Are Gear shift trans more dangerious ?

[WFM]

I got a call tonight from a friend. A local guy . 66 yrs old was pulling a stump with his tractor. His foot slipped off the clutch. Tractor flipped onto him and crushed him. Dead. With all the respect in the world of a tractor. Accidents still happen.
Makes me glad I own a Hydro trans.

 

[IDKUBOTA]

Things do happen, but this could have happened with ANY tractor given a number of scenarios. Did he have a ROPS and seatbelt? Did he have the RPMs too high? I think this less about the type of transmission and more about the way he was running his machine-no disrespect to the deceased.

I don't see that one is better than the other. I'm glad you have a HST for your peace of mind, but I'll continue to be safe with my L3800 DT and enjoy using it.

IDK

 

[TripleR]

Really too many variables to say one is "safer" across the board. One can make a pretty good case for the HST for the new or infrequent user, some physical limitations may also point in one direction or the other.

I use both as does my brother and we are in our sixties, I feel "safe" on either type. I do factor into my tractor driving my age and reduced reaction time, strength etc. and no longer do some of the things I did when I was younger and just turn it over to one of my sons.

When you start pushing a machine to its limits, you can easily get wheel hop, bounce all over the place, grab and lose traction, steering goes to heck etc., if you are not experienced enough to handle it safely, don't do it.

Just my thoughts, may be worth considering, maybe not.

 

[D2Cat]

One important detail in pulling with any tractor is where you attach the hardware to the tractor. There is a drawbar on a tractor for a reason.

And as in all things in life, allow for a reasonable margin for error. Just like when pulling your vehicle out from a stop sign into traffic. You think you have time, power, and conditions for safe entry--but one mistake in judgement or miss of an engine and you're in trouble!

 

[re54drider]

Whenever I am pulling something like that I pull in reverse. Better grip from the tires. Of course it helps to have a front loader to attach to.

 

[hodge]

You could just as easily stomp the hydro pedal foward or reverse, especially in a panic situation. There are inherent dangers with any equipment, and no safe guards that will accomodate for every situation. Bad things happen.
I'm very sorry for the loss of your acqauintance.

 

[ShaunRH]

I am sorry to hear of this, a loss of this nature is a loss for the entire community. We tend to blame the equipment first, but usually, it's only one link in the accident chain.

His foot may have slipped off the clutch but there are a half dozen other remedies that can be rapidly done to deal with the situation. If you are running so close to the margin of safety that you don't have time to react with a backup or a slip of the clutch foot is dangerous, then you are operating the tractor unsafely.

The HST is a great invention and offers some added safety in certain areas but takes it away in others. I've said this before, just as an example of danger here, when you can easily go forward, reverse, add or remove speed, it can make you complacent and complacency is far more dangerous than a foot slipping off of a clutch. I'm not saying you will get complacent, only that it's a greater risk. A gear tranny forces you to be honest with your workload, your health, and your experience. That doesn't make it worse or better, just what it is.

 

[WFM]

A lot of good replies here. But all and all...operator error in the end is inherently the problem.

 

[Tooljunkie]

I was trying to pull someting heavy this spring, chains still on my 40 hp tractor. Started to hop, hit clutch and immediately gave up. I knew another hard pull with a few more rpms was gonna get me in big trouble. Sorry for your loss.