NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
May 20, 1999
Don't Forget Safety in the Rush of Delayed Field Work
The press of delayed field work can lead to safety shortcuts and fatigue, a dangerous
combination, according to an agricultural safety specialist at North Dakota State
University.
Once field work resumes after recent rains, the pace will be frantic, notes George
Maher of the NDSU Extension Service. "Stress is already at high levels in the
agricultural community and recent weather conditions aren't helping the situation any. It
will take extra effort by producers and workers to keep their cool and take the steps
necessary to maintain a margin of safety."
Maher says the injuries most likely to happen with spring work include sprains,
strains, cuts and broken bones. Spring field activities include such work as
hitching/unhitching cultivators and planting equipment, changing cultivator shovels and
other tillage tool maintenance. "Weather delays and break downs are extremely
frustrating, but an injury will result in an even more costly and frustrating delay."
Maher offers several tips for preventing injury during spring field work:
- Think about where you are parking equipment when you are unhitching it. How equipment is
arranged in the farmyard can make life easier and safer.
- Avoid uneven areas for machinery storage; equipment may move after being released from
the tractor. Machinery with integral hitches, such as three-point, are much easier and
safer to attach on level ground. Equipment is safer to work on and hitch to the tractor
while on relatively flat, level ground. Jacks and blocking that machinery may rest on are
not as likely to slip.
- While hitching equipment a helper should always stand to the side of the equipment,
stepping between the tractor and implement only when the machinery is lined up correctly
and the tractor is in park or neutral while the brakes are set.
- Back the tractor up to implements in a straight position.
- Locking hitch pins should always be used to keep implements from working loose.
- Never trust a hydraulic system with your safety. Block the machinery in place very
carefully before working on or under it. Hitch jacks or blocking take pressure off the
hydraulic system, making it easier and safer to disconnect hydraulic couplings. Always use
transport brackets for cultivator wings while on the road.
- Be sure to check the operation of the hydraulic controls after hitching is complete and
the helper is out of the way. If hydraulic connections are mixed or interchanged, the
operation of most machinery will be affected. Color coding hydraulic connections is a good
way to prevent these problems.
- Support the hitch of machinery with jacks or blocks before pulling the pin and driving
away. Letting the implement hitch fall to the ground as you drive away with the tractor
will make the next hitching more difficult and dangerous. Use wood or metal blocking
because concrete crushes easily and unpredictably.
- When removing cultivator shovels and similar parts, apply a shot of penetrating oil
after clearing the soil from nuts and bolts. While installing new cultivator shovels you
can protect the exposed threads of bolts by using double nuts to cover them.
- Before you pull or push on a wrench be conscious of where your elbow or knuckles will go
if the wrench slips or the fastener comes loose. It is usually safer to pull on a wrench
than to push on it.
- An SMV (Slow Moving Vehicle) sign should be mounted on all equipment so it is clearly
visible from the rear. The sign is required by law. Clearance lights should be used while
on the road in poor visibility conditions such as early dusk.
- Don't move large equipment on roadways after dark.
- When you do move farm machinery on the roadway, be alert for traffic and allow it to
pass when it is safe for all concerned. Maintain safe road speeds so you can control the
machinery and avoid undue wear and tear.
- In the field, watch out for power lines and poles, trees and fences. Turning the
equipment at the end of fields can be dangerous. Don't snag the equipment on the tractor's
rear wheels in tight, sharp turns.
- Always shut the tractor engine off before leaving the seat when tillage equipment plugs
with crop residue.
- Never allow riders on the tractor during field work. There is only one seat on the
tractor and one operator is all it takes to do the job.
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Source: George Maher (701) 231-8288
Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629