pic for safety police?

Saw this and went back for pic. Is this as dumb as I think?

Yep...some people just don't think things through very well!

Know a guy whose son got his feet under the mower. Guy is regretting that the rest of his life.

Anyone think that they can fix stupid before an accident happens?

Name me someone who hasn't given his kid a ride on a tractor.

jon f.,

If he is just giving him a ride with deck not engaged, then I'm ok with it.

But if he is mowing... even that is not quite as DUMB AS IT GETS!

When son was about 5, in-laws watched our kids for the afternoon. I went to pick the kids up...

and FIL was mowing with his Fordson pulling his huge Woods 3-point mower behind it (about the biggest Woods you can get). Our son was standing on a plank on the drawbar of the tractor... one bump hit by FIL or one stumble by our son - and there wouldn't have been anything remaining of our little boy to even pick up off the ground and put in a casket.

I made it REAL CLEAR to my FIL and MIL that this WON'T EVER, EVER, EVER HAPPEN AGAIN!!

not condoning it at all; however, sitting down on the floorboard of a zero turn is a lot safer than sitting on a leg or the lap of someone operating a tractor style mower. maybe even safer than being in the yard playing. not advocating, just saying.

Definately mowing, and not wasting any time. And not in his yard either, he's a pro doing a church yard.

That certainly does complicate the matter. I imagine most of us do some things at home on our own time we would never do at work.
It also explains why dry thin grass that I wouldn't waste the time and gas on is getting cut!

You just want to jump out of the car, run over and choke some sense into the guy.

nice flat level yard--got no problem with it

Former classmate of mine lost his boy in a UTV accident about five years ago My classmate was driving, the boy was 3 or 4 years old. Community drew together, had benefit drives to help pay off hospital bills and such. If you drive by his place today and he'd out mowing, you'll see the same thing - him mowing with another boy on his lap. Makes you believe in natural selection.

I want to give my kids rides on the tractors, but they're all open station. I don't want one "harmless" ride to cause the death or disfigurement of my kid....

You know, I agree with you, on the other hand that is about how 90% of us kids grew up on the farm to be honest, one way or another.

You learned to think on your feet and keep your wits about you at a very young age.

Tradgeties are always tragic, and I don't say you are wrong in your judgement, but I wouldn't trade my upbringing for anything. I did not get but one or 2 mower rides, but I was operating tractors when I was 8 years old, was riding along picking up rocks before that, hang on.

Paul

Oh, as a professional job for hire, he wouldn't be back on my property. That's a whole different deal, liability and all. My comments above were on a person at home with their own kids on their equipment on their property.

Paul

I was probably... 5 or 6 when I first got to ride on a tractor. And it was always sitting on a lap with no implements behind. It was many, many years before I was able to drive one by my lonesome (14, maybe). When mowing? Forget about it.

I don't like people to even be close to me when I am mowing or using implements. Too dangerous. It's bad enough me having to watch out for myself and the equipment at all times. I only let someone ride along if I am not pulling anything behind.

Safe??? I don't know, probably not really.....BUT......At the age of 4. Yes 4 years old, I started mowing on the new simplicity rider dad bought. By the time I was 6, I was mowing 5 acres of grass for pay, plus mom and dads yard.

All depends on the kid. My brother, not so much. He is still dangerous, Lol.

Two kids here in SW Fl have been mangled by riding mowers.......... both on the ground and run over. Kids need to be on the machine or in the house. Try fighting a kid that wanted to ride with daddy. SAFETY FIRST,LAST AND ALWAYS. but Stupid is as Stupid does.

I just saw something else, When I first saw him the kid was sitting further forward with his feet hanging over the front. That's what originally upset me enough to turn around. If you look close you will see a black handle that sticks up and the kid was holding onto that. I do have to say that so far I agree with most all the posts which either makes me undecided or a hypocrite which ever you like. I've done all the things said so far. My oldest son nearly grew up riding in the cab of my 1370 case and combine, but those were inside. Still not safe, but safer and now I feel very lucky. I started riding very young and driving by 7 or so. But never with a mower or while doing actual work.

Bingo.

I was mowing my parents yard with supervision and a walk behind mower the summer after kindergarten. The next summer I was mowing it without supervision.

Loved it!

Of course, today the nanny state would put my parents in jail.

Dean

Just because "we have all done it" (BS, I've never given a kid a ride on anything that was working or mowing) doesn't make it safe. Call the ambulance or take that kid the ER with an injury from riding like that and you may be real sorry.

