Mowing Death

[k0ua]

The safest place for children during tractor operations of any kind is in the house. In my opinion until a child is old enough to operate the tractor themselves, they don't need to be anywhere near it. I am fully aware, many of you will disagree. But having a child ride on a mower, or worse yet ride in the bucket is insane. Even riding in a cab tractor which would be a considerably safer place for a child to be on a tractor as they likely couldn't fall out is STILL not safe, because the child can be a distraction for the operator. There is a rather famous photo of a wadded up cab tractor on a road after the child dropped the bucket into the roadway at road speed. The bucket and FEL loader arms wadded up under the tractor. Children don't belong on or near tractor operations. Period. Full Stop.

 

[LouNY]

The safest place for children during tractor operations of any kind is in the house. In my opinion until a child is old enough to operate the tractor themselves, they don't need to be anywhere near it. I am fully aware, many of you will disagree. But having a child ride on a mower, or worse yet ride in the bucket is insane. Even riding in a cab tractor which would be a considerably safer place for a child to be on a tractor as they likely couldn't fall out is STILL not safe, because the child can be a distraction for the operator. There is a rather famous photo of a wadded up cab tractor on a road after the child dropped the bucket into the roadway at road speed. The bucket and FEL loader arms wadded up under the tractor. Children don't belong on or near tractor operations. Period. Full Stop.

I'm glad that you have all the answers, how are they (kids) to learn how to operate the various tractors and pieces of equipment on a farm while hiding in the house.
They can learn to do many farm operations involving tractors and equipment at a fairly young age, such as hooking up towed wagons and implements.
Lubricating and cleaning and maintaining equipment that can all start in their pre teen years.
Farm kids have to learn many things while they are still young and that means being around equipment, often while it is being operated.

You can have your opinion but that's all it is your opinion, period, full stop.

 

[the old grind]

We'd just cut down a tall Douglas fir Sunday and I was grappling limbs back to the burn pile when Bird stepped up carrying 6 mo old boy and said, "William just loves your tractor. Would you like to take him for a ride?" As I hesitated she jumped aboard with babe in arms and we drove the straight, level road to the pile. I wasn't thrilled. The boy was near tears.

I'm with James on how kids that aren't being trained to operate full-sized equipment shouldn't be near it until and unless they are being properly schooled.

A decade ago Brad was pulling shrubs with a 9N that was new to him while his teenage daughters were watching. He hooked the chain above the axle and jerked. When the tractor landed on him the girls tried to push it off, burning hands and ruining clothes to no avail. We still miss him.

Not all farm kids want to be farmers when they grow up or even live in the country, period. Can't stop, I have work to do that doesn't require entertaining or training youngsters that won't put their phone down, period. I won't be lonesome, and don't I enjoy funerals.

Prayers for the OP's family and Niece.

 

[ruffdog]

I'm glad that you have all the answers, how are they (kids) to learn how to operate the various tractors and pieces of equipment on a farm while hiding in the house.
They can learn to do many farm operations involving tractors and equipment at a fairly young age, such as hooking up towed wagons and implements.
Lubricating and cleaning and maintaining equipment that can all start in their pre teen years.
Farm kids have to learn many things while they are still young and that means being around equipment, often while it is being operated.

That can work if the parents are knowledgeable, responsible, patient, and attentive. If not, the kid better have good instincts with fast reactions. It can be done safely with some luck. That being said, I have seen adults operate equipment that I really question their common sense. I would not let them teach a kid to brush their teeth let alone a tractor or chainsaw.

 

[k0ua]

I'm glad that you have all the answers, how are they (kids) to learn how to operate the various tractors and pieces of equipment on a farm while hiding in the house.
They can learn to do many farm operations involving tractors and equipment at a fairly young age, such as hooking up towed wagons and implements.
Lubricating and cleaning and maintaining equipment that can all start in their pre teen years.
Farm kids have to learn many things while they are still young and that means being around equipment, often while it is being operated.

