[AT] Woman dies in fall from antique tractor

[Mike Sloane]

[Although I didn't know Bennett, she lived in the next town over. As it 
happens, I have a virtually identical tractor to the one that she was 
operating. Let's be very careful with those old machines! MS]

Woman dies in fall from antique tractor
She enjoyed taking vehicle out for rides
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
BY JOE MOSZCZYNSKI
Newark (NJ)Star-Ledger Staff

A 46-year-old Frelinghuysen Township woman who mowed lawns for a living 
and who enjoyed driving an antique tractor around her family's farm on 
Route 94 was killed after being thrown from the vehicle, State Police said.

Sheryl Bennett was killed about 6 p.m. Friday after she was ejected from 
the seat of her tractor when it struck a gully or ravine at the Ben nett 
farm. She then fell under one of the tractor's large rear wheels, said 
Detective Tom Preston of the State Police barracks in Hope.

"She used to ride the tractor around for fun ... for recreational 
rides," said Preston. "Talking to other people during the investiga 
tion, it wasn't unusual for her to just take the tractor out for a ride."

Preston described the tractor as a 1952 Farm All-Super M that was red 
with some gray primer patches. The two front wheels are about the size 
of motorcycle tires and the two rear wheels are about 4 feet high, he said.

Bennett, who had worked as a landscaper at William Ahlers Landscaping 
Co. in Hardwick for about a dozen years, was not mowing grass at the 
time of the accident and there were no attachments on the tractor.

The cause of death was head trauma. Police are awaiting a toxicology 
report, said Preston.

Her employer, William Ahlers, said he found it "very unusual" when he 
learned about Bennett's interest in riding tractors for recreational use 
because she refused to drive a tractor on the job.

"She drove the lawn tractors -- walk behinds and riders, but Cheryl 
never even wanted to sit on a tractor. She had a fear of the bigger 
equipment," said Ahlers.

He also said that Bennett, a graduate of North Warren Regional High 
School, had a very strong work ethic.

"She did it all. She was a great worker and was like my right-hand man," 
said Ahlers. "I don't think I could replace her in 100 years."

In addition to her husband, Thomas, who has participated in tractor 
pulls at the Warren County Farmers' Fair, Bennett is survived by a 
stepdaughter, Amanda Lee Bennett of Blairstown; her mother, Mildred King 
of Syndersville, Pa,; a sister and three brothers.
-- 
Mike Sloane
Allamuchy NJ
<mikesloane at verizon.net>
Website: <www.geocities.com/mikesloane>
Images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>

How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there's
no help in the truth. -Sophocles, (495-405 BCE)


-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.10.10/419 - Release Date: 8/15/2006