Spinning parts

[37chief]

I usually stop after mowing a few hours and check for loose bolts, and check the belts. I normally disengage the PTO. Today I get off and am standing in front of my mower, I see everything still spinning. I forgot about the PTO. Nothing happened. I see how something can happen by not paying attention. This not a farming community, but I am sure some of you may know someone that got in trouble around equipment. Stan

 

[hoghollow]

Be careful never get off without shutting PTO off.

 

[ADB-Ia]

I usually stop after mowing a few hours and check for loose bolts, and check the belts. I normally disengage the PTO. Today I get off and am standing in front of my mower, I see everything still spinning. I forgot about the PTO. Nothing happened. I see how something can happen by not paying attention. This not a farming community, but I am sure some of you may know someone that got in trouble around equipment. Stan

My father-in-law lost two fingers in a silage chopper. He had shut off the pto but the old choppers had over-riding clutches that let rotating parts keep spinning from inertia. He stuck his hand in without thinking and bad things happened fast. Those little decals that show what happens are accurate.

 

[BlaineM]

If I get off the tractor to fix or adjust anything the tractor gets shut off.

 

[showcrop]

Be careful never get off without shutting PTO off.

That is what 37 Chief's post is about. He has been doing this for many years and doesn't need to be told how to do it, but he wanted to show how even someone with a lot of experience can make a mistake. Perhaps someday you could too.

 

[wjytexas]

It is easy to slip up, let your mind wander a few minutes and you're all set up for an accident. I think we all know to shut off spinning equipment and lower implements before getting off BUT .........

 

[Keith True]

My old shop boss at the JD dealer tangled with a PTO when he was a teenager.Never got the whole story,but he let us know that human body parts are no match for an idling 2 cylinder JD.A neighbor stepped on the drawbar of his N series Ford,and was instantly de-pantsed.Needed a bunch of stitches,but he considered himself lucky,considering the size of the nail he had left stuck in the PTO shaft.I use a Bobcat for most things I do,and never,ever,climb out of the cab under the arms.It makes it hard,but if I'm putting a fridge in a house,and have it strapped to the forks,I'll put the forks up to the level of where it's going and climb out and up over the roof.Then after I get things in place I have to climb back up and down in the cab again.

 

[ole fred]

If I get off my Ferris, the deck will shut off automatically. A switch on the seat does it.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

I know someone who got scalped by an unshielded PTO shaft on a 14T baler. She dropped a wrench under the hitch, went to pick it up & it caught her hair.

Mike

 

[Steve in VA]

It is easy to slip up, let your mind wander a few minutes and you're all set up for an accident. I think we all know to shut off spinning equipment and lower implements before getting off BUT .........

Or force of habit. I always do this so my mind assumes ive done it. Way too easy to overlook something.

 

[Ray,IN]

Get in a hurry to beat bad incoming weather and it's quite easy to take a shortcut when you know better. Ever have a sq baler get clogged with hay?

 

[Keith True]

In 1980 I was walking a 420 crawler across my dads field towards my land.Weather was moving in,and I wanted to get there before the field mudded up.Maybe a thousand feet from me I saw lightning touch down through a huge tree.Never touched the throttle,or the shifter,just hit the switch and bailed off the back.I gave it a couple of days to dry up,and walked out to finish moving it.Something looked funny,and the stack looked like somebody put a little bomb in it.Split open at the seams,bent.The fairly fresh shiny paint had burn scars and stains all over it.Battery cable was melted,the starter switch was fused together inside,and the battery had blown up.I still don't know why I bailed out that day,I was kind of known for ignoring rain,thunder and lightning back then.I did realize I was riding a heavy iron lightning rod through a big open muddy field.Seeing in a hurry to beat bad incomong weather brought up that memory.

 

[Timmycornpicker]

My late neighbor had gotten the shirt ripped off his back by the drive shaft on a top-driven grain auger. He was putting oats up in a wooden grainery and was shovelling away from the auger when he backed up against it. Luckily for him, it was a well-worn and often-washed button-front shirt with deteriorated fabric that easily tore apart so he didn't get pulled into the shaft. That auger was old enough that I doubt it ever had a shield over the shaft above the tube.

 

[showcrop]

I know someone who got scalped by an unshielded PTO shaft on a 14T baler. She dropped a wrench under the hitch, went to pick it up & it caught her hair.

Mike

That was not a rare occurrence!