Farm accidents

strandsman

Hi Mods
Can we have a thread for farm accidents?, basically people telling of farm acidents so maybe we can all learn from them.

Rovi

strandsman wrote: »

Hi Mods
Can we have a thread for farm accidents?, basically people telling of farm acidents so maybe we can all learn from them.

Looks like you just started one

[MOD]Moved to the general F&F forum[/MOD]

strandsman

Folks if you could add your stories so people could read and learn of the dangers of farming. I'll get the ball rolling with my first of (too) many accidents I hear of.

I know of a guy who during the summer got caught in a PTO shaft of a rolling mill. His T shirt caught the uncovered shaft and it dragged him in and it spun him around some few times before he broke free, He survived but had alot of internal injuries but lost no limbs. What saved him was there was no tow bar under the PTO that would have done the damage and also the tractor was idling at the time. Lucky guy!

Longback

Seems there was a lad killed by a bull in Tipp on Sunday morn. No detail I'm afraid. Bad time of year for bulls though. Can't ever trust em,but in the Autumn time you need to be extra vigilant .

jonnybravo

Longback wrote: »

Seems there was a lad killed by a bull in Tipp on Sunday morn. No detail I'm afraid. Bad time of year for bulls though. Can't ever trust em,but in the Autumn time you need to be extra vigilant .

Heard he got a kick in the stomach while casterating bulls. Was working away after it but then dropped after a while. Sad story and all too much of it now.

Longback

jonnybravo wrote: »

Longback wrote: »

Seems there was a lad killed by a bull in Tipp on Sunday morn. No detail I'm afraid. Bad time of year for bulls though. Can't ever trust em,but in the Autumn time you need to be extra vigilant .

Heard he got a kick in the stomach while casterating bulls. Was working away after it but then dropped after a while. Sad story and all too much of it now.

Poor lad ! It's a tough story alright. A salutary lesson for us all though , stock can be deadly dangerous.

DaNiEl1994

not huge accidents but easily avoidable

these are my own experiences, was sitting on the back of the old transport box (not hydraulic) with my legs danglings over he edge, father let down the lift and legs got caught underneath did no damage just hurt a little would hate to see it happen to a young one.

next was on the fathers old 35x with just rops no cab standing up beside the fender and have fallen off once when i was younger could be very dangerous.

pakalasa

I heard of a very sad one during the summer. A silage contractor was working in the back of an open baler. His young son was in the tractor cab and accidently pressed the button, closing the baler back door down on top of him, killing him instantly. Poor kid.:(

strandsman

Heard of a guy loosing his finger when he was attaching a grass topper to the tractor, His young lad was sitting in the tractor and was lifting the lift arms so he could attach the top link, Then for whatever reason he put his finger through the hole maybe to check if the holes were aligned and at that moment the son lifted the lift arms and basically shearing off his fathers finger.

johnboy6930

anyone have had experience of farm accidents? or know someone who has? please post to spread awareness..have just been involved in an accident this summer and is now paralyzed from the waist down..be careful everyone

hiscan

Sorry to hear that Johnboy,what happened to you?

There is a Thread on the subject here from a few weeks ago
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056409267

sprouty

Hi Johnboy, thankfully I have not had anything too major happen to me but Ive had a few close ones & would bet that everybody else on this forum has as well.
Fair play to you for thinking of others at this time & starting this thread to keep us all aware.

phelixoflaherty

Sorry to hear about your accident JB. Head up lad.

johnboy6930

hiscan wrote: »

Sorry to hear that Johnboy,what happened to you?

There is a Thread on the subject here from a few weeks ago
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056409267

silage pike accident ..at this stage i don't feel like going into too much detail..but please do be careful around silage machinery and all types of machinery

hiscan

johnboy6930 wrote: »

silage pike accident ..at this stage i don't feel like going into too much detail..but please do be careful around silage machinery and all types of machinery

I understand,I shouldn't have asked you to go into details,my apologies.

jeff greene

Sorry Johnboy, thats awful!

Thanks for coming in to tell/warn us, a split second is all it takes!

Bodacious

Hi JB,

Thread to raise awareness is a great idea as we all take unnecessary chances,rushing etc and im sorry about your accident

Bodacious

I was in castlebar Sunday and saw this poor old farmer come round the roundabout in his MF 35 thought it was lovely to see him out and about in it, he has his 25kg of kerr pinks and few other bits in cab with him, but he went to turn right into a filling station and in fairness its a busy spot to cross at the best of times but his road positioning wasnt great and the inevitable happened oncoming cars wouldnt allow him go and people either behind or squeezing by on his left were getting verbal and standing above on the horn...

