Seat belt?

MLB · Jul 4, 2003

I'm finally getting some hours in now and it sure seems like tipping type situations come up more often and easily than I prefer. Doesn't take much of a pile to make it dicey.
I can't get comfortable wearing my seatbelt.
I feel like I would be better off baling off the high side, trusting my instincts and athleticism to get me to a safe spot vs taking the ride over with the tractor. (if it ever came to it)
I'm sure I will get chastised for this but i keep feeling the same way, even as the hours mount (120).
I don't think this is the same for everyone, but I was an athlete my whole life and diving and tuck/roll is just a natural thing to me.
Anyone else?

MLB · Jul 4, 2003

I never drive my truck or car without a shoulder belt on so it's not me not liking them.

AndyM · Jul 4, 2003

I am a big fan of ROPS and seat belt. Working with tractors and forklifts, I have seen people jump off and get crushed. The safest place to be is in your seat, belted in.

"Trusting your instincts" won't aways work in a surprise situation that you aren't expecting.

JerryG · Jul 4, 2003

Look at it this way. Would you rather take a chance on your athletic ability or just stay strapped in and let the ROPS do the job that it was designed to do? By taking a chance you are endangering the future life of not only you but you family by taking away their husband, father, brother, son etc. Jumping of is just a chance, unsnapping the seat belt after a roll protected by the ROPS is what it is designed to do. Wear the seat belt and don't take chances with your life.

Gary_in_Indiana · Jul 4, 2003

I'm not nearly as good about wearing my seat belt as I should be on my tractor or in my trucks, but I'm trying to get better. One thing I will mention has to do with your perceived ability to 'jump free to safety.'

I don't think you have a real appreciation for how quickly things can happen when you're tractoring. One example I'll cite here has to do with using your tractor to pull. If you happen to make the all-too-common error of attaching higher than the center of your rear axle and the tractor starts to flip over, you have 1.5 SECONDS to feel the motion start, analyze the situation, physically react to it and then jump clear all the while having the tractor turning you upside down.

Personally, I don't think the most highly skilled and trained professional athlete could pull that off, much less one of us north state Hoosiers. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Besides, if your luck is anything like mine, if you were able to pull off this feat, you'd impale yourself on a t-post when you jumped. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Wear your seatbelt and I'll try to wear mine. Maybe we'll both live longer. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Bird · Jul 4, 2003

( I feel like I would be better off baling off the high side, trusting my instincts and athleticism to get me to a safe spot vs taking the ride over with the tractor. )

I can certainly understand that, and think it's a pretty normal feeling, but I also know for sure that only in the very rarest of cases would you actually succeed. For one thing, most accidents happen too fast for the best athlete in the world to react quickly enough and for another . . . well, have you ever tried to jump from a platform that's moving in the opposite direction?

frank_f15 · Jul 4, 2003

trust the seat belt! most people get on and off the trator from one side, it is a naturla thing. if u are used to getting off on the left and that happens to be the downside of the tip over , u are naturally going to jump that way. if u ever have the misfortune to tip, try to just hang on and let the seatbelt and rops do their job.

Henro · Jul 4, 2003

Hi,

Nice to be back after being erased!

In my opinion the simple fact is that you will not have time to jump, tuck and roll if you get yourself and your tractor in a dangerous situation and start to roll it.

So you have two choices. 1) strap yourself in and stay within the designed protective envelope, or...

2) risk being thrown somewhere outside that protective bubble and possibly being crushed by the tractor or roll bar.

My personal worry is the tractor rolling and the roll bar sliding down the side of a tree, and me getting crushed between the seat and the tree...but I still wear the seat belt. I figure in the end the chances are it will save me rather than otherwise. All things considered...

Bill near Pgh, PA....

Typhoon · Jul 4, 2003

Every time my tractor moves, the ROPS is up and the seatbelt is on. If something happens and I roll it, im holding on tight to the steering wheel and staying put. The ROPS is heavy guage steel, I have total confidence that I am safe under it. I would say your chances of jumping clear of a dangerous situation would be slim to none. Buckle up man... trust me...
-Brad

RoyJackson · Jul 4, 2003

"My personal worry is the tractor rolling and the roll bar sliding down the side of a tree, and me getting crushed between the seat and the tree...but I still wear the seat belt"

I've got a briar patch I worry about...same thing, if that's where the tractor rolled, I'd end up in a bunch of sticker bushes.

But, the oods are that it'll be the ROPS that crushes you if you go over unbelted.
If I'm working the tractor, the belt is on...

markie61 · Jul 4, 2003

Ever watch the tractor "chicken" scene from the movie "Footloose"? Kevin Bacon is trying to bail out of his John Deere, but his shoestring is caught and he can't jump while Bonnie Tyler is singing "I Need a Hero" in the background? God, I love that movie!

