Safety Belt, For God Sake were your Seat Belts

[farmboy12]

the problem is that you cannot get off fast enough and get clear when the proverbial manure hits the fan, last year I rolled a Cub Cadet lawn tractor (~20hp, 50" deck hydro tranny), I was going up a 30/45 degree slope and the back (turf) tires hit a slippery patch, the tractor started to slide backwards and by the time I could react I was on the downhill side of the tractor and it was on its side, I got up and pushed it back upright, then shut off the motor (I have the motor kill switch disabled, but the deck kill switch works, it shuts off the deck if you get off the seat, then you have to turn it off and back on for it to turn on again)
The whole sequence of events from when the wheel started to slip until I was on the ground was 2-3 seconds, if the edge of the deck had not dug into the mud the tractor would have gone all the way over onto me before I could have done anything.

If you are on a tractor with ROPS and try to jump off odds are that you will end up pinned under something, also if you hit a bump (like the person in the accident at the start of this thread, it is very possible that you could fall of the tractor and get run over or entangled in whatever implement is behind the tractor.


If you are on a ROPS equipped tractor using a seatbelt you are far more likely to walk away from an accident than on a non-ROPS tractor, or than on a ROPS tractor without a seatbelt (the same goes for seatbelts on cars)

so, do your parents a favor and wear a seat belt, because (to me, no offense to anyone here or anywhere) the only thing worse than dieing in a tractor accident would be to be live and be paralyzed from a tractor accident.

Aaron Z

Sure, in cars going 70mph and colliding. You don't just start to roll over, unless on very steep hill. When you're just moving your car a few feet in the driveway, do you put your seat belt on? 95% of truthful people will say no. When you're going that same speed, of say, 3mph, you don't even think about it. It just comes back to the discussion discussed dozens of times on TBN "Why you should wear your seatbelt." Let's not get into this again.

Everybody has different ways in doing everything, and although some of you guys and me may not be offended by stuff like this, someone may be offended, and we do not want this.


Kyle

 

[aczlan]

Sure, in cars going 70mph and colliding. You don't just start to roll over, unless on very steep hill.

even so, I was being safe and mowing up and down the slope, I have mowed that slope 50+ times without any problems at all, but it just took one spot that was a little wet and down the tractor went. the tires were partly to fault, they don't grip very well, this year I will see if I can get them replaced with either good turf tires or ATV style tires.
as for wearing a seatbelt I dont always wear a one on a tractor, my rule of thumb is that if I have something behind the tractor (plow, disc, mower, tiller, backblade, haywagon, etc) that I wouldn't want to be run over by, the belt goes on. PTO on? belt on no matter what. snowplowing by the road? belt on. if I am snowplowing in back I might not put it on, however I usually go from the front (by the road) to the back, so I dont take it off when I go back.

When you're just moving your car a few feet in the driveway, do you put your seat belt on? 95% of truthful people will say no. When you're going that same speed, of say, 3mph, you don't even think about it.

In a car, if I leave the driveway everyone in the car wears a seat belt or they walk. To do otherwise is playing russian roulette. I am 23 but have been in several car accidents without any thing worse than a sore neck, I attribute this partly to wearing a seatbelt. I like the extra security a seatbelt offers.

However we are comparing apples and oranges here (unless you have a cabbed tractor) in a car if you hit a bump or crash you are not likely to be ejected unless you are going 20+mph or are in a rollover, in a open station tractor you can be thrown off or roll over at much less than 20mph. I have a strong aversion to being run over so I wear a seatbelt if there is any chance that I could get thrown off.

If I sound paranoid, I am (to a certain extent), but I have been working around farm equipment since I was 6 or 7 and I have (knock on wood) never had a major accident, the worst I have had was when I was ~12 and I almost took my toe off with the fan on the flywheel of the lawn tractor that I was running barefoot with the guard off (not the best idea in the world). I want to keep it that way.