Poor man got flustered and must have selected Reverse instead of second and when he got his chance he let up the clutch and back he went, no transport box so up she went and both back wheels went up on the bonnet of car behind him with child in it.

Thankfully no one injured but both myself and the girlfriend did feel for the elderly man and the car owner of course

redzerologhlen

Sorry to hear that man. Tis tuff luck. As another lad said keep the head up!!

redzerologhlen

Bodacious wrote: »

I was in castlebar Sunday and saw this poor old farmer come round the roundabout in his MF 35 thought it was lovely to see him out and about in it, he has his 25kg of kerr pinks and few other bits in cab with him, but he went to turn right into a filling station and in fairness its a busy spot to cross at the best of times but his road positioning wasnt great and the inevitable happened oncoming cars wouldnt allow him go and people either behind or squeezing by on his left were getting verbal and standing above on the horn...

Poor man got flustered and must have selected Reverse instead of second and when he got his chance he let up the clutch and back he went, no transport box so up she went and both back wheels went up on the bonnet of car behind him with child in it.

Thankfully no one injured but both myself and the girlfriend did feel for the elderly man and the car owner of course

Its an all too common occurence with the eldelry on busy roads im afraid. I think a lot of them panic on busy roads and roundbouts and not just in tractors. Pity someone wouldnt let him out though but everyone is in too much of a rush nowdays an road rage is a bit rampant. Have witnessed some ridiculous overtaking manouvers while at silage over the last few summers. Had a bus overtake me on the outside of a very blind bend with the 10ft mower on, Sorry I didnt report the f*ck*r, If a car happened to be coming it was going to be a serious accident and it was a busy road and thats just one example. Wouldnt mind but I honestly always pull in when I get a chance because I know it can be frustating. People need to calm down a bit on the roads I think.

Askim

Bodacious wrote: »

I was in castlebar Sunday and saw this poor old farmer come round the roundabout in his MF 35 thought it was lovely to see him out and about in it, he has his 25kg of kerr pinks and few other bits in cab with him, but he went to turn right into a filling station and in fairness its a busy spot to cross at the best of times but his road positioning wasnt great and the inevitable happened oncoming cars wouldnt allow him go and people either behind or squeezing by on his left were getting verbal and standing above on the horn...

Poor man got flustered and must have selected Reverse instead of second and when he got his chance he let up the clutch and back he went, no transport box so up she went and both back wheels went up on the bonnet of car behind him with child in it.

Thankfully no one injured but both myself and the girlfriend did feel for the elderly man and the car owner of course

if the other drivers had a bit of patience and good manners, accidents like this wouldn't happen, 10 seconds is all it takes to stop & wave him on.

mikemac

There aren't many open slurry pits around today
Actually I don't know current regulations, are these allowed anymore?

Anyway, open slurry pits.
As there is a crust on top it can support the weight of a small child. And innocent that they are they kick balls or chase the cat across them and end up sinking
I know as I did this and had to be pulled out :rolleyes:
Years later my parents still bring it up

Slurry and children is deadly

Bodacious

Ah yeah he was well rattled the poor fella and you're right, we all could be more patient on the roads at times.

He couldnt even engage the clutch to get her down off of the car in total id say he went up the bonnet 3 times... it was getting caught somewhere underneath or else it could have been more serious for occupants of the car

corkcomp

Bodacious wrote: »

Ah yeah he was well rattled the poor fella and you're right, we all could be more patient on the roads at times.

He couldnt even engage the clutch to get her down off of the car in total id say he went up the bonnet 3 times... it was getting caught somewhere underneath or else it could have been more serious for occupants of the car

have a lot of sympathy for all involved here but unfortunately there is no room for sentimentality when it comes to safety on the roads, there's a good chance that elderly gentleman shouldn't be driving a tractor, or at least not in a public place.

reilig

[I merged both threads on the topic of farm accidents to keep things tidy]

MfMan

Bodacious wrote: »

Ah yeah he was well rattled the poor fella and you're right, we all could be more patient on the roads at times.

He couldnt even engage the clutch to get her down off of the car in total id say he went up the bonnet 3 times... it was getting caught somewhere underneath or else it could have been more serious for occupants of the car

On that vein, as a matter of habit, when I'm on the public road with a tractor I seldom if ever wave traffic behind me to pass me out. Let the drivers behind make the decision themselves. It could happen that even though no traffic is coming in the opposite direction, a vehicle could emerge suddenly from a side exit without you or the overtaking vehicle noticing it. If a collision occurs you could be at fault somewhat for flagging on the driver behind.

drBill

When I was about 10 I was standing on the footplate of an MF 153 with my dad driving pulling a trailer into a field to bring in bales. Tractor has a cab but the doors were removed for the summer. I slipped on the floor, fell out and landed flat on my stomach in front of the back wheel which rolled over me. Luckily the ground was soft, the trailer was empty, and we were only moving along at less than walking pace so it didn't really do me any harm.

