What I did this Week to make Farming safer .

Bog Man

Well-Known Member
I think it would be a good idea if we all did something simple every week to make Farming safer and post it here with a short explanation as to how it improved the situation .
Farm safety involves lots of small steps so even mundane stuff like picking up the plastic straps that hold the big bags on pallets and are inclined to wander around the yard and trip you up if not disposed of . If twenty people did two things every week that would be forty improvements and it might inspire ten others to do the same .
Today I replaced the stop control cable on the TW15 which had been out of action for a couple of months . It not working meant you had to get down off the tractor to stop the engine . The total time involved was under a half an hour and the cost was virtually zero as a spare cable was hanging on the workshop wall and was originally got for the Bray loader which is long gone .
 
I think it would be a good idea if we all did something simple every week to make Farming safer and post it here with a short explanation as to how it improved the situation .
Farm safety involves lots of small steps so even mundane stuff like picking up the plastic straps that hold the big bags on pallets and are inclined to wander around the yard and trip you up if not disposed of . If twenty people did two things every week that would be forty improvements and it might inspire ten others to do the same .
Today I replaced the stop control cable on the TW15 which had been out of action for a couple of months . It not working meant you had to get down off the tractor to stop the engine . The total time involved was under a half an hour and the cost was virtually zero as a spare cable was hanging on the workshop wall and was originally got for the Bray loader which is long gone .

A great idea. This whole topic came up over the tea break at work today.
Farmers will have to be policed just like other industries. I cant believe the insurance companies dont take it more seriously.

I bought 3 new fire extinguishers last week. Tractor and combine both have first aid kits.

Slatted tank manholes are padlocked with weatherproof locks.

Fenced off a new open drain beside a roadway with chainlink over Christmas.

All required PPE is available on farm.

my late father worked for an American oil and gas company so we were always safety aware.
 
This is a great idea for a thread especially when you consider three fatalities in Ireland this week alone.

Good man Bog Man. I have stickied this as well as its something we all need to do more on as Cork says.
 
A great thread BM. Lots of little things all help make life safer on the farm and more often then not easier as well. Something as simple as clean windows on machinery. I think most of us probably know what it's like driving into a low sun with a dirty windscreen.
 
Top notch idea as always bog man. Today I done very little to be honest as it peed down rain but the main thing i did was checked cattle without Kids being as we had to go through where the bull is. I try to keep them as far away as possible from the bull, full stop.
 
I think it would be a good idea if we all did something simple every week to make Farming safer and post it here with a short explanation as to how it improved the situation .
Farm safety involves lots of small steps so even mundane stuff like picking up the plastic straps that hold the big bags on pallets and are inclined to wander around the yard and trip you up if not disposed of . If twenty people did two things every week that would be forty improvements and it might inspire ten others to do the same .
Today I replaced the stop control cable on the TW15 which had been out of action for a couple of months . It not working meant you had to get down off the tractor to stop the engine . The total time involved was under a half an hour and the cost was virtually zero as a spare cable was hanging on the workshop wall and was originally got for the Bray loader which is long gone .
Not today but last week I did something similar in that I repaired the cable to release the pick up hitch on a tractor, it was possible to open the hitch with the cable broken but it meant climbing down and propping the lock mechanism open or else an even more dangerous practice of getting somebody to stand between tractor and trailer and release it, before I get shot down I didn't do that and it only dropped off one trailer since breaking which had to be done to get the new cable fitted. The problem with something like this is it can too easily get put on the long finger and even become the accepted method for that particular tractor. As @diesel power has said clean glass will cost nothing more than a bit of time, it and clean and focused mirrors will vastly improve the safe operation of machinery particularly in confined spaces.
 
One thing I done recently was replace the reverse buzzer on the teleporter. It increases people's awareness of it being used and makes them think before going down the yard. If we can all do one simple thing every week it will make a difference!
 
