Safety Tips For Beginners

[Dranrab]

I just bought my first tractor. I have never operated a tractor before. I am a safety professional by trade and want to learn as much as I can about safety before I get started. I read the safety literature that came with the tractor. I'll read it again. Center of gravity is an obvious concern with any load handling equipment. Add uneven terrain and narrow width, and I can see how things could get dicey. I'll wear my seat belt, keep my ROPS up and keep loads low. In the commercial fishing world, rotating machinery and pinch points claim a lot of victims. I know to be ever aware of that.

I have read that people getting run over by their own machine is a source of death and injury with tractors. How is that happening?

Anytime I undertake a new activity, I take things very slowly. My owners manual tells me not to baby the engine during break-in though. I guess I can keep the revs up and the speed down by using low range on the HST huh?

To reduce risk, I like to identify the common causes of accidents and develop risk mitigation strategies for those causes. I haven't dug deep, but in my preliminary searching, I haven't found any good reads on common causes of accidents and risk reduction. Can any of you point to a good read?

What other tips would you give to a rank n00b?

 

[RNeumann]

With modern machines it’s much harder to run yourself over. Most wont start unless you are in the seat.

My biggest tip is to run the controls from the seat only. It’s easy to be off the machine doing something and think. I’ll just lift, dump lower etc etc from the ground- that’s easy to do but opens you up to injury.

Typically machines only have rear brakes. If you have a heavy load that lifts the rear end off the ground you could have obvious issues. Add enough weight to the tires and or 3 pt to make the back end heavy. This also lowers your center of gravity.

 

[k0ua]

The biggest safety tip I could give you is don't move the tractor (especially over rough ground) with the Front End Loader (FEL henceforth) up in the air. Especially with any load in the bucket. This is the number one reason for tip overs. You will see many first time tractor operators moving with the FEL up in the air. Don't do that. Another common "newb" mistake is descending hills with the tractor in 2 wheel drive. Especially without enough ballast on the rear 3 Point Hitch (henceforth 3pt). It is best to be in 4 wheel drive (4WD) when not on flat ground. What can happen is a sort of runaway condition where the back tires start to slide on either gravel on a hill or soft dirt or slippery grass. Once the rear tires lose their contact patch with the ground a runaway condition is started where the tractor increases rapidly in speed and only an "anchor" like the bucket up front or some kind of ground engaging implement on the back will slow you down. Pressing on the brakes will do absolutely nothing to slow you down as the brakes are on the rear axles only and those axles thru their wheels and then tires have no traction with the ground. When the tractor is in 4WD, a connection is made with the front tires thru the driveline, front differential and front axle's, wheels and then tires. So you have 4 tires on the ground with 4 contact patches instead of just 2. There is a solid mechanical connection thru the front propeller shaft. The runaway slide will never happen in the first place.

There are many other things you can learn about differential locking, differential "split" braking etc, but the two MOST important things to remember is ALWAYS keep your bucket low when travelling, no higher that the hood of the tractor at most, and when on steep slopes always keep the tractor in 4WD even if the surface would not seem to warrant that. Far better a little tire wear than a runaway condition. And let me tell you, runaway is a very real proposition, and it is not fun. It can be a very frightening and dangerous proposition. If you live in Kansas with no hills in sight, then these things become less important. But keep them in the back of your mind.

If you need to lift your FEL for instance to clear a truck or trailers sides to dump a load, lift it only as you are creeping up to the side NOT while you are traveling at speed up towards the truck or trailer. All it takes is one high rock on one tire or one groundhog hole for a tire to drop into and with a high loaded bucket over you go into your side.

So yes, "low and slow". Low range is a great place to be, especially when you start learning tractor and loader operations.

Also see the excellent points RNeumann brought up above...