Rick

We routinely see our next door neighbor let his kids ride on a riding mower with him. We also see him out on the road in his pickup with his six year old boy sitting in his lap steering the thing. Then, there was the time his wife went flying down the road on a four-wheeler steering with her right hand, a one-year-old baby on her left arm, and both little boys perched on the back.

And he's a Deputy Sheriff.

None of these things are friendly to flesh, I think they ought to have a demonstration and send a side of beef or something of the sort through a rotary cutter, with an audience safely protected, but viewing the results.

What is ironic, is how many of us rode the fender or anything of the sort when we were kids ? We did get away with it. Never hit that bump, ground hornets nest, broke a front axle or hit a chuck hole, swiped off by a limb, slid down a hill or how many other scenarios. Are we more conscious now, or were our parents idiots ? LOL ! I don't have the answer to that.

I'd like to say, sure its fine I did it, and I'm still here, unscathed, but we heard about farmer Joe up over yonder who baled his kids up, (true story somewhere around here). That alone kept my distance from that pick up, we did hand feed it a few times, I ran it, but I knew what a mistake meant. All people, kids etc. are different, its extremely hard to assess a kids character, and their level of respect for things that they may not have realized how dangerous this equipment really is. Some learn and know very quickly, others may need a boot in the behind to grasp the concept of tearing flesh, the weight of a tractor wheel, how fast it happens, even though you may think you are quick enough, you are NOT.

In '06, just over the hill, a man running a 640 Ford and a rotary cutter while on rough or unknown terrain, got bounced out of the seat, run over by the tractor, (which I hope killed him first) and was then run through the mower, this was an ugly scene,blood and guts, torn limbs, massive gouges, rips and tears, + hard core blunt trauma. I have seen a fawn go through mine at full throttle, a small kid ain't going to fare any better. Long time farmer friend had a man, an older semi-retired farmer get taken up to his waste in the silo blower or some darned thing that could do this, I was too young, but the paramedic, who responded told me the details, a few years back, he said it was like when someone is pinned, they look fine and are coherent, but die as soon as the pressure is off. This man was in a similar situation and they were good friends. Hard to deal with.

People are still going to play chicken with this equipment, its fine, won't happen to me right ?

I can only recall my experience with equipment at young age, having a lot of exposure with our dealership, what we owned and being around when the farmer worked our fields, all of it commanded respect, you learned this at a young age and you listened and respected instructions when you were involved or were told to stay clear. It was just that simple. I rode in my dads lap on a 2010 wide front with a loader, I recall him driving up along the power lines to check out a brush fire, from a hill, that was just a ride. I used to ride on the D7, lots of room and safe on the flat, but I knew what would happen if I went out onto the track or touched the exhaust stack. I remember at the dealership one evening, someone was backing the C series ford roll off, tilt tray winch truck into the garage bay, and I think my kick ball was in its path, "don't go near that", I watched it pop, lesson to be learned, I got a new one, it had just happened to roll in its path, did not belong in a shop, but you know how that goes with kids around, was after hours. You learn from these things, I'd never chase a ball after that if it went into the road or similar.


It takes a graphic depiction to get the point across. We have 115,000 volt transmission lines bisecting our land. When I was a kid I was shown a photo of burnt sneakers, and was told there was nothing much left of the kid who climbed one of the towers. Never went near them for any reason. It worked.

I think its good to teach and expose them young and not shelter them, but don't be inattentive for a moment, ever, my parents were inattentive and I paid for it as a child, you can't parent like that, its a huge mistake, more so around a farm. There is a time and place for things, rush it and you will regret it.

