Is she INSANE? Or what?

[Land_Owner]

My CPA/spouse is peeved at me for not fetching the 75hp tractor and 6-foot bush hog from my wildlife food plots over 35 miles away so that, on the suggestion of my garage construction contractor, my stay-at-home-for-the-Summer 16yo son can attempt to use it (for the very first time) to mow a neighborhood overgrown 2.5 acre lot - for a small fee. 

My son doesn't know or currently care to learn how to drive a car much less know how to drive a stick shift 75hp tractor with a bush hog.   He's a good kid and a fast learner, but...

The spouse thinks I should 1.) fetch it, 2.) crank it up, 3.) leave him alone with it, and 4.) let him work it in low gear going around and around and around until he finishes.  I think that's a stupid set of ideas - particularly #3.

Over time I have become accustomed to the use of this tractor (and apparently, after 21 years, I am stilling learning the spouse).   Some have been tough lessons learned the hard way.  I don't think putting my son in harm's way - and walking away - is the right answer for any set of circumstances or fee.

Why can't it wait until the tractor is brought back in due time where I can work with the boy?  Why does it have to be RIGHT NOW?  (sheesh). 

These and other questions go unanswered by the spouse, who isn't talking to me right now.  Perhaps I should be satisfied in that.

[GRIMJIM]

I would welcome the "blessed silence".
Women certainly are a different animal than men.

[hillbill]

no accounting for what a woman wants, thats a proven fact.dont fight it just go with the flow.the boy has got to learn how to handle a tractor sumtime if he is going to be a real man. its yur tractor id say do as yu want.however yu have a chance to teach him how to be a man, someday he might remember that yu were the first one to turn him loose with 20,000$ werth of equipment and the first one to trust him and maybe take time to teach him anything.i know yur busy, we all are, but what yu teach a boy that age will always be with him.ride a few rounds with him and give him pointers and walk off.my dad did 30 yrs ago and i still dont know how he did it without looking bak.now i run heavy equipment for a livng and love it.i was driveing a tractor when i was 10, thats how i learned to drive a stikshift and handle a clutch.by 18 i could drive any machine man ever made. i know he is starting late but what the heck!make him go with yu and load it and chain it down or at least drive it part way if yur driveing it home, chek the oil and fuel it up. get him dirty and sweaty and then take part of his cut for the fuel.thats what the real world is like.

[Chilachuck]

His age isn't a problem as lots of farm kids younger than that have done as much.

Perhaps you can take the kid out to where the tractor is and let him drive it around a bit out there without anything attached? He might decide it's a bad idea on his own, he might turn out to have a touch for that sort of thing.

[superdown]

No disrespect to anyone or there kids if the tractor was at home to start with he would have taken it out already while you weren't there, he would have already learned how to use it and what not to do. As my dad always says keep it between the ditches and keep it top side up

Superdown

[Glanceblamm]

No disrespect to anyone or there kids if the tractor was at home to start with he would have taken it out already while you weren't there, he would have already learned how to use it and what not to do.

I Have Never Read A Truer Statement In All My Life!!! Again, with absolutely no disrespect intended, Your Son may know more about that tractor than you think!

I was a good kid, never corrupt (at least till I got my drivers license) I spent many good early years on an Uncles farm with a cousin of the same age. Every once in a while he would pin us down on something with an opening line of  Ok...Why Did You Do It?...We would be quite worried about this because it could have been any of six different things
It is with great fondness that I recall those years. They included kids at neighbooring farms along with many friends made at the 4-H sponsored live stock barns. The topic always got around to those (what your not suppose to do) things on the farm and weather or not you were able to make repairs or even hide what had happened

There was no meaness and great respect givin to the Owner or foreman as could be seen in wide eye's of the story teller. By the same token the Owner or foreman probably knew exactly what the kid was up to and may have even
Watched some of the happenings but said nothing (judging the severity of course) This sure made for some embarrassed, humble kids come dinner time when the adult made general innuendos at the dinner table. They shaped us
Very well in general...we did know that DO NOT meant just that and respected it on the whole.

[Dee]

This thread is a bit confusing. You have a teenage son, whom to you knowledge, knows nothing about operating a tractor, and your asking for advice? Do you want the advice concerning dealing with your wife, or whether to turn the tractor over to an inexperienced teenager, with limited judgement, or both?
You can always tell your wife that if she is so interested in getting neighborhood's lot mowed, that SHE can go and get the tractor. OR, you can tell you son to keep his butt off the tractor until he has been taught to use it. OR, you can do what you have already done, which makes perfect sense.
In my best chauvinistic response, I can honestly say that I have seen few homes where the WOMAN was in charge of everything and everyone (including the husband), that were organized. They in fact were usually a mess. That is not to say the man of the house should be a bully, but should be INCHARGE of such things a man should know about.
That she is not talking to you is not necessarily a bad thing. It is however, "HER METHOD of bringing you back under control" by punishing you with silence, UNTIL YOU CONCEDE. Apparently it has worked for her in the past. Hmmmmmm.....

