What is wrong with this picture??

[LD1]

Everything we do in life is a danger. There are far more people killed in car crashes than tractors. Sometimes its the kids in the car that get killed. Wether the parents fault or not. Is the kid able to decide for himself??

The kid in the pic appears to be around 8 years old. That is old enough to understand what he is doing to some degree. He knows he must hold on. It's not like he is a 3 month old baby just sitting on the fender.

I have a nephew that is 7 years old. He is always wanting to get on the tractor whenever anyone is driving. Sometimes I even let him sit on my lap and drive. It just lights up his day whenever he gets to to do that. You just have to use common sense and be careful when having a rider. I would never consider letting him ride if I was bushhogging or the like. But moving a bucket load of junk out of the shop to and fro, or loading a bucket of firewood up, no big deal IMO.

 

[milkman]

I raised my kids safe, kept them under the bed till I realized that the bed could fall and hurt them.:confused2::confused2::confused2::confused2:

 

[Duffster]

That kid should have a helmet on and be locked in a rubber room until he is 18. Then we could start more threads about why "kids" in their early twenties are worthless these days.

 

[LD1]

That kid should have a helmet on and be locked in a rubber room until he is 18. Then we could start more threads about why "kids" in there early twenties are worthless these days.

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

I couldn't agree more

 

[The Haymaker]

Foresight.

Risk acceptance/aversion.


There have been numerous posts lately of childhood tractor deaths while riding on a tractor, in FEL or otherwise.

I think we should start posting links to children killed in car crashes.

Adding "In FEL" kinda skews the data doesn't it? That's a far cry from being on the tractor when it comes to risk. Bottom line is what I have said the last 5000 times this "I'm smarter than thou" type of thread has been started: You continue giving your kids heart disease because they aren't allowed off the couch, I will continue teaching mine the skills he will use later in life.

 

[sld]

I just have to say "Big Deal"!

You can make the argument that "something" will happen to you while doing just about anything.

That kid is learning respect for equipment because he is old enough to realize that if he falls off he might get hurt.

 

[The Haymaker]

I just have to say "Big Deal"!

You can make the argument that "something" will happen to you while doing just about anything.

That kid is learning respect for equipment because he is old enough to realize that if he falls off he might get hurt.

*this*:thumbsup:

 

[LD1]

I just have to say "Big Deal"!

You can make the argument that "something" will happen to you while doing just about anything.

That kid is learning respect for equipment because he is old enough to realize that if he falls off he might get hurt.

*this*:thumbsup:

I couldn't agree more.

 

[TripleR]

A picture while interesting and apparently able to spark debate doesn't really tell you all that much. Who really knows the maturity level of either of those on the tractor or under what conditions the tractor is operated. I also grew up riding on the fender of my dad's tractor or on the seat of the planter etc as well as walking along the back rail of the wheat drill to make sure seed was flowing properly. I also had to hop off from time to time to check for proper depth then catch up with and jump back on the moving drill. I stood on a moving trailer kicking un-shelled corn down as it came out of the combine.

Like others, I drove a tractor when I had to flip the seat back and stand up to reach the pedals as my legs were too short. I felled and worked up timber with a double bit ax and cross cut saw.

This is what kids did when I was growing up and no child was injured in our extended community.

When I was farming, I did the same with my son and on the way back to the house stopped to shoot supper from time to time with a .22 pistol.

Yes, times have changed and so have I to some extent, but I am not going to preach to someone else I don't know about how to raise their children.

My grand children have not been raised around tractors in operation every day, and I am not as good as I used to be, so I won't put one on any of my tractors unless it has a cab and then only putting down the road at about one or two mph and certainly not while doing any work. I won't judge others regardless of my comfort level.

