steam engine museum accident

[neil 2,409]

It was this story that inspired me to ask Karl for there to be a safety section attached to Redsquare  .

The story is of a  7 year old  boy that was tragically killed by his father in a British Museum

please take a moment to listern to the news report of the death of this young boy.

 

Although some may think that these subjects maybe a little to strong to air on this website  i feel that in displaying such media could prevent  some serious accidents in the future & lets us hope that it is not any of our loved ones that would be injured .

 

 

No Video clip is non graphic & just a computorised story of the incident that happened .

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0KGyULq0eo&feature=player_detailpage

 

Edited January 12, 2014 by nylyon

[C-101plowerpower 1,605]

that is exectly why we aren't allowed to stand on the back of a tractor while its driving. if you do this at tractor shows you should be kicked of the show grounds for setting an bad example.

 

Koen

[AMC RULES 37,130]

Yeah, well...I'm not clicking on that.  

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,315]

Sad story for sure. My son has been operating a WH since he was 8 or 9 (no attachments and a 5hp yank start Briggs mounted in a C-120 body/frame). I tought him all I could and he has never had an issue thankfully. What does amaze me is the number of kids riding around not only the WH show but other shows I attend. So far I have never seen an accident but sometimes I cringe when I see a youngster tooling along at full speed ahead thru the crowds.

 Mike...........

Yeah, well...I'm not clicking on that.  

No gory pics, just a story really.

Mike..........

[chazm 413]

Here in PA I see a lot of Amish kids & fruit pickers riding on the fenders of large tractors & wagons, Makes you shake your head knowing something bad is coming

 

 

Chasm 

[neil 2,409]

Sadly You tube is littered with people acting in a stupid ways that end up in tragic  circumstances .

 

I remember my wifes cousin was on holiday in europe & was being filmed by his friends cell phone while climbing across hotel balconies 18 floors  high , (guess what happened next)

 

He WAS  19 years old  & a dad with a 4 month old child .

 

All because they were behaving in a roudy way & showing off  & sadly his mum died 2 years later  of a broken heart as he was her only child .

 

although this may not be relevant to our hobby , but it still forms a way that people should  be aware of dangers that surround us in everything we do .

Edited January 12, 2014 by neil

[chazm 413]

Edited January 12, 2014 by chazm

[redidbull 54]

I too chose not to view the video. Kids need to be taught at an early age safety. I taught mine about workshop safety for my basement shop. If I was using power tool do not come in and don't sneak up on me or startle me. WAIT til I am done. I always unplugged everything too. Jim

[Digger 66 3,478]

Tragic news .

[neil 2,409]

While i fully understand why people would not want to see the video , i can assure everyone that there is no graphic content within the video . It is just a news story of what happened .

These stories can be upsetting to some , but i heard about this story last year  & it shook me rigid to think it is so easy for these things to happen & since i followed the story it has made me be extra specially careful around machinery . 

The story is not meant to shock people but just as a mere reminder of what can happen &  in just a split second things can change our lives .

 

Even our good friend Karl here at redsquare had a near miss only last year & praise the lord he is still with us ., but oh how different things could have been .

[neil 2,409]

As i have been writing this thread , i got reminded of an incident that happened last year at the first wheelhorse gathering .& i am sure that this could happen to many of us here at redsquare.

Our good friend Chris Sutton was driving his RJ58 , i think it was ? when all of a sudden his jeans got caught in the drive pulley on the engine , Probably because there was no belt guard fitted & thus ended up with quite severe burns to his leg .

I often see RJ`s without belt guards  and it is soooooo dangerous .

Joe papke does a good line on  replica belt guards if anyone needs one

[Kennedy 90]

When I first read the title it reminded me of an accident that happened at a neighboring county fair. A man was driving his case 110 steam tractor into the fair grounds in preparation for the fair when it exploded. It killed 5 people and sprayed boiling water and steel shrapnel up to 100 yard away.

[neil 2,409]

When I first read the title it reminded me of an accident that happened at a neighboring county fair. A man was driving his case 110 steam tractor into the fair grounds in preparation for the fair when it exploded. It killed 5 people and sprayed boiling water and steel shrapnel up to 100 yard away.

That is dreadful , i often see potential accidents at some of these shows . maybe a safety marshall should be appointed to stroll around to monitor  potential accidents

[Ed Kennell 38,156]

I was stunned when I attended a local steam tractor show this summer and witnessed a sawmill being powered by a steam engine with a 50' long unprotected belt that extended into the parking area where kids were playing.  The operators were working within inches of the unguarded 40"dia blade pulling thin slab wood that slipped through the slot and wedged  down along the running saw blade.  Scary stuff.

[meadowfield 2,570]

At the same event Neil (Ardingly) Nigels throttle stuck open on his trojan and he raced into Pauls awning display...  It looked like carnage, but amazingly onced we lifted the trojan off him, there was luckily no major injury!!!

