Safety shields

[Bulldog]

I know they can be a PIA and for most when the safety shield on pto shafts get damaged or wear out they are removed and thrown away. I have a couple with either bad or missing covers myself. Even though it does cost to replace them it's probably the best thing we could do to protect ourselves.

A couple days ago a farmer friend of mine that I bale with every year was working with his helper like he does every day. They were grinding corn for cow feed and had just about finished for the day. His helper leaned over to pick something up and his hoodie got caught in the exposed pto shaft. It wrapped him up and ripped his arm off. Probably would have killed him if he had been working alone. He's in the hospital in stable condition but not completely out of the woods. To say the very least his life will never be the same.

Just wanted to share this with everyone. Remember what we work with can be dangerous and a split second can change your life forever.

 

[quazz]

Thank you for that reminder. I took mine off (I can't remember the reason) and I think I put it back on but I will check right now!

 

[dirtydeed]

Thanks for the reminder Bulldog. Very similar incident happened near me years ago when I worked on a farm. Neighboring farmer was using the same type of equipment (grinder/feeder) without PTO shields and a large spike in lieu of a shear bolt. The spike caught his pants leg. I'll spare you the grisly details, but he didn't survive.

We all get complacent. Especially when its routine and we're tired. Slow down and think about what you are doing.

 

[Abe]

I run a 66" tiller to work up my garden and at times I have not shut the tractor down when connecting or disconnecting the PTO to or from the PTO shaft. My sister lost her husband to a totally preventable situation related to a powered piece of equipment just before Christmas. My Tractor will now be shut off for any PTO connects or disconnects.

 

[quazz]

I checked and my shield is on. There is something about some poor guy losing an arm that makes one think twice.
Farming is one of the most dangerous professions (I think it is third after logging and commercial fishing) and I imagine it is because of the heavy equipment.

 

[RCW]

My sister lost her husband to a totally preventable situation related to a powered piece of equipment just before Christmas. My Tractor will now be shut off for any PTO connects or disconnects.

So sorry to hear of your family's loss.

Bulldog - appropriate reminder as we all look toward spring work.

As a long-ago farm kid, I can't count the fingers/hands, eyes, legs/feet or lives lost among my classmates and their families....Many involving the kids themselves, and all preventable.

Thankfully those catastrophes all avoided our farm and family, but it only takes an instant.....

 

[Russell King]

If anyone is looking to buy a shaft shield I bought one from this company and it is an excellent part

https://www.bare-co.com/files-pto2002-selsafety



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[shiraz627]

Can never be to safe.

 

[troverman]

I guess I'll buck the trend...I've got a couple of mowers with no safety shield on the shaft and I don't really care. Just need to be careful, is all.

 

[quazz]

I guess I'll buck the trend...I've got a couple of mowers with no safety shield on the shaft and I don't really care. Just need to be careful, is all.

Yeah that works too. No safety equipment can replace safe operating technique.

A friend told me that all of the advanced safety equipment in cars has made for poor drivers. He says cars should be installed with a 8 inch spike coming out from the steering wheel so people would be more careful. He is joking but has a point.

 

[troverman]

Yeah that works too. No safety equipment can replace safe operating technique.

A friend told me that all of the advanced safety equipment in cars has made for poor drivers. He says cars should be installed with a 8 inch spike coming out from the steering wheel so people would be more careful. He is joking but has a point.

If your car has blind spot monitors in the mirrors, how long before you just glance to see if the little light is on instead of actually looking over your shoulder and carefully checking your mirrors?

This sort of complacency has already cost a couple of Tesla AutoPilot drivers their lives....

 

[GeoHorn]

Yeah that works too. No safety equipment can replace safe operating technique.

A friend told me that all of the advanced safety equipment in cars has made for poor drivers. He says cars should be installed with a 8 inch spike coming out from the steering wheel so people would be more careful. He is joking but has a point.

