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Be carefull out there


metaldr

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Sorry if this in not posted in the proper forum but I thought this just might be a good wake up call for all of us. A man died Tuesday less than 10 miles from my home in what is described as a "freak" accident after getting his lawn tractor stuck in a small ditch. Quoting our local police chief who is also an investigator with the medical examiner's office "Mr. Edwards got off the lawn mower to attempt to free it out of the ditch. During the course of freeing the lawn mower, the lawn mower looked like it was freed from the ditch, it ran him over and pinned him." The article then states, "The 20-horsepower Cub Cadet riding lawn tractor weighs about 700 pounds." He was able to call for help but by the time a passer-by and a neighbor were able to get the tractor off it was too late and Mr. Edwards died at the scene. This information came from Thursday's (June 24th) edition of "The Saginaw News"
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Thanks for the refresher. It is real easy to become accustomed to the work we do with these and that is what ends up nailing us. I got the first two fingers of my right hand mashed due to a stupid thing I did. No fixing that once it is done. sm02
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I had a couple near rollovers back in college mowing along hillsides years ago. Fortunately I was able to counter steer out of them but one was almost a 4" lift before I got it down. That's an eye opener when it's a 200 ft grade. It should never be forgotten that we deal in HEAVY lawn equipment with NO appreciable safety systems. It changes how you treat them when you realize the machine does not care or know what or who it has on or under it. That makes them simple and fun to use, but like bull riding it can get not fun quickly.
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Thats why I filled in 200 feet of ditch with drain pipe and dirt in the front of my house after I purchased it. There was no way I was going to try to cut that for the rest of my life. However the previous owner did it for 25 years. And she was a woman. Her husband died before the house was completed. Its been smooth sailing ever since I did that project. I think I cut the ditch for 1 year and said enough of that. I dont know how the old lady did it. I remember the day my wife drove my 6216 up the kids swing set and it would have flipped over, except for the fact that the back of the seat deck got stuck in the ground and the tractor just stood there in upright position. She fell off but did not get hurt. Your right, be careful out there.
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I see people on these forums having their children or grandchildren operating tractors all the time and it scares me to death to think what could happen when an inexperienced rider gets in a bad situation. Only once I myself can remember of that could have been bad and it was not that big a deal but could have been much worse. Backing up a tractor to get aound something into a tree that had a branch that had been cut off (with a nice point in it) right about seat height it caught me in the back and then the sensation made me jerk the hydro lever further backward. It still hurts to think about that one. Be careful when little Audry or Arthur want to take the tractor for a spin out there.
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I'm one of the lucky ones. Last week I needed to cut my backyard but in order to get to it I have to drive my B-110 down a steep hill to get to the flat bottom. I have a "safe" spot that I always us to get to the bottom, not as steep and no roots sticking out from nearby trees. I decided to drive up the hill next to the safe lane to cut a bigger area and almost made it to the top when the tractor's back wheels started spinning on some exposed tree roots. I pushed in the clutch and started to slide back down the hill but at the last second the tires somehow caught traction, I think I let offthe clutch just enough for the transmission belt to engage, and the tractor lunged forward. The frontend started to lift up like a bucking horse rears up, I new I had to bail somehow. I remember starting to twist off to my left but the tractor caught me and we both tumbled down head over heels to the bottom, maybe a 20 ft roll when all said and done. I had that shocked sensation when we came to rest at the bottom, the tractor had me pinned, Most of me under the rear wheels, my ankle pinned underneath the deck, the tractor sat sideways on top of me. The fall threw the belts from the deck,the engine had stopped then started briefly, then finally flooded itself out on top of me. My 4 and 2 year old boys were playing at the bottom on their playset and saw the whole thing. I told the oldest to run up the hill to the house and get Mommy, who is 8 months pregnant with our 3rd boy. She came down in absolute shock. I asked her to get a shovel to use it as leverage to at least get my ankle loose because it was pinned on the sharp edge of the deck and I think I could have wiggled out with it free. She could not and was beginning to panic, my 4 yr old was trying to push the tractor as well. Out of nowhere my neighbor arrived, later he said he heard me cutting grass and then suddenly nothing and thought that was strange enough to check out. He is a small guy but in great shape, he was able to roll the tractor off of me up hill, I was pinned on the down side. I popped right up, very sweaty, my whole