I rode the fender while my father ran a rotary mower, mower conditioner, opposite side and the rotary cutter, often like it was my job, but not so much the baler, as he would have me run it, so he could sling bales, after the troublesome thrower was removed, bales were too heavy for me to lift or gather til I got older. I used to stack in the wagon behind the thrower, that was always fun, but also grabbed bales from the end of the chamber and there was no chute or tray. You had to stand on the wagon tongue. We baled hills where all of us clung to the side of the wagon to ballast the uphill side, I am looking towards that field as I type, minus the home there now. None of this I would do for any reason now. My father got ticked off at the darned baler, always something until he had a friend get it in tune, I was in the wagon, he stopped suddenly and I was thrown on the ground right behind the baler, while it was running at full throttle, and had enough sense to roll away from the path of the wagon as soon as I touched, not every kid will do that, I knew and had those kinds of reactions, quick reflexes. He never saw it happen. I still remember the spot in the field and think of it when I cut that field now. I think back about riding that fender, I'd just never do the same with a kid riding along. We had an open station '64 4000 Ford SOS, he'd stop, take a water break, I'd chase critters. I knew what that mower could do, with the independent PTO he paused when in thick burdock like we used to have, to shred them up but good. I soon ran that tractor and others, doing all sorts of things, mostly mowing, way too young and not all that experienced, I never had any issues, I sort of wish I had someone to instruct me more, but I did learn early. There is a high risk, but also a benefit, I think the risk still outweighs the benefit. The worst was cutting the same fields and areas with a 2010 narrow front, a lot different than the ford that someone screwed up with a transmission oil change. I remember the side hill pucker factor, for the first time with that 2010 NF, I suppose it was not steep enough, and I cut there with the ford to this day, our parents in those days just never took the time, like we would now, to instruct or teach a kid, and get into the details. I cut that same area now with an 850 ford and I think back about this, man if that thing ever went over, no one told me how different these tractors are. I grew up around this stuff, knew better, but my father was complacent enough that I could have easily gotten in trouble. Cripes, I used to fuel up down the state road, at a mobil station and have been on tractors on the road before, but never had any real instruction, nor any issues, I did pull over to let traffic pass and did use care, I learned but... who would let their kid run a tractor down the road with little or no experience. One time the hydraulics failed and the mower dropped to the pavement, don't even recall how I figured that one out. I even had a friend ride the fender once, just took a tractor ride on the farm, and here I was really not old enough by todays standards, the things we did .... not good LOL ! Same rig sent a round rock flying out the front side of the mower and it went over the hedgerow, I saw it, could have taken my head off, and the tractor into the trees, running with the wheels spinning, I was a freshman in HS, by that time had several years experience, can you imagine your parents finding you like that? One has to take this seriously.

I was passing a hayfield nearby a few years back and I see my farmer friend out there baling with the NH 315, and there was a kid in the cab of the 4440, I used to think back when he baled here, he'd stop and I'd ride along, some things never change, and he was a good sort, always fun to work with, great sense of humor, he smoked a pipe then, and now he's kind of laid up.

I sure am glad I grew up when and where I did.
Before the safety nannies took over and a boy could still be a boy.
Riding on Grampa's lap on the Allis B.
Playing with cherry bombs and big old snapping turtles. Messing with electricity and getting zapped. Riding for miles and miles on my cousin's JD 560 cultivating corn, mowing hay, cutting silage and plowing. Standing on the axle with no fenders. Just the big cultivator handles to hang one to. Talking and singing songs. Cousin John could yodel so well.
Lifting each other with the hay forks in the hay mow and getting dropped on the hay.
Spending the whole summer in the swamps, lakes and river where a kid could disappear and never be found. Hunting, trapping muskrats and carrying a long birch sapling in case you went through the ice you could could use it crawl out.
Building go carts out of lawn mower engines and no chain guards or safety devices anywhere.
Rickety death trap cars.
Climbing trees and your brother chopping them down from under you.
I suppose it's safer now. Fewer accidents.
Of course boys aint much for being boys either.
Good at video games maybe.
The world is no longer aimed at building the strongest but the weakest of us.
The attitude is we are willing to curtail the fun and freedom of the many if it will save one child. I'm glad I'm as old as I am. Got to have a little fun, make a few memories before they took it all away.
Don't want to live in a place where the safety nannies rule the show. Regulate this. Outlaw that.
Tame the boys and make them girls. Toughen the girls to try to make them like boys. Make them all the same. Dumb them down. Dull them up. Take away their ability to discover things on their own. Feed them constant garbage on TV. Make em all afraid of everything. Protect and pamper them till they rot inside.
Protect them from everything till they are sick of life.
The suicide rate amongst teens and young adults is higher than it has ever been.
And no one cares to wonder why...

Just yesterday or day before a l year old fell off of or out of a tractor and was killed in North Dakota. Had a 4 year old on tractor also according to newspaper. Neighbors dogs got into the barn out at the farm place and killed six of our kittens. Just burying them kittens made me upset. I cannot begin to imagine what it would be to bury a child.

You forgot dancing and drinking until the bars closed, then driving home without seat belts.

You forgot trying to dump your buddy out of a loader over the manure pile and making him hold on for dear life while giving a ride.

