Tractor Safety

[xerostar]

I've heard some horror stories about the dangers to people that go near tractors.

I'm sure there are many traps for newbies in owning a tractor.

Can anyone provide a list of do's and don'ts that might help me

and my Thai rellies avoid a nasty accident?

Even a few anecdotes would illustrate the dangers and would

remind everyone that tractors are not toys for the unwary.

[lannarebirth]

A quick few tips.

Never go near the PTO with the motor running, even if it's not engaged.

When you park, lower whatever implement is on the 3 point hitch to the ground, and also your dozer blade if you have one.

BE VERY CAREFUL ON SLOPED LAND!

If you need to work on a mower or disc in the raised position, make sure the motor is off, that you have tractor in gear so it can't roll and that you have some kind of block to prevent a sudden drop of the implement onto you.

If you're working with someone else. Make sure you agree what hand signals mean.

Don't try to pull anything with a synthetic rope. It will stretch, and if it parts it could hurt or kill someone. Only use a chain or cable.

Practice using your rear wheel brakes, together and seperately. They can really help you out if you understand their use.

Really, there's very little work on the tractor that requires the motor running, so shut it off if you have to mess about with the tractor or an implement.

Others will have more, or corrections to these. Good Luck.

[lannarebirth]

Hi xerostar,

A quick Google came up with quite a lot. This, for instance:

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/FARMMGT/05016.html

[Lancashirelad]

I was taught to drive a tractor at 10 years of age! i have never forgotten the single most important thing the farmer (now dead, bless him) impressed upon me:

This is important above all other.....

KNOW WHERE THE ENGINE STOP CONTROL IS!!!

and how to use it.

Make sure all drivers (and people likely to be near you) know.

Never use a tractor where the stop control is disconnected/seized/broken where you would have to move the lever manually on the fuel pump... it cannot be reached from the driving position.

I feel strongly about giving this information knowing it could well one day save somebody's life or serious injury.

Edited July 8, 2007 by Lancashirelad

[bina]

ask maizefarmer ; he experienced first hand what a tractor (actually i think a combine) can do to u.... and he is very experienced in use generally speaking...

if u want tractor safety officially then go into safety organizations sites for agriculture; unfortunately, all my safety info is in hebrew so it wont help u....

*never take someone else on the tractor sitting 'sidewise' i.e. over the wheel hub etc (two broken legs on two different people on kibbutz from riding back from fields this way rather then walk)

*never clean out blades etc while motor is running *ex hubby chopped fingers this way*

*pay attention to center of gravity of particular vehicle when on steep climbs or terrace areas; half the teenagers i know who work on tractors took curves and slopes at wrong angles or too fast and flipped (luckily injuring only the tractors); especially if u are trailing trains of boxes (in apple picking for instance) even after they went thru tractor courses which i doubt most have in thailand (my son just completed tractor course here for the orchards)...

*pay attention to terrain: rocks, irrigation pipes water pipes bore holes fencing: a clean field is a safer field; or flag hidden points that old timers know about and remember but u surely dont have the 'field eye' of an old hand

an other safety rule for almost anything: tell someone u are going out to work and when in general u are going to come back. if u arent back, someone should come out to see if everything is all right. know of two instances when sprayers (night work as there is no wind and the humidity is correct) went out, got into trouble, and were only found in the early a.m. since night shift is single work. do not ever rely on cell phones as cell phones fall down, fall apart, fall into water, get sprayed, or have no reception, exactly when u have an accident. !!!! from experience all .....

where clothing that cannot get tangled: one accident comes from a dangling sleeve when someone went to clean a 'running' set of harvester blades; an other, rather bizarre accident involved irrigation pipe and the guy's foot getting caught and wound up. both resulted in long time hospital stays.

one accident from someone climbing on to his very large tractor to wash it, sliding off the slippery hub, and broke arm in three places (i was investigator of this particular gem when i was safety mananger)

bina

israel

[xerostar]

Thank you all for the useful replies.

I still have to find a Thai text explaining the dangers and preventive measures.

I'll probably get a translation done and I'll post a copy on TV when it's finished.

Then anyone can print a copy and hand it to any Thai who might benefit from the knowledge.

Come to think of it, a similar list devoted to road safety may also save some lives.

I fear that many Thais have not had enough education in aspects of safety.

