During this hectic time of year, it’s important for producers to keep their equipment — and themselves — in good shape.
“It’s important to make sure the equipment is kept up to par, that it’s ready to go when you need it,” Tim Schnakenberg, agronomy specialist and co-Southwest District program leader for University of Missouri Extension, told Ozarks Farm & Neighbor. He said stress management is a big part of safety on the farm and ranch. “Nothing’s worse than trying to get a job done and then realize you forgot to replace a part, and now you have to run to town and get the part; now you’ve lost half a day, and you’re in a hurry…If it’s ready to go when you need it, you’ve got it greased up, you’ve got the guards in place and you’ve got all of the repairs made that need to be made, you can move a lot quicker and not be so stressed,” Schnakenberg said.
He said prior preparation can make a big difference for pesticide applicators, for whom he offers private training classes. “I really believe that keeping yourself sharp, and doing some pre-preparation before you go to the field to make sure you’ve got everything you need, is really important,” Schnakenberg said. “Time moves along pretty quickly and you’ve got a lot to get done, and sometimes we tend to cut corners; then, the next thing you know, somebody gets hurt because of it. Or they get exposure to a pesticide because they didn’t take the time to put on their shields, gloves, rubber boots or goggles; they’re in a hurry and think they can get by this time, but they get ill because of it.” He also urged producers to get plenty of rest so they’re not overly tired while operating machinery; when you’re worn out, he said, “You make poor judgments and next thing you know something goes wrong, and you’re not prepared for it.”
Maintenance, he said, is “what winters are for. Get that equipment out; remember what the things are that need to be repaired, so that they will run more smoothly in the spring and summer.” Breakdowns, Schnakenberg said, are inevitable, whether the equipment is new or used; however, getting everything fixed that needs to be fixed in the off-season is crucial to reducing that accident-inducing stress when spring arrives.
Amanda Williams, safety coordinator for Arkansas Farm Bureau, echoed that advice. “Replace anything that may have come off during harvest,” she told OFN. “Make sure anything has repaired that needs to be repaired… There are wear items on any piece of equipment that need to be replaced periodically, or they need to be constantly sharpened like the teeth on a hay mower.”
Williams said tractor rollovers are the leading cause of machinery-related farm accidents, followed by tractor runovers and equipment entanglement. “A PTO shaft should always have a shield over it,” she said. “In some cases, that can easily be broken off during use, and if those are not replaced it poses a hazard for the farmer or for the operator of the machinery.” Producers who work with livestock also need to remember that they can be unpredictable.
Williams concluded, “Farmers know the things that they need to be doing and the hazards that are out there, but sometimes they need a friendly reminder, a ‘this could happen’ kind of situation.”