But back to the original question of the thread title. Is she insane? Or what?
Answer: No, just ignorant of the perils of heavy equipment operated by inexperience teenagers, and what could happen to HER SON, by making such a BAD decision. And possibly indignant at being defied.
But that's just my opinion.

[buffermop]

simple solution-------Lock the wife up in the closet!

[Kurt L]

YES SHE IS
I have lived and been around farms all my life.

I have seen people get sucked up in pickle harvesters , fingers cut off etc.
these are grown men with lots of farm background.

never had a problem on our personal farm THANK GOD!!! well dad latly run his thumb through the table saw
I even know of omish children geting killed in farm work.

All it takes is one bad move and your had.
I don't care if it's 200HP or 20Hp if you get flustered and don't shut the pto off and get near it with loose clothing of any kind it
can and will grab you so fast you don't have time to react your had and you aint going to stop any pto once it gets ya.

boy o boy what a topic,were to you start and stop on something like this.

I would let him ride and show him everthing  and never get off the tractor without shutting off the pto etc and tell him what can happen with all the things from pto to the spinning blades that would never know they hit ya to roll over on inclines etc.
then if this tractor has no cab thats bad news. the young man could fall off and you would not have the time to stop the tractor
and pto before you ran over him.
yes I know of people that have been killed by falling off and getting cought in hay bailers,you would think a nice smooth hay field
would be safe from falling off but it happens,and then you never know what you will run into brush hoging.
An old saying haste makes waste. many grown men have died on the farm and you can never be to safe.
another way your wife can look at it as sure he will be just as safe at the brush hoging as he would be by putting an apple on
his head so she can site her gun in.
A young kid is not going to be as calm as you and more prone get shaken if the hog gets pluged up or etc and may forget to shut pto off and set brakes and shut the tractor off before looking at the problem.I could go on all day.
PLEASE FOR GOD SAKE BE SAFE.

[BBF]

                       
Geeez........no wonder this country is in trouble. Women telling their husbands what to do with machinery or having the final say." Head of houshold"  used to mean something and it wasn't the Missus!!

.My kid wouldn't be running any tractor or other machinery until I said so, and I never slept on a couch either while the wife occupied the bed. Silence is golden at times.

[flhshvlhed]

If I may  -  I personally think that this is an EXTREMELY bad/potentially dangerous idea, to let an adolescent perform this task w/o any training/supervison.

As someone that about 30yrs ago, started making their spending money by bush-hogging fields over the summer - it is no joke, and especially w/ a 75hp tractor.  I was only using a 25hp tractor, but it would still chop up sapling that were about almost 2" in diameter.  Hmm - how thick is a 16y/o's arm?

As w/ any piece of equipment, one should first be trained, then supervised, before being allowed to

3.) leave him alone with it, and 4.) let him work it in low gear going around and around and around until he finishes

.  W/o supervsion, he can be "finished" sooner than you or you wife may think.  One way of driving the point home to the spouse, is to take out a huge insurance policy on the boy, before he starts the job.  Not too mention w/ it on low gear, there is a mechanical advantage w/ the gearing that will allow the tractor to power over most things.

As a side bar - unless you've mowed that field before, I would walk it.  My Dad ran over a yellow jackets nest one time, and was getting stung.  As we went to turn off the key and jump off, the tractor hit a rut, and tossed him away from the tractor.  This was high/thick grass, w/ it the throttle up and it in low gear.  As he was chasing the tractor, he ran into an cast iron bath tub/horse trough that was hidden by the high grass, hitting his shin.  He was finally able to get the tractor stopped just before it "remodeled" the corner of the lady's house.

YMMV - but a knowledgeable person/most of society would side w/ you and against your wife.

If you silience gets to be too much - just turn on a radio!   

[RaySendero]

.....
My son doesn't know or currently care to learn how to drive a car much less know how to drive a stick shift 75hp tractor with a bush hog.   He's a good kid and a fast learner, but...
.....

LO,

Talk to ur summer son - Maybe he's changed his mind and wants to learn.  If so take oppportunity to teach him.  If he's like u say still "uninterested", Don't let him near that tractor!

[Land_Owner]

She got over it (and understands my concerns); he didn't use it (but is interested); and I have not relinquished my place at the head of the table.  When I told her that before the boy, she would first learn to use the tractor to mow this field, she saw my point. 

