450C near death accident

[LeonardL]

Wow dude you are one very blessed and guarded man! You probably whipped a couple of guardian angels in the whole process. Glad you are around to tell the story.

I want you to know I agree with the rest of these guys and I pray you will have a speedy recovery and can get back on that machine again soon. As they say... don't let this whip you.

I hope you will allow me to take the opportunity to say a thing or two about machine safety. Like a preacher told me one time, there is a sermon in that experience and it needs to be preached! And no I'm not going to get all preachy or religious on you. That isn't my point at all and Lavoy would probably slap me or something.

Where I used to work we had well over one hundred crawlers of various sizes. From the small JD 350's through a couple of JD 850's and Cat D-6's and Fiat Allis 14's and 16's. That was just the crawlers. We had well over five hundred pieces of equipment from Ag tractors to Paddle Wheel scrapers.

Once a year we would sponsor a equipment training school. Most of it was centered around the crawlers and it became known as "The Dozer" school. In this school our very first order of business was to teach how dangerous this equipment is. We also taught a very basic rule. "Never Trust A Machine!" We taught how you should never leave a machine while it is still running and never leave anything under hydraulic control hanging in the air. No matter why you want to. No matter how simple the task may be or how inconvenient it may seem at the time. We... including myself and the rest of these guys have all done this. We have all left a machine while it is still running, not locking the transmission in neutral and probably leaving the bucket or blade still in the air. My teaching has always been to shut the machine off and lower all implements to the ground before you depart the operators station. And no, I haven't always practiced what I have taught. So that makes me a hypocrite. However I do try to be as mindful as I can. After reading your story it has reminded me to stop and think before I do something stupid. This can happen to anyone of us.

Our second rule was seat belts. A ROPS system is of no use to you if you aren't wearing a seat belt. In fact there are cases where a person has been killed by the very mechanism that was supposed to help keep them alive. Their machine rolled over and the ROPS killed them after they were thrown from the machine.

I am glad you wrote to this forum and shared your very scary and harrowing story. Thank God or your Lucky Stars you are still alive!! Everyone who reads it should heed what you have shared. It scares me sometimes when I read on this and other forums how people buy a piece of equipment and have never been on or around them. You are experienced and look how easy it happened to you. Personally I would like to see Lavoy put your story on every section of this forum. We all need to heed your warning.

Thank you again for sharing and I hope you get well very soon. Good luck to you!!

[slabguy]

Leonard,

Thanks so much for the write up and I am more than happy for people to be preachy (not that I took your post that way) if it means it will keep someone from being hurt or killed. My intention in writing the original post was to make people think twice about their safety measures and I hope it has accomplished that. I fully expected when posting it to get some bashing and that hasn't happened at all. I really appreciate how supportive everyone is. I'm glad to be a part of this community.

[renogang]

Glad to hear your ok, thanks for sharing the story. It got me to thinking about my plan; I would like to buy a JD 350 or JD450 for clearing some woods(purchase questions post was me) and use a stationary wood pto chipper behind it. I guess this thread got me to thinking is this setup safe if the lever lock is working correctly? Growing up we used tractors to run stationary items behind them(hay grinder or grain auger) and the tractor would idle all the while we worked. I see some people in this post suggesting shutting off the machine just to dismount? Opinions? Hope this isn't a highjack of the thread, just further safety questions.


Thanks

[LeonardL]

Since I was the one sounding the alarm on safety I will try and clarify some things here. I also hope to not hijack the thread as this story is so important to all of us who run equipment. So I apologize ahead of time for using the thread for this. I also want to thank Slabguy for allowing me to do so.

To try and answer your question there are times when a machine is expected to run attachments or implements which require us to be off of the machine. The point we tried to get across in our training was to never leave a machine in an unwarranted hurry and in any position that could cause a problem. Either for you as the operator or for anyone that may be near by.

Most if not all accidents occur when we or someone else gets careless. When I said to shut the machine off and lower any implements to the ground was meant for if you want to leave the machine for only a few minutes or even a few seconds. It is those fleeting, careless moments when we let our guard down that we get hurt. We forget our phone or we forget to hook or unhook a chain or some other little annoyance that makes us want to leave the machine. These are always when we're in a quick hurry for seemingly simple little tasks. We do it so quick that there is no thought given to the machine and what it can do. The main focus of our training was to get people to stop and think before they did anything. No matter how simple or mundane the reason for leaving the machine may be.

I know there are times when we are working with our equipment that we have to have things in the air or off of the ground. Or we may be running an attachment or implement of some sort. A lot of this occurs when we are working alone. We use our machines to help lift or hold things up or what ever the scenario may be. Usually if we are doing these tasks we are mindful of safety and we know to be careful.

My point is to always have safety in mind no matter what the scenario may be or how inconvenient it may seem to do so. Especially when we are alone while doing it. The fellow in this story was blessed or at the very least very lucky. He was able to use his phone to get help. But!!! He was otherwise very alone when this happened. I know if you asked him now he would tell you that he wished he could go back and take the extra step of making his machine safe.

What we all need to do is slow down. Stop being in such a hurry and think before we make a mistake. If you know you need to run a piece of equipment while not in the operators station then make the machine as safe as you possibly can before you do so. Make sure that every safety precaution is used before you do this. Make sure the machine is in neutral in as many places as you can make it and lock them in this position if you can. Set your park brake and if you can put scotch blocks in place. And yes even on a crawler. Tracks will roll as easily or even easier than a rubber tired machine will roll. Don't put the machine in a position where it can easily roll away or accidentally get put into gear. You can run your equipment while not in the seat. Just make it as safe as you can.

