remember.. don't pull from the toplink

[Soundguy]

YouTube - Man Trapped Under Tractor

ignore the 10 seconds of comercials in front of the video.

lookslike the chain hanging down in the vid was attached to the toplink... a huge no-no


soundguy

 

[Big Bri]

Wow lucky man. No ROP and at his age. . . i'm impressed. I don't see how it didn't crush him.

 

[Soundguy]

good strong heavy gauge metal tall clamshell fenders ( not plastic like today ), and a spring seat with about 3" of give.. plus he's not a huge guy, and steering wheel sets forward and kinda in a flat plane, not in your lap like some of todays models with tilt steering.

soundguy

 

[Bedlam]

Very Lucky guy,Here in the 70's a local farmer died the same way.For me a then teenager, with a tractor, It really sat in my mind to this day i drive by the spot every day and many times think of him. The farm has since gone to foreclosure. but Ill never forget.If any good came from it is the knowledge that as been with me all this time.
Very sobering..

 

[ragkar]

I don't have audio on my computer, but I'm guessing that he had a chain on his top link and was dragging something. Is that right?

 

[Soundguy]

don't really need the audio to see the video... from the few shots you can see.. I see a chain that looks like it's linked to his toplink.. etc.

soundguy

 

[Renze]

I told this before, but in Finland, trailer drawbars arent allowed above the centerline of the rear axle. I have a friend who converted his baler, to give it some clearance above heavy straw swaths.

In Holland, the high drawbar (3 feet) was pretty much standard for years, especially in the time that there was no rollbar and there were only 2wd tractors with a light front end.
It was the only way to transfer enough weight to the rear axle to get a manure tanker through a soft spot with a light 2wd.

Now when all tractors have cabs and 4wd, lower drawbars are standard, because they transfer more weight to the driven front axle when pulling hard on the drawbar.

 

[Thomas]

Yikes..someone from above had to be looking down.

 

[JB4310]

I like how he says he thought about those coons digging under the traps trying to escape, and that's what gave him the idea to slowly undermine the ground around him.
You can learn valuable lessons by just observing nature around you.

 

[Soundguy]

much heavier trsctor.. tller, different center of gravity too.. them outboard gear reductions make em stand way up.

soundguy

 

[Steve C]

good strong heavy gauge metal tall clamshell fenders ( not plastic like today ), and a spring seat with about 3" of give.. plus he's not a huge guy, and steering wheel sets forward and kinda in a flat plane, not in your lap like some of todays models with tilt steering.

soundguy

the fenders were of no use, the top of the tires were on the ground
the combination of large tires and low seat height saved the guy and also a lot of luck being flung away from the steering wheel and not crushed by the gas tank....lets just vow to never go there........I love my roll bar!!!! chit we have learned something in the last 50 years!!!!!

 

[spruce Deere]

Spooky... They definitely do not build'em like they use too. The generation of people like that ol' feller and tractors of that vintage with heavy fenders, no plastic just stout metal tractors. Steering wheel location with heavy fenders like soundguy points out along with the ol' fellers smaller build saved him.... Man, and a heavy dose of luck.

 

[Steve C]

Spooky... They definitely do not build'em like they use too. The generation of people like that ol' feller and tractors of that vintage with heavy fenders, no plastic just stout metal tractors. Steering wheel location with heavy fenders like soundguy points out along with the ol' fellers smaller build saved him.... Man, and a heavy dose of luck.

yes i hope we can all learn from it so we can pass it on to our children! We don't need so much luck if we learn from past mistakes

 

[Soundguy]

And to think that a mercurey switch in the wire to the coil could have prevented a death at a cost of about $20 just tears me up.........

I think maybe I need to get into the safety business.....

Naa.. wouldn't have done anything... it would have constantly been opening making hte tractor buck and after 2 hrs of running the machine after you bought it, the switch would have been out of circuit on 99.99999999999999999999% of machines sold.

tractors are rough use machines.. that merc switch would have played havoc on anything but smooth pavement..

not alot of tractoring going on on smooth pavement.

an ounce of sense, on the other hand.. would have prevented the accident if it was a pull from the toplink, as in the vid link I posted..

soundguy

 

[JB4310]

And to think that a mercurey switch in the wire to the coil could have prevented a death at a cost of about $20 just tears me up.........

I think maybe I need to get into the safety business.....

Good intention but don't think a standard merc switch would work, maybe a modified one that wouldn't give false trips.

You might be on to something though, we've got safety switches for everything else. if you could come up with a cut out mechanism to prevent roll over you'd be a hero, save lives and make a bunch of money. Especially if it was simple enough to retrofit older equipment.

Ironically one of those flippin little safety devices almost cost me my life, took my little outboard motor boat for a cruise on the CT river, as soon as I got out in the current the motor cut out and I couldn't get it to restart. the swift current was pulling me at it's will right for a bridge abutment. luckily another boater spotted me in trouble and towed me to safety. Turned out to be bad merc switch, designed to prevent motor from running/starting when tipped up.

 

[Soundguy]

yep.. and if you use a capacitor to prevent false triggers, then you make it were it takes longer to trigger.. and with that.. it's useless.. as you can be tipped in a second or so.

I've also seen safety switches strand people in funny places.

we all are equipped with a very high tech safety device.. it sets on our shoulders and holds our hats up... sadly.. some people don't always use them... hard to replace that with a safety cutout switch...

soundguy

Good intention but don't think a standard merc switch would work, maybe a modified one that wouldn't give false trips.

You might be on to something though, we've got safety switches for everything else. if you could come up with a cut out mechanism to prevent roll over you'd be a hero, save lives and make a bunch of money. Especially if it was simple enough to retrofit older equipment.

Ironically one of those flippin little safety devices almost cost me my life, took my little outboard motor boat for a cruise on the CT river, as soon as I got out in the current the motor cut out and I couldn't get it to restart. the swift current was pulling me at it's will right for a bridge abutment. luckily another boater spotted me in trouble and towed me to safety. Turned out to be bad merc switch, designed to prevent motor from running/starting when tipped up.

 

[IslandTractor]

we all are equipped with a very high tech safety device..

Maybe, but there are an awful lot of defective ones out there. Always better to engineer a solution like a ROPS than to rely on intelligence, judgment or assume the high tech device is always operating at peak efficiency.

 

[Soundguy]

problem is.. without yer head operating correctly.. that low tech device like the rops can actually -become- dangerous. for instance.. rops and no seatbelts can be a deth sentence just like no rops.

Like I've said in another post.. if you are -trying- to get hurt.. a safety device is not going to help much in most cases.



soundguy