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MIFACE Investigation Report #10MI122

Subject: Farmer Pinned Under Driver’s Side Front Tire of a Front-end 

Loader 

Summary

In the fall of 2010, a male farmer in his 60s died 

when he was pinned under the driver’s side front 

tire of a Ford tractor Model number 7740 equipped 

with a loader bucket. A walking path for his 

pastured horses was located on a steep slope on the 

north side of a sand-packed driveway leading to his 

home. A damaged tree was close to this walking 

path and the decedent was concerned that, if the 

tree fell, it would cause injury to his horses. The 

decedent drove the tractor to the tree’s location and 

stopped it with the front wheels at the top of the 

embankment slope. It is postulated that the 

decedent parked the tractor with the bucket raised 

slightly and resting against the tree to help direct 

the tree’s fall. The tractor was running so as to keep the bucket raised and against the tree. The 

decedent got out of the tractor and cut the tree. When the tree began to fall, the tractor moved 

forward and down the embankment (Figure 1). The decedent was unable to move to safety and 

was struck by and pinned under the front end loader’s driver’s side front tire. His wife found him 

and called for emergency response. The decedent was declared dead at the scene. 

Key factors in this incident:

• Misuse of the tractor’s loader bucket. 

• Working on the ground in the travel path of the tractor.

• Improper tree felling techniques. 

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Use tractors, including tractors equipped with attachments, according to manufacturer’s 

operator’s manual. 

• Before initiating a task, conduct a site assessment to determine hazards and appropriate 

work practices to minimize identified hazards, including topography challenges, 

equipment location and working on the ground in the travel path of equipment. 

• Use proper directional tree felling techniques (notch and back cut) with chainsaws and 

wear appropriate personal protective equipment to prevent injury. 

Figure 1. Position of decedent and 

tractor after tractor moved forward and 

down the embankment.
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N 

Electric fence

Horse walking path

• When working alone, establish a check-in procedure with another individual to help

assure prompt emergency assistance.

BACKGROUND

In the fall of 2010, a male farmer in his 60s died when he was pinned under the driver’s side 

front tire of a Ford tractor Model number 7740 equipped with a loader bucket. MIFACE was 

notified of this incident by a newspaper article. The MIFACE researcher interviewed the 

decedent’s spouse at her home. During the writing of this report, MIFACE reviewed the Police 

Department report and pictures, death certificate and medical examiner’s report. All pictures

used in the report are courtesy of the responding police department. Illustration 1 is copied from 

the MIOSHA General Industry Tree Trimming Standard. Any photograph showing identifying 

information was modified by MIFACE to preserve anonymity of the police department and 

emergency response personnel. 

The decedent and his wife bought the farm in the early 1970s. The decedent bred and raised 

horses for 30 years. For the first 20 years, the horse breeding operation was a second job. For the 

last 10 years, he bred and raised the horses on a full-time basis. At the time of the incident, the 

herd numbered 50 to 60 horses. The decedent had 40 acres surrounding his home for pasture and 

an additional 80 acres across the road, where he grew hay to feed the horses. All of the farm 

equipment was stored in a pole barn which was located on the 80 acres across the road. 

Three months prior to the incident, the decedent had hip replacement surgery. His wife indicated 

that he was working the farm during the second week of recovery and that his mobility was 

“pretty good”. The decedent was not taking any medicine for pain or for other conditions. 

The decedent had a cell phone with him. Although he usually called his spouse, he did not on 

this day. His wife thought he was just involved in work and was not concerned about him not 

calling her.

INVESTIGATION

On the day of the incident, the decedent ate breakfast 

and told his wife he was going to cut hay. He left the 

house at approximately 10:00 a.m. It was not 

unusual for the decedent to work through the day 

and not come home for lunch. His spouse was in the 

house, and stayed there throughout the day until she 

left the house to go to town. 

One of the horse pastures was located on the north 

side of the driveway leading away from the house to 

the road. Drawing 1 illustrates the incident scene. Drawing 1. Incident Scene
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The north side of the driveway had a steep drop off which then leveled out to the horse pasture. 

The packed sand driveway had an area approximately 5 feet wide between the edge of the 

driveway and the beginning of the slope down to the pasture. The driveway had a two- to fourinch area of soft sand between the packed sand area and the grass at the leading edge of the 

slope. The 24-inch diameter dead tree involved in the incident was located on the slope 

approximately seven feet from the driveway’s edge. 

