Man loses a leg to mower

[Miklos]

Link to story:

Man loses a leg to mower

 

[RoyJackson]

Boy, I hope the ol' boy makes it!!! Kinda think he'll be popping around on a prothesis in about 6 months!

Reading the article, it appears he was running a hydro transmission. I know I've read quite a few of our bretheren on TBN using the transmission as a brake and neglecting to put the transmission in full neutral when dismounting from the tractor. Sounds like Mr.Ross lost his leg doing this.... Maybe a good "heads up" for some of us.

 

[Rick Jay]

RoyJackson

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Reading the article, it appears he was running a hydro transmission. )</font>

I don't get that impression necessarily. It could just as likely have been a gear tractor placed in neutral without the brake set, or perhaps a gear tractor left in a "creeper gear". I wouldn't give hydros a bad name on this with the info supplied in the article, unless I missed something.

His big mistake was to leave the tractor with the PTO running. That's a real no-no.

I hope he recovers quickly. Yet another reminder of how dangerous this equipment can be...even to those who have been operators for a very long time.

~Rick

P.S. I won't make any sick comments about the line in the article that says "...He'll be back on his feet." That would be too cruel.

 

[sandyc]

Sounds like he became a bit complacent. Bet his machinery doesn't have pto guards in place because they get in the way!

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I agree with Roy and Rick. My bx has a tendency to "creep" a little while in gear once in a while. The brake holds the tractor fine, but in low range the hst has more torque than the brake has holding power. Best bet: lock the brake, put it in neutral AND disengage the pto.

Gosh, I hope he comes out of this one ok. Can you imagine a brush hog coming at you? Sheeesh!
DaveL

 

[bmac]

My TC29D has a kill switch if I get off with the range selector in gear and if the parking brake is not set or if the mid PTO is engaged. I would imagine all modern tractors have this safety feature. Is this a standard safety item? If so, for how long has been the standard? Recon he put in an override?

Tragic story.

<font color="blue"> P.S. I won't make any sick comments about the line in the article that says "...He'll be back on his feet." </font>

I must admit, for a fleeting moment, I had a sadistic grin when I read that also.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

My TC18 has the same safety system. The first couple of times I started to get off and had the tractor stop running entirely, it annoyed me so much that I just got in the habit of always locking the brake and placing it in neutral, even when I plan to shut it off. It has to be in neutral to start it again anyway, and it's no problem to kick the brake pedal and unlock it the next time you start it up. The brake holds so good that if you forget and press the hydro pedal with the brake locked, it just stalls. I don't know how any of the other brands work, but NH got the safety stuff right.

 

[r0GuE]

Do you supose the author had the same grin,... or was he/she just blind to the fault. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The Kubota bx's don't have all of the safeties that the NH's do (don't know about the bigger units). Only interlocks I am aware of are the hst (must be in neutral to start) and the pto (cannot be engaged to start).
DaveL

 

[Alan L.]

My B2710 doesn't have the safety features the NH tractors have. I can get off with the tractor not in neutral, and the PTO spinning. But the HST does not creep at all. When you let off the pedal, it stops as though you applied the brake.