Another tractor accident… and a question

[Henro]

This is the story. Apparently this happened on 28 June, just outside of Pittsburgh, two days ago as I type this.

A 74-year-old Upper Burrell man died Saturday in an accident involving a farm tractor, Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson said.

Dennis A. Praniewicz was pronounced dead at the scene about 3:35 p.m., Carson said.
The incident happened shortly after 2 p.m. on Fawn Hill Lane, a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher said.

According to Carson, Praniewicz was operating an International Harvester 354 utility tractor.
He was backing down a grassy hill carrying a bundle of steel rebar strapped to the front loader bucket when, for unknown reasons, the tractor rolled over and pinned him under the right rear wheel.

Praniewicz died from blunt force and compression injuries, Carson said.

Carson said the accident is being investigated by state police. No information was immediately available from police.

I was unable to get any more details but a question did pop into my mind. He was backing down a grassy slope with a bundle of rebar in the bucket or attached to the bucket or whatever. It’s a 2 Wheel drive tractor. What might’ve happened?

The one possibility that I see is that perhaps it was a fairly heavy load in the loader, and that might’ve taken weight off the rear tires due to the see-saw effect across the front axle. So MAYBE the rear wheels lost traction, and the tractor got into a “run away“ situation, perhaps turning sideways and flipping over…

This event surely relates to the tractor operating thread. I feel bad for the guy but I think posting this could give us something to think about. More importantly perhaps, we could discuss what the possibilities are, since we all operate our tractors, and it never hurts to think about things that might actually affect our own well-being.

This happened in the afternoon, so I don’t think it was slippery grass due to dew in the morning. Perhaps it rained earlier before the accident happened. I don’t know.

What do you guys think? From where I sit, it never hurts to discuss possibilities. Some of us may see things that others haven’t considered. But we all do the same thing… We operate our tractors.

 

[Bmyers]

This is the story. Apparently this happened on 28 June, just outside of Pittsburgh, two days ago as I type this.

A 74-year-old Upper Burrell man died Saturday in an accident involving a farm tractor, Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson said.

Dennis A. Praniewicz was pronounced dead at the scene about 3:35 p.m., Carson said.
The incident happened shortly after 2 p.m. on Fawn Hill Lane, a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher said.

According to Carson, Praniewicz was operating an International Harvester 354 utility tractor.
He was backing down a grassy hill carrying a bundle of steel rebar strapped to the front loader bucket when, for unknown reasons, the tractor rolled over and pinned him under the right rear wheel.

Praniewicz died from blunt force and compression injuries, Carson said.

Carson said the accident is being investigated by state police. No information was immediately available from police.

I was unable to get any more details but a question did pop into my mind. He was backing down a grassy slope with a bundle of rebar in the bucket or attached to the bucket or whatever. It’s a 2 Wheel drive tractor. What might’ve happened?

The one possibility that I see is that perhaps it was a fairly heavy load in the loader, and that might’ve taken weight off the rear tires due to the see-saw effect across the front axle. So MAYBE the rear wheels lost traction, and the tractor got into a “run away“ situation, perhaps turning sideways and flipping over…

This event surely relates to the tractor operating thread. I feel bad for the guy but I think posting this could give us something to think about. More importantly perhaps, we could discuss what the possibilities are, since we all operate our tractors, and it never hurts to think about things that might actually affect our own well-being.

This happened in the afternoon, so I don’t think it was slippery grass due to dew in the morning. Perhaps it rained earlier before the accident happened. I don’t know.

What do you guys think? From where I sit, it never hurts to discuss possibilities. Some of us may see things that others haven’t considered. But we all do the same thing… We operate our tractors.

My guess, no knowledge of any details besides what you provided.

Older tractor, no roll bar, no seat belt. Tractor started sliding (could of been a mud spot, scattered showers had occurred from the 25th-28th), operator trying to correct, tractor got side ways, tractor flipped over and pinned operator underneath.

 

[GrumpyFarmer]

well hard to say without seeing the results…but based on the description I think you may be on to something with front axle instability….maybe load was not balanced well. Maybe it was up too high, maybe he bumped the lever and lifted it higher or something making it more unstable…maybe it slid a littler and got and got a little sideways…that’s sad to hear. Hard say not knowing the details of how steep, or how much weight or how hi the load was. Some pictures might give a better idea. Very unfortunate. Maybe no straight on the slope either and/ or turned the wheel just enough to allow the load to do its thing. Did those machines have turning brakes? Would not take too much to get in a pickle if on just one peddle instead of two. I suspect you are correct in assessment that rear end got a little light.

keep the rubber side down team.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

Too many variables.
The issues I see are:

>2WD tractor.
>Too heavy a load.
>A slope.

Too heavy a load and a slope.... people die.

I would guess that the deseased had the sense to back down the slope, but the load was too great to control the tractor.

Sad story. It happens a lot more than it should.

