tractor accident

old-9 · Jul 20, 2015

Saw this on the news this morning. Looks (?) like a Ford N or a Ferguson 20. Was pulling from the top link!! Here is a photo, if you click on story tab above photo should get the story.

joe
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Billy NY · Jul 20, 2015

No drawbar, the photo tells it all, more so when you blow it up. It went over like a mouse trap per where the victim is under the sheet. It looks like he was trying to pull that log, which has been dead awhile, too heavy or it got caught. It also appears he rigged the log with tongs, on top of the log, with a strap to the top link pin holes. I can't think of a worse combination. Seems the strap would flex quite a bit before the front went up, unless he gunned it, not knowing this is a deadly combination. If the tongs let loose, and that strap was taut, that would get you too, 2 very bad things going on in this photo as I see it.

thdrduck · Jul 20, 2015

My cousin did the same thing 40 or so years ago with the same type tractor. My uncle and him put the chain around the axle housing to pull logs... bad, bad, bad, he was lucky it just crushed his leg. Don't think he has been on a tractor since. Always hate to see a dumb mistake cost a life.

GordoSD · Jul 20, 2015

The house in the background speaks volumes. No drawbar but there is a hitch with a ball down low. Why wouldn't he hook up there?

buickanddeere · Jul 20, 2015

because the tractor spin and would not pull the log

Billy NY · Jul 20, 2015

The ball is likely the pto shaft and whats below it is the drawbar bracket, you'll have to save the photo and enlarge it to see it a little better.

Really sad to see another one of these, lost a cousin who was on an N series, attempting to get a small crawler free as it was stuck, same thing happened, went over backwards, but I don't have any other details. 10 years ago or so now, up over the hill on the back of our place, which is part of one large contiguous area of land, that was bordered by various farms, someone was attempting to reclaim overgrown areas with a 640 Ford and a rotary cutter. He was bounced out of the seat or off the tractor somehow, run over by the tractor and the rotary cutter.

Can only hope his family finds something to help with the grief now, you wish people were better educated about using tractors like these that do not have any protection.

mj · Jul 20, 2015

(quoted from post at 10:09:48 07/20/15) The house in the background speaks volumes. No drawbar but there is a hitch with a ball down low. Why wouldn't he hook up there?

He probably did at first, but, like [b:624c55fd3a]b & deere[/b:624c55fd3a] said when that didn't work he figured that what he needed was some 'weight transfer' so he hooked her high. :shock:

ksredneckpullingteam · Jul 20, 2015

Lost--what does the house in the background have to do with it?

Geo-TH,In · Jul 20, 2015

Sad this happened. Hope some here learn from this accident.

Leroy · Jul 20, 2015

Joe, the hood opening like it shows tells me the tractor is a Ferguson TO 35

Richard L · Jul 20, 2015

I am agreeing with Leroy as I am sure I can make out two shift levers there.

Leroy · Jul 20, 2015

I am going by the long gas and radiator opening down the center of the hood. The 20 & 30 tractors did not have a opening as the hood lifted, The Fords just had a short gas opening lid at back and radiator cap thru hood. Then I dought anybody would have taken a red MF 35 and painted it the grey of the earlier tractors, common to paint like later but not earlier.

Spook · Jul 20, 2015

(quoted from post at 06:54:29 07/20/15) No drawbar, the photo tells it all, more so when you blow it up. It went over like a mouse trap per where the victim is under the sheet. It looks like he was trying to pull that log, which has been dead awhile, too heavy or it got caught. It also appears he rigged the log with tongs, on top of the log, with a strap to the top link pin holes. I can't think of a worse combination. Seems the strap would flex quite a bit before the front went up, unless he gunned it, not knowing this is a deadly combination. If the tongs let loose, and that strap was taut, that would get you too, 2 very bad things going on in this photo as I see it.

You're right, that strap would be like a rubber band. Nothing good about that scene at all.

Wesley Stephens · Jul 20, 2015

I can honestly say that I have never tried to pull anything from a top link attachment point, but stories like this always get to me in a way because I think of stupid things I have done especially, but not exclusively, in my teens and early twenties. I really feel bad for this guy's family, and if we all thought about it for a little while I'm sure everyone here could think of something they have done with equipment that could have gotten them killed or maimed, even after we were old enough and experienced enough to know better.

Fatjay · Jul 20, 2015

Looks exactly like my to-30. I haven't come close to lighting it up, but then again I pull from the bottom. Still I'm familiar with the concept of a lever and fulcrum. You have to have some common sense. Flip the wheels and put something on the back. Sad to see someone who was trying to clean up didn't make it.

Wesley Stephens · Jul 20, 2015

As a child, for some reason I always noticed that on our 175 MF there was a decal (it may have faded away by now) that said not to pull from the axle or anything other than "an approved MF drawbar." Our 35 and 135 may have had them at one time, but if so they have been gone a long time. To my young mind it seemed like the purpose was to keep someone from breaking the axle housing and to make sure they used drawbars from the dealer. As I got older and understood the physics involved with machinery a little better I realized what the real purpose was and it made a lot more sense. I have certainly had the front wheels of a tractor off the ground a little on quite a few occasions whether I should have or not, but I have never gotten to the point I thought one would roll over backwards.

FBH44 · Jul 21, 2015

Sad, sad, but thank you. I just took my two boys out to the barn, took a log chain, explained it to them, told them to NEVER hitch up to the top link, NEVER to anything above the axles, ONLY do what the safety labels said... thanks. Sad, but thank you.

Geo-TH,In · Jul 21, 2015

I thought of you the other day when I looked at a warning sign on my backhoe. It said
keep the front bucket as low as possible when carring dirt.

When it comes to old tractors and operating equipment, there is more applied physics
than most people think, center of gravity, weight transfer, traction, levers,
horsepower.

There aren't too many operator's manuals for old equipment. Some of us that have used
tractors for decades know what not to do. Are there a safety manual for people who are
discovering old tractors?

Be safe. Too many are getting killed. That's why the government want to ban farm kids
from operating equipment.

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