One thing I done recently was replace the reverse buzzer on the teleporter. It increases people's awareness of it being used and makes them think before going down the yard. If we can all do one simple thing every week it will make a difference!
I wonder. My neighbours got 4 telehandlers beeping away...from dawn till dusk. I'm thinking with so much beeping, it'll actually get ignored ?

Great idea for a thread though.:Thumbp2:
 
I wonder. My neighbours got 4 telehandlers beeping away...from dawn till dusk. I'm thinking with so much beeping, it'll actually get ignored ?

Great idea for a thread though.:Thumbp2:

Maybe in that situation it could get ignored but on our small unit it will get noticed. What works for one may not always work for another! When I was using it this evening my 5 year old daughter was in the house and wanted to come up to see what I was doing.she heard the buzzer and she told my wife that they had to be careful as the loader was working and that they would have to check to make sure the loader was stopped before going down to the shed.
 
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Noticed a tipping pipe on a trailer here was getting perished, the whole lot was taken off during the week back to the ram and a new set of piping purchased.

Better getting it now than leading to a burst pipe under pressure and the associated risks from human health and the environment.
 
Was putting wide wheels back on sprayer yesterday. Axle is fairly high and not flat underneath. Theres bolt heads and some 2" box iron on lower surface and its also not level.
Used to prop up with blocks on jack which was very dodgy as a wobble could lead to collapse.

Stopped for 40mins yesterday to make an adaptor which couples with the uneven surface under the axle.
Basically, some 1" & 1.5" box iron go either side of the sprayer 2" box iron. A 7" square piece of chequer plate welded underneath the two pieces. Result is a flat level surface under which the jack can be placed.

40mins was a slight delay but quicker than fixing a body.
Next job is to bolt the adapters chequer plate onto a piece of railway sleeper.WP_20160806_11_43_15_Rich.jpg
 
Had our BB audit in April so for that we had to comply with a lot of the regs then. One thing we hadnt before was a farm first aid kit along with a house one.

Never thought we'd need it as quick as we did, because of the eye wash we bough for the bigger farm first aid kit, my dad still has sight in his left eye after a splash of acid got in there. Only the wash was administered as quick he'd have been in serious trouble according to the A&E nurse
 
Had our BB audit in April so for that we had to comply with a lot of the regs then. One thing we hadnt before was a farm first aid kit along with a house one.

Never thought we'd need it as quick as we did, because of the eye wash we bough for the bigger farm first aid kit, my dad still has sight in his left eye after a splash of acid got in there. Only the wash was administered as quick he'd have been in serious trouble according to the A&E nurse

god, glad it worked out. A salient lesson to us all.....
 
Not something I did but a suggestion that might save someone an injury or worse. For those with walled silage pits maybe consider putting a walkway around the outer walls, there's a massive risk of falling when covering the pit and perhaps more so when stripping in the winter in dark, wet and cold conditions when you could be rushing to get the jobs done. I have no ideas yet for those that make a clamp of silage.
 
That's a mighty idea . Clamp here at work is cut into a hill . Clamp wall is 10 ft high silage side but only 2 at the other side . Makes covering the pit a dam site safer . Mind you should really have a railing on top of clamp walls . But they make lining the walls a bslls of a job
Not something I did but a suggestion that might save someone an injury or worse. For those with walled silage pits maybe consider putting a walkway around the outer walls, there's a massive risk of falling when covering the pit and perhaps more so when stripping in the winter in dark, wet and cold conditions when you could be rushing to get the jobs done. I have no ideas yet for those that make a clamp of silage.
 
