Runaway JD

[37 chief]

This happened to me several years ago. . Tractor stopped going down a hill. Mower lowered, and the held the tractor from moving. I took it out of gear, should have put it in park. I Fixed the problem. To check it, I started it by standing next to it. It started, mower raised, not holding the tractor any more, off it went down the hill to a cliff. All I could do was stand there watching my best tractor and mower go to certain death. By the grace of God it went into a small ditch part way down holding the tractor. It took a lesson like that for me to make sure the tractor is in park before starting. There may be something wrong with the starting switch. I don't think the tractor should start unless in park. This happened a few years ago, but it made me more aware of how quick things can go wrong, very fast. So pay attention out there. Stan

 

[rustred]

depends if it has a safety neutral switch. they will not crank over unless its in park or neutral. without that they can start in gear.

 

[rrlund]

Reminds me of a story I read one time. It's been so long that I don't remember just how it ended, but a guy was way out in the middle of nowhere and his loader tractor wouldn't start. He got the idea that he could tow it by himself with his pickup. He figured to put the truck in low gear and as soon as the tractor started, if he put the tractor in neutral and dropped the loader he could jump off, run up and stop the truck. As soon as the tractor started, it lurched and the chain came unhooked and the truck started picking up speed. It was headed right for a steep embankment. He started chasing it with the tractor, trying to get the bucket under the back bumper to lift the tires off the ground and stop it.

That's where my memory fades.

 

[showcrop]

I once borrowed a tractor while haying. I got it to the field and I needed to do some sort of swap around. I couldn't find the parking brake and it was on a very gentle slope, so I turned the wheels up hill and jumped off. A minute late I turned and it was rolling towards where the slope got a little steeper. It picked up some speed and was headed towards the fence row where there some big rocks. It went into some saplings and stopped, and it had no damage. It was looking very bad for a few seconds though.

 

[Texasmark]

This happened to me several years ago. . Tractor stopped going down a hill. Mower lowered, and the held the tractor from moving. I took it out of gear, should have put it in park. I Fixed the problem. To check it, I started it by standing next to it. It started, mower raised, not holding the tractor any more, off it went down the hill to a cliff. All I could do was stand there watching my best tractor and mower go to certain death. By the grace of God it went into a small ditch part way down holding the tractor. It took a lesson like that for me to make sure the tractor is in park before starting. There may be something wrong with the starting switch. I don't think the tractor should start unless in park. This happened a few years ago, but it made me more aware of how quick things can go wrong, very fast. So pay attention out there. Stan

I've been there......something of that sort, not exactly like yours, but of the sort and I was just paralyzed......stood there watching it happen.......so why didn't I respond....just totally shocked that it was occurring and it was so bazaar that it paralyzed me.

 

[cjunrau]

I parked my semi, went home got my loader tractor to load bales. I had turned the wheel so it was pointing up hill. No idea why I didn’t pull the air brake. Stated loading bales. When I had 10 bales on it started rolling, all I could do was watch it fly down the next hill into the bush. I tried catching it with the tractor but I was facing the other direction when I saw it move.
Took out the windshield and bent the moose bumper a bit.

One time 3 hours from home the clutch went out on my semi. Pushed on the back with tractor till it fired up, drove a way in front, shut off tractor and jumped in truck and drove home. Made sure I took all the least traveled highway so as not to stop at the stop signs.

 

[Brian G. NY]

A very prominant farmer in this area lost his life in a similar fashion.
He was having a problem with the starter switch and had been starting his tractor by standing on the ground by the solenoid.
It was a big John Deere with a set of discs attached; he had left it in gear and it ran over him.
His name: Max Shaul, the Dad of national champion tractor puller, John Shaul.

 

[ole fred]

Years ago, I knew a fellow that was run over by a 6000 Ford tractor. It had a Select-O-Speed transmission. He was standing beside it and jumped the solenoid. It was a diesel so all you had to do was turn it over and it started. He was pretty well maimed, but did survive.
If it had been a manual transmission, it would have jumped when he first hit the solenoid, but because the SOS had to build up pressure it lagged a second or two.