 

[The Haymaker]

That poor abused endangered child will never learn anything by riding on a tractor, school is the only place learning can occur. Before long he'll be answering stupid questions on TBN instead of asking them. MikeD74T

No he won't! Haven't you figured out that the laws of physics will change, up will become down, gravity will reverse, a sinkhole will suddenly appear and toss the poor lad into oblivion, the bucket will fail and flip rapidly up and over squashing him like a bug? A 747 will fail to dodge a high flying Canadian goose at 28,000 feet, causing it to ricochet upwards and strike Joe Kittinger''s wandering balloon, causing it to fall at a very high rate of speed and strike the poor lad on the cranium? The long lost rops will fall from the next tree, crushing him? A 1% upgrade will cause the tractor to flip backwards because the operator and his inhumanly super slow reflexes had him pushing the hst too long?

I'm out of ideas as to what could happen.... I'm going back to bed, I don't dare to go outside myself now!

 

[texasjohn]

Haymaker, sorry you are having such nightmares....hope your nap makes things all better.

Dorramide, first time poster, anticipating your future posts with photos of projects in progress.

 

[DJ4wd]

While certainly not the most safe practice, it falls under the category of , I'm not his dad.
Without trying to get anyone bent up I will say that all my kids have grown up on and around tractors. Their Grandpa's got them, all of our neighbors do as well. My daughter broke her foot severely(major surgery), and collar bone twice. Our youngest boy broke his leg,and our oldest Im sure has had a finger or two as well. None of these were on a tractor, nor there 4wheelers or dirt bikes. I grew up on the fender of an AC, I've had all of mine on them, albeit it was in a flat field. Accidents happen all the time and who's to say when or where it will be.

 

[Duffster]

, I'm not his dad.

Enough said right here.

 

[Dixie379]

I kind of agree with all the posters here. Sure, it is/can be dangerous, depends on circumstances and experience, etc etc. I don't have any two legged kids myself, but I've been around/had kids around equipment and animals. Some kids have some of the safety sense, others don't. Just like some adults do, some don't.

One pic doesn't really show me enough to judge 'em. Bout the only thing I'd inject for opinion is that if it were ME, and IF I put a kid on the fender, Id never turn so that my back faces em. I know most wouldn't have a child on the fender at all, but just as it's been said, some of us grew up differently and it really depends on each individual(s) involved.

 

[bigballer]

when i was little i would sit next to my mom on the riding mower and next to my dad on the bigger tractors. i guess she thought the mower was safe but motorcyles and football weren't because i was only allowed to ride a 3 wheelers (yah those are safe) and play baseball and basketball. kooky if you ask me. anyway growing up in ND there wasn't much risk of tipping the tractor over due to slope because there weren't any hills around unless you went to the gravel pit.

 

[kattywumpus]

When I was very young, so many years ago, I use to riding on the tractor like in the picture on Kebo first posting. Unfortunately one day in the field the tractor rear wheel dropped in a hidden hole. The resulting sudden movement caused me to lose my grip and fall backward off the tractor. I was somewhat lucky, in the fact we were towing the fertilizer spreader that day and not one of the larger implement. It looks like a real large version of a lawn seeder and fertilizer spreader. Well before my father could stop the tractor I was run over by one of the spreader wheels. Of course this resulted in a doctor or hospital visit, I don't remember which one and it doesn't matter. Luckily I had no broken bones, but I did have soft tissue damage and was in pain for a few days. If I remember correctly my Mother made sure my Father was in pain far longer then I was. After that incident there was no more shotgun riding for anyone. Kebo concern is a valid one.

The more I think about this the more I remember. I know I didn't have enough experience or knowledge to understand the risks or dangers. And after the accident I did not want to be around any farm equipment for sometime. Even when I was in my teens some of the equipment made me nervous. For example we had an old John Deere model L tractor. I love the tractor but totally hated the firewood saw attachment that mounted to the front of the tractor. I couldn't help visualizing tripping on something falling into the saw or the large wide long belt that drove the saw. Either the saw or belt had a guard. We cut a lot firewood on that tool and to this day I still think it was the most dangerous tool I ever used.
 
The link before is a picture of a similar firewood saw but this one far safer then the one we used since there are guards on the blade and the belt is not so exposed. I would have been far more comfortable using this saw.
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/maplehillfrm/?action=view&current=100_3274.jpg God did I hate that saw!