[bina]

i actually have a thai safety manual somewhere that the israeli safety organization published for foreign thai workers here; needless to say neither the israeli employers nor the thai workers cared one way or an other to actually follow anything... even though there were a few attempts to do safety work days with thai translators... most of the thai workers nodded politely and then went back to work as usual... i will check i had some for use with working with poisons, etc... if i can find them. we even had signs made, but of course our thai workers politely smiled and laughed among themselves about it all.

this has been discussed a million times on the forum here; and dont forget that most of the farmers have limited reading education and are often daunted by the amounts of stuff written: simple do this dont do that or pictorial is much better (even for good readers most labourers dont want to have to read lots of written blabla about what to do). simple powerpoint or other type of presentation with pics and movies is better in my 10 yrs of safety work with various cultures and languages among workers.

bina

israel

[lannarebirth]

+Good idea about the pictures bina. This may offer a solution:

http://www.oces.tulsacounty.org/4h/4hforms...20cd%20info.pdf

Or maybe this:

http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d001101-d0012...14/d001114.html

Edited July 10, 2007 by lannarebirth

[Lickey]

If using a nylon/synthetic rope to pull something stuck it will break and drop to the ground,if using a chain, take up tension, and never try to "snatch" or it will break and drop down to ground, the best by far is a 1inch thick steel hawser cable, it will withstand snatches ect of loads up to 150 tons, and fit a roll-cage to your tractor, not only will it protect you, will keep the sun off also, goodluck, Lickey.

[macan]

When I was a teenager a neighbour of ours was killed when some part of the hauser setup that he was using to haul out a tree stump gave out causing the cable to ping back and crack his head. He was driving an open-top landrover. A few years later i was urged (against my better judgement remembering the neighbour) by a gentleman-farmer boss to haul out some railway sleepers that were deeply tangled in nettles and old wire using a nylon rope behind the tractor. Fortunately i closed the rear window even though it was a hot day and can remember clearly the slow-motion moment as the rope snapped and pinged back to crack the window in front of my face.

I have heard from an 'off-roader' who liked to get his 4x4 bogged down so that he could use the winch accessory attached to his bumper to pull himself out, that laying a feed bag or some other object over the cable can prevent the pinging effect but I have never tried it. A bit more manual groundwork is good exercise, better for your clutch and safer in the long run. Or become a gentleman farmer and pay some dumb lad to do it.

[Gary A]

Cables have a rubber band effect too so be careful with them. Not nearly as bad as synthetic rope but still dangerous. Chain is still the safest. As far as regular tractor safety, rollovers and the dreaded power take off are the most dangerous. I remember like yesterday a young girl getting her long hair caught in a pto shaft. It actually pulled her scalp off. They were able to sew part of it back on but she was a horrible sight for many years. A friend of mine was mowing along a ditch and the tractor flipped over. It was not a big tractor but big enough for him not to be able to get out from under it. He drowned in about a foot of water.

[xerostar]

I heard about an Aussie farmer who, for some reason, straddled or bent over the drive shaft near the PTO while it was running to do some adjustment.

He assumed that the smooth shaft was harmless, I suppose.

His shorts got caught and everything else contained within his shorts were ripped out by the roots.

The universal joints would be more likely to grab any stray parts, but the drive shaft can be just as deadly.

[draggons]

In response to Lickey's post.

1. under no circumstances should you be snatching steel wire rope.

2. 1" steel wire rope has a nominal breaking strengh of 47 tonnes

3. the working load limit @5:1 factor of safety (which is the norm) is 9.4 tonnes

I have been rigging for the last 30+ years both sub sea and top side doing heavy construction. I have over the years witnessed far to many accidents and fatalities from gear being overloaded.

Telling guys that it's ok to snatch upto 150tonnes on a 1" wire rope is foolish in the extreme. Ever seen a wire sling let go under tension?, cuts folk clean in half!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Badbanker]

Brakes are for me the most important issue.  I lost a dear friend in the Solomon Islands in 1979 because the MF135 he was using did not have the brakes adjusted.  Went up a hill ran out of power in high range gears and tried to change both boxes.  Tractor now in neutral rolled back with the trailer on it and rolled into a deep ditch.  His head was impaled by the steering wheel boss.  I was the first on the scene after the accident!  The accident happened because he was not trained or used to driving tractors in extreme terrain.  The trailer he was towing was also way overweight with sand.

Check your brakes and adjust them regularly especially if you live in hilly terrain like my farm in Sri Sawat.

Tractors are much more complex and thus MORE dangerous than a gun and as such people that use them should be licensed and should be HEAVILY trained.

