[AT] Plows, was Re: Supervision

Wed Jul 1 22:00:03 PDT 2015

This is good!

Dean VP
Snohomish, WA 98290

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent
virtue is the equal sharing of misery."  . Sir Winston Churchill

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of
Mike
Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2015 9:23 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Plows, was Re: Supervision

I'll be moving dirt tomorrow, filling in a ditch, you can be sure the 
ROPS will be up and the seat belt on.

Mike M

On 7/1/2015 10:18 PM, David Rotigel wrote:
> Thank You Dean VP--I've learned a lot from this post!
> 	Dave
>
> On Jul 1, 2015, at 1:07 AM, Dean VP <deanvp at att.net> wrote:
>
>> Mike,
>>
>> I'm not sure I want to tell the details of the story but if it helps someone else not get injured
or
>> killed I will explain what happened. The JD 750 is a compact tractor built fairly low to the ground
>> with a 3 cylinder diesel engine. I think it was new in 1982 and still doesn't have over 500 hours
on
>> it. It has been probably the most reliable used tractor I have ever purchased. I've owned it since
>> 1998 and it came with a front three way hydraulic blade and a 5' brush cutter. I expected to use it
a
>> lot more than I have and the main reason is it helped get the 6 acres leveled out and under control
so
>> now I can do everything with my JD 425 Garden Tractor,  The only weak link in the tractor are the
>> brakes. Over time moisture seeps in though the brake shaft and rusts the shaft so that they freeze
up.
>> So about every 5 years I have to totally refurbish the brakes to keep the pedals from locking up.
But
>> I guess since that is all the repairs I have had to make to this tractor I shouldn't complain. A
few
>> years after I bought it I found a 50" rototiller which has really helped keeping my wife's garden
in
>> shape and then I found a used front loader for it at an auction. So the loader is on it most of the
>> time and I use the rotary tiller as ballast on the back to counter weight the load in the front
>> loader. Has done everything I've asked from it for years trouble free.   So I've never had an
incident
>> with it in 17 years. Until last week.
>>
>> My wife and I decided we wanted to change the landscaping a bit at the front entrance to our
acreage
>> which entailed removing a bunch of dirt from one side of the entrance and I moved the dirt to the
lawn
>> where depressions has developed due to our heavy rainfall.   The area I was working slopes up to
the
>> neighborhood road and I would fill the bucket and then get on the road to get to where I wanted to
>> dump on the lawn.  Then I would have to leave the road to get to the location on the lawn.  I did
>> several scoops without incident and then I had a mental lapse. Please keep in mind the JD 750 has a
>> very substantial  ROPS on it and has a seatbelt so that if you tip over you don't get thrown off
the
>> seat and get crushed by the rolling tractor. The ROPS acts as a protective cage for the driver if
he
>> is locked into the seat while the tractor rolls. I am embarrassed to admit I didn't have my seat
belt
>> on. A severe and stupid  mental lapse.  I picked up another bucket load and went down the road to
>> where I wanted dump but unfortunately this time I wanted to get the load in a certain area that I
>> thought the right way was to come in at an angle from off the road to the sloping down and away
lawn.
>> I had the bucket low and the Rototiller low.  But then the right front wheel fell into a hole in
the
>> lawn that I didn't know was there and the bucket swung right and the rototiller swung right and
danged
>> if it wasn't enough to cause the whole tractor, loader, rototiller and me to roll over in a flash.
It
>> happened so quick there wasn't any warning.  The tractor rolled over 90 degrees and then hit the
right
>> side of the ROPs and stopped instantly. But I didn't, I got thrown out of the seat out onto the
lawn.
>> I was so stunned It took me a couple seconds to try to move further away if the tractor kept
rolling
>> but it didn't.  I got up, didn't feel like I was hurt and shut off the tractor engine as it was
still
>> running on its side. Fluids started draining out of the crankcase and transmission.  But there
wasn't
>> anything I could do about that. I checked myself again and the only thing I noticed is I had a
scrape