Oh, wear the seatbelt and keep the ROPS up!

Mark

MLB · Jul 5, 2003

( I am a big fan of ROPS and seat belt. Working with tractors and forklifts, I have seen people jump off and get crushed. The safest place to be is in your seat, belted in.

"Trusting your instincts" won't aways work in a surprise situation that you aren't expecting. )

But that's exactly my point. I AM always on alert. 30 years of motorcycle riding taught me that. Always thinking, "where's my out". SOmeone that got crushed dove off the LOW side. That's not thinking too clearly. Again, not saying this is for everyone. (or even that i'm right)

MLB · Jul 5, 2003

( Inorth state Hoosiers. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Besides, if your luck is anything like mine, if you were able to pull off this feat, you'd impale yourself on a t-post when you jumped. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

)

Oh cripes, you're right on there!!

OkieG · Jul 5, 2003

I can't get comfortable wearing my seatbelt. 
Seatbelt/ROPS combination works. The attached snapshot is from this thread in the safety section: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=safety&Number=259536&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=93&fpart=1

OkieG

OkieG · Jul 5, 2003

I AM always on alert 

I am not so lucky. But, even if I was, "in the seat" was the safest place to be. As I was rolling, the seatbelt kept me securely snug in the seat. The ROPS limited the roll, but would have protected even if I rolled more.

 I feel like I would be better off baling off the high side Good luck! I was able to take this picture at the scene, body intact, thanks to seatbelt and ROPS.

OkieG

gerard · Jul 5, 2003

I agree 100% with okieg - Picture yourself on the tractor as it starts to roll. To think you're going to be able to jump off on the HIGH side (which is getting higher as the tractor rolls), fighting gravity, momentum, and the natural tendency of the tractor and everything on it (including YOU) to go int he direction of the roll, is just unrealistic unless maybe you're Spiderman. Average reaction time to hit the brakes in a car is .75 seconds. I'll assume it's in that area for a tractor roll too and in that time the tractor's almost on the ground. I've been on mine with a loaded bucket on a slight slope and my right front and rear wheel came off the ground until the bucket hit ground and there I sat with two wheels off the ground. I had no time to do anything but feel it happen. Just happens too quick.

MossRoad · Jul 5, 2003

I don't think this is the same for everyone, but I was an athlete my whole life and diving and tuck/roll is just a natural thing to me. 

Maybe you can relate to this:
Edwin Moses. Top hurdler in the world for years. He once won 122 consecutive races... until he lost one. And losing a hurdle race has far less consequences than losing a race with a rolling tractor.

As a former lifeguard and reformed invincible person, I can tell you this;

The older I get the better I was.

Please use your ROPS in conjuction with your seat belt. We want to hear from you for years to come on TBN /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

MLB · Jul 5, 2003

( I don't think this is the same for everyone, but I was an athlete my whole life and diving and tuck/roll is just a natural thing to me. 

Maybe you can relate to this:
Edwin Moses. Top hurdler in the world for years. He once won 122 consecutive races... until he lost one. And losing a hurdle race has far less consequences than losing a race with a rolling tractor.

As a former lifeguard and reformed invincible person, I can tell you this;

The older I get the better I was.

Please use your ROPS in conjuction with your seat belt. We want to hear from you for years to come on TBN /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

Beautifully said. Ok. convinced.

TimSullivan · Jul 5, 2003

But that's exactly my point. I AM always on alert. 30 years of motorcycle riding taught me that. Always thinking, "where's my out". 

Your best way out is using the seat belt and trusting the ROPS. We buried a friend not long ago that had been riding motorcycles for just about thirty years too. The driver of the car that hit him from behind never gave him a chance to find his way out of danger.

Just think how relaxing it will be on your tractor just doing your work and not having to look for a way out all the time.

Life is too precious to trust your athletic ability to save it. Just don’t take the chance.

fractal · Jul 9, 2003

Your natural atheletic ability may save your life.

The rops WILL save your life.

For every person who's life is "saved" by being thrown from the vehicle or being able to lay down before the roof crushes in, ten or twenty are killed and hundreds are maimed by not wearing a safety belt.

I started wearing a full face shield when doing lawn work after the mower threw a branch in my face. Safety glasses protected my eyes and probably more of me as I only had a bruised cheek. I hated those safety glasses since they fogged up when I work and impaired visibility. I thanked them that day. I then switched to a full face shield that offers as good protection without fogging up but doesn't have as good peripherial vision.

Seat belt on tractor is the same. Sure, looking behind is not as easy and is a major pain when tilling (and probably hogging) but ... what is your life worth?

Wear the belt.