One other point I would like to make and I will stop there. This point is about the safety of our kids and our grandkids around equipment. STOP!!! Letting them ride along on the arm rests and fenders of your equipment!!! Especially you guys that are running brush hogs!! We have all done this and I'm as guilty as the next guy. When I finally stopped and thought about it I realized just how unsafe this is for a small child. They are there one second and on the ground the next. Please, just remember to be careful out there.

I hope this clarifies what I meant and I hope again for the quick recovery of Slabguy. Get well soon my friend!

[oldmetalmender]

I was wondering about putting in a request to make this thread a sticky. So it always stays at the top of the list. It is a very good reminder of the safety needed with these machines. Especially for a new owner or the lesser experienced. And, Uh, I resemble that remark.

In the movie "Faith Like Potatoes" it shows a tragic accident of a man loosing his grandson (or son?)by falling off the tractor while riding and getting run over by the rear wheel. And the following decent into anger and alcohol and an eventual recovery of faith and living right. It is based on a true story and we thought it was a sad but very good movie.

Behind my woodstove in the shop hanging on the wall is a section of broken grade 8 chain and below that is a broken open hook that was fractured in half. They are there as a reminder that not once but twice I forgot to unhook the chain that holds my backhoe up in position while not in use. Twice I shot metal at extreme velocities past me to never be found. Someone else had torn open the casting for the steel wedge that used to do this job of holding the hoe up. My pictures of it would not save so I am not able to post them. Probably to save me from even more embarrassment as to what I had done. These pieces of equipment are not like the old truck you might work on. They require a different train of thought. I got two very startling reminders. I never move fast around them anymore. And I have no excuses for ever doing that again. The last thing I would ever want to do is leave my wonderful wife alone to fend for herself in this world. I need her and she needs me. We are a team. Focused thinking is more important than ever.
I hope the idea of making a sticky for this thread is a good one. I am glad slabguy posted. It is a worthy topic.
Thanks for listening..

[LeonardL]

You've got my vote!!

[slabguy]

Thank you guys so much for all the input and spreading the word about safety around these machines. I feel extremely fortunate to be here and not leave my wife to raise our 20 month old son by herself. My son is awesome and I loved spending time with him before the accident but now when I spend time with him I enjoy it in a different way. It's hard to explain but it's an almost overwhelming gratitude that I'm still here to enjoy those moments. Thank you guys for all the support.

[Rincon]

This past weekend at the ranch my 7 year old grandson and son came to visit. Grandson likes to jump on equipment to pretend. Any how, I usually disconnect the battery on the 450 for battery drain and low usage during winter months. He climbed around and of course shifting gears etc. A few days later I went to run the crawler, connected battery while standing on the tracks and turned the key on push the starter button started right up and, well, the dozer was in forward gear and began to go forward while I was on the tracks. Fortunately the blade of course was grounded. It almost took out his go cart, the barn and me. Lessons learned. And I was alone 47 miles from anything.

[hydrogeo]

Thanks for posting that. While all equipment is dangerous, the old iron is far worse. My 06 Kubota mini ex has a FOPS cab and control locks where it automatically de-energizes all the hydraulics when you pull the lock level. My 40c obviously has none of that. The worst of the 40 is the winch. I have a Carco that runs off the trans input shaft. The winch always has power and there is no lock out. A branch, etc, hitting the engagement lever will easily kick it into gear. If the winch is hooked, once its engaged either whatever is hooked is coming, or the machine is going, and either way it's doing it in a hurry. I often wonder how many guys lost fingers, limbs, or their lives back in the day because of that setup.

[cantbeatadeere]

This is a fitting post, my discussion with my 20 year old son who wanted to run my 350c to build some dirt bike jumps this past weekend. I simply told him "there is absolutely no reason to get off this dozer with it running"....I know this and yet every so often I find myself reaching to move a branch or something while running.... ???? I had him read this...thank you!!!!!

[Kyjimmy]

Thanks for sharing your story, I have a 450 c with a flip lock, I’ll make sure it’s always engaged when I get off the dozer. Hope you get back to normal and back on the 450. We must think of safety on any machine.

[darrenrudolph83]

Thank you for sharing your story, it hit home with me because I've done this on my 350C.

Went to jump off and had something grab the shifter and she starts rolling, luckily its always been at low idle so its never jumped very fast. I always try to be extra careful but sometimes when you are in the moment you do miss certain steps along the way, your story will definitely pop into my mind every time I jump on the old 350 now.

I hope you recover from you accident and again thank you for sharing.

Darren

[Paul Buhler]

Best wishes for good and speedy recovery. I'm sure that you've relived too many times what coulda, shoulda done. I live with a limp from an oh shit experience when younger. Thanks for sharing in a positive way. Get better soon. Paul

[slabguy]

I really appreciate all of the support from you guys. I wanted to give a quick update. After 8 surgeries and a lot of PT, I'm walking close to normal and just wearing 1 AFO brace on my left leg/ankle. I'll probably have 1 more surgery in the spring to make it where I don't have to wear that brace the rest of my life. I am extremely fortunate to have recovered this much and be back to pretty much life as normal. I have been roughing in my house pad at the farm and enjoying every minute of it. All linkages are adjusted per the book and I've added some safety features and protocols for using my equipment. Thanks.

[LeonardL]

I've been wondering about you and am glad to see you are just about back to normal. I also noticed you have some fine looking help along with you. Them two are the supervisors, right?!? Anyway, keep up the good work and continue to keep us posted. It's good to hear from you!!