You can have your opinion but that's all it is your opinion, period, full stop.

Hi Lou, No, I don't have ALL of the answers. But exactly what part of my post do you disagree with? You may notice that I didn't say the numerical age that the child should be allowed to operate the tractor. I will have to leave that up to the parent and each individual development of the child. Not all are the same.

What I AM saying is holding your child in your arms and trying to operate a tractor is insane, and Allowing your child to ride on the fender of a tractor or on the rear mower, or in the bucket of your tractor is INSANE. PERIOD. FULL STOP. And I also pointed out that having a child even in the cab tractor, where they are not going to fall out and get run over by the mower or wheels is not entirely safe either as it is a distraction for the operator. Not to mention what the child can do by operating controls of the tractor as in my example.

As a farm kid myself, I did hook up implements and even did operate the tractor at a young age. I also did some things that were unsafe.. I survived. Nothing bad happened to me. Just like riding your kids around in the field in the bucket, most of the the kids survive. Some do not. Since children are fairly easy (if costly) to create, I suppose we can just make another to replace the ones that get squished.

So my line of reasoning is, if it is unsafe to do, we should not generally do it. As for what age your kids should operate and maintain tractors, well that is up to you. And I really didn't make any comments on that. What I did comment on was the stupid things parents do to put their children at risk for no good reason. By the way, adults riding on the fender is a stupid thing to do also. More than one injured or killed doing so. Same for adults riding in the bucket. Please consider this, and let me know where we have disagreement.

 

[k0ua]

That can work if the parents are knowledgeable, responsible, patient, and attentive. If not, the kid better have good instincts with fast reactions. It can be done safely with some luck. That being said, I have seen adults operate equipment that I really question their common sense. I would not let them teach a kid to brush their teeth let alone a tractor or chainsaw.

That reminds me of the hundreds of people I have successfully taught to safely operate a firearm. BUT there were some (a few) that should never pick up a firearm or even be near one. And I so advised some of the more egregious examples.

 

[LouNY]

I can't even start to add up the number of hours and miles that I have ridden or rode someone on a fender or wagon, then we can always talk about standing on the drawbar while towing some other implement. Is it the safest thing to do, heck NO.
After being out in afield picking rock, bales of hay, bags of grain and then heading to unload are you going to walk or ride, especially since as soon as you get there you have to unload and then start all over again.
Or having kids steer a tractor in first gear and turning the key off to stop, then starting it back up in gear, when the choice is not getting the job done.
As far as holding a kid in your arms while operating a tractor is it the safest, NOPE is it good bonding time between a kid and a parent or grand parent yes much of the time.
How about Mom out cultivating with a baby , leave it home unattended that sounds real good, many times it's what needs to be done.
When an accident happens it is always a shame, and people come out of the wood work to accuse, second guess and complain.

We had a woman here just a bit ago that got off her tractor with a round baler running, she got off to check it out with it running.
If you are looking for an issue or trying to find a noise you can't do it most of the time without it running.
She turned to go back to her tractor and stumbled,,,
the baler grabed her arm and hung on to her, she hung there for a few hours till she was found.
They couldn't extricate her from the baler even with tools and torches,
ended up med flighting a surgeon up to the field to amputate her arm.
The rumor mill was going like wildfire as to how stupid and careless she must of been,
when she told what happened everyone that had ever run one knew what she was talking about and had done the same except they hadn't stumbled....

 

[k0ua]

OK, got it.. So when that kid falls out of your arms, gets squished, hey ain't no thing. We will just have to make another one. Good bonding time is important too. :confused3:

You, like me have done hundreds if not thousands of stupid things, including running the tractor at too young of an age to properly operate it JUST like you described. We got away with it. So why in the sam hill are we posting stories about kids (and adults) being run over and squished or chopped up or hung up in machinery?

Who gives a rats. It was just their time to go. Ain't no thing to get worried about. Ain't gonna change any of the potentially hazardous practices we have "always done" to "git er done" now are we?