BB  (frustrated farmer)

Edited July 12, 2007 by Badbanker

[bina]

unfortunately tractors are more often put into the hands of youth : my son has now got his liscense (a requirement for any kibbutz 17 yr old male - or female that works in the orchards though there arnt too many of those)

and these kids become 'cowboys' on wheels-- whipping thru the rows of trees with their trailors of apples or waggons behind them... with huge rocks lurking in corners and /or piles of rubble; ditches; people!; ladders that have people on them picking the apples !!! holes in the ground; and then they come out of the orchards or grape vines or kiwis and hit the tarmac and race to the packing house....... not to mention the backing up, turning around while listening to music on ear phones or blabbering to friends in the cell phone, and giving a lift to others....

[Lickey]

In response to Lickey's post.

1. under no circumstances should you be snatching steel wire rope.

2. 1" steel wire rope has a nominal breaking strengh of 47 tonnes

3. the working load limit @5:1 factor of safety (which is the norm) is 9.4 tonnes

I have been rigging for the last 30+ years both sub sea and top side doing heavy construction. I have over the years witnessed far to many accidents and fatalities from gear being overloaded.

Telling guys that it's ok to snatch upto 150tonnes on a 1" wire rope is foolish in the extreme. Ever seen a wire sling let go under tension?, cuts folk clean in half!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, i have seen a steel wire rope break, it was a 1.5inch between 2 60 ton D9 sideboom cats, one cat belleid out on top of the backfill, paddy driver couldnt shift it with take the strain and pull method, so he snatched at it, the rope broke,came back over the cat and whipped off the air intake and exhaust outlet, so on that point i will agree with you, but i think the OP is talking Ford {or some other make} tractors, perhaps max weight 3ton, max HP 150?? so i am saying a looked after steel rope will be adequate for this,unless of course he wants to do heavy construction under-water or on land.

You state that you have seen many accidents over the years because of overloading slings ect, you also post some maths on saftey limits for steel ropes, it would be very interesting for all of us to know your position in your job, and could you have prevented these accidents? Thankyou.

[draggons]

Ex RN diver, commercial diver, commercial diving supervisor, commercial diving superintendant, steel erector, rigging supervisor.

[slapout]

xerostar: A safety manuel is like a safty manuel for a car or truck, I have never seen a truly good one. That said, I have seen various safety schools put on by FFA programs and other concerened groups in the US. These were normally 2 day (16 to 18 hr.} courses working with a experience range of farm kids who had been on tractors for several years to city kids who had no experience. The classes were based on the old driver ed. courses for new drivers of autos. I took my son to a tractor school and was surprised at the amount of information put to them. Then they were put on the tractors with implements to back up, run thru a maze, turn away from fence etc. The best suggestion I would make is to put on a mini school with experienced people giving input. The modern tractor here is not real conducive to showing a rider due to space. We used bigger farm machinery so two people could ride safely but it could be done with the fords etc. used here if care is taken. You may be able to locate some of the farm safety vidos via internet, insurance companies were a good source in the wheat belt of US. slapout

[C-sip-degree]

All,

Sounds like the story of ‘Bong’ is starting. ‘above’

Could it ever be possible with farm equipment to remove Kee-lao the Mao-lao or the morning ‘guk’ from this equation?.

Don’t get too serious folks you’ll have to live in Isaan to Kao-jai.

regards

C-sip

[Tilapia]

I will drink to that C-sip

Cheers

Tilapia.

[xerostar]

Even in our so called "enlightened" western culture we see the results every day when drivers combine

alcohol, driving and reckless disregard for the rules.

I don't have any control over those idiots.

My main aim is to protect my family members.

I will set some rules.

Rule 1. No drinking and driving!

I'll be the one that buys the tractor and lets them drive it.

I will try to make sure everyone (mum, dad, sisters, brothers, kids, uncles, aunts, neighbours etc)

are aware of the dangers before the tractor moves an inch.

Kids or un-informed adults that go near a tractor (not just the driver) can be at risk.

If anyone gets injured or killed I would blame myself if I hadn't first made them aware of tractor safety rules.

I will teach them with a video and other visual means rather than trying to make them read text.

[C-sip-degree]

Even in our so called "enlightened" western culture we see the results every day when drivers combine

alcohol, driving and reckless disregard for the rules.

I don't have any control over those idiots.

My main aim is to protect my family members.

I will set some rules.

Rule 1. No drinking and driving!

I'll be the one that buys the tractor and lets them drive it.

