"The" Un-Safe Tractor Operation Thread

[Reverend Blair]

It is nice to know there are so many other "been there-done that" types out there. It just seemed to me from reading the overall posts on TBN, we were in the minority; perhaps I was wrong for which I am humbled.

Something I find pretty common with farm/rural people is that there's a bit of a time warp. That Cockshutt 30 I hand-cranked was bought used when my mother was still in high school. We used it for haying (cut, rake, bale, haul) and general yard use until I was 16 or 17. When a couple of boys find a hand crank and have nothing else to do, they pretty much have to try it too.

I kind of look at it as it being the 1950s until 1976, and then it being the 1970s until 1998, when Grandpa retired and we leased the land out. The safety protocols kind of follow the norms for those times. I think it was the mid-eighties before we got a grain auger with a safety cover on it, for instance.

 

[TripleR]

Something I find pretty common with farm/rural people is that there's a bit of a time warp. That Cockshutt 30 I hand-cranked was bought used when my mother was still in high school. We used it for haying (cut, rake, bale, haul) and general yard use until I was 16 or 17. When a couple of boys find a hand crank and have nothing else to do, they pretty much have to try it too.

I kind of look at it as it being the 1950s until 1976, and then it being the 1970s until 1998, when Grandpa retired and we leased the land out. The safety protocols kind of follow the norms for those times. I think it was the mid-eighties before we got a grain auger with a safety cover on it, for instance.

I can sure identify with that. I am thankful for having grown up on a farm and still owning some land, but boy it sure was hard to earn a living.

 

[Runner]

"RRR There's a lot more of us than you think. I've started JDs by spinning the flywheel, Farmalls with a crank including a 30's one that started on gas & switched to kerosene, cranked wisconsons on balers, & an engine on an International baler that would occasionally throw the crank 100' straight up. But that was in a different era. I currently hand prop a Piper Cub & hand crank the pony motor on my Cat D74T. Since you've also "been there - done that" I'm sure you agree that it puts "dangerous" in a different light."

Yes, but that was "standard operating procedure" on those pieces of equipment, so it's "grandfathered" as OK.

My operations would probably get 10's from the engineering staff, but 1's from the legal team.....

 

[Reverend Blair]

Yeah, I wonder about those legal teams.

I crashed my nephew's ATV a few years ago and messed up my leg pretty bad. I had a couple of people suggest that I should get some sort of "compensation" for it. Apparently they thought I should sue my family to pay for my own stupidity.

 

[TripleR]

Yeah, I wonder about those legal teams.

I crashed my nephew's ATV a few years ago and messed up my leg pretty bad. I had a couple of people suggest that I should get some sort of "compensation" for it. Apparently they thought I should sue my family to pay for my own stupidity.

I sure wish there were more people like you, Yamaha lost a boatload of money defending against lawsuits on the Rhino.

 

[brad123]

HAD ONE TRACTOR STUCK IN A MUDHOLE AND WAS ALL BY MYSELF.. Went and got another tractor and tried to pull it out.. It was stuck too bad so i put one tractor in gear and it sat spinning in the mud.. Got in the other and put in gear and pulled it out.. Had used a really long chain so when i stopped one and jumped out and ran to the one that had been stuck and jumped in as it was moving and stopped it before it ran into the other.. I think back and realize at age 16 or 17 I was very lucky to get away with this

 

[doall]

I sure wish there were more people like you, Yamaha lost a boatload of money defending against lawsuits on the Rhino.

people just jump to litigation now, it makes me sick. I cut off the tip of my finger at work about 20 years ago. Now keep in mind my boss is also one of my best friends that has done a lot for me besides employing me. All my coworkers wanted to know "How much are you going to get?"

On another occassion I bought a new bow (not going to mention brand) got home and was going to shoot for the first time and the string broke, it cut my watch right off my arm, it cut me a little but nothing that needed attention. When I carried it back the next day, the dealer started calling the company, I thought he was just getting an exchange okayed. Then he handed me the phone, the legal dept. was on the line wanting to know what I would settle for. I said another bow that works, he said "well we're sending you some other stuff anyway. I said "you dont have to." but he sent me a jacket, shirt, cap, and a big thanks.

 

[Reverend Blair]

I sure wish there were more people like you, Yamaha lost a boatload of money defending against lawsuits on the Rhino.

I don't know the Rhino story, so I can't comment on it, but I think class action suits against corporations are one of those good things that's gone way too far. Companies shouldn't be producing dangerous products and making them liable is one way to keep them from doing that.

No product is 100% safe though...even a lump of dirt can cause you to trip and hurt yourself...and at some point we have to accept some inherent risk. People get careless, don't use common sense, ignore the safety warnings, and get hurt. Instead of taking responsibility, they look for somebody to blame.

In my case, it really was my own stupidity that caused the crash. I'd never been on an ATV before, fully understood that my nephew's quad was built for racing and very powerful, and I just went too darned fast. I was having a whole lot of fun right up until I hit the ground though.:laughing:

I stick to tractors and trucks now. It's safer for an old man like me.

 

[TripleR]

I don't know the Rhino story, so I can't comment on it, but I think class action suits against corporations are one of those good things that's gone way too far. Companies shouldn't be producing dangerous products and making them liable is one way to keep them from doing that.

No product is 100% safe though...even a lump of dirt can cause you to trip and hurt yourself...and at some point we have to accept some inherent risk. People get careless, don't use common sense, ignore the safety warnings, and get hurt. Instead of taking responsibility, they look for somebody to blame.

In my case, it really was my own stupidity that caused the crash. I'd never been on an ATV before, fully understood that my nephew's quad was built for racing and very powerful, and I just went too darned fast. I was having a whole lot of fun right up until I hit the ground though.:laughing:

I stick to tractors and trucks now. It's safer for an old man like me.

The Rhino thing makes for some very interesting reading. I won't go into it, but it was never proven there were safety issues though Yamaha agreed to a retrofit on doors and sway bar as well as spacers.

I am pretty old too at 63, but still like my Grizzly ATV and Rhino though I finally had to park my Harley last year. I gotta admit I ride a lot slower now though.

I have crashed just about everything on wheels and on only two occasions was it a mechanical issue. Once I threw a primary chain on my Triumph T110 and another time the engine seized on my Honda. When I was still able to ride dirt bikes, I always said if you weren't crashing, you weren't really trying.:laughing:

 

[chad22]

I've took the seat safety switch off my riding mower. I hated that whenever I would hit a bump it would shut off.

My dad took his off too.

Chad