An electric fence (red dashed line) was installed along the length of the driveway and was 

positioned between the driveway and the incident dead tree. A walking path had been created by 

the horses on this sloped area that was several feet below the electric fence and followed the path 

of the driveway and then veered north of the dead tree. His wife indicated that he had previously 

expressed concern that this tree would fall and injure the horses.

As the decedent traveled down the driveway to get to the pole barn he must have decided to take 

down this dead tree. He obtained the Ford tractor Model 7740 equipped with a loader bucket and 

a chain saw from the pole barn and drove the tractor to the incident site. 

The decedent parked the tractor facing north. It is unknown if he turned the tractor off or set the 

parking brake. The decedent was working alone and the incident was not witnessed. The 

responding police hypothesized that the decedent 

raised the bucket slightly and positioned the bucket 

against the tree so he could use the weight of the 

tractor/bucket to help direct the fall of the tree.

The decedent was facing the stump with his back to 

the tractor working under the raised bucket. It appears 

that when the decedent completed his cuts on the tree 

and the tree fell, the tractor rolled or fell forward over 

the edge of the driveway’s drop off (Figure 2). The 

tractor tire marks are located within the yellow circle 

on Figure 2. The decedent, still holding the chain saw 

in his right hand, did not have enough time to react. 

The rolling/falling tractor was stopped by the stump 

of the tree the decedent had just cut, causing him to 

be pinned under the driver’s side tractor tire. The 

medical examiner report indicated that there were skid marks from the back tires on the sandy 

driveway (See Figure 2). 

The time of the incident is unknown. His wife, as she was driving to the store, was surprised to 

see this tractor, as it was not the tractor usually used in the “hay work”. She got out of the car 

and saw her husband pinned under the tire. She called for emergency response. The decedent 

was declared dead at the scene. 

Figure 2. Driveway configuration and 

tractor position after moving forward 

when tree fell.
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CAUSE OF DEATH

The cause of death as listed on the death certificate was blunt force trauma due to or as a 

consequence of a motor vehicle accident. Toxicology was negative for alcohol; toxicology was 

not performed for other drugs. 

RECOMMENDATIONS/DISCUSSION 

• Use tractors, including tractors equipped with attachments, according to manufacturer’s 

operator’s manual. 

Every loader has limitations on ability to lift or hold itself in a raised position. Older units may 

have lost the ability to hold anything carried in the bucket with the engine stopped due to wear of 

the hydraulic system and components. As hydraulics system parts get worn, the bucket will 

lower to the ground, over time. So, operators tend to leave tractor’s engine running to hold the 

bucket in the raised position. 

The use of the tractor equipped with a loader bucket was not designed nor intended for use as an 

assist for applying pressure to assist in a tree felling activity, and thus was a misapplication of 

tractor use. It is unknown how much “push” or force was placed upon the tree by the tractor and 

bucket. If the force was substantial, stored kinetic energy was released when the tree fell, which 

could have forced the tractor over the edge of the driveway. 

Tractor operators should read and understand the manufacturer’s operator’s manual(s) for the 

safe use of the tractor and attachments.

• Before initiating a task, conduct a site assessment to determine hazards and appropriate 

work practices to minimize identified hazards, including topography challenges, 

equipment location and working on the ground in the travel path of equipment. 

There were several site topography issues for this work operation: the slope of the embankment, 

the location of the dead tree on the embankment, the sandy driveway, the soft driveway shoulder, 

and the electric fence. All of these issues would need to be taken into account in developing a 

strategy to safely fell the tree. It is unknown if the decedent identified these issues as potentially 

posing an issue for his felling operation. 

When agricultural equipment is positioned on or near an incline, the equipment may move/roll 

down the slope, creating a hazard for downhill workers. If equipped, the operator should lower 

the tractor bucket to the ground, lock the brakes together and set the brake lock or, if equipped 

the park lock, and turn the engine off. If the equipment must be left running, then the park brake 

should be set with the transmission in neutral. 

The decedent was downhill from and working in the travel path of the tractor and under the 

raised bucket. Working with his back to the tractor did not give him sufficient warning that the 
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tractor was moving downhill and he could not retreat from the tractor’s travel path in time. 

Although not a factor in this incident, working under a non-supported hydraulically raised bucket

is dangerous and could cause a severe injury if the hydraulics fail. 

• Farmers should use proper directional felling techniques (notch and back cut) with chain 

saws and wear appropriate personal protective equipment to prevent injury. 

Remove the tractor from this task and the work activity was tree felling. 