In the for what its worth department I have more control of the tractor when I am wearing a seatbelt, I dont have to worry about staying in and I am always in the same position relative to the controls. one time my niebor rented a bobcat to replace the retaining wall in front of his house, it was made of railroad ties. he got going and didn't notice that the ties weren't coming apart until he had one end of a 20' section of wall that was 3-5 ties tall up higher than the cab. the bobcat then did a nosedive and ended up with the top front of the cab about 4' from the ground (the angle was close to the one that this skidsteer is at: http://nahetsblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/skid-steer-unsafe-top-heavy-web.jpg ), he wasn't able to work the foot pedals and the hand controls due to the angle that the bobcat was at. I ended up getting it back upright by getting in and buckling up, that allowed me to work the controls and not have to support myself with me feet. I almost flipped onto its back when I got it up, but that is another story.

To close, IMO it is stupid not to wear a seatbelt in a car that is on the road or in a ROPS tractor, however in the end it is your choice to wear it or not. Statistically you have a MUCH better chance of not being injured while operating a ROPS equipped tractor if you wear a seatbelt especially in a rollover situation. But as I said before that choice is yours, however as for me and those in my car, we will wear seatbelts.

Aaron Z

 

[farmboy12]

I was saying that we ALWAYS wear seatbelts in a car on the road. I said if you are moving a car at 3mph, IN the driveway, do you wear your seatbelt.


Kyle

 

[aczlan]

I was saying that we ALWAYS wear seatbelts in a car on the road. I said if you are moving a car at 3mph, IN the driveway, do you wear your seatbelt.

if I am going to be on the road yes, if I am changing the location of the car no.

Aaron Z

 

[JGY]

I don't like that term "body car" that's enough to scare ya.

JB4310,

Back in the day, down here in SC, the "hearse" was used as the "ambulance" and at that time hearses had "red" lights on the tops.

And FWIW I've taken the "ambulance" ride in the "hearse" to not more than three (3) hospitals the same day. This was of course before the advent of EMS/Ambulance service in this area of the country. And, further, just as a footnote, my "ambulance" driver at the time was later in our lives elected the Coroner of the county!

Joe

 

[drivadesl]

Problem with not wearing a seatbelt with the idea of jumping of in an emergency is catching some clothing or bootlace on one of the levers. Tractor controls are all around you on most machines at different heights so there always seems to be something sticking out somewhere to catch you. Particularly in winter when wearing big heavy boots, and carhardts or the like. Last thing I want to do is jump for safety only to find out my leg is caught on something and I'm hanging with my head off the ground and a rolling 2-3 ton machine is now gonna land or ride right over me....Be careful out there!

 

[Bird]

Problem with not wearing a seatbelt with the idea of jumping of in an emergency is catching some clothing or bootlace on one of the levers. Tractor controls are all around you on most machines at different heights so there always seems to be something sticking out somewhere to catch you. Particularly in winter when wearing big heavy boots, and carhardts or the like. Last thing I want to do is jump for safety only to find out my leg is caught on something and I'm hanging with my head off the ground and a rolling 2-3 ton machine is now gonna land or ride right over me....Be careful out there!

Very good point!

 

[riptides]

Problem with not wearing a seatbelt with the idea of jumping of in an emergency is catching some clothing or bootlace on one of the levers. Tractor controls are all around you on most machines at different heights so there always seems to be something sticking out somewhere to catch you. Particularly in winter when wearing big heavy boots, and carhardts or the like. Last thing I want to do is jump for safety only to find out my leg is caught on something and I'm hanging with my head off the ground and a rolling 2-3 ton machine is now gonna land or ride right over me....Be careful out there!

Yes and wearing baggy shorts in the summer time is not recommended either.

 

[Rara Avis]

Sure, in cars going 70mph and colliding. You don't just start to roll over, unless on very steep hill. When you're just moving your car a few feet in the driveway, do you put your seat belt on? 95% of truthful people will say no. When you're going that same speed, of say, 3mph, you don't even think about it. It just comes back to the discussion discussed dozens of times on TBN "Why you should wear your seatbelt." Let's not get into this again.

Everybody has different ways in doing everything, and although some of you guys and me may not be offended by stuff like this, someone may be offended, and we do not want this.


Kyle

Kyle...you are just preparing yourself to become a statistic in the NASD database...
NASD: National Ag Safety Database

 

[slowzuki]

Open tractor, no rops = no seat belt. With rops = seatbelt. Getting killed by your ROPS smashing you is not a great way to go and it happens too much.

There are of course a few exceptions but I don't think there are many say ice road drivers on cut's on here?