 

[SkipperII]

Years ago, I knew a fellow that was run over by a 6000 Ford tractor. It had a Select-O-Speed transmission. He was standing beside it and jumped the solenoid. It was a diesel so all you had to do was turn it over and it started. He was pretty well maimed, but did survive.
If it had been a manual transmission, it would have jumped when he first hit the solenoid, but because the SOS had to build up pressure it lagged a second or two.

My old boss jumped a 6000, standing beside it. SOS was in reverse, indicator showed neutral. Ran over his leg with front tire, collected the third car in the grocery parking lot next door, before I could jump up onto the step and stop it.

 

[Texasmark]

I almost had a problem this AM. I turned the key on my Ford 3000 8 speed, which was in N, and nothing happened. As I am learning, older Fords have problems with the sensors in the tranny telling the starting solenoid that its OK to start the engine......

I was standing next to the tractor to get it to start warming up while I attended to other things.....hit the key and nothing happened....wondering if it was the solenoid that energizes the starter or something else, I should have put the range lever in N but forgot to......I moved the gear shifter back and forth and on one excursion the engine hit and the tractor started to move as I was moving back and forth.....thank goodness I was still moving the gear shifter back and forth and the tractor just started to move and quit when I was back at the N position.

Sooooo for this boy, when I hit the key and nothing happens the next time, the first thing I will do on the 3000 is to put the range lever in the N position.....on my later models its just the opposite.....the switch is on the range lever so I need to be paying attention.

 

[jon f mn]

When I was a boy my brother started our 970 case with a screw driver but it was in gear. It was in the shed and there was a row from cultivator in front of it. The cultivator started the front up, then it hit the pole shed post and continued up til it hung up on the drawbar. Was sitting there spinning til .y brother finally climbed in it to shut it down. Had to get a large tow truck to lift it off the shed post and lower it. Can still see the color difference from the patch I the shed tin. The starter had been acting up on it so we had been starting it that way. This time my oldest brother had driven it and left it in gear when he shut it off.

 

[chvet73]

When I was in high school one of my parents very good friends decided to tow his car to the shop. I’m not sure what he was thinking. He was considered to be an extremely intelligent man. But needless to say to say with just a rope to tow it didn’t end well. As I heard it he realized something was wrong when the towed car came up beside his car. Although I’m glad to say there was no serious damage.

 

[SweetFeet]

This happened to me several years ago. . Tractor stopped going down a hill. Mower lowered, and the held the tractor from moving. I took it out of gear, should have put it in park. I Fixed the problem. To check it, I started it by standing next to it. It started, mower raised, not holding the tractor any more, off it went down the hill to a cliff. All I could do was stand there watching my best tractor and mower go to certain death. By the grace of God it went into a small ditch part way down holding the tractor. It took a lesson like that for me to make sure the tractor is in park before starting. There may be something wrong with the starting switch. I don't think the tractor should start unless in park. This happened a few years ago, but it made me more aware of how quick things can go wrong, very fast. So pay attention out there. Stan

I remember tbe pics tou posted about it, Chief. Scary!

 

[NY 986]

A fellow I knew had a Farmall 300, small square baler, and thrower wagon wind up at the bottom of a steep hill. He had gone to lunch and insisted that he set the brake. He might have but the load might have been enough to overcome the brake or the rear tires lost traction. The damage to the tractor was considerable with a broken front axle center, nose and hood damage, and a couple of bent rims/ wheels. Surprisingly, the rest of the rig had no damage. A good lesson to park equipment crossways to the hill if possible to account for a brake issue.

 

[37 chief]

I remember tbe pics tou posted about it, Chief. Scary!

Here is that picture. Stan

 

[SweetFeet]

Here is that picture. Stan

Good thing it was nose-first...if more sideways, it may have tumbled to the bottom.

 

[Texasmark]

Here is that picture. Stan

That's a very steep bank. I wouldn't have been on it in the first place, much less attempt to park it there.

 

[showcrop]

That's a very steep bank. I wouldn't have been on it in the first place, much less attempt to park it there.

Try reading the original post all the way through slowly.

 

[Texasmark]

Try reading the original post all the way through slowly.

Did I do this again.....getting to be a bad habit.....sorry!