killer tractors???

How is what I am about to do going to kill me?

How is what I am about to do going to remove any of my fingers, hands, arms, toes, feet, legs, nose, eyes, ears, or head?

One simple rule on tractors: kill the tractor before it kills you.

If I am mowing, kill the mower then kill the tractor.

If I am baling, kill the baler then kill the tractor.

If other implements are on the tractor, lower the 3 point, kill the tractor.

Nothing you do with a tractor is worth the risk of being killed.

All the millions of A's, B's, H's and M's, The N's, TO's and TE's, and every other old school tractors built weren't overwhelmed with saftey devices, but they logged trillions of hours in the field where NO ONE was injured or killed. In every case where someone fell "victim", they made some sort of error.

There's a story that is floating around on the internet about an operator that got crushed under the rear wheels of a cabbed tractor that slid backwards into a manure lagoon. He stepped out with the rear wheels spinning still, and was swept under the tires. How was THAT the fault of the tractor? Answer? It WASN'T.

Sometimes it doesn't take a Darwin candidate. Just a simple mistake like hitting a groundhog hole while bush hogging can pitch an operator off the tractor and UNDER a mower. Farm work is inherently dangerous. It ain't a bunch of little old ladies playing bridge. Things go wrong. People get killed. I know of 3 incidents where experienced, safe, intelegent, and CAREFUL farmers were killed when something totally unexpected happened. They sure weren't Darwin candidates, but I had to be a paul bearer none the less.

Larry in Michigan

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