>> on one of my arms.  I then realized how lucky I had been. Got another tractor out and rolled the JD
>> 750 back up right.  Checked for damage and didn't see any and drove it to the shop to get the fluid
>> levels back to norm.  Have used it a few time since and did find that the right rear fender lip got
>> bent a little and a couple crescent wrenches removed that damage and then I found I had broken a
link
>> on one of the sway chains on the three point hitch. Fixed that with my arc welder and the tractor
is
>> ready to go.  Unfortunately a day later I found out that I had gotten beat up a bit. I had severe
back
>> spasms for about 4 days and my right shoulder was really stiff and sore during that period.  I
didn't
>> notice it all immediately after the accident. The back and shoulder is starting to settle down and
I
>> think a week or so more I'll be back to normal which includes a bad back at all times.  I guess us
75
>> year olds don't bounce as well or recover as rapidly as we used to.
>>
>> So the lesson learned. I should have been wearing the seat belt and I wouldn't have gotten thrown
out
>> and probably would not have gotten beat up so bad. I don't know how much damage the seat belt would
>> have done to me when the tractor roll was stopped so abruptly by the right side of the ROPS.   But
I
>> will say without the ROPS I probably wouldn't be alive to write this embarrassing story.   So
always
>> have the ROPS installed and always wear the seatbelt. I got half of it right.  I consider I've used
up
>> one of my lives in this little incident.  So be prepared, be safe and use the safety tools
provided.
>> JD was very instrumental in being an early developer of ROPS. Thanks to that effort I'm here to
write
>> this story.   Follow the rules. Don't do as I did, do as I say!  :-)  An important lesson for all
of
>> us.
>>
>>
>> Dean VP
>> Snohomish, WA 98290
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf
Of
>> Mike
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 6:52 PM
>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>> Subject: Re: [AT] Plows, was Re: Supervision
>>
>> Dean, maybe you could fill us in on what happened, I rarely use my seat
>> belt or ROPS unless I'm near an incline or unstable ground. I know, I know.
>>
>> Mike M
>>
>>
>> On 6/30/2015 6:44 PM, Dean VP wrote:
>>> I suspect the spring trip had never tripped before or since and was a little rusty. Not quite as
>>> smooth as we humans would like. A well written story however. It could have been a lot worse.  I
>>> probably have 100's maybe even 1000 hours of seat time plowing when I was a kid and never had a
plow
>>> hitch trip. We didn't have any large or even small rocks in our soil, in fact I only remember
>> plowing
>>> up one rock ever and when I got home for lunch I mentioned it to my Dad and he very quickly said:
"
>>> The Rail Road" must have brought it in. We don't have rocks in our soil"!  End of discussion. I
had
>>> been plowing where the RR had cut through a slight hill.  My Dad was proud of the quality of his
NW
>> IA
>>> soil.
>>>
>>> PS:  I just was thrown off my JD 750 Compact tractor last week and your story reminded me of that
>>> trauma.  It too could have been a lot worse.  I suspect the seat belt will be used from now on!
:-)
>>>
>>> Dean VP
>>> Snohomish, WA 98290
>>>
>>> "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its
inherent
>>> virtue is the equal sharing of misery."  . Sir Winston Churchill
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf
>> Of
>>> John Slavin
>>> Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 2:11 PM
>>> To: AT at lists.antique-tractor.com
>>> Subject: Re: [AT] Plows, was Re: Supervision
>>>
>>> We had a 4 bottom John Deere plow when I was a kid.  It had the spring trip that has been
mentioned.
>>> I only remember it tripping one time.  I was plowing along with our Farmall 450 and I hit a buried
>>> stump or rock or something and I nearly went over the steering wheel because it nearly stopped the
>>> tractor in its tracks.  Then about the time I had gathered myself up from having a steering wheel
>>> firmly planted in my chest, the springs released the hitch, the hydraulic hoses popped out of the
>>> Pioneer couplings and the tractor jumped ahead.  With its sudden freedom, I nearly rolled off the
>> back
>>> of the seat.  Needless to say, it got my attention.
>>>
>>>
>>> John Slavin
>>> _______________________________________________
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