Just accept the accidents that come from the result of our stupid behavior and go one. Life is cheap, and getting the job done is important. And besides, like you and me, the kid might live through it without a scratch. Heck I DID!. So we have reached an understanding....

 

[LouNY]

Time for me to finish my lunch and get back out to work;
No wheres have I said anything like you are alluding to.
I have said that many times circumstances come up where someone has to make a choice and while it may not be the safest,
the majority of the time it is fine.
If it has to be done it has to be.
Was it that much different years ago, doesn't matter if it was tractors or horses or mules or stationary engines,
or even forks, shovels and scythes accidents can, have and will happen, should we try to educate and prevent them certainly
but cotton padded cocoons are not the answer either.

 

[k0ua]

Time for me to finish my lunch and get back out to work;
No wheres have I said anything like you are alluding to.
I have said that many times circumstances come up where someone has to make a choice and while it may not be the safest,
the majority of the time it is fine. Yes, the majority of the time the stupid careless choices we make turn out fine, usually we don't drop the kid, heck, maybe he will roll out of the way of the blades?
If it has to be done it has to be. yep, understand, gotta carry that kid, gotta make em happy with that ride in the bucket, gotta let em ride on the drawbar, get er done.. understand
Was it that much different years ago, doesn't matter if it was tractors or horses or mules or stationary engines,
or even forks, shovels and scythes accidents can, have and will happen, should we try to educate and prevent them certainly I think we are in agreement full here.
but cotton padded cocoons are not the answer either.

never said they were. BUT I did say that children too young by age or mental age would be safer not being around tractors at all until they are mature enough to operate them. And that age might be 30 for some people. I am saying that many if not most tractor accidents are preventable. Whether they involve children or adults.


Let me tell you a couple of stories here, just a little closer to home, one not so pretty and one that turned out well.

Close relative of ours, had a 4 year old girl. He was mowing the yard, the 4 year old escaped the notice of the mother and went out in the yard and wound up closly following daddy on the mower, right behind him real close in you understand. He placed mower in reverse, did not look back and knocked her down with mower and mowed off her foot. I don't know if the mower had an original reverse lockout or not.

Item 2: This happened to me about a month ago. The landscaper we hire for yard work, brought his 11 year old son with him of course I didn't know about this beforehand. I needed to assist with moving some heavy rocks by getting the tractor out to transport them, the idea being that the landscaper would act as my "ground man" and roll them into the bucket and I would transport them. Well unbeknownst to me the kid followed me to the barn cause he "liked my tractor". You see children are naturally attracted to machinery and dangerous things. The kid falls in behind the right tractor tire running after the tractor because it is fun. Of course he paid no attention to the scrape blade that was behind him. Yes, tractor tire, kid, blade. In that order. If he had tripped and fell, well, I reckon the blade would have done some damage. Yeah it was raised, but it might have been 14 inches above the ground? I did see him out of the corner of my eye and asked him to stay away from the tractor as it was dangerous. He pretty much did, But it scared me more later than at the time thinking about the liability if he had been injured or killed.

So you see even if you don't think children are around, Well they ARE!. Let along invite children around a tractor intentionally. I say, keep kids to HE77 away from tractor operations until they are old enough to look after themselves and old enough that you would trust them to operate the machine and you go to the house and let them. What ever that age is.

Tractors are (in my opinion) far more dangerous than firearms. Because many of the "disaster factors" come quick, and many are out of your control. Example. you are mowing and letting kid just follow along behind mower. No problem there right? So mower kicks up a rock, slings it and kills kid. Now how do you feel about letting that kid out in the yard while you are mowing? So you are hooking up that 3pt implement, you don't want to get off and wrassle it yourself, so you have the kid stand between the implement and the tractor. Sure, and your stupid foot slips off of the clutch, and smashes the kids hand, because he has them in the danger zone. How do you feel about that?. Well it had to be done?.. um hum. Yup.