[Farmall] Tractor rollover

[Bill "Bear" Hood]

Andy
Here is my take on the accident and it a concensus of the board and directors of our club who have a collective "bunch" of years on tractors  and hauling same.

1.  He was loading on a 8' decked over trailer with short ramps and a short dovetail.  Nearly all of us would have loaded by backing on.  These 2 cyl row crop JDs are generally light on the front end.  We weigh pull tractors on single axle scales and the front was 1920 and rear was 5285.

2.  He had his truck and trailer on an uphill grade which increased the angle of climb.

3.  He "readjusted the clutch right before loading.

4.  He was hot and tired as he was in charge of all gate keepers and parking all day and showed this tractor for the first time. He has had quad bypass surgery before and may have streached his stamina.

5 He was loading in the visitor parking lot instead of the trailer area which does not have a gentle slope.

Any one of these factors could have been a problem, but we fear it was the sum of the total.   His fiance and family know that he make mistakes and it was an accident, but we still all feel bad about this.  He asked his fiance if she thought he should turn the trailer around before loading.

Our Safety Commmittee, Safety Officers and Board members have hashed this over and even though we feel very bad, we see nothing we could have done to prevent this other than standing at the side of the trailer and telling him not to load.  But he is a 68 year old adult and the final decision would still have been his.  

We will accept any prayers in his behalf and please be careful out there.  We are not going to stop showing, hauling tractors and being farmers because of this.  But I think most of us will remember the pictures of the upset tractor with wheels still churning and the bruised and broken body of a friend on the ground.
Be careful out there.
Bear



--- pioneersop96 at yahoo.com wrote:

From: Andy glines <pioneersop96 at yahoo.com>
To: Farmall/IHC mailing list <farmall at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [Farmall] Tractor rollover
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 05:55:52 -0700 (PDT)

Sorry about your friend Bill.  I hope that he heals
quickly.  Maybe you can share the circumstances of the
accident so that we might learn from it.

--- "Bill \"Bear\" Hood" <mmman at netscape.com> wrote:

> Be careful out there
> 
> The Lone Star Antique Tractor and Engine assn show
> was this weekend was this weekend and was the best
> by far for our short seven years.  BUT at the end of
> the day Saturday, we has a tragic accident.
> 
> One of our members was loading a narrow front JD 720
> LP row crop on his high deck trailer and it flipped
> over on top of him.  He was loading forward and
> parked his trailer uphill which both contributed to
> the problem.  He completed a 3 year restoration on
> this one last week. 
> 
> If the tractor had not had the LP tank, it would
> have crushed him completely.  He was able to drag
> himself out from the fenders and was crushed between
> the seats but the steering wheel did not get him.  I
> was announcing the pull and saw the accident out of
> the corner of my eye.  I radioed for EMS/FD who were
> on the grounds and ran to the site.  He was soon
> being taken care of and I was able to cut the
> ignition on the tractor and cut the feul off-- the
> tractor was still turning the wheels in its upset
> position. I had to get loud to get the crowd to move
> back and give EMS room to operate and privacy for
> the patient.   His new wife was standing beside the
> trailer as this happened.  
> 
> Several mistakes were made that contributed to this
> accident, but the bottom line is a friend was hurt
> and and will be a long time recovering.  He had
> lacerated liver, several broken bones, left arm
> lacerated from wrist to shoulder, broken ribs,
> bruised lungs and hip.  He will recover, but will be
> in rehab for a long time.  He was removed from the
> ventilator this afternoon and faces two more
> surgeries on his arm in the next ten days.  We
> delivered the tractor to his shop this afternoon and
> are supporting his family all we can.
> 
> I posted this to remind all of you that this can
> happen and to remind you to be safe in this great
> hobby of ours.  I have loaded tractors on trailers
> for 50 years and I think I will relive this every
> time as we load and use our equipment.   We can "say
> what if" and rehash this, but in a split second a
> man was severely injured.  We have said lots of
> prayers at the show grounds, last night and today.  
> Be careful out there
> Bear
> 
> 
> 
>
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Andy Glines
Evansville, IN

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