Tractor safety question

ethompson

5 year old buck +
On another thread someone mentioned that they turn their tractor off before getting down to see what the problem is or checking to make sure everything is working properly. My tractor is manual. I turn off pto, lower rpms, and put it in neutral. I'm assuming some of you guys have something similar. What are the chances of it slipping into gear? I just can't picture it happening. Somebody please prove me wrong so I can continue browsing this site for years to come.
 
Never say never, but probably very low chance that a manual transmission slips into gear without there being some serious issues that would make it un-drivable anyway.

I do the same as you but put the bucket down also. Of course I need a new alternator and if I shut it off in the field it’s probably not going to start without a jump.

That’s on my to do list….
 
I have a hard time picturing a tractor slipping into gear. If I am on level ground and need to get off for some reason, I lower the bucket, apply the parking break, and do what I have to do.

If the ground is not level I will turn the tractor off, put the tractor in gear, and apply the break.

My 2 golden rules are 1) I never start my tractor while standing on the ground next to it and 2) I never work on any implement powered by the PTO without turning the tractor off.
 
Batty beat me to it. Real danger is starting it when not in the seat. The older tractors like my Massey 44 have no neutral safety switch and will start in gear and run you right over. I had a accident with my pto on my Oliver. Even know the pro was off, it still would spin very slow. I was hooking up a brush hog and had the yellow work gloves on. The pro grabbed my glove and twisted it in. Thank God the glove ripped. Nothing more than a broken finger.
 
I have a JD 5065e - 65 hp with FEL. Was getting down to check something and put bucket down and gear shift in neutral and bumped gearshift with right hip and knocked it into gear. About threw me off the tractor, but was able to recover and get back in seat. Wonder I wasnt thrown off and run over. Now, I take gear shift out of gear and put over to far right in park. I also have a jd 790 but it kills the engine when you get out of the seat with it in gear.
 
My JD5400 has a "Park," I utilize. On my old Allis I just leave in neutral.
 
We were called to a tractor rollover in a pond,it was a propane tractor and the owner stopped and was filling it up at the propane tank,Somehow it jumped into gear and for some reason he grabbed on and it drug him in a 100 yard circle.This included going up over a pond dam and he let go and fell into the washed out area of the dam.Only a broken leg and broken arm and ripped almost all his cloths off.Oh also the brush hog was running ,so yes it can happen.There was another guy on here that was starting a tractor to work on it that was in neutral and it started and ran over him.
 
Don't ever trust the hand brake either. Use your wits.
 
In high school we had a quarter of a law class. Took a field trip to watch a few hours of a trial going on. It was a family suing a tractor company because there was no guard rail on top of the combine and they argued it was common knowledge that a second person would ride up there for some reason (this is early 90s). Anyway, the day we were there a sheriff was on the stand talking about arriving on the scene and finding the farmer's leg over here. His arm about 50 feet in the other direction. Etc. He'd fallen into the combine while his son drove. That, along with my dad knowing somebody whose leg got ripped off in a PTO when his jeans got caught in it, was a lasting memory. I shut the darn tractor off when I get down.
 
There was another guy on here that was starting a tractor to work on it that was in neutral and it started and ran over him.

There was a QDMA story posted about this some time ago. He was run over by the tiller and nearly cost him his life. Sad deal.

Be safe people!
 
On another thread someone mentioned that they turn their tractor off before getting down to see what the problem is or checking to make sure everything is working properly. My tractor is manual. I turn off pto, lower rpms, and put it in neutral. I'm assuming some of you guys have something similar. What are the chances of it slipping into gear? I just can't picture it happening. Somebody please prove me wrong so I can continue browsing this site for years to come.

Most accidents happen when you are in a hurry or are tired where in both cases your not fully focused. Many can happen because there is not a good safety routine in place. A few years back one of our machinists' pushed his shirt sleeves up rather than rolling them. he was working on a turning lathe and his left sleeve slipped and was caught by the turning spindle. 3 seconds later his arm was torn from his shoulder socket, wrapped around the lathe.

Yes a gear can slip into gear if not fully engaged. You could bump with your knee or foo or bump the gas peddle.

Only you can prove yourself wrong by making a mistake. Develop a procedure and follow it.
 
One of the most common issues happen when hooking smaller tractors such as 8N or 9N to something to try and pull out flipping over backwards.I know people that were killed this way,another one that was killed when one tipped sideways on top of him.If you have a ROPS up on a tractor or mower they usually recommend wearing seatbelt and if you leave ROPS down or don't have one then they usually recommend not wearing seat belt so you can jump clear. I also know of another incident where a guy was lifting a round bale strapped to front loader and strap broke as he raised bucket and bale rolled down front loader arms and bent him over backwards over the seat breaking his back. Lucky he was a Dr. and ordered chopper when they called 911.
 
Driving a tractor on any incline has always scared the s*** outta me

bill
 
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