I worry that recent “improvements”... (such as lane-correction and automatic braking) ...will further increase distracted-driving. In many newer cars there’s little need to even bother to stay in one’s own lane...the car wil either make the correction or “beep” a warning.
There’s so many “beeps” in my wife’s new car that warns of so many issues, both major and minor and some irrelevant, that one tends to disregard them ALL. And I’ve noticed that she has developed an almost disregard for lane-alignment. (I know better than to say anything.)

 

[quazz]

Yeah me too. Once something is automated or semi automated you don't pay as close attention. My son has a fancy BMW and it has all of these features. It even double parks for you. It has auto braking, lane reminders and even an auto pilot mode. I drove it in traffic and it keeps you in your lane and a safe distance from the car in front and if that car jams on the brakes his car will stop in plenty of time. You have to make hand contact with the steering wheel every 30 seconds or so. He has disabled all of this stuff but I think he switches it on when stuck in the massive traffic which is common where he lives. It is not for me but I see a lot of drivers who I wish had their cars on autopilot.

 

[Magicman]

A turning PTO shaft is a loaded shotgun with the safety off.

 

[troverman]

A turning PTO shaft is a loaded shotgun with the safety off.

...And as long as nobody pulls the trigger, that loaded gun will sit there for a thousand years and not harm anyone.

From my perspective, it seems abundantly obvious to me to not lean over a spinning PTO shaft...shielded or not. I typically leave the tractor running while swapping implements though...its not like its going to magically engage the PTO on its own...

I can't stand the junk plastic shields, with plastic bearings. They make greasing the u-joints difficult, and the shaft slides.

 

[skeets]

Yep it always happens to someone else ,I know my machine, Im careful around it, that safety stuff is horse puckey. we don't need no safety shields or safey switches.
I have heard it all, every excuse you can come up with I have heard.
At every fatality investigation, every accident review, at every near miss review.
Yep I have heard them all, and not one held water!
They are in place because someone was injured, maimed, or killed in the past. Every safety item you have on your equipment has blood on it some place.
I just hope and pray there is no blood on your equipment from you or someone you love, because you thought things like that just happen to somebody else.

So ends today's gospel

 

[troverman]

Yep it always happens to someone else ,I know my machine, Im careful around it, that safety stuff is horse puckey. we don't need no safety shields or safey switches.
I have heard it all, every excuse you can come up with I have heard.
At every fatality investigation, every accident review, at every near miss review.
Yep I have heard them all, and not one held water!
They are in place because someone was injured, maimed, or killed in the past. Every safety item you have on your equipment has blood on it some place.
I just hope and pray there is no blood on your equipment from you or someone you love, because you thought things like that just happen to somebody else.

So ends today's gospel

Hey, I have no problem with your viewpoint.

Maybe it's cuz I'm from New Hampshire, who's motto is "Live Free or Die." We have no law that you must wear a seatbelt in your car, and no law requiring a helmet on a motorcycle. Even though I often wear my seat belt, and sometimes wear a motorcycle helmet when I'm riding...I appreciate the freedom for me, the individual, to make the decision.

 

[skeets]

Not much point in trying to bring sight to those that will not see. I really dont know what you do for a living and its not very important, but I know the things I have seen and had to deal with, and the pain those things brought to the surviving members of the families. When I speak of safety it is not idle chatter, but hey it is always someone else's problem, until it happens to you.
Peace

 

[GeoHorn]

Hey, I have no problem with your viewpoint.

Maybe it's cuz I'm from New Hampshire, who's motto is "Live Free or Die." We have no law that you must wear a seatbelt in your car, and no law requiring a helmet on a motorcycle. Even though I often wear my seat belt, and sometimes wear a motorcycle helmet when I'm riding...I appreciate the freedom for me, the individual, to make the decision.

AS long as WE don’t have to pay for your Emergency Room expenses....fine...

 

[Magicman]

But the fact is that our insurance rates, doctor fees, and hospital charges help mend those that don't. There is no free ride.