A person needs to take a few hours or even a day and get completely away from your situation so your thinking is different and you aren't constantly bombarded with thoughts of what you have to get done,'' he says. Go through the machines, making sure wiring is safe,'' he says. Have safety hitches in place, see that pins are in good wording order, inspect tires, running gears, lubricate everything. The chute is on one side of the grain wagon and when grain is being drained, the center of gravity shifts to the opposite side and could tip on a slight slope, notes Johnson. ''When you're emptying grain wagons, be sure you're on level ground, and be especially careful hauling full wagons through fields as it's top heavy any way,'' he adds. THE MOST common farm fatality occurs when a tractor rolls over, which can happen any time during the year.
Most farmers have older, narrow-front tractors they use for chores.
A lot of old tractors have front-end loaders on them and are extremely unstable when being used. Just about everyone has had or knows someone that's had a roll- over incident,'' he observes. With today's economic conditions, farmers are relying more on older equipment, and many older tractors have unguarded PTOs or broken guards. says Johnson. Our farm population is shrinking and aging.