Loop on fertilizer bag broke!

whelan2

oh was spreading fertiliser, we use half tonne bags , we load them with pallet forks on digger , the hoop on the bag broke:eek::eek: never saw it before, very lucky it didnt fall on someone

Reggie.

whelan2 wrote: »

oh was spreading fertiliser, we use half tonne bags , we load them with pallet forks on digger , the hoop on the bag broke:eek::eek: never saw it before, very lucky it didnt fall on someone

A bit of "oh fock" when that thing was swinging in the air

mahoney_j

whelan2 wrote: »

oh was spreading fertiliser, we use half tonne bags , we load them with pallet forks on digger , the hoop on the bag broke:eek::eek: never saw it before, very lucky it didnt fall on someone

Happend Me twice this week ,never before.

whelan2

Reggie. wrote: »

A bit of "oh fock" when that thing was swinging in the air

it shouldnt happen

rangler1

mahoney_j wrote: »

Happend Me twice this week ,never before.

You're supposed to use a blade with a long handle to cut them. but I've never seen anyone use anything other than a penknife/short knife.

Muckit

Get on to yer suppliers asap and report it as a near miss.

Doing nothing may see another life lost this year.

whelan2

mahoney_j wrote: »

Happend Me twice this week ,never before.

what brand ? we normally use gouldings this was ifi

whelan2

i normally bring 2 bags on the pallet forks up to field when oh is spreading, wont be travelling with these on the forks:(

mahoney_j

whelan2 wrote: »

what brand ? we normally use gouldings this was ifi

Gouldings,Richland and sweetgrass

mahoney_j

whelan2 wrote: »

what brand ? we normally use gouldings this was ifi

Gouldings,Richland and sweetgrass

Greengrass1

Lucky it didn't fall on the spinner. Wonder would they pay ye for it if the bag fell into it?

whelan2

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Lucky it didn't fall on the spinner. Wonder would they pay ye for it if the bag fell into it?

dunno, but the fertiliser might be worth more than my spreader:D

moy83

The tonne bag of sand I use at work has the bag itself stitched about halfway down the sides leaveing two loops of the bag itself for the forks to slide through . Its way stronger and easier to get the forks into .

Nekarsulm

Did it break, or cut? Any bit of a burr or damage on the pallet fork can do it.

Rovi

[MOD]

Important topic split off from Chit Chat thread.

[/MOD]

Zr105

Unfortunately if your lifting with pallet forks id say that will be their get out of jail card if you tried to claim off them. Pallet forks are known to have a sharp edge that will cut through bags very easily

Best thing to do is get out the angle grinder and round off the top corners along the sides of each fork!

Zr105

Rovi wrote: »

[MOD]

Important topic split off from Chit Chat thread.

[/MOD]

I just stuck another post in the chit chat as you were splitting rovi!

Mad4simmental

Get a good D shackle to use for those big bags it's the safest and best way to lift them. D shackle on the top of the bag and a short good chain of that. It only takes a small edge to cut them bags and the corner of the pallet forkes is annof.

You'll use the good D shackle to lift everything elce around the farm when you have one. This is one of those safety things that needs to be looked at on every farm.

whelan2

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Did it break, or cut? Any bit of a burr or damage on the pallet fork can do it.

no broke , pallet forks seem fine, will have another look at them later. Will ring supplier tomorrow. The half tonne bags we use for feed have 4 loops on them and are alot safer than the one loop on the fert bags

Rovi

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Did it break, or cut? Any bit of a burr or damage on the pallet fork can do it.

^
|
|
This.

I've long suspected that the loops on fertilizer bags were only just about suitable for the loads imposed upon them.

Any sort of 'rough' handling appears to damage and weaken them to the point of potential failure.
Even something as simple as hitting the brakes a bit too hard and having the loop slide a bit along the fork will abrade it, especially if the fork has a burr or a rough edge on it.
Obviously, 'operator error' things like driving the fork through the material of the bag rather than properly through the loop will lead to potential failures too.

Really, I think these things should be lifted with a hook, rather than a fork tine.
I don't know of anyone who does that though.

It's a salutatory lesson to NEVER place yourself under a suspended load.

Reggie.

whelan2 wrote: »

no broke , pallet forks seem fine, will have another look at them later. Will ring supplier tomorrow. The half tonne bags we use for feed have 4 loops on them and are alot safer than the one loop on the fert bags

If moving them on the road I always sit them on pallets and carry from underneath. It's safer just in case

Rovi

Reggie. wrote: »

If moving them on the road I always sit them on pallets and carry from underneath. It's safer just in case

Yep, that's what we used to do: 2 tonnes (4 bags) on the pallet to the loading location, and then lift on the loops to load the spreader.

_Brian

I know I'm like a broken record sometimes but I was delighted to see a safety topic being split off from chit chat to deal with it properly.

The suggestion of the D shackle is dead on. I actually think this is the recommended method of lifting them. The biggest problem is the added length, keep chain short or you'll run out of lift.

Mulumpy

Always lift with a d shackle on front loader here and open with a slash hook

stop thelights

I've seen it happen before a few years ago when I wasn't able to drive on the road. It was top lift still so was handled a few times.

What I put it down to was some one picking up a bag on the end of the fork. Lifting it up and as you move it around the yard it would slide along the fork till it hit the back. Do that a few times and its bound to break!

Reggie.

stop thelights wrote: »

I've seen it happen before a few years ago when I wasn't able to drive on the road. It was top lift still so was handled a few times.

