kids on tractors

Well, now I have a nine year old son(I'm a late starter) and I would like him to have memories of operating one of these old tractors but I don't want to repeat any unsafe practices of my early life. What do you guys think is a good age to start letting youngsters operate these tractors?

When I was 14 or 15 my Dad took me shooting for the first time. He put a 44 magnum ruger redhawk in my hand and let me shoot it at some 3/4 inch plywood. I barely had enough enough arm to hold the thing up. When that thing went off I thought it had broken every bone in my hand, and it scared the you know what outta me. I also thought I had permanent hearing damage...in retrospect, I just might, but that's another story.

The point is that it scared me into respecting guns and the necessity for safety when handling them (I think that was kinda Dad's angle). I think the same is true with tractors (in my opinion). Both guns and tractors can kill you in a New York minute if you aren't on your toes every second with both of them.

My advise is show your child what the potential dangers of tractors are, and how fast you can get messed up really bad on them. Fear is a great motivator for respect, but a harsh motivator....it worked for me!

I remember a string about a month ago about close calls on tractors. You might want to look that up and have your child read that before they get on the tractor.

Also, a buddy of mine and I got into a discussion about what was approproiate television viewing for youngsters. I asked him how he judged that kinda thing with his 7 year old son. He said "If I have to ask myself if it's inappropriate for him to watch, then he shouldn' be watching it." See my point?

Oh yeah, one more thing. I was a member of the local gun club a few years ago, and the president of the gun club told me once that the only accident that had ever happened there, at the club, was a self inflicted gun shot wound to the hand from an ex-Marine who was trying to dislodge a jam from a Colt .45 semi-auto pistol.

His point was: sometimes expierence makes you careless. See my point? I don't have kids, but I just got married, and the way the wife is talking, it won't be long, and these are things I think about too!

Good Luck!! Hope my 2 cents was helpful----Rob

I got to drive my Uncle Bert's (Mom's brother) 8N when I was eleven and it was almost new! I was so light that I can remember having to pull up on the wheel so I could push the clutch down. I now have that tractor and my son has driven it - all be it when he was a teenager already driving on the highway. Maybe even will have Grandsons driving it someday - as soon as they get big enough. :-)

I FULLY agree with MikeC, the maturity level is MOST important. How well does he pay attention and follow directions? How responsible is he? If you can trust him not to "goof around", etc. then let him drive it if he can reach the pedals - or at least push them down. ALSO, you need to consider what the land is like where he would be driving, level? hilly? deep revines or ditches? obsticals like stumps or rocks, etc. Some land is barely safe for an experenced driver, let alone a new one that is young at that. And of course, start with no implements and things like mowers, that are very dangerous, not until he a lot older and more experenced.

Go thru a training regimine with no implements until you know that he can start/stop with out problems - no jerking, stalling the engine, etc. Test him on his reactions like having the engine rev way up when you catch the throttle accidently with your hand when you are turning. Training him not to (always - though sometimes you should) react suddenly to something that happend unexpectedly is GOOD training for driving on the road. I remember as a kid coming upon a car rolled over because the (young - inexeprenced) driver had jerked the wheel too quick when they ran off the road onto the shoulder, went all the way across the road, hit an enbankment which rolled them. When I was teaching my two to drive, I took them out in the country on a back road for a test drive. While they were driving along a straight section, I reached over and pulled the wheel enough to run the one wheel off the edge of the road. Of course, I knew what was going to happen and I had a FIRM grip so they could not jerk the wheel and wreck us. We drove that way for a moment so they would have the experence and know what it felt like. We did it several more times, even though after the first the surprise was gone. Lack of experence is a greater cause of young drivers being involved in an accident then any other factor, in my opinion.

You should also consider what shape your tractor is in. The transmission safety interlocked starter switch IS WORKING, isn't it?? The brakes are DRY and can stop on a dime. The steering is tight - don't expect him to be driving in 4th gear but if he does you don't want the wheels to shimmy and shake [like mine do :-( ] so he can't steer. Does the gear shifter pop out of gear under load - ESPECIALLY reverse load where the engine is holding back the tractor from free-wheeling down a hill? Those are the things that I can think of that contribute to tractor safety. We can compensate for many defects because we have the experence to do so, but you should not expect your son to do so.

Let us know how your son does.

Regards,
Larry

Of course, the kid also has to meet certain size requirements too.

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