Now, from drought to flood, when it stops raining I can teach the boy.  Looking forward to that.  Sure hope the clutch holds out.

[gypsyman]

Land Owner, you were once his age. Determine if you think he's mature enough. Your wife will never know, as she is a female. And I mean NO disrespect. You will never understand what a teenage girl thinks, as you were never one. Absolutley the same as handling a firearm. Some kids are safe and sane at 9 or 10, others maybe not till in their teens.(I've seen some adults that should never handle a gun) Be that as it may, have a talk with him. If he's interested, go for it. If not, more harm than good will come out of it if you force him. I have a 9 year old, that drive's and cuts our lawn with a 14hp riding lawn mower.(doesn't do a very good job, but I still praise the heck out of him for it)And I either disconnect the belt, or take off the deck mower, and my 7 year old drive's it around with the lawn roller.( I walk beside him when he's driving, although he seems pretty adapt, and has no problems)  Good Luck!!  gypsyman

[hillbill]

if the clutch dont hold out, then make him split the tractor and fix it with yu. yu have no idea what that kind of experience can do for a boy.clutch wasnt far from gone if a few hrs of hogging is all it takes to snuff it.

[Land_Owner]

Points well made Gentlemen.  Teaching an interested student is significantly easier than the alternative.  Safety is the prime lesson in every calss. And hillbill's message is received loud and clear.  Father and son in the shop working with Dad's tools.  Good times and good memories.

[ms]

MAN UP TO YOUR WIFE I'M  NOT BEING A SMART A$$.

[SHOOTALL]

put the wife on the tractor first and educate her as to your concerns with safety . then the kid if he acts right good if not hide the key !

[Land_Owner]

ms...I know you are not being a wise-acre.  But give it a rest. 

You aren't married are you?  Some discussions, like this one, take more than BECAUSE I SAID SO to properly educated the uninitiated.  There are ramification in the bigger picture that she must first understand about me and my concerns for the boy's safety.  Likewise, I am not liking, at first indications, her "thinking" about the boy's safety, which to me extends well past this tractor and into the world of cars and trucks.

[Bug]

Two men in a boat fishing.
After about two hours silence #1 says:
"I think I'm gonna git me a divorce".
30 minutse pass.
#2 says:
"Why?"
#1 says:
"'Cause she ain't Spoke to me in six months".
An hour passes by.
Finally, #2 says:
"Better think on that. Wimmin' like that are hard to come by".

As far as your son driving a tractor, YOU will know when it's time.
Just think of the investment!

[Rex in OTZ]

Since its a 75hp Tractor thats allot of awesome power unleashed in the hands of a kid, depends on the tempramant of the kid I suppose, I know some adults that would have overturned that tractor on level ground.

I say since its a large tractor bigger that the 60hp 460 farmall that I ran as a kid but smaller than the 90hp JD4020 I used to rake hay in summers ther's room for you to ride along and take it slow and show the kid, what to look for, Beforehand carefully walking through where he is to mow, looking for tree stumps, fallen branches, old pieces of metal, barbed wire laying on the ground, ditches, powerlines,fencelines and trees, mow the back swath with him, problem with kids is they spaceout/daydream while operating machinery and they get into trouble, l remember some Highshoolers from my area of Northern Nebraska, one Boy was a 10th grader disking a field and had folded up the wings for road transport and got caught up on a powerline and was fried while stepping off out the cab the other was useing a manure spreader and had not checked the PTO shaft the lock pin was not fully engaged and it came loose while turning at the end the field with it running and it came loose and took the back his head off.
These are things that can happen and do working round equipment especially useing powerd impliments adds a extra element of danger, A rotary mower like that can throw a rock or stick with sufficent force to hurt a bystander, the PTO is a hazzard in itself, if he stepps off the tractor to pee and doesent shut off the PTO, forgets to set the brake? this is a job that should be adult supervised because a lapse in judgment would be dire, I think some the worst injuries I remember were simple jobs that should have gone smoothly but something unexpected happened and these were older people that had experence!

I know a boy from my township that had a accident he was a senior that was on the crosscountry/basketball/track team's that had his pelvis crushed and they said wouldent be able to walk again all because of the accident moving hay off the family's haymeddow by himself, he had to stop to open a barbwire gate at the bottom of a hill, as he got off to open the gate the brakes dident hold and the (1950's era) IH/Farmall 560 and Farmhand haymover with a 6 ton haystack started to roll before he could open the gate, he dident make it to the controls in time and was pulled under the rear wheel of the tractor, he is alive today and can hobble round but never will run and jump like he did before the accident.