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I own a 52 Farmall H and a 49 Ford 8N. I am a FF/EMT and the Rescue Chief of my local Volunteer Fire/Rescue service. I also serve as a Deputy Coroner for the county. Living in a rural area, I have had the unfortunate duty to respond to several farm tractor/equipment accidents on the ambulance. Here are five from my recollection: 1. 60+ y/o male operating a JD tricycle tractor with a FEL. Male attempted to lift a felled tree trunk by chaining same to FEL bucket. He was sitting sideways on a grade, and when he lifted it to hood level, it flipped over on top of him. Operator deceased.
2. 70 y/o male operating an IH Tractor, pulling a loaded hay wagon. While climbing a steep hill on roadway, it slipped out of gear. The brakes held long enough for him to tell his young grandson to jump off, saving his life. The tractor flipped over on top of him. Operator deceased.
3. 50 y/o male operating a Case tractor in a field. He got off to adjust something and while on the ground, the tractor apparently drifted back and knocked him to the ground and ran over him. Family found him later in the day when he didn’t return for supper. Operator deceased.
4. 58 y/o male operating a Farmall A in a field. While on a side hill, somehow flipped the tractor over on him, pinning him from the waist down. He was conscious throughout the ordeal. I had to hold my crew back from rolling it off him until the medic could start IVs. I was concerned he had internal injury and he might bleed out if the weight was lifted off too soon. Luckily he suffered only a broken femur (leg bone). Operator survived
5. 78 y/o male operating a Farmall, pulling a sickle bar mower. Stopped to remove an item in his path. Dismounted tractor, never disengaging the implement. The tractor drifted ahead knocking him to ground and mower running over him. GET THIS…..he picked himself up, WALKED 800-1000 yds to his house and was standing by the back door when we got there. (the tractor ended up in a pond). He was holding what was left of his little finger to his hand. My dad and I arrived in the ambulance, and we put a neck collar and backboard on him while standing. When we laid him down, blood poured out of his boot. He had a compound fracture of his femur……OPERATOR SURVIVED…he was quite lucky. All of these men had MANY years experience in operating, servicing, machinery. Any one of them forgot more about these machines than I will ever know. It seems they just got complacent, “it won’t happen to me”. Two of the above were relatives of mine. I was asked to take a disc harrow to work up a field on top of a hill that I got a bad feeling just looking at. I would like to do a little side work plowing gardens, etc, but I passed on this one….Maybe I am a wimp, but I am here to type about it. THINK, PEOPLE…….. please! PA has a Rescue training program for Fire/EMS. Penn State has a good program, for Rescue types, and also for farmers. See link. Kevin S.
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