Watch your little ones around Equipment!

[jclaudii]

I am writing this after the good Lord watched out for my baby girl (22 months old) on New Years Day. When I say little ones, the ones who do not yet understand the dangers of objects all the way, like my daughter. The older boys, 3 and 5 they know the dangers of equipment and stay away from it when it is running and operating. But with little ones, they don't yet know.

When I say my baby girl stuck her hand in the alternator vbelt/pulley of our MF35, It draws some pretty crazy and haunting images in ones mind. This tractor has a ball on the front bumper and I was attaching a trailer to the front. She was on the trailer and hopped off and I was within arm reach of her as she rounded my back side by the front tire. I saw this happening in slow motion and in one swift quick motion, I snatched her up, but I snatched her up at the exact same time her hand went in. I think my reaction and that of my wife scared her more; there was blood and all fingers were there, but as an adult, our minds fathom the very worst when hands go into equipment. We rushed her just next door where my mother in law, a nurse was with her man a first responder fireman as they were working on a house. They checked it quickly over and taped it up with gauze on a piece of flooring they were installing in case it was broke. They went to the emergency room while I would follow later.

A few hours later and some very nasty glares from my wife, we get the xrays back and nothing is broke just bruised. No fingers missing, just some skin that scrapped off and some nicks...not deep cuts. Amazing! Lord was watching out for her that day.

My 5 year old even asked me why I did not turn the tractor off like I always do, just need to keep safety on the mind, always...anytime.

So please be safe and do the extra steps and always think the worst to help prevent it.

Stay safe in this new year!

 

[adirondackmtnman]

Glad she's OK. Thank you for sharing.

Sent from my LGL35G using TractorByNet

 

[Wagtail]

Thank you very much for sharing, Mate.

God bless.

 

[k0ua]

Whew! You dodged a bullet man. Glad she is OK. Thanks for posting.

 

[Hamor]

Thank god that you saw her in time and that night mare of having to live with what could have been really bad. I think when we work with our tractor's we are looking out for us being safe ,but with anyone else around it's not easy to keep an eye on them too ( a lot more so with kids) There so fast , one minute there standing beside you and safe, and the next there halfway across the yard. I'll be thinking of this mishap the next time the grand kids are around . Glad everything turned out ok.

 

[jclaudii]

With my nephews and my 3 and 5 year old, I'm there teaching them and telling them what I am doing so they can learn something. When I have to move the equipment and not do any "real work" one can ride with me, or I set them in a place where they can watch and I can see all of them. It is ideal to have two people helping you out, but when mama needs a break, you can't just stop what you were doing. I have to bundle up the kiddos and let them come along. I usually burn them out within an hour, but the little one would stay out there till dark just being daddy's little helper.

I will be making a shield for the alternator and making or finding a proper shield for the fan blade. One for safety for kiddos and myself, but also to keep debris out. I have drove through some pretty rough grown up areas brush hogging and I always wonder how that belt stays on and the alternator does not get ripped off. The headlight got ripped of doing just that. I googled alternator shield, and I seen some ideas and some factory looking ones that were on some mf models and some ford n models. Any ideas would be welcomed.