[AT] Plows, was Re: Supervision

Tue Jun 30 23:31:13 PDT 2015

Holy Smokes!  Must have been a little good luck involved, too. Valuable 
story there, Dean.

Ron Cook
Salix, IA where it is flat except for road ditches.

On 7/1/2015 12:07 AM, Dean VP 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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