Have a friend that had a close call earlier this week.

This friend grew up around farming but it was with little TO-30s and Ford 9Ns. He is in his early 70s and had a light stroke a year ago. He has "moments" now when he just does not seem to think things through.

He wanted to move his boy's JD 4430 with a quad-range transmission. He has drove the tractor some but not a lot. He could not get the tractor to crank. He thought he had it in PARK. HE did not!!!! He had the left lever pulled back and the right lever forward. This is why it would not crank. So he jumped the starter solenoid with a screw driver. Luckily it was in reverse not a forward gear. He got out of the way but the tractor took off down the driveway. It hit his pickup and totaled it. The tractor was not damaged in the accident.

His pickup was on it's last legs anyway. So he only had liability coverage on it.

I talked to his son today and mentioned they may want to think about him even driving a pickup with the way he is acting. It is like he is a kid again at times. He just does not reason things out correctly anymore.

This shows you to never try to operate something you are not familiar with and to NEVER bypass start a tractor. It was lucky that things did not turn out worse.

Problem is that so much of the time folks like that don't realize that they HAVE a problem. Convincing them can be quite difficult. I only hope when the time comes that I will smart enough to turn in my keys.

Our ex hired man did the same thing...jumped a 4020 with it in gear and got pulled under rear wheel. Wasn't as lucky as your friend.

JD I think most of us get up every morning with a sound mind and we still do stupid things from time to time. I know I have and got the marks to show for it. One of my close friends got pinned between a MF tractor and a Kubota RTV last year for over 6 hours until the rancher that owned the property next to her found her. Luckily she was not hurt very bad but spent a few days in the hospital. She had changed the fuel filter on the tractor when it went down in the field and was standing in front of the rear wheel when reached up and turn the key. Starter interlocked had been bypassed tractor started just for a couple of seconds before it died but long enough to pin her to the Kubota. Most of the equipment we use and work on is inherently dangerous even if its just our hobby much less farming with it. I hope if I get to the point that I'm a danger to myself or other people someone in my family steps in and stops me before there is an accident. But it's hard to convince people like us that we can't do something we have always done anymore. I see it in my father everyday he's pushing 80 and you better not try and tell him he doesn't need to something. Just my thoughts Glad your friend is Ok

Yrs ago mother Deere had a campaign to install shields on the starters to keep this very thing from happening.

Last I looked it still was active PIP. Deere once had safety display showing the dangers of bypass starting. I saw it at the major farm shows.

Sounds like the mans son has removed the shield that would have prevented this accident.

A farmer I worked for in high school did it with an 8630. It ran him over. They say the only thing that saved him was the ground was real muddy where it was parked and he fell between the duals. It messed him up pretty bad. He had a broken hip and some other things, but he recovered and is back farming now.

I had a close one this winter as well. I painted up my 65 massey and was putting it back together. When I put the battery in it the wires on the starter were loose and touching, well it took right off and went through the garage door. my pickup was parked in front of the door, luckily it ran out of fuel as it made contact with my truck. the door ended up on top of my truck. I hadn't brushed the snow off from it yet so it only had a few scratches. There wasn't a seat or steering wheel on the tractor so there was no getting on to push in the clutch. Just stand back and watch her go. Luckily I got away with just buying a new door, could've been alot worse.

Neighbor did similar thing on 4020, was pinned between wall and rear tire. He survived but was crippled for the last 7-8 years of his life.

Last year I was helping a friend do the same thing with a 4430. He SAID it was in park. I jumped the solenoid and it was in forward. The read tire hit me, but knock me away. Tractor and swather headed across field. He had been starting it like that for a while. GET IT FIXED.

Fella here 15 years ago jumped a 4430 with duals and resides in the cemetery now.

My dad had judgement issues after his stroke. He could physically do anything, but would not think about the consequences.

Keep an eye on him and make sure he is safe.

The problem is that the brain does not recognize the injury, so it is OK to them.

My older brother jumped our 970 case in the shed one time. The colenoid was bad and we always parked it in neutral, cept someone didn't. It started and hit a cultivator along the wall which started it climbing then it hit the post and kept climbing til the drawbar hit the dirt and the tires spun out. Sat there running with the tires spinning til my brother worked up the nerve to climb in and shut it off. Had to hire a tow truck to come and lift it down. Ended up buying 1 new rear tire and 1 front and replacing a few sheets of tin on the shed. Could have been much worse. Dad fixed the solenoid the same day.

Things do happen quick all right. Just a couple days ago I was mowing some BLM land for fire control next to a housing project. The girl ranger came to see me. By the time I got my goggles, dust mask , and radio off, she was right next to my tractor. My foot was still on the clutch. After talking to her for a few minutes without thinking I let the clutch out. She was standing right in front of the rear wheel. She jumped real quick out of the way. The girl wasen't hard to look at either. I guess I got distracted by her good looks. Stan

Dang he was lucky not to be caught by the front wheel. Sounds like time to take away all the keys. Hate doing it but it must be done for us all eventually

I do jump a tractor once in a while and always check to if it's in gear and I still just bump the starter first a few times to see if the tractor moves.

(quoted from post at 12:58:41 06/08/13) Things do happen quick all right. Just a couple days ago I was mowing some BLM land for fire control next to a housing project. The girl ranger came to see me. By the time I got my goggles, dust mask , and radio off, she was right next to my tractor. My foot was still on the clutch. After talking to her for a few minutes without thinking I let the clutch out. She was standing right in front of the rear wheel. She jumped real quick out of the way. The girl wasen't hard to look at either. I guess I got distracted by her good looks. Stan

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It's hard to explain to people why to not get close or approach a tractor... And where to not stand when hitching implements or helping out.

I started a kubota L 175 , with my on the clutch, when I was much younger, took my knee off, and the darn thing was in gear. The rear wheel climbed up my right leg, do I pushed the tractor into a 275 gallon fuel tank, right beside the other wheel. It stalled out and I knocked it out og gear, and it rolled back down my leg, not a scratch or bruise. Good thing it wasn't American, coulda killed me!

We had a hired man who could only be described as "dangerous" around anything with a motor, even a lawn-mower. He couldn't figure out why a 90HP utility tractor was having a hard time pulling a hay rake one day, because he left the park brake on, and started parking it in gear so he wouldn't forget the brake, after being told not to because we had had it for 12 years and it had never been parked in gear in that time. Then he almost ran my uncle over because he did.

JD, thanks for the post. Made me think. I have jumped solenoids for many years. I think I will change my habits. Glad your friend is OK. I have learned a lot from this site. Lots of safety issues I just never thought about.