What I put it down to was some one picking up a bag on the end of the fork. Lifting it up and as you move it around the yard it would slide along the fork till it hit the back. Do that a few times and its bound to break!

Wore the loop down

Nekarsulm

Mulumpy wrote: »

Always lift with a d shackle on front loader here and open with a slash hook

And if you are using a D shackle on a piece of chain, do make sure the loop of the bag is not going to rub on the front edge of the bucket (if fitted).
Managed to slice through two of the loops of a meal bag during the winter, and then the other two ripped half way down the side. Surprising how long it takes to shovel 700kg into little bags.............

_Brian

whelan2 wrote: »

oh was spreading fertiliser, we use half tonne bags , we load them with pallet forks on digger , the hoop on the bag broke:eek::eek: never saw it before, very lucky it didnt fall on someone

Will ya be talking to the supplier about it??

td5man

Happened here last year, bag of triticale seed ripped just as it was being lifted into the drill.
Had to empty the bag with a bucket 😕

just_did_it

Anyone got a pic of a D shackle?

Rovi

Here's what we use for lifting pretty much everything that needs to be lifted:


It lives on and is almost entirely used on the digger, but can be switched to the loader if needed.

Reggie.

Nekarsulm wrote: »

And if you are using a D shackle on a piece of chain, do make sure the loop of the bag is not going to rub on the front edge of the bucket (if fitted).
Managed to slice through two of the loops of a meal bag during the winter, and then the other two ripped half way down the side. Surprising how long it takes to shovel 700kg into little bags.............

I don't plan to ever find out

_Brian

just_did_it wrote: »

Anyone got a pic of a D shackle?

http://65.39.128.39/~liftings/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PH3TA.jpg

Greengrass1

Rovi wrote: »

Here's what we use for lifting pretty much everything that needs to be lifted:


It lives on and is almost entirely used on the digger, but can be switched to the loader if needed.

Where abouts do you have it on the loader.
I don't posses pallets forks yet

Reggie.

Rovi wrote: »

Here's what we use for lifting pretty much everything that needs to be lifted:


It lives on and is almost entirely used on the digger, but can be switched to the loader if needed.

Have you the little hook on the 3 ft digging bucket

_Brian

I don't own but have access to this set and there is very little it doesn't lift. See them on DD for small enough money sometimes.

http://www.gohireltd.co.uk/uploads/19_Lifting_chains.jpg

Reggie.

_Brian wrote: »

I don't own but have access to this set and there is very little it doesn't lift. See them on DD for small enough money sometimes.

http://www.gohireltd.co.uk/uploads/19_Lifting_chains.jpg

Always preferred straps to chains cos at least you can spot damage to straps. Your only clue to chain being damaged is then it snaps

_Brian

We have some 8ft slings with loops in each end and yes they are mighty handy.

Conmaicne Mara

_Brian wrote: »

I don't own but have access to this set and there is very little it doesn't lift. See them on DD for small enough money sometimes.

http://www.gohireltd.co.uk/uploads/19_Lifting_chains.jpg

Ton bag of chippings for concrete broke and fell when we were lifting it into the dumper with lifting chain like that on digger, that bag had 4 loops.

Reggie.

Rule of thumb

Bad D shackle

Reggie.

Good D shackle

Note the difference in shape

frazzledhome

whelan2 wrote: »

i normally bring 2 bags on the pallet forks up to field when oh is spreading, wont be travelling with these on the forks:(

They aren't designed to be transported this way. Lift and short journey to spreader. Some weight to fall on someone

Chain the broken loop and lift will do it.

_Brian

The important thing here is awareness. It's best to be of the opinion that the loop could break during any lift and keep people out of the immediate lift area. Even with a D shackle a damaged or faulty loop could break.

Keep the lift time and manuvering when lifted to a minimum, the pendulum effect will increase likelihood of failure.

It's a state of mind but keep thinking, what could go wrong ? How would I or others be impacted ?? What can I do to reduce the risk of the incident happening and minimise the results if it does ??

Mad4simmental

Simple thing I learned in work a few years ago that anyone can learn and use in any job not just farming. Just take that extra second to think about any task you do. I know a few will throw the eyes up but it might help sumone. Easy way to remimber it,

Every
Sunday
I
Eat
A
Pie

td5man

Reggie. wrote: »

Good D shackle

Note the difference in shape

Do you paint everything green??

Reggie.

td5man wrote: »

Do you paint everything green??

Ahem :rolleyes:

GRASSorMUCK

Had a 1ton sulphan bag from yara snap the loop into the spreader doing 1 st split, damaged the grill for lumps etc, weight cells needed replacing and nice big dent on one side. I cried .
If bags aren't man handled can't see how it happens but it does, can you borrow/use a small eg12ft trailer bring out 4ton at a time on it if travelling on road.

moy83

td5man wrote: »

Do you paint everything green??

Id say Reggie doesnt but someone does

Reggie.

moy83 wrote: »

Id say Reggie doesnt but someone does

Less of that you

whelan2

frazzledhome wrote: »

They aren't designed to be transported this way. Lift and short journey to spreader. Some weight to fall on someone

Chain the broken loop and lift will do it.

the bag that broke was being lifted from shed to spreader- not top lift bag- so would have been its first lift. It just missed the dog

willfarmerman

Still lad it wouldn't break the industry for the bag manufactuers to line the inner part of the loops with a more robust material. One accident is one too many.