I'm not saying that I think its a good idea, but I suppose that he could have mowed that, and when done, gone back to find a missing daughter that we might all have then seen on the back of a milk carton some future day because some strange guy that took a fancy to her in passing, and...

It happens all the time, or so milk cartons say. I don't know the circumstances or possible lesser of evils.

Mark

We used to take turns climbing trees, say twenty or so feet tall while the others cut them, us down. The theory was that just before the tree crashed into the ground, we could simply walk out of it right onto the ground. It never worked out that well, but none of us got hurt too bad. Broken bones here and there from time to time, cuts, brusies, burns too. Worked real good on Bugs Bunny though, just not for us. Lots of things we did worked real well on Bugs Bunny, and thats pretty much why all of our mothers had gray hair by the time they were 29 and constantly threatened bawling their eyes out to drop us off at some orphanage, but never did.

Mark

UD, you've voiced this opinion in similar posts before and I don't see
how anyone can argue that its not at least in part true.
The sheer number of safety devices on a lawn mower (can't mow
backing up), warnings on everything from coffee cups to curling irons
(for external use only??) prove that "we" have tried to protect ourselves
right out of common sense.
I myself fell off the front of the JD 50 axle I was riding on when the plow
hooked a tree root. Burned my head as I skimmed past the flywheel.
Luckily the tree root held and I wasn't plowed under.
How else was I supposed to learn how to plow?
My exception in this particular case is if this was the guy's job site,
the kid shouldn't have been there to begin with.
For the same reason we have all those other nanny items.
The child will be dead or mangled, the parents will be devastated,
someone will sue and the only one who comes out ahead will be
the ambulance chaser who probably has never seen a tractor.
Let alone drove his tractor out and used the 3 pt hitch post
hole digger to drill a hole in the ice to go fishing.

Agreed. I can't type that much.

Can't see anything wrong with the kid on the mower but in the second pic the 2 powerpoles 20' apart,...nou [b:a0aec6f972]that[/b:a0aec6f972] is dumb :wink:

probably not the best thing but hes got the kid relitivly secure, hes on smooth ground and going slow, i cant really speak as i grew up riding on the drawbar of a farmall C and M, and just thought if i wasnt driving, that was my place

the "common sence" part was i knew to hang on and i mean hang on, to the tractor

Some people here busy trying to justify thier own past and current careless ways.
Have a little chat with Emergency Services Staff such as Fire, Ambulance, Police and Trauma. They have seen enough in person of the senseless death or maiming of inocents by operators who lack brains.
Everbody was being safe, of they had done it a thousand times etc. Then a funeral or a
cripple to take care of.

I spent over 35 years in EMS and police work. I've seen kids killed on ATVs, swimming, playing sports, in cars, in trees, electrocuted, a bunch riding bikes, skiing, water skiing, canoeing, on trampolines, in barns, in a gutter cleaner, in cess pools, in ditches and brooks, impaled in everything from sticks to rebar to home made swords.....you name it I've probably seen it. I rank a kid on a lawn mower in a whole lot less mortal danger than the kid on the ATV, jet ski, trampoline or football game.

Thank you Bret for adding a little bit of reason to this topic.
People just have a knee jerk, emotional reaction to the topic of a kid getting hurt.
Not that they shouldn't mind you.
But too often they see a kid doing something they Think is dangerous and immediately want to ban it.
Soon enough they'll require kids to wear helmets to bed in case they fall out at night.
Read B&D's post for an example of what I mean.

Mark I was thinking the same. Or run out in the road, or the mower pickup something and fling it at the kid.

I had a freshman in college working here a couple years back. He also did a little scrap removal work, but was a *bit* brighter than the typical scrapper - or so I thought. While cutting up a grain head, he torched through a hydraulic line. The oil lit and covered him. He got burned up pretty bad. After he got back, he told me he had cut dozens of lines before and never had one blow up. So he got away with it "dozens of times" and got burned bad once.

You fellas like those odds?

Yeah, this guy could get away with this 1,000 times. At 1,001, he gets to bury his kid - just like my former classmate I mentioned in my earlier post...

(quoted from post at 10:21:42 07/21/13) Thank you Bret for adding a little bit of reason to this topic.
People just have a knee jerk, emotional reaction to the topic of a kid getting hurt.
Not that they shouldn't mind you.
But too often they see a kid doing something they Think is dangerous and immediately want to ban it.
Soon enough they'll require kids to wear helmets to bed in case they fall out at night.
Read B&D's post for an example of what I mean.

Click to expand...

Read rockyridgefarm's post