left side from ankle to armpit bruised and cut but ok. My shorts got ripped and melted on my right side and my ribs hurt pretty good. At the time, I was very mad at myself, I knew better. I always get hurt doing the dumbest things. I flipped the tractor back over, the roll had knocked off the muffler and bent the steering wheel. I was so out of it that I fixed the muffler and put the belts back on and started that tractor right up and drove it slowly up the safe side to the garage. I went to the doctor the next day figuring I better see about my ribs. The doctor said I was the luckiest guy he had seen, only bruised ribs, nothing broken, all my plumbing seems to be ok. He told me God had mercy on me. I pray every night that I can see my boys grow up to be good men, fathers, strong Christians. God was watching over me that day and protected me, it was nothing short of a miracle and prayers answered. Needless to say, I'll be pushmowing that part of the lawn now and taking life a little slower, easier. I thank God for good neighbors. I only wish this post was a week earlier and I might have thought twice, but I thank METALDR now for putting it out there. Be careful out there fellas, J-P
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That reminds me of the safe intervention my uncle had some years ago. He has a literal dozen full size 50s Deere high-wheelers and a saw mill. Normally one to be decently dressed, this day he was wearing his rougher overalls while he was using his sawmill driven by a pto. Partly into the process as he had done for 40 yrs before, he fired up and made some adjustments to the tractor and leaned forward for something. That allowed the edge of his coat to catch the PTO shaft(which had no guards) and drew him in like a winch. I do not remember how many revolutions he went through, but it was something like 5 or 6 before his clothing permitted him to go free. He managed to stand up and hobble back the half mile to the house, stark naked. All told, he only had a few bruised ribs and a massively bruised ego, but that was quite the lesson about loose clothing and shafts.
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I have hilly property with lots of dangerous steep terrain. Getting off the tractor instantly is what bikers call "doing a get off". If the front end is coming up you can't swing one leg over as it will not clear the rearing up tractor. You have to do a back get off. Let's say it is a right side, back side get off, you lean back and to the right and kick with your right leg and then with your left leg and land on your back to the right of the tractor. If the left side looks better, lean back and kick left. If the tractor is out of control going backwards down an embankment, but not rearing up, you bike pedal up and over the front of the tractor and do a front get off (if the tractor design makes that the best escape). The main thing is to have the best get off plans for your tractor already in your mind before the main event and get off early. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when you tank your first tractor. There is plenty of time to bemoan the damage later. There is almost no time to do a good get off. You have to do it immediately.
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quote:
Originally posted by Tiny
I see people on these forums having their children or grandchildren operating tractors all the time and it scares me to death to think what could happen when an inexperienced rider gets in a bad situation. Be careful when little Audry or Arthur want to take the tractor for a spin out there.
Ditto. I also see a lot of people and hear of a lot of people letting their kids ride on the tractor while they mow the lawn. That's a big no no, cause if something goes wrong you have two people to worry about. I let the kids ride on the tractor when I'm hauling a wagon around the house or inside the cab during the winter blowing snow on a flat driveway. I never let the kids on the tractor when the mower deck is on or I'm using implements. Thankfully I've got a newer tractor with electronic safeties and an electric pto clutch, unfortunately if they fall off and go under the mower deck the safeties aren't going to do anything when my butts still on the seat. Another bad one is when kids follow the tractor everywhere. It's real easy to forget they're back there and I've heard of too many kids getting run over by a lawnmower that's backing up.
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In response to the "backing over kids" they came up with the anti-backup lockout when mowing. The problem with it is, in my opinion the holding a button and trying to steer at the same time could be more distracting than the initial problem they mean to correct. Anyone had this thought?
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quote:
Originally posted by dentwizz
In response to the "backing over kids" they came up with the anti-backup lockout when mowing. The problem with it is, in my opinion the holding a button and trying to steer at the same time could be more distracting than the initial problem they mean to correct. Anyone had this thought?
It's a major PITA, I can attest to that. I don't have it on mine, but I've used some newer tractors with it.
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I noticed Husqvarna made a different variant where you can turn the key to a different position with a big warning label to make it reversible. At least someone was thinking there. A locked out hydro is just contradictory:O
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