I know the owner/operator of the original post's pictured tractor accident.
This guy owns a tree removal business. Very successful I might add. And he's been doing it for a long time. Was JP for a while locally as well.
The nature of that business is that it's dangerous, and he knows it.
I spoke with him earlier, the hood on the tractor is surprisingly in good shape, nice dent right in front of the panel, rest of it is fine. Dash and everything attached/under it junk. STeering wheel is trashed. Steering column trashed. Blood all over the seat/op station. Everyone said he's fortunate to still be with us--and he's finally realizing HOW fortunate he is now that the shock has worn off. His face was destroyed, or it looked like it initially but today it looked 1000% better, almost normal.
He ordered a 3rd function and a grapple. I think he's got it on his other (smaller) tractor but the bigger one is newer and he hasn't needed it and it's kind of in the way for certain jobs. Well it's just going to have to be in the way now as it's on the way.
It was suggested that he's an idiot, no, actually he's quite intelligent. It was suggested that an SVL might be a better tool for his work, but an SVL will tear the turf up a lot more than the tractor does, and there's a lot of folks locally who have beautifully manicured lawns and are SUPER anal about "hurting" the grass. I mean y'all just don't even know; I deal with it daily. So the tractor doesn't tear it up as bad, in a lot of cases doesn't hurt it at all after a good raking you can't even tell he's been there. He's VERY good at what he does; probably the best in the area. Contracts with several government entities for tree removal/etc, did the freeway last year and it's awesome now (instead of growed up/ratty looking).
This instance was an accident. Could it have been prevented? Sure. Hindsight is always spot-on. Sit at the house and do nothing, draw a check for sitting on the couch from the government...hard to have accidents when you ain't doing nothing.
Everyone (including Tom) knows that tractors are dangerous tools, whether it be for farming, hobby farming, loader work, bush hogging, or just driving around like some people do, they can be dangerous. And finally, his experience is one that we can all use to explore ways to be more responsible in our own tractoring experience. Trust me, I see this kind of stuff ALL the time. Full load of rock, loader bucket about 6 foot in the air, tractor traveling full speed across a pasture, hit a gopher hole and over it goes. Or pick tractor up at the shop and don't bother to throw a chain on it. Falls off on our illustrious freeways that are smooth as alligator skin. I ain't seen it all yet but after 3 decades in the business, I have seen more than I needed to. And now I am hearing reports that a widow filed suit against Deere for not stating that tractors are dangerous, or something along those lines....I understand that $5M was "won". Attorney just got rich.