 

[Hoserman]

I agree. By not being there as an eyewitness it's almost impossible to say what was the real cause. Maybe there was a woodchuck hole in the side of the hill and he hit it causing an unbalance. Maybe if the load was chained to the FEL and he drove downhill load first and low to the ground if things got dicey he could have lowered the FEL to act as a brake. I'll never know so all I can say is this is a very sad thing and may the good lord welcome him home.

 

[Bearcatrp]

Just a guess but been in a similar situation. The brake has that clip to combine both brake pedals. It’s possible he needed the brake, pressed down and that clip popped off and he hit only one brake not knowing it was not clipped together. Just a possibility. I was on a steep hill going forward when the speed picked up. Went to hit the brake and that clip popped off. Pucker factor of 100. About 3/4 of the way down I managed to grind it into reverse and went full throttle. Almost tipped. I got lucky.

 

[NCL4701]

Unless it was retrofitted a IH 354 doesn’t have ROPs and FWA wasn’t an option. If the guy in the story had seatbelt and ROPs or had front wheel assist with front wheels engaged, he’d have a lot better shot at still being here. A 74 year old backing down the hill on an early 70’s tractor, likely he was a competent operator who had been in similar situations many times and got through it without damage. Why he didn’t make it this time, could be a long list of little things that just didn’t go right.

I have operated similar size 2WD tractor loaders without ROPs in hilly terrain a fair bit (several hundred hours of actual loader use). Still have one for sentimental reasons. In some conditions, such as cleaning out hog/chicken/turkey houses, reasonably well groomed flat ground, and similar well known benign scenarios, a 2WD loader tractor without ROPs may be acceptable. Slopes and rougher terrain (which is all I have to deal with at this point), my personal experience has left me with zero use for a 2WD tractor loader, and no way I’d use 2WD or FWA tractor loader without ROPs on hills.

No offense intended, but my opinion a 2WD open station tractor loader without ROPs moving a load anywhere near capacity on a slope was the wrong tool for the job. He was likely one of those tough old dudes who somehow make do with what they have even if it isn’t what they really need. That likely served him well until it didn’t.

 

[Workerbee]

It does happen too often. Just a couple years ago I lost a very good freind. His tractor tipped over and he was crushed under it. He was a longtime farmer who knew how to operate his tractor, but when things go wrong they go wrong fast and unpredictably.

 

[Flintknapper]

Hard to know what happened but I can easily imagine several scenarios that would have happened quickly.

In any case....anytime you are carrying a load in/on a front loader....ALWAYS keep it as low as possible and ALWAYS be ready to drop the loader if any amount of instability occurs. You literally need to be thinking about it.

 

[Speed25]

Something else to consider- Rebar is typically 20' long and bendy. Assuming the guy was competent, he probably had the bucket low to drop the load if things got loose. A simple small bounce of the tractor/loader could've bounced the rebar enough that one side dug in and started twisting the tractor around. It wouldn't take much to go poorly from there.

 

[mikester]

Something else to consider- Rebar is typically 20' long and bendy. Assuming the guy was competent, he probably had the bucket low to drop the load if things got loose. A simple small bounce of the tractor/loader could've bounced the rebar enough that one side dug in and started twisting the tractor around. It wouldn't take much to go poorly from there.

...kept the loader high to keep the bendy bits off the ground while driving...what could go wrong?

 

[Henro]

“He was backing down a grassy hill carrying a bundle of steel rebar strapped to the front loader bucket …”

This caught my eye. It seems intuitive that with a 2 Wheel drive tractor backing down a slope carrying a load with the loader would be safer than going forward.

But it also seems that if you did not have adequate rear ballast on the tractor, the reality could be that it doesn’t matter much whether you go forward or backwards… and the net result could be pretty much the same independent of tractor orientation, all else being the same.

 

[JonM]

The other thing to consider is at that age having a heart attack. Or stroke, while doing something mentally strenuous, on a hillside, in a risky situation can easily cause an accident

 

[GreensvilleJay]

hmm, WHY backing down the steep slope ? Wouldn't it be safer to go down forward ?
If you're backing down and apply the brakes ,the wheels stop and front of tractor can come off ground,continue 'up and over' as a backward flip ???
Going forward down the hill, bucket low, hitting the brakes would 'dig in' and slide you down, no change of going 'up and over'.

 

[Youbet]

Using a 2WD on hilly terrain is a bad idea, been there too many times.

On hills:
4WD
go forward and go straight down as possible.

Use your gearing to control speed, and if you hit the brakes and start sliding come off brakes and use low gear (or low HST)that you set at top of hill using front tires along with rears (not brakes that are just on rears). If you start sliding using gearing then just use steering to control wear you want to go … or impact.

Never use brakes to control speed on slick hills.

Don’t pull wagons that can jackknife.

Another problem I see a lot is people using industrial tires R4 instead of using Ag tires R1.
I know most smaller tractors are sold with R4 tires, but if you are going to be using for farm use,
I would switch rims and tires to R1.