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Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program |
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Farmer Died When Run Over by Tractor's Rear Wheel and Chopper | ![]() |
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SummaryOn June 18, 2004, a 40-year-old male died while cutting a hay field for forage. He had attached a New Holland chopper to the rear of the Farmall 400 tractor and a forage wagon to the chopper to hold the cut hay. It is unknown how he came into the position of being run over by the tractor’s rear wheel and the chopper. Several scenarios have been hypothesized. The victim was on his third pass in the middle of the field. After the victim was run over by the equipment, the tractor continued to travel forward in the field in an arc from east to west, finally coming to rest in a tree line adjacent to the hay field. When the victim did not return home family members went to search for him. They found him in the field and called for emergency response. Emergency Response declared the victim dead at the scene. Family members noted that all prior forage cuts the victim made were straight, except in the location just before where the victim was found. Family members noticed a very slight “zigzag”, from west to east in this final cut. Recommendations: The recommendations below are based upon the possible event scenarios described in the report.
IntroductionOn June 18, 2004, a 40-year-old male died while cutting a hay field for forage. It is unknown how he came into the position of being run over by the tractor’s rear wheel and the chopper. He was chopping hay using a Farmall 400 tractor with an attached New Holland chopper and attached forage box wagon. MIFACE investigators were notified of this incident through a newspaper clipping. On October 19, 2004, MIFACE researchers interviewed the victim’s family member who also accompanied them to the site of the accident. MIFACE investigators took pictures of the incident site and also reviewed the medical examiner’s and police report of this incident. Figure 1 was taken by the MIFACE researcher at the time of the site visit months after the incident. Figure 2 and Figure 3 are police pictures taken at the time of the incident. Back to TopInvestigationThe victim was driving a wide-front, diesel powered, 1950’s model Farmall 400 tractor. He had attached both a chopper and a forage box wagon to the rear of the tractor. His family member reported the tractor was in good operating condition. The victim was cutting a 40-50 acre hay field that was flat but had fairly rutted terrain. The victim worked third shift (11:00 p.m.-7:00 a.m.) at a local factory. After finishing his shift, he would normally return home and sleep. He had a side business of cutting and baling hay for both family and friends. He had to delay cutting and baling his client’s fields due to wet weather. The family member interviewed stated he had been cutting hay for years and was very experienced operating the tractor and associated hay cutting equipment. On the day of the incident, according to this family member, he had returned home from his night shift work, and slept until around noon. He ate lunch, then visited a friend and borrowed his New Holland chopper to cut this field. The victim called the family member interviewed using his cell phone at approximately 3:00 p.m. while he was hooking up the chopper. He called her again using his cell phone at 4:30 p.m. and talked for about five to ten minutes.
The victim cut the perimeter of the field. The hay was approximately mid-thigh in height. Dividing the field into thirds, he began his first cut to the north, then around the perimeter of this third of the field. The incident occurred on the third cut to the north. He cut approximately one-third of the distance to the north edge of the field when the incident occurred. After he was run over, the unmanned tractor made an arc going east to west toward the tree line, which is consistent with the victim falling from the tractor on his left side. The victim had not returned home as expected so his family and friends went to look for him. They found the tractor in first gear in a tree line near the field. The tractor had stalled but the radio that was sitting on the right fender of the tractor was still operating. Because the tractor and chopper had continued to operate after the victim was run over, the family members walked along the cut hay path from the tractor location at the tree line until they found the victim. He was found lying on his back with his arms extended over his head. The rear tractor tire ran over his arm and the right side of his body sustained injury from the chopper and chopper blade. The family called 9-1-1. Emergency response personnel declared him dead at the scene. His ball cap was discovered approximately 100 feet south of where the victim was found and his cell phone was found approximately 75 feet south of the baseball cap.
