The Rural Voice, 1982-12, Page 31FARM ADVICE
Dangers using rope
A recent article in a United States farm
magazine relates the tragic story of a farm
accident. 1 think this story bears repeating
- particularly at this time of the year.
Two brothers farmed together. One of
them got his tractor stuck in some silty
soil. The other brother was in the process
of pulling him out. He was using a tow
rope fastened to the stuck tractor with a
short length of chain. The tractor on the
firm ground was bearing down. The tow
rope stretched a bit - but it could stand the
strain. The short length of chain broke.
Like a big slingshot, the tow rope snapped
the chain back at the tractor doing the
pulling. The driver was struck and killed
by the flying chain.
In recent years as many as 30 farmers
across the United States have met similar
fates. A similar number have had
crippling injuries. Many others have had
close calls with these giant slingshots.
The 1 to 11/2 inch ropes have a breaking
load rating of 30,000 to 60,000 pounds.
The ropes seldom fail. The chains,
clevises, hooks and pins that hold them
sometimes do.
Unlike a chain or cable the rope will
stretch to absorb shocks. Farmers are
tempted - even instructed - to use the
tractor's momentum to gain more pulling
power.
From a standing pull you can develop
70% to 90% of the weight on the drive
wheels as tractive effort. For an average
15,000 pound tractor that's about 11,000
lbs. of pull. If the tractor hits the end of
the tow rope at 3 mph. it develops another
1,000 to 2,000 lbs. of pull. That extra
snap is often enough to break some
popular sized farm chain - or tear off part
of whatever it's fastened to.
The rope can stretch about 40% of its
original length. When a break occurs it
can hurl whatever it is hooked to at speeds
up to 700 miles per hour.
Ropes are too popular for farmers to
stop using them. However, there are some
real dangers associated with the use of
ropes. Be aware of what you're doing.
Allow good safety margins in the size of
chains or clevises that you may use. Check
for signs of stress or cracks.
If you have to do a lot of towing,
maybe you should throw the tow rope
away. Invest in a good heavy chain or
cable.
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THE RURAL VOICE/DECEMBER 1982 PG. 31