Looking back, I feel very sorry for my dad, must have been a terrible fright for him. Really brings home how suddenly these things can happen.

A few years later I fell off the mudguard of another 135, one of the older ones with no bar behind the seat, and landed between the tractor and trailer. Luckily the driver saw me fall and stopped immediately, or rather didn't continue moving as it was the jerky start which dislodged me from my perch.

pakalasa

I was using a transport box recently, an ordinary one with a rope to pull for tipping. I had an older relative with me who was sitting up on the back. Unknown to me, he pulled up the slack rope as we were going along the road and tied it up to the toplink. When I went to drop the box of stones, I just saw the rope in time as it was about to pull across his leg.
Some people who are not familar with tractors, just don't know these things.

red menace

The brother was spreading fertilizer with the 290 and half tonne spreader.
I was on the tractor with him, we noticed that it looked like the fert was only coming off one spinner.
I jumped down to have a look.
I ran to catch up and jump back up beside him instead of waiting for him to stop.
My foot slipped on the step as there way clay on it, the back wheel grabbed my trousers and dragged me under the back wheel.
MY legs ended up under the wheel and I ended up supporting the weight of the tractor on my leg briefly before it gave way.
Ended up with the ligament pulling a piece of bone off my knee and two little holes in my leg where the grip dug in and pulled the skin off.
The brother was in a fierce state he thought he had me killed took him a long time to get down off the tractor to check on me.
Spent the full summer in a cast from my ankle to my hip.
Was lucky though the wheel could have caught me higher up and rolled over my stomach

Username John

Jesus - lots of simllilar stories... :eek:

My story - standing in the tractor cab, a friend of mine was driving... we were probably in a hurry, cos it was a Saturday night and we wanted to go out... So probably going too fast, and we turned the tractor over - I fell out the door, as above - summer time, so no doors on the tractor..
The tractor kinda bounced a little bit after I fell out, so it ended up on top of my leg. Oh, it happened on the road, so no give in the tarmac, when it landed on me
Back mudguard caught my shin, broke it in a good few places, back wheel was on top of my foot, crushed ankle, few other broken bones... Few months in hospital, pins & screws to hold it all together. Few more months on crutches...

But... could have been an awful lot worse.

Not saying I dont do careless things anymore, but I do wonder when I see lads taking cabs off tractors cos it looks more authentic apparently, or having doors on takes too long getting in and out...

jeff greene

Most of these stories are totally down to stupidity and needless risk taking, hardly accidents, I mean the HSA have no hope, when basic common sense is missing!

johnboy6930

farm accidents can be prevented if people take there time..hope alot of awareness has been spread throw this so no more accidents like mine happen

Username John

jeff greene wrote: »

Most of these stories are totally down to stupidity and needless risk taking, hardly accidents, I mean the HSA have no hope, when basic common sense is missing!

In my case I cannot disagree - it was being foolhardy and rushing which landed us in it...
Am I still foolhardy - not as much, I think anyways
Do I still rush - yes, afraid so...

My experience has made me wonder tho why people think its a good idea to remove a cab from a tractor cos "it looks better" or taking the doors off to "let the fine summer breeze in"

bbam

mikemac wrote: »

There aren't many open slurry pits around today
Actually I don't know current regulations, are these allowed anymore?

Anyway, open slurry pits.
As there is a crust on top it can support the weight of a small child. And innocent that they are they kick balls or chase the cat across them and end up sinking
I know as I did this and had to be pulled out :rolleyes:
Years later my parents still bring it up

Slurry and children is deadly

We still have one
As kids we used to dare each other to walk across, I kid you not :eek:
It's about 8 feet deep..

We were allowed to play unsupervised round the yard.. My girls are only allowed down with me and only for a walk, there is never work going on..

Bizzum

johnboy6930 wrote: »

farm accidents can be prevented if people take there time..hope alot of awareness has been spread throw this so no more accidents like mine happen

Sorry to hear about your accident Johnboy.

I have a word of warning so say about loading cattle.
A few years ago loading cattle with my father, a bullock kicked back as the trailer gates were being closed behind him, the gate caught my father in the face, knocking him back down the ramp onto his back on the ground. Nothing broken thankfully but he looked like he done a few rounds with Mike Tyson!
Luckily I got the gates shut and the ramp up before the cattle could reverse on top of him. We are very conscious of it now and I've heard several similar stories of farmers being hurt loading cattle.

pakalasa

A neighbour of mine was hurt like this, loading cattle.