The incident was unwitnessed, and several possible scenarios have been hypothesized. Scenario One: The victim lost consciousness and fell from the tractor due to a medical problem. The victim’s family member indicated that the victim had “blacked out” approximately five years ago after he was snowmobiling and had entered an indoor environment. He had high blood pressure and high cholesterol but currently did not take medication for his high blood pressure. This was confirmed by toxicology results. His family member stated that his last doctor visit was in 2002 when he received a prescription for medication to control his high blood pressure but he had not been back to the doctor since that time for his high blood pressure. Scenario Two: The victim wore a flip-type cell phone clipped to his right hip pocket. Perhaps looking over his shoulder repeatedly to check on the equipment attached to the rear caused the cell phone to dislodge from his pocket and fall to the platform area of the tractor. He may have been attempting to reach his cell when he lost his balance, fell, and was run over. Scenario Three: The victim may have been operating the tractor while standing up. Since the field was rutted, he may have lost his balance and fell while the tractor traveled on the rough terrain. The family member interviewed did not think that he operated the tractor while he was standing up, but did not discount that this scenario was possible. Scenario Four: Wind may have played a role in this fatality. The victim was wearing a baseball cap, and wind speeds were high enough to cause the cap to be blown off his head. Unedited local Climatological data from the NOAA, National Climatic Data Center for the day of the incident indicated that the maximum five-second-wind speed was 21 miles per hour and the maximum two-minute wind speed was 16 miles per hour. If his cap was blown from his head, he may have been trying to retrieve it, lost his balance, and fell from the tractor. Scenario Five: The victim may have been tired and fell asleep at the tractor wheel. Although the family member interviewed indicated that the victim had taken a nap, he had slept at most, 4 ½ hours. (His workplace was approximately ½ hour from his home.). Scenario Six: The victim may have dismounted from the tractor to either retrieve his cell phone, ball cap, check the chopping equipment operation, or to use the shovel hanging on the wagon (See Figure 2) to redistribute the hay in the trailer wagon. It is unknown whether he dismounted with the tractor running. He did not set the parking brake. If he had turned the tractor off prior to dismounting, he may have left the tractor in gear. Prior to mounting the tractor and while standing on the ground, he may have turned the key to start the tractor. (See Figure 3) Since the tractor was in gear, it began its forward movement upon starting. He was unable to get out of the way and was run over by the tractor and chopper.
Scenario Seven: The victim may have been attempting to dial a phone number on his cell phone. He attempted to clip the phone back on his pocket and didn't’t fully attach the phone to his clothing. The cell phone fell. He realized the phone was missing and looked to the floorboards and around the tractor. While he was looking, the baseball cap was either knocked off his head or the wind blew it off of his head. Not seeing the phone on the tractor floorboards, he stopped the tractor, and placed the transmission in neutral. Leaving the tractor and PTO running, he dismounted. As he was in the process of dismounting from the tractor, he unknowingly kicked the gearshift from neutral into first gear. The tractor began to move forward and the victim lost his balance, fell, and was run over by the wheel and chopper. Back to TopCause of DeathThe cause of death as stated on the death certificate was multiple blunt force and sharp force injuries. Toxicological tests were negative for ethanol, medication, and other drugs of abuse. Recommendations/DiscussionThe recommendations below are based upon the possible event scenarios described in the report. Ensure medical conditions are managed by all workers on the farm.The victim had been diagnosed with high blood pressure but was not being treated by a physician at the time of the fatal incident for this condition. Untreated blood pressure increases the risk of developing a stroke or heart attack. There was no evidence of either of these conditions on his autopsy. High blood pressure, in the absence of a vascular complication, is generally asymptomatic. Even if a person with high blood pressure has symptoms, the symptoms are usually mild and non-specific. Some people will experience symptoms such as headache, dizziness, blurred vision or nausea. It is unknown if the victim experienced any symptoms at the time of the incident. It is important to seek medical care and manage medical conditions such as high blood pressure to minimize the long-term impact on health. This is the least likely of the scenarios to explain the death.
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