 

[MossRoad]

I just bought my first tractor. I have never operated a tractor before. I am a safety professional by trade and want to learn as much as I can about safety before I get started. I read the safety literature that came with the tractor. I'll read it again. Center of gravity is an obvious concern with any load handling equipment. Add uneven terrain and narrow width, and I can see how things could get dicey. I'll wear my seat belt, keep my ROPS up and keep loads low. In the commercial fishing world, rotating machinery and pinch points claim a lot of victims. I know to be ever aware of that.

I have read that people getting run over by their own machine is a source of death and injury with tractors. How is that happening?

Anytime I undertake a new activity, I take things very slowly. My owners manual tells me not to baby the engine during break-in though. I guess I can keep the revs up and the speed down by using low range on the HST huh?

To reduce risk, I like to identify the common causes of accidents and develop risk mitigation strategies for those causes. I haven't dug deep, but in my preliminary searching, I haven't found any good reads on common causes of accidents and risk reduction. Can any of you point to a good read?

What other tips would you give to a rank n00b?

They operate the controls from the ground, standing next to the tractor.
They fall off the tractor while it's moving.


If you keep the engine PRMs up, the controls are more responsive and the HST will provide better braking effect when you let off the pedal. Actually using the brake pedal on an HST is very often a rarity, as the transmission will stop the machine if you let off the pedal. About the only time I've ever used the brake pedals on HST machines is close in positioning to objects, or holding position on a slope, and a little bit of turning brakes in tight turns.

As far as tips... spend some time just tooling around on the machine, getting a feel for it. Practice makes perfect. Don't ever be in a rush. And if you feel yourself getting tired after hours of work, STOP!

I'd suggest getting a tilt meter. If you feel yourself getting uncomfortable on a slope, side angle, etc.... stop and look at that tilt meter. See how many degrees it's at. Uncomfortable feeling is your brain telling you something's getting squirrelly. Make note of what angles you get uncomfortable at for future reference.

Get a spinner knob for the steering wheel if you don't have one. It frees up a hand to hold onto for balance.

 

[bcp]

And don't use the HST pedal like an automotive accelerator pedal.

Bruce

 

[Tractor X]

yeah i got hit by a car (8/13) riding my motorcycle. 11 plates, 31 screws, THR, rod in tibia 4 skin grafts just to name a few. 2 years PT to learn how to walk again. im disabled now.

family and friends helped out with chores around the house, but after a 2yr hiatus i was ready to get back on my old tractor and "do it myself!"
at one appointment i asked my ortho doc (trama dr.) if it was ok to bush hog my pasture, guess what his reply was? "are you crazy!" said he sees just as many accidents and deaths caused by tractors/heavy equipment vs motorcycles. i gave up riding... but my tractor is my legs, arms and strength. you know the ole saying, "it'll never happen to me!"

can't have enough safety post, TRACTORS KILL!

 

[txdon]

Do not ghost ride the tractor.
Post 4 of this thread:
https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/417118-back-blade-wont-dig.html

Do not lift anything up with the FEL and get under it. We had a member that used a chain and FEL to lift up his lawn mower to remove the blades and was killed.
In this instance so many things can fail:
1. The hydraulics of the tractor.
2. a weak link in the chain,
3. The chain can slip where it is attached to the mower
4. the chain can slip where it is attached to the FEL

Alway double or triple your chances of survival with jack stands and/or blocks when working under equipment.

Never be in a hurry when doing anything with a tractor, from operating it to changing out attachments, if you find yourself being rushed stop and come back later.

On uneven ground have your ROPS up and seatbelt on take it slow and be ready with your hand on the joy stick to quickly lower you FEL to the ground.

 

[Roadworthy]

When pulling heavy objects be sure they are attached BELOW the rear axle. If attached above the axle and the object won't move the tractor can flip backward onto the operator.

 

[Dranrab]

And don't use the HST pedal like an automotive accelerator pedal.

Bruce

Explain that to me please Bruce.

 

[Dranrab]

Great responses everyone. I read every post several times.