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,274]

Things happen, don't I know it!

[JC 1965 1,530]

Wow  !!   That is tragic.  It brings some memories of my childhood when I was 9 years old we lived on a dairy farm. We had an old farmall tractor and the clutch was so stiff that i couldn't push it in. My step father would get on the tractor with me and get it running in low gear then jump off and leave it to me to operate the tractor.        The only way i could stop the tractor was to turn off the ignition switch. It didn't scare me back then but when i think about it now it gives me chills, especially when i think about all the times i was pulling a large disc getting a field ready to plant.      

[Ed Kennell 38,156]

I had the same clutching  problems on my Pappys Allis Chalmers. I could get the clutch in by sliding off the seat and putting my back against the front of the seat. I get goose bumps when I remember the number of times I backed that old AC's drawbar up to equipment while Pappy held up the tongue and dropped in the pin.

 

                                                                                                                       

[specialwheelhorse 174]

_{I will repeat what I posted much earlier and will explain in detail later why this is so important to me}

_{Notice what is indicated in nearly all Wheel Horse manuals under Safety and NO. 2 on the list.}

[SousaKerry 501]

I grew up hanging off the back of tractors and equipment running between fields or transporting equipment around the farm.  It is a wonder that no one ever got hurt doing this.  Two incidents I do remember were:

 

Dad used to have me ride the corn planter to keep the seed boxes from running out of sweet corn seed.  Since the boxes were designed to hold about 50 pounds of seed they didn't work well when you only had a few ounces to plant.  Once my shoe got caught in the open drive shaft between the hoppers fortunately I got it out before my foot was crushed.

 

Another time I was working ground with the Farmal H which has a wide flat platform but we never had the fenders mounted to the tractor.  I got the bright idea to take my puppy along for a ride and wouldn't you know it he tried to jump down I caught him by the collar before he fell but he would have been sliced by the disk and flattened by the cullipacker I was towing.

 

 

 

Oh and I remember that incedent with the exploding steam engine in Ohio.  The cause was found to be low water in the boiler and a cop that would not let the operator cross traffic so he went through a ditch when the tractor tilted to one side it caused the water to slosh in the boiler over the red hot crown sheet.  Result is a crown sheet failure and immediate generation of super heated steam.  The pressure builds too fast for any safety relief valve to dump the pressure and boom.  This was quite common in the early days of railroading.  After this indecent and others more stringent inspections are done to the boilers before they are aloud to operate at most shows.  You now have to have documentation of a hydrostatic pressure test and ultrasound of the boiler metal thickness.  Neither test is cheap.

[dcrage 628]

Now that this thread is off to "stupid things we did on the farm back in the day"

 

There was the time back in the 70's when I was helping my Uncle getting baled hay (back in the day of small square bales) into the barn loft -- This was on my grandfather's farm and for years he had used a corn/hay elevator to save on throwing bales up into the loft (It was a great work saver!!) -- This elevator was the type that was the width of a hay bale laid on its edge and had chains that ran in sprockets at the top and bottom of the elevator powered by a gas engine; it was not one of the exclusive hay elevators that had the spikes you would set the bales on; insead there were "paddles" (or whatever the correct term is for the metal pieces that carried the ear corn or hay bales up the elevator) connected perpendicular to these chains -- The ear corn would get sweep up the elevator by these "paddles" when using to load corn cribs -- The hay bales set on top of these "paddles"

 

So on this day I decided to do what I had seen others do dozens of time before (i.e. riding the elevator up into the loft) -- Jump from the wagon onto the elevator and the damn chains that were connected to the "paddles" were really loose -- So the paddle that was going to push me up to the hay loft pops up; my leg goes under it; and I am riding up this thing thinking if I am going to lose my leg when this gets to the top of the elevator -- Thank the good Lord that Uncle CO saw all of this happen and jumped off the top of the wagon loaded with 80 bales of hay and throws the elevator clutch with me only 2 or 3 feet from the top

 

I extracted myself and "counted my lucky stars" and said a little prayer of thanks all at the same time -- Always climbed the ladders up into the lofts after that also

Edited January 16, 2014 by dcrage

[neil 2,409]

It is amazing what we think we can get away with , only to find that it sometimes doesnt go to plan and we end up paying the price .

This is why i asked Karl to give us a section dedicated to safety  in the hope that people read the postings & they take note of other peoples misfortunes and hopefully everytime they go to do someting they just stop and do a kind of  risk assesment before they proceed with the job in hand  

[dodgemike 52]

As I have gotten older and hope-

Fully wiser I find myself working

Alone in the garage many times.

I do try to make conscious actions

Regarding safety. I keep my cell

Phone in my shirt pocket,assuming

I could reach it. That is no excuse

For trying to work safely. Our little

WheelHorses have the same capacity to injure us as a D4 Cat!

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