Dangerous jobs

[Jeff Caldwell]

Just saw a report from CNN Money about the top 10 most dangerous jobs in the country, and farmer/rancher has made their list again. 

 

Got me to thinking: What's the most dangerous situation you've ever found yourself in on your farm? And, more importantly, what steps have you taken since then to ensure that situation won't arise again in the future?

 

Myself, I remember like it was yesterday one time when I was in high school, helping my uncle bin some oats. I was wearing really baggy, torn-up jeans. At one point, I got lazy and instead of walking around the tractor powering the auger, I just stepped over the PTO shaft. I can remember standing there with that shaft running between my legs, realizing "Wow, that was a dumb thing to do." Luckily, my jeans didn't catch that shaft, otherwise things could have really gotten ugly. My uncle about tore me a new one after that, and I deserved it. That was one thing I know I will never, ever do again!

 

Anybody have similar stories to share? Let's get them out there and educate one another about some of these types of farm safety so we can help keep everybody safe on the farm!

[Matt]

My situation has to deal with plugging the silo during combining corn two years ago. I was sitting on top of the blower and digging it out, while it was off. I had my brother start it up to get the rest of the stuff out, welll one of the wrenches ended up going through the blower and hitting my knee, causing a fracture. Needless to say I have never done that again... Sometimes we are all in a hurry to get things done, but somedays we just need to learn to slow down and do things the safe way.. 

[K2]

 

Crushed between a semi loaded with hogs and a gate post.  The semi rolled back when the driver pushed in on the clutch.   Thank goodness my boss caught me when I passed out our I would have been laying in 4 inches of soupy hog manure.    I survived the accident and the drive in the Cadi to the emergency room, me in shock and the owners son playing NASCAR.   If I could "write a letter to me" when I was sixteen it would clearly say let the old sow go and of course ask Kari out.  :)

[John Roemke]

My brother was changing the breaks on the semi and dropped the break drum on his fingers, removing the end of one finger and damaging the others.  Needless to say, he will keep a mindful eye and pay attention to what he is doing at all times!

[Shawn]

My brother bought a 4650 set for 30 inch rows and were 36 inch kinda guys.  We were moving the back tires to the outside rib on the rim.  We had it up on a bottle neck and wooden blocks.  Our old time hired man said to wrap a chain around the rim/tire and the inner rim that was sill attached to the axle.  Dad, Bro and I had the rim in two pieces and were tryin to get it lined back up on the outer rib and the blocks broke.  All 3 of us would have been under that tire/tractor if that chain wasn't there...

[Steve Link]

I lost a high school classmate two weeks ago to an auger accident. I had heard later, though, he was cleaning a bin of rotting corn and the fumes got to him. The auger just happen to be there after the fact.

 

While in high school, I lost a classmate to a PTO on the silo blower.

[Sandra Kay Miller]

Keep in mind that accidents on the farm & ranch often involve livestock as well as equipment. A few weeks ago I brought a new breeding buck goat to the farm and became complacent with his friendly character despite him weighing in close to 200 pounds. When my back was turned, however, a fight between the buck and my full grown Great Pyrenees broke out over food. I turned around just in time to be knocked to the ground by two very large fighting animals. I didn't get bitten and I didn't get horned, but still ended up with a badly sprained ankle and lots of scrapes & bruises. Similarly, a few years ago a horned heifer rolled me around on the ground unexpectedly, not out of maliciousness but just being playful.

[Joe Lipps]

getting hurt comes with the job and life style we live. cuts bruises scraps and scratches are a common thing to have when working on a farm or ranch.  not to long ago we were putting floater tires on our silage trucks. they are just single axles but still needed them. any way i was under the truck after we got the wheel bolted on and both front wheels where blocked and i crawled under to let the jack down and wouldnt you know it the truck rolled backwards and i as i freaked out and tried to jump out from under the truck i banged my head on the frame of the truck and put a huge gash in the top of my head. my mother freaked out of course and even my boss was a little worried but i didnt care i was still alive and we finished putting the tires on the rest of the trucks lol

[Larry Bendal]

We bought a new tractor and we were using a high lift and chain to put the duals on and I had my arm in the rim wrapping the chain around and my brother couldnt see where my arm was and he rolled the bucket down onto my elbow thankfully it wasn't enough to brake my arm but I couldnt lift more than a couple pounds and three weeks later it's still tender

[Kari Hollman]

I haven't had too many issues with machinery other than knocking over a gate post in the winter (not cool) and stubbing a separated  PTO shaft into the icy ground and ripping the gearbox out of the silage box we used as a feeder wagon... My major accidents are with the livestock. I have wiped out on my horse in a swamp trying to round up calves and I got kicked by a cow in the thigh... lots of various bumps and bruises.

I have been scolded up one end and down the other by my husband about leaving the cab of the tractor with the PTO engaged for any reason. I told him once that I was throwing chunks of hay that was over the back of the bale processor into the drum with the PTO engaged. That went over real well.

Common sense and taking your time to maintain your equipment can really cut back on farm and ranch accidents. From something as minor as the chicago screw holding your horses' bridle together to something as big as cleaning out your baler so the dust and hay residue doesn't catch fire on overheated belts.

[josh]

Well I havent been hurt but i have had my share of fun being chased by 3 holstien bulls into the feed bunk um had a load of 14 wet round bales going down hill witha 1066 the hitch broke spinning me around and catching the pipe on the wagon in the rim of the tire on tractor causing everything to stop or i would have rolled over um I spread sludge for a company and was spreading on reclaimed strip mine ground and it was so steep that i spun out and slid backwards to the bottom of the hill same deal was on a steep hill and tractor died on me rode that to the bottom backwards also um turning off a major state route with a loaded 4600 gallon shit tank and spindle snapped off and have been kicked in every part of my body by cows during milking at various farm set ups where i have worked