch that wouldn't act like a wheelie bar, and if raised too high would flip tractor backwards.

If it was a lower standard "swinging" drawbar, this could act like a wheelie bar, but only:
1) If long enough,
2) If the ground under it was hard enough that the drawbar doesn't just dig in (i.e. drawbars aren't not wide enough to support a tractor, and not dig in on most soils)
3) If tractor has enough upward momentum it could overcome any wheelie bar effect (if there is any).

More speculation. Doing a job like this alone, is much more dangerous and prone to freak accidents. That FACT is much more important than establishing the geometry and tractor weight.

Knowing the geometry is important.
It's only a FREAK accident if you don't know the geometry.
(To me) it's not an accident when someone hooks a chain at a point above the rear axle. The results are totally predictable, but to a lot of people it would be an "accident". (Again, we don't really know what happened).
It's like the other thread on TBN a few days ago from the guy who added a lot of weight ABOVE the center of gravity on his tractor then "accidently" rolled it over (on what looked like relatively flat ground) and has no clue what happened.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

flipped over means flipped over. Prolly at a vector until upside down.

Remember Flip Wilson?

 

[goeduck]

There are very detailed accident reports available on line. Make for very interesting if not sad reads.

I'm guessing the PTO had little to do with the accident.

When there is a traffic accident reported, you don't get the Detailed Police report. Curious why people think such accidents like this merit otherwise.

It was an "accident" involving a tractor, and the mans gone.

I regularly recall safety related things I read here on TBN when I am operating my tractor, chainsaw or whatever. I cannot tell you how many times. Safety awareness saves lives and that is why many of us want to learn by understanding what happened.

 

[cqaigy2]

Yes wht does "flipped" actually mean. "Flipped" is a vague and ambiguous term so YES please do explain EXACTLY how the tractor "flipped" inquiring minds want to know. .

Did it flip 45 degrees Vertically
Did it flip 90 degrees Vertically
Did it flip 80 degrees Vertically
Did it flip 180 degrees Vertically
Did it flip 45 degrees Perpendicularly
Did it flip 90 degrees Perpendicularly
Did it flip 80 degrees Perpendicularly
Did it flip 180 degrees Perpendicularly
Did it flip 45 degrees Horizontalv
Did it flip 90 degrees Horizontal
Did it flip 80 degrees Horizontal
Did it flip 180 degrees Horizontal
Did it flip 45 degrees Uprightly
Did it flip 90 degrees Uprightly
Did it flip 80 degrees Uprightly
Did it flip 180 degrees Uprightly
Did it flip 45 degrees To the left?
Did it flip 90 degrees To the left?
Did it flip 80 degrees To the left?
Did it flip 180 degrees To the left?
Did it flip 45 degrees To the right?
Did it flip 90 degrees To the right?
Did it flip 80 degrees To the right?
Did it flip 180 degrees To the right?

used to express mild annoyance

 

[shooterdon]

CobyRupert, thanks for explaining things clearly.

I never considered trying to pull apart a bent PTO shaft as a possibility.

BTW, where I live there are a lot of poor people so I can see this happening to someone trying to save a buck. New PTO is likely $200 or so, but that is a lot of money if you do not have it.

One of my buddies has no rear brakes on his truck but drives it anyway. Tires on his car are shot. I drive if we go somewhere.

Great advice on how to pull with a tractor...the draw bar is where it is for good reason.