MfMan

Bizzum wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your accident Johnboy.

I have a word of warning so say about loading cattle.
A few years ago loading cattle with my father, a bullock kicked back as the trailer gates were being closed behind him, the gate caught my father in the face, knocking him back down the ramp onto his back on the ground. Nothing broken thankfully but he looked like he done a few rounds with Mike Tyson!
Luckily I got the gates shut and the ramp up before the cattle could reverse on top of him. We are very conscious of it now and I've heard several similar stories of farmers being hurt loading cattle.

Aye, closing gates like this, like working a chainsaw or an angle grinder, is best done at arms length.

Bizzum

MfMan wrote: »

Aye, closing gates like this, like working a chainsaw or an angle grinder, is best done at arms length.

I'm not so sure that arms length is the safest way in any of the examples you give!
I tend now to lead with my shoulder and keep tight to the gate.
The problem as I see it, is them light gates really fly at you if they take a kick. I feel much safer going in shoulder to the gate.
I'd be interested to hear other posters opinions?

whelan1

local knackery man was telling me of another knackery man:) who was loading a dead animal in an open yard, he was pushing the trailer door back up when a cow came from behind and walloped him in the back with her head.. he managed to crawl under the lorry but he broke ribs etc

weefarmer

About 12 years ago the aul fella was feedin a neighbours animals for a weekend and putting bales into a yard,
dad had a sore back and couldnt reach the lever on the bale lifter (there instead of a pull rope) so I was pushin it forward as he put up the lifts and next thing it jammed on the cab,
It ripped my full finger open, did 2 days in hospital and 12-14 stitches I think,
It was such a simple mistake but the last thing id have thought as an 11 yr old.

X1R

This should bring back a few memories:
One fine summers evening (1989-1990) after loading up the trailer with the final load of square bales from the field, myself and 2 younger brothers were sitting on the load (that was the reward for helping out), dad was driving the 35 in 3rd, low range box, when the load split. I remember seeing my brothers dissapear over the far side of the load. When I got my head around what was happening, bounced off a bale back under the trailer, reached up and grabbed the first thing I could (the trailer chassis) looked down to see my foot trailing the ground between the twin wheels of the trailer. Pops was NOT happy. Not a mark on anyone, thank god.

A few years later dad was stacking round bales in the shed with his ford 4600 and quickie loader (his first test with a loader) and as I was walking up to the tractor to let him know the dinner was ready, the bales collapsed. The first one hit me, I bounced off the cab and back into the shed under the rest of the falling bales. By the time he and my brothers had taken the 7 bales off me he was in a fair sweat. I had been trapped on the ground by a bale on my right arm but luckly the void made by round bales side by side saved me. The dinner wasn't eaten that night.

We buy in our hay since, joking aside it doesn't take long for an accident to happen and with the first of November comming up soon, keep safe girls and boys.

13spanner

I was driving the wrapper home one evening and a car insisted on being within inches of the back of it the whole time. With the shape of the damper/mat on the wrapper, if I had to brake hard she would have been inside under it with only herself to blame. I'm good to pull in if I can, and it's nice to get a beep or wave when you do. My father got a kick off a bullock right on the chin loading the crush for dosing a few months back. Needless to say, that bullock got the dose and a bit of wavin pipe on the side

Bodacious

Bizzum wrote: »

johnboy6930 wrote: »

farm accidents can be prevented if people take there time..hope alot of awareness has been spread throw this so no more accidents like mine happen

Sorry to hear about your accident Johnboy.

I have a word of warning so say about loading cattle.
A few years ago loading cattle with my father, a bullock kicked back as the trailer gates were being closed behind him, the gate caught my father in the face, knocking him back down the ramp onto his back on the ground. Nothing broken thankfully but he looked like he done a few rounds with Mike Tyson!
Luckily I got the gates shut and the ramp up before the cattle could reverse on top of him. We are very conscious of it now and I've heard several similar stories of farmers being hurt loading cattle.

+1

Guy close to me is in a bad way only last week bullock kicked back and gate caught him in the face. It's like a game of russian roullette those couple of seconds until the ramp is secured.

Happened to me and a buddy I asked to help me loading a cracked bul weanling last winter, gates closed , ramp halfway closed when he cleared the lot down on top of us .. Luckily we fell backwards and not under the ramp.

