Tractor flips while pulling boat !!!

[jamestaylor72]

Here is yet another tractor-flip accident guys !! Thankfully though,, this fella survived !! Be careful out there!
JT


Tractor flips on Monroe resident


By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon


MONROE TOWNSHIP An 82-year-old Monroe Township man was injured when the tractor he was driving early Sunday afternoon flipped at his State Street home, pinning him underneath the machine, firefighters said.


David Best, 5240 State Road, was taken to Ashtabula County Medical Center by a Conneaut Fire Department ambulance crew. He was conscious and talking with medical personnel at the scene, firefighters said.

Best reportedly was pulling a boat with the tractor when the boat became lodged, causing the tractor to flip into the air, said Conneaut Fire Lt. John Chapin. Best was thrown from the seat, and the tractor fell on top of him, firefighters said.

Best痴 son used another tractor to move the toppled vehicle and free his father, firefighters said.

Because of the nature of the call, Conneaut rescue personnel put a medical helicopter on stand-by status, but the flight was not needed, firefighters said.

Monroe Township Fire Department personnel also were sent to the scene, according to reports. A Conneaut rescue crew was dispatched to State Road at 1:53 p.m.

 

[jas67]

Probably had it connected to the three point hitch, and had it too high.

 

[Deerlope]

Whenever I read something like this I have to wonder how it was hitched. If anyone knows could you please post that information?

 

[Soundguy]

Me too... I'd like to see if it was a tractor or lawnmower.

If it was a boat trailer, it must have been on a ball hitch.. makes you wonder how he got it snatched backwards enough to roll.. or did it rear up, and sideroll.

soundguy

 

[CurlyDave]

I have seen far too many hitch balls on the 3 pt instead of on the drawbar.

 

[Jerry/MT]

He was probably pulling with the ball on a towbar mounted to the three point and had the hitch too high.

I know that winter's over for most of us but here's a safety tip for winter tractor use. If you park your tractor outside durring freezing weather after you start the machine ALWAYS BACK UP FIRST! If your tires freeze to the ground(frozen mud or water) and you try to go forward, the torque reaction with the drive wheels locked will flip you on your back. Under these kind of conditions, I' ve heard people say they will park with the tractor's nose against a fence, a tree, or a barn wall to make sure they have to back after starting.

Be safe out there now!

 

[laen64]

Thanks for that info Jerry! I thought it was cool doing the winter Wheelie. When you're young you just don't know DANGER!

 

[wkpoor]

I have seen far too many hitch balls on the 3 pt instead of on the drawbar.

Whats wrong with ball on the 3pt. Thats what make for versatility.

 

[rdbrumfield]

Yes it adds versatility, but if you know anything about physics, if you don't keep the ball as low as possible, level or below the rear axle you are looking for disaster in a hard pull. The other thing is that if the tractor does start to bring the frontend off the ground the 3pt will raise whether you lift it or not.

 

[CurlyDave]

Whats wrong with ball on the 3pt. Thats what make for versatility.

The price of that versatility is a tendency to overturn if whatever you are towing hangs up. Or if you use it for a hard pull.

 

[Soundguy]

Yes it adds versatility, but if you know anything about physics, if you don't keep the ball as low as possible, level or below the rear axle you are looking for disaster in a hard pull. The other thing is that if the tractor does start to bring the frontend off the ground the 3pt will raise whether you lift it or not.

Thast's why it's mandatory to use a drawbar lock, sway bars, and stays, if you run a ball on a 3pt drawbar.. keeps it from rotating, keeps it centered and not swinging, and keeps it down in case the nose of the tractor comes up.. or the front of the trailer goes gown.

most people ignore the stays and therin lies the problem..

soundguy

 

[6sunset6]

How about those log handlers on the three point . The chain attaches high , the 3 point lifts the log a bit and you can drag it away. Seems like with all the discussion about attaching too high this method would not be too safe. I just dragged out 10 logs like this.

 

[wincher]

May be this is why i always have my foot right at the clutch when i a on it. I fear rolling sideways, since all my property is on hills but never once have i not been able to push that clutch in fast enough to bring the front end back down while pulling way to many trees up out of the woods. Their must be something to be said about going through the weekend at .5 mph.

 

[dawoodwa]

We have used 3pt hitch mounted trailer balls for years. Not only the small ones but we use them to move gooseneck hitch cattle trailers. We load about 20000lbs of cows in the gooseneck trailers and pull them out of the pastures, up hills, across slopes with no problems.

Secret is............Use Enough Tractor

So many times people get hurt because they go beyond the capabilities of their machines. I see this with the smaller farm tractors and with small dozers and loaders. Whether you have it hooked to the drawbar or not, if you exceed the capacity of the machine you are in danger.

 

[rj's barn]

If you are going to pull a load with a tractor, pull it in reverse. Use chains, chokers, draw knots, whatever you need to do to get the nose of the load off the ground to make it moveable. It is almost impossible to get a tractor to nose over forward since the drive is in the rear. Physics is on your side when you are pulling in reverse. Be safe out there.

 

[Soundguy]

Tractors have drawbars in the rear.. not front!

while a front ball on a bumper is usefull for osing in small loads like tendering boat trailers.. or other small utility trailers.. pulling from the rear is the generally accepted method.. besides.. if you have chevron ag tread.. it -IS- directional..

soundguy

 

[foggy1111]

Yes it adds versatility, but if you know anything about physics, if you don't keep the ball as low as possible, level or below the rear axle you are looking for disaster in a hard pull. The other thing is that if the tractor does start to bring the frontend off the ground the 3pt will raise whether you lift it or not.

Hmmmm.....I've read this enough to take note of this issue. I use my box blade for ballast and just recently mounted a receiver hitch on the back of my box blade for convenience in towing stuff. I put a 2" ball with about a 6" drop on. It's located pretty far back from the draw bar....so I suppose I have lots of leverage on it. So far I have used it to pull some heavy logs and to move trailers around...without problems. But.....this post has me wondering if this is a good practice....have not given it much thought. I do not have stays...but keep my check chains pretty tight.

The part above...about the 3 point raising whether you lift of not....gives me concern.

 

[Soundguy]

A box blade on back does help you... it provides a stall point where it maxes out in height, and then is rigid, where the wheels will have to break traction.. ( or theBB or 3rd link has to fold.. etc.. )

soundguy

 

[foggy1111]

A box blade on back does help you... it provides a stall point where it maxes out in height, and then is rigid, where the wheels will have to break traction.. ( or theBB or 3rd link has to fold.. etc.. )

soundguy

OK....Thanks....sorta what I thought......but wouldn't a boat (like in OP's post) help too? Sometimes a pic is worth a thousand words.

One thing I have concerns about with that hitch on the back of my box blade (aside from safety).....is that I can sure put allot of pressure on my 3 point if not pulling straight....but it sure is handy.

 

[Soundguy]

In a pulling application.. IE.. a rolling load like a trailer.. if your 3pt will pick it up.. and you have check chains to keep the arms out of the tires.. you should be able to 'tend' trailers with no problem.

IMHO. I'd rather move a trailer with a ball on a BB than on a 3pt drawbar.. the BB sets back from the tractor and thus makes a lower angle stall point if the tractor nose did try to climb.

soundguy