Not something I did but a suggestion that might save someone an injury or worse. For those with walled silage pits maybe consider putting a walkway around the outer walls, there's a massive risk of falling when covering the pit and perhaps more so when stripping in the winter in dark, wet and cold conditions when you could be rushing to get the jobs done. I have no ideas yet for those that make a clamp of silage.
Pits carry a certain amount of danger even at the best of times, when covering plastic billowing in the wind can give a false impression where the edges are with obvious consequences, the problem with walls worsens when the pit is built several feet above the top of the wall, dumping forks of tyres on the plastic isn't without its dangers as stray ones can go over the edge and hit unsuspecting people at ground level, they are at their worst in winter when there is frost on the plastic, absolute skating rinks. It's about being aware of the risks and controlling the situation to minimise or remove them, a few years ago we worked into dark to finish a job because the weather was turning bad, right wet and windy night forecast, got the job finished in an awkward yard just as the rain started, farmer wanted right or wrong to cover an unwalled 20 ft high pit in the dark with wind and rain, we refused because of the dangers but said we would do it first thing next morning which we did, the thanks we got was he gave the job to someone else the next year.
 
Loading cattle can be dangerous as they can turn on you. Recently i had to load a big bull that does not like going into a trailer.
I used a idea i seen else where. Make up a passageway about 10 ft wide . park trailer at one end and hesston bale on loader at other end to follow cattle.
The bull in my case loaded without problem as he had no options. VERY SAFE
 
The Battery cover on our Class tractor was made of plastic and fairly flimsy . It has disintegrated twice so we decided to make a metal one and while doing so made a flat surface to stand on . When fitting the antenna for the GPS or even cleaning the window there was no safe place to put your foot on . I often had to relocate the Antenna in the field and there was no safe way to do it . The flat surface has a grip on it . I think he mixed sand in the paint .
342A6892-9F85-4A38-AA71-4726E877EF4E.jpg
 
Loading cattle can be dangerous as they can turn on you. Recently i had to load a big bull that does not like going into a trailer.
I used a idea i seen else where. Make up a passageway about 10 ft wide . park trailer at one end and hesston bale on loader at other end to follow cattle.
The bull in my case loaded without problem as he had no options. VERY SAFE
I have often done similar but I reverse the trailer back very slowly into the animal/animals that are confined between the trailer and the back of the pen and they have no where to go only up into the trailer
 
Not today but done recently got rid of the worn out hook and sloppy carriage on the tractor here,
IMG_4050.JPG IMG_4051.JPG
Much much tighter now
IMG_4049.JPG IMG_4052.JPG

Should be a lot safer, was getting nervous of the hook snapping and the slop in the carraige would drive you mad on the wrapper with the drawbar
 
You could have got another couple of hours out of that Hook . I must have a look at the Old Lady of Dagenham to see how much wear we have .
 
My sister was working at a school in the foothills of the Himalayas in India. The locals only replaced the rope suspension bridges when they fell down. If it looked rough make sure the last person cross was heavier
 
Was putting wide wheels back on sprayer yesterday. Axle is fairly high and not flat underneath. Theres bolt heads and some 2" box iron on lower surface and its also not level.
Used to prop up with blocks on jack which was very dodgy as a wobble could lead to collapse.

Stopped for 40mins yesterday to make an adaptor which couples with the uneven surface under the axle.
Basically, some 1" & 1.5" box iron go either side of the sprayer 2" box iron. A 7" square piece of chequer plate welded underneath the two pieces. Result is a flat level surface under which the jack can be placed.

40mins was a slight delay but quicker than fixing a body.
Next job is to bolt the adapters chequer plate onto a piece of railway sleeper.


Rather than the block, take a look at how transmission jack adapters work. Most jacks have a hole in the plate where the cup mounts, lift out the cup and you'll be left with a hole. weld a long pin under your adapter and sleeve some large pipe around it and make the whole thing a solid but removalble attachment to the jack.

Here's a transmission adapter, similar principle

s-l1000.jpg
 
Rather than the block, take a look at how transmission jack adapters work. Most jacks have a hole in the plate where the cup mounts, lift out the cup and you'll be left with a hole. weld a long pin under your adapter and sleeve some large pipe around it and make the whole thing a solid but removalble attachment to the jack.

Here's a transmission adapter, similar principle

s-l1000.jpg

Good idea! @JohnBoy thank you!
 
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