TRactors and lightning

[Kubota-monkey]

These past few days the cold fronts and warm fronts have collided over my state and have produced some frequent t-storms. Now they seem to appear unexpectedly and I always seem to be caught out in the middle of it. The tractor engine and ear protection prevents me from hearing those loud boomers from far away.


I will get to the point- If a tractor is hit by lighting, is the operator safe like we are in a car or is it a serious hazard?
Happy TRactoring and play it safe-

 

[Roy]

I see two different answers. Since a tractor has rubber tires, I guess minimal ground potential (arc only), thus not an extreme hazard (but the potential is not zero, so there is still a risk).

But if a loader or implement is providing ground contact, a tractor presents a hazard which cars do not. Currents flow on the outer-most surfaces of any conductor (points farthest from the geometric center). When you're in a car, the current will travel around you. Take away the roof structure, and now your body and head now provide part of that outer-most structure.

 

[W5FL]

Just always remember that your odds are considerably better to get killed by lightning (not just hit) than to win the Texas lottery. Buy tickets accordingly. More people are killed by lightning each year than in all the tornadoes and hurricanes and all other weather related events in the US.

You are NOT safe on a tractor. When you detect lightning try to get you and the tractor in the barn. It is unusual (but not impossible) to have severe lightning strikes without also having rain which make you a well grounded target! /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

I had lightning hit our TV antenna when I was sleeping immediately under it in the house. It ran down a guy wire, hit a trellis wire and ran over 100 foot, knocked a 1 sq ft hole in the house, knocked the kitchen cabinet off the wall, jumped to the sink (which was grounded) and melted the lead out of over 100 foot of cast iron drain pipe. Wicked little stuff ain't it. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

I now have a 66 ft antenna tower that sets on a hilltop. It gets hit by lightning regularly. Sure makes a lot of noise, but it is well grounded and no damage is done. A friend's father was killed by lightning when he walked out of the house to simply roll up the windows on his car.

 

[Kubota-monkey]

Yes indeed lightning is an incredibly dangerous thing. A friend of mine had a father who would sit out on his front porch with his family and watch the t-storms come in. The lightning would travel through their house and one time it came through the screen door and onto the porch killing one of the family members.

 

[Bird]

Whew, compared to you guys, I've been lucky!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif One little lightning flash last year did kill one TV, one satellite receiver, two telephones, one lamp, and one alarm clock for me.

Bird

 

[MChalkley]

Statistics is an odd science. I've always maintained that, for most folks, winning the lottery would cause them to get struck by lightning within a few days' time.

Mark

 

[KCB]

You're probably at a fairly high risk if you're sitting on a large metal object, usually grounded by an implement, and out in the middle of a field. Maybe worse off than a golfer (I think this is Gods' way of punishing these guys for having too much leasure time). As well as a person may be protected in a car because of its faraday cage effect. Although rare, people in cars have been struck by lightening, as have people sitting in their houses. The guy in our FCC lab says that you can get struck by lightening almost anywhere. Some places are just more susceptible than others. N.C. is second only to FLA. in lightening related deaths, so it always bothers me when someone tries to de-emphasize your chances of dying from something by comparing it to your chances of getting struck by lightening.

 

[W5FL]

If you study lightning from a standpoint of protecting towers, radio equipment, and electronic equipment, you can simply consider it as a current source that will make all the voltage that it needs to jump the gap. It will jump the gap whether it is 1/16 inch or 10,000 feet. There is a lot of difference in the sound although the current flow is the same. One will just go snap and the other creates tremendous local heating and becomes a strong clap of thunder.

People used to have a lot more sense, but they have lost it as hundreds of thousands of people have moved to the rural areas. There WAS a reason why houses had lightning rods and they need them just as much today as they did then. People used to fear thunderstorms but many now just pay little attention until it causes death or a lot of damage. National Weather Service continues to correctly warn people to seek shelter when there is a severe thunderstorm warning.

 

[MarkV]

How effective are lighting rods on a house? We have considered them. You don't see to many, in our area, and I have had people say they just don't work well enough for what a system cost. Anyone have any information?

 

[W5FL]

I plan to add them to my house and barn. There is info on the web, but it is not very straighforward. If I find any more info on it I will post it in the Rural forum. They are effective. You can't build a building over 3 stories without them. Look closely and you will see little sharp points on a lot of structures. The reason people say it is not worth it is their attiutude is insure it and let someone else worry about it.

I live on a hill top location about 400 ft above Fort Worth. The insurance company will only pay off once. The second time they will cancel your policy when they pay that one. Their reasoning is that you seem to be in an area that is more apt to have continuing claims and we can't make any money that way.