MfMan

Bizzum wrote: »

I'm not so sure that arms length is the safest way in any of the examples you give!
I tend now to lead with my shoulder and keep tight to the gate.
The problem as I see it, is them light gates really fly at you if they take a kick. I feel much safer going in shoulder to the gate.
I'd be interested to hear other posters opinions?

I mean that when working a grinder and certainly a chainsaw, it's advised not to hold the implement into your chest, rather hold it out straight keeping your arms rigid so that if kickback occurs your arms should be able to deflect it up or away to the side. Similarly, if an animal kicks back when closing trailer gates, your arms may take the main thrust of the blow and cushion your body against worse injuries. Not easy I know if working with heavy gates or on an angled ramp. BTW, do you use the lock or bracket that locks one gate onto another when closing? A small thing but could make a difference.

5live

I was helping an electrician put up lights in the cubicle house a few years back and my job was to throw the wire over the rafters. I was just finished the second rafter and coming down when the ladder slipped. I let go and was falling when the top of the ladder just caught a gate resting on top of the cubicles. I fell through the ladder and landed on my side, breaking the ladder. I broke a rib and, only for the gate on the cubicles, i would have broken a lot more.

Brace the end of a ladder if you dont have someone to hold it, guys

redzerologhlen

I am amazed by the amount of close calls that people have had and your just hearing from a small group of people who post here regularly. Great thread to raise awareness and a bit of an eye opener to hear a lot of the lucky escapes!!

whelan1

i was pushing up a lorry cattle trailer ramp with another lad , he let go when the door was half way up and the door fell on my back:mad: also got a belt of a flying kick bar just above my eye... slipped on cleanings and dislocated my knee

dryan

Back in the late seventies, we were building a slatted shed at home. I was 3 - went out into the field and fell asleep in the grass one fine day. My father was moving some stones and blocks and drove over me with the massey 135. Back wheel came across my shoulder and skinned the side of my head/face. He then let the back box down on top of me. Spent a few weeks in hospital - all i suffered really was a broken collar bone.
Have a 3 year old lad now meself and it scares the s**t out of me every day i bring him out with me.

Muckit

Bizzum wrote: »

I'm not so sure that arms length is the safest way in any of the examples you give!
I tend now to lead with my shoulder and keep tight to the gate.
The problem as I see it, is them light gates really fly at you if they take a kick. I feel much safer going in shoulder to the gate.
I'd be interested to hear other posters opinions?

I have to agree with you bizzum. There's no place for a fool or a coward around cattle. The closer you are the better I think. Like the matadors, one small move to the side will get you out a lot of trouble...if your quick!

A kick back is always a risk while loading. Worse still with a tractor trailer, if they kick the gate up out of it's hinges:rolleyes:

I've seen in the IFJ there on two different weeks, lads had built a concrete loading ramp (about a foot off the ground) with precast walls and a backing gate. It ensured that the ramp of the trailer (especially lorry/tractor trailers) had a slighter slope. Cattle just walked up it.

Ifor williams type cattle trailers have made loading cattle a lot easier.
From looking on youtube, most of the US cattle lorries load cattle from a single file chute that's sloped up to the trailer. The trailer has no ramp, just a single narrow door. Cattle seem to load very easily in 'follow the leader' style with little shouting or stick.

Muckit

whelan1 wrote: »

i was pushing up a lorry cattle trailer ramp with another lad , he let go when the door was half way up and the door fell on my back

You were very lucky it wasn't more serious. Always stand to the side. If the springs or the cattle pushed gates and came back you could have been crushed.

Speaking of gates, I notice very few tractor cattle trailer gates lock into each other, like the aluminium IW jeep type trailers. Ours do. It gives great peace of mind when opening or closing a ramp.

pakalasa

I work in a factory that's American owned. We've had a serious push on Safety the last couple of years. To be honest, a lot of this is down to insurance. If the number of 'reportable incidents' are below a certain amount, insurance becomes very cheap. It's interesting to see the approach they take.

They look at each operation and they identify what is dangerous and a potential risk to the operators. The ideal remedy then is to engineer out the risk. Say for example, the side door on a machine can be wired so that the machine cuts out if opened, when the machine is running. If changes can't be made, then the workers are told of the risk and trained to 'work safely'. It sounds like a lot of bulsh1t, but it really works. All these things are shown to reduce accidents over time.

Bringing that approach to a farm. You could sit down and make a list of all the dangerous things, like PTO shafts, open slurry pits, bad brakes on the tractor etc.....and then actually do something about them.
For things that can't be changed like dangerous cattle etc, then younger children could be taught why they are dangerous.
Sorry for the rant, but Irish Farms are the most dangerous place to work in Ireland. All very well, until it lands at your own doorstop.