Although experience can be a great teacher and a necessary element in 

skill development, misguided experience can foster poor technique and 

enhance bad habits. The decedent had experience, but his work 

practices, such as lack of wearing appropriate personal protective 

equipment (gloves only), and his felling technique (notch, backcut and 

hinge wood) did not adhere to consensus or MIOSHA standards for tree 

removal. 

A proper notch (undercut) and back cut directs the tree's fall and the 

hinge wood (holding wood) keeps the tree under control and in its 

directed fall path. If appropriate felling techniques had been utilized, the 

need for the tractor/bucket would not have been necessary, and this 

tragedy could have been avoided. 

Figure 3 shows the tree stump of the tree felled by the decedent. It appears that the decedent 

made the undercut on the tree on the side of the tree facing the road and the back cut on the tree 

on the side of the tree facing the pasture. 

MIFACE measured both the undercut 

and the back cut made by the decedent 

on the 24” diameter tree. The undercut 

(See Illustration 1 from the MIOSHA 

Tree Cutting Standard). The MIOSHA 

General Industry Safety and Health 

Standard, Part 53, Tree Trimming and 

Removal Standard rules state: 

 An undercut shall be large 

enough, about 1/3 the diameter, to safely guide the tree and reduce the possibility of the 

tree splitting. 

 A back cut shall leave sufficient hinge wood (the distance between notch and back cut) to 

guide the tree’s fall in the desired direction and to hold the tree to the stump during most 

of its fall. A back cut shall be about 2 inches (50.8 mm) above the undercut and as level 

as possible. 

Figure 3. Locations 

of cuts made on tree 

stump 

Illustration 1. Figure 1 of MIOSHA General 

Industry Standard Part 53 showing approved 

undercuts
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• When working alone, establish a check-in procedure with another individual to help 

assure prompt emergency assistance. 

The decedent would routinely check in with his wife during the day, but it was not at a

“scheduled” time, so, when he did not call, his wife was not concerned for his safety. Although 

the decedent had his cell phone at the time of the incident, he was unable to use it for safety alert 

purposes. If he had missed his scheduled call in time, his spouse most likely would have tried to 

find him or sent another individual to do so. Although it may not have prevented his death, a 

scheduled time to check in with someone when an individual is working alone could prevent an 

injury from becoming a fatality. 

Agricultural workers, including farmers, regularly work alone on the farmstead. Therefore, it is 

important to establish an effective communication system for the individual who is working 

alone to contact other people who can provide emergency assistance. The frequency of checking 

in to another individual should be appropriate based on the hazards to which the isolated worker 

is exposed. The check-in procedure can be initiated by a family member or the individual who is 

working alone and should be established based upon what is practical for the worksite 

circumstances. In agricultural settings, the availability of cell phone or walkie/talkie coverage 

should be established if that is the means of communication selected. 

RESOURCES

MIOSHA standards cited in this report may be found at and downloaded from the MIOSHA, 

Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) website at: 

www.michigan.gov/mioshastandards. MIOSHA standards are available for a fee by writing to: 

Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, MIOSHA Standards Section, P.O. 

Box 30643, Lansing, Michigan 48909-8143 or calling (517) 322-1845. 

• MIOSHA General Industry Safety Standard, Part 53: Tree Trimming

• Laborer Dies When a Water Truck Drifts Downhill and Pins Him Against a Retaining 

Wall – Tennessee. NIOSH In-house FACE Report 2006-06. 

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/face/In-house/full200606.html

• Farmer Crushed against Tractor Tire by Gravity Flow Wagon Box while Unhitching. 

Iowa Case Report 05MI034. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/face/stateface/ia/05ia034.html

• Farmer Dies After Tractor Rolls and She is Pinned Under the Tractor Tire. Wisconsin 

FACE 95WI043. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/face/stateface/wi/95wi043.html

• Clark, Josh. "How Wheel Chocks Work" 20 October 2008. HowStuffWorks.com. 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/equipment/accessories/wheelchocks.htm 26 February 2013. 

Key Words: Farmer, tree cutting, struck by, tractor, embankment slope, Agriculture 
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MIFACE (Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation), Michigan State University 

(MSU) Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 117 West Fee Hall, East Lansing, Michigan 

48824-1315; http://www.oem.msu.edu. This information is for educational purposes only. This 

MIFACE report becomes public property upon publication and may be printed verbatim with 

credit to MSU. Reprinting cannot be used to endorse or advertise a commercial product or 

company. All rights reserved. MSU is an affirmative-action, equal opportunity institution. 

May15, 2013