I will try to make sure everyone (mum, dad, sisters, brothers, kids, uncles, aunts, neighbours etc)

are aware of the dangers before the tractor moves an inch.

Kids or un-informed adults that go near a tractor (not just the driver) can be at risk.

If anyone gets injured or killed I would blame myself if I hadn't first made them aware of tractor safety rules.

I will teach them with a video and other visual means rather than trying to make them read text.

Dear Xerostar,

Well if you’re living in Isaan your first rule will never be adhered too, and there will be no I will available either.

If anyone get injured or killed I would blame myself, don’t worry about blaming yourself bro, there will be 101 people blaming you.

Bottom line which the 101 will agree on is that because you bought this tractor you’re to blame anyway.

If you hadn’t of bought it, nobody would of been hurt.

Good luck with the ‘I will attitude’ teach them with video and other visual means, but I think you’ll be better off pulling up a chair and tuning into the Thai soaps on channel 3, 5, and 7…..

regards

C-sip

[Tilapia]

Even in our so called "enlightened" western culture we see the results every day when drivers combine

alcohol, driving and reckless disregard for the rules.

I don't have any control over those idiots.

My main aim is to protect my family members.

I will set some rules.

Rule 1. No drinking and driving!

I'll be the one that buys the tractor and lets them drive it.

I will try to make sure everyone (mum, dad, sisters, brothers, kids, uncles, aunts, neighbours etc)

are aware of the dangers before the tractor moves an inch.

Kids or un-informed adults that go near a tractor (not just the driver) can be at risk.

If anyone gets injured or killed I would blame myself if I hadn't first made them aware of tractor safety rules.

I will teach them with a video and other visual means rather than trying to make them read text.

I just wonder, how long time have you been in this country ??

Tilapia.

[slapout]

I have wanted a tractor for our farm's but have not bought in the past due to the only experienced operator of any farm vehicle within our extended family is you guesed it and I am not thai. I would not even try to train the ones I know as they will not listen to a me in most cases, unless I mention buy beer or whiskey and then ever set of ears in 200 meters listen to me, and tell their friends on the way to buy after they get money from you guessed it. I take the attitude of the two above posters, plus remember until the past few years the only machine used by the farmers in Thailand was a bicycle. Any common sense relating to tractors. and other machinery is hard to come by just due to lack of experience. The few times I need a tractor I hired one local, on a turn key basis for work I wanted done. My total land area is only 20 rai and is a hobby. good Luck

[Lickey]

Ex RN diver, commercial diver, commercial diving supervisor, commercial diving superintendant, steel erector, rigging supervisor.

So it seems that as a supervisor,superintendant and rigging supervisor that you wernt doing your job correctly,ie, checking slings ect before they were used for example, thus seeing many people getting cut in half by these wire rope slings because of overloading?So did you walk away from all these jobs or were you pushed?

[draggons]

since being given the responsibility of supervising others, and learning from the ###### ups of old time dinasours (the likes of which tell others it's ok to snatch 150t on 1" wire rope) I've never had a serious accident occur to any of the personnel working for me and no never been run off a job yet.

[Lickey]

So mr Draggons, you have never heard of "snatch" blocks, well let me enlighten you, its a multi-pulley device where the winch rope is fed round to double,triple,quad your winch power, or pulling power source,in my particular case it was heavy haulage in the 70s, pulling up onto a multi-axled low-loader trailer steam locomotives sometimes with tenders,normally a 4-6-2 with a 4axle tender would be in the region of 150tons, never had a problem with the rope, it was inspected,cleaned oiled and greased before every event, and that was a 1inch steel rope imported from Holland from the famous salvage company.

I must appolgise to any TV members who thought i meant to take a run and snatch at a dead-weight as did draggons,

[lannarebirth]

No apology necessary, but I've never seen a multi sheaved snatch block. The ones I've used ar single sheave with one open cheek to allow the running end of a wire to be inserted. It used for changing the line direction for hoisting/pulling. Since it's a fixed block it offers no mechanical advantage.

Edited July 18, 2007 by lannarebirth

[draggons]

Lets not let this degenerate into a personal quest shall we. yes I'm more than familiar with single, double and multi sheave blocks, the differance between head pull and line pull on said sheaves and the loading on the anchor points depending on the angles involved. Nowhere did you mention the use of snatch blocks before. Your statement was that it was ok to snatch a 1" wire rope and that it was good for 150t all I did was state that it was not ok to do so and gave you the WWL of a 1" wire rope.

feel free if you want to pm me on anything relating to rigging.

Regards