tractor rollover

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

This was posted on the ATIS mailing list. I thought I would also post it here.

Be careful out there

The Lone Star Antique Tractor and Engine assn show was this weekend was this weekend and was the best by far for our short seven years. BUT at the end of the day Saturday, we has a tragic accident.

One of our members was loading a narrow front JD 720 LP row crop on his high deck trailer and it flipped over on top of him. He was loading forward and parked his trailer uphill which both contributed to the problem. He completed a 3 year restoration on this one last week.

If the tractor had not had the LP tank, it would have crushed him completely. He was able to drag himself out from the fenders and was crushed between the seats but the steering wheel did not get him. I was announcing the pull and saw the accident out of the corner of my eye. I radioed for EMS/FD who were on the grounds and ran to the site. He was soon being taken care of and I was able to cut the ignition on the tractor and cut the feul off-- the tractor was still turning the wheels in its upset position. I had to get loud to get the crowd to move back and give EMS room to operate and privacy for the patient. His new wife was standing beside the trailer as this happened.

Several mistakes were made that contributed to this accident, but the bottom line is a friend was hurt and and will be a long time recovering. He had lacerated liver, several broken bones, left arm lacerated from wrist to shoulder, broken ribs, bruised lungs and hip. He will recover, but will be in rehab for a long time. He was removed from the ventilator this afternoon and faces two more surgeries on his arm in the next ten days. We delivered the tractor to his shop this afternoon and are supporting his family all we can.

I posted this to remind all of you that this can happen and to remind you to be safe in this great hobby of ours. I have loaded tractors on trailers for 50 years and I think I will relive this every time as we load and use our equipment. We can "say what if" and rehash this, but in a split second a man was severely injured. We have said lots of prayers at the show grounds, last night and today.
Be careful out there

[Jeff Silvey]

John:
Thanks for the info.
I will keep this gentleman in my prayers. We can't take life for granit. Sounds like this guy was lucky. How old is he?
Hope him well.
Jeff

[Rudi]

John:

I think everyone's prayers will be with this gentleman and his family. Thankfully, he is still alive and will recover. I feel for his wife as she witnessed this..

It really does bring home how dangerous our hobby, or any hobby can be.

Whenever I read about these things, it drives home the point that there must be a better way. As I mentioned, about a month ago I had to take my JD-111 to the Church to cut the grass... well when loading to bring it back home, (I am still not used to the lack of brakes on a hydro), went off the end of the trailer. Not much damage, nobody hurt, but PO'd nonetheless. So, it is beginning to make sense to me that there be another way to load tractors on trailers..

I am beginning to think that power winches are probably the safest way to load a tractor. For the smaller garden ones, even up to a Cub, a heavy duty boat hand winch may be in order for those who do not have a power winch within their budget. Just a thought for us to ponder..

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

Rudi, I am not familiar with the JD 111, but I have owned a Homelite and a White over the years with hydrostats, and they both had very good brakes. Both of them would lock the rear wheels when you stepped on the pedal. the white would even set the hydrostat to the neutral position. do your brakes need adjsuting maybe?

[Rudi]

John:

It could be that I am not very good at it.. but here is the Literature on my JD 111.

I might be a little dense when it comes to this.. but, I can't figure out for the life of me how to use the brakes on this thing. There is a pedal on the right.. that is the hydro control -- with a little step on thingy that puts it into reverse. On the left hand side is a pedal, but that is the clutch.. you push it in to start it.. don't do much for brakes.. and the emerg brake.. well that is just for parking etc....

Like I said, I don't need the brakes very often, the hydro is very good for that... you want to stop, well take your foot off of the control.. but it isn't so good for braking, and in a panic situation like driving off the end of your trailer... it definitely is not a great setup for those of use who are used to geared models ...

Now ifn I could find a Service Manual for this, I wouldn't have to go see that idjit dealer of mine... Gawd, please can I have a Case Dealer back PUHLEEZE !!!

[Scott]

Rudi I have a 110 which is the older model than the 111 but basically the same critter. the petal on the left is the brake it will stop it. i dont usually need it since the hydro stops when you let off

[Jackman]

Yes tractors have a tendancey to be top heavy and unstable ,after have my loboy for 14 years just last week I got my 51 regular Cub running and the first thing I noticed is that it seems less stable on the slopes than the Lo boy.


If anyone wants to post an intresting and probly rare pic, I have a vintage black and white pic that shows a Farmall A with rear mount sickle bar going up a ski slope, the only thing is that the operator has both hands off the steering wheel and the front wheels are 1-2 feet off the ground the tractor is deffently on its way to being upside down.

[Donny M]

Jackman,

Send the picture to my e-mail address, below. I'll post it.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

Here is an update that was jsut posted.


Here is my take on the accident and it a concensus of the board and directors of our club who have a collective "bunch" of years on tractors and hauling same.

1. He was loading on a 8' decked over trailer with short ramps and a short dovetail. Nearly all of us would have loaded by backing on. These 2 cyl row crop JDs are generally light on the front end. We weigh pull tractors on single axle scales and the front was 1920 and rear was 5285.

2. He had his truck and trailer on an uphill grade which increased the angle of climb.

3. He "readjusted the clutch right before loading.

4. He was hot and tired as he was in charge of all gate keepers and parking all day and showed this tractor for the first time. He has had quad bypass surgery before and may have streached his stamina.

5 He was loading in the visitor parking lot instead of the trailer area which does not have a gentle slope.

Any one of these factors could have been a problem, but we fear it was the sum of the total. His fiance and family know that he make mistakes and it was an accident, but we still all feel bad about this. He asked his fiance if she thought he should turn the trailer around before loading.

Our Safety Commmittee, Safety Officers and Board members have hashed this over and even though we feel very bad, we see nothing we could have done to prevent this other than standing at the side of the trailer and telling him not to load. But he is a 68 year old adult and the final decision would still have been his.

We will accept any prayers in his behalf and please be careful out there. We are not going to stop showing, hauling tractors and being farmers because of this. But I think most of us will remember the pictures of the upset tractor with wheels still churning and the bruised and broken body of a friend on the ground.
Be careful out there.
Bear

[Jackman]

Jackman,

Send the picture to my e-mail address, below. I'll post it.

Youve got mail

[Donny M]

Here's Jackman's picture:


The trick is, no one got hurt I think

[jostev]

WOW

by the looks though, the sickle stopped him from going over boy would that be a scary ride no matter what

John, it seems like i hear this stuff alot, and just don't think iti will happen to me, but when my dad did it, i now know where it's safe to operate...learned the lesson the hard way i guess

Johnny

[Jackman]

DonnyM,

Thanks for posting the pic The words that go with the pic say

"THE LORDS PRAYER ski slope a steep place to cut hay as the picture proves" The ski slope is some where in the Bennington Vermont area as the pic came from The History Of Bennington VT. Bet that guy was shaken good after that ride, check his hands they arent even on the steering wheel ........

[Little Indy]

The U of NE has a special tractor that they show at fairs etc that is enclosed in a cage with seat belts was well and has two different hitches. If you try to pull a heavy load with one hitch no problems. You use the other hitch and the tractor rolls over backwards. If the driver was not protected it would be a tragic accident.

Richard

[Rudi]

Rudi I have a 110 which is the older model than the 111 but basically the same critter. the petal on the left is the brake it will stop it. i dont usually need it since the hydro stops when you let off

Scotty:

Thanks.. I found it... and yup you guessed it.. darn I feel dumb