3 & 4 Wheel Farm Bikes- Why???

[Krusti]

[QUOTE=Jackrat]Reliable rumour has it that because NZs cockies are to thick to wear protective gear,ACC is pushing for safty frames to be fitted to them in the same way they did with tractors.

QUOTE]

Used to have roll bars on quads but ACC realised they caused more injuries than prevent them.

And yea I am way too THICK duh .. As a farmer who runs a large very steep property I know how any vehicle is capable of killing. If you look at most of the fatalities involving Farm type quads you will find that it is mainly due to inexperiance. Friends visiting etc. I think the problem lies more with people using them as toys and not giving ATV's the respect needed.

We have alot of people visit and never let them use any farm vehicles....seen too many thick towny visitors who think they know what they are doing.

Duh I have ta go sleep wit da animals now

[Motu]

I think you are right there - how many off these accidents happen on...um....'small' farms?

[Biff]

Can you still buy trikes (the ATV type)? This may sound like a daft question but I'm sure that the sale of new ones was banned back in the UK as they were prone to flipping when taking corners at speed - or do I need a beer?


Please say beer

[Fryin Finn]

Attached is myself and well known motorcyle dealer on trikes back in the late 70's - never to replace tried and true 2 wheelers.

[James Deuce]

That's an interesting comment. Are you working on the land or are you looking over the fence? And as this is a public forum I take offence to this reply so fuck you and your attitude. What do you do for a living? A large number of the deaths come from lifestyle riders and beach riders. Some farmers yes but go and look at the stats. So are all road riders "thick" for riding bikes on the road as a few of us have been killed in the last few years?

I'm sorry dude, he's right. I have never, ever seen a cocky wear anything other than traditional farm working clothes on a farm trike or quad, or a two wheeled ag bike for that matter. My in-laws are farmers and they are happy to give me gyp for riding a road bike, but they'll beetle down a public road with NO protective gear. None. And they'll take the kids for a ride with the same lack of protective wear and get all defensive when I object.

More farmers get trapped under a rolled quad in 2 inches of water every year than "lifestyle riders" and "beach riders", or even forest riders for that matter.

The entire Wairarapa farming community has the same attitude to riding farm bikes and quads. I'm superman and it'll never happen to me. I know a lot of Wairarapa farmers, and they really just don't get the need for protection of any kind in any conditions. They are a major component in the argument for us paying more in ACC fees.

[ktulu]

I'm a farm man through and through and I complete agree with people saying that some farmers are absolute fuck heads who take no safety precautions and ride like mad men but I also think it is pretty stupid to slap this law that every time a farmer goes off to get his cows he has to spend 5 minutes kitting up in all of the protective gear.

Through my farming experience I have seen a lot of farm workers and owners who just take it easy and use their bikes and tractors like they were intended and its been safe as houses but I've also seen lots of idiots make me cringe at the likely possibility they are going to kill themselves from doing dangerous things.

Maybe its just a bit of natural selection and its really a good thing unlike idiots in cars doing crazy things on the road these guys aren't hurting anyone else.

[Motu]

You can get an AG helmet now,never seen a farmer with one,but trials riders use them.

[James Deuce]

You can get an AG helmet now,never seen a farmer with one,but trials riders use them.

I've tried pimping them to the MOther-in-law, but she just looks at me funny.

Even a push bike helmet would be an improvement.

It's all about how you look, not how you look after head impacts strainer post.

[soundbeltfarm]

Reliable rumour has it that because NZs cockies are to thick to wear protective gear,ACC is pushing for safty frames to be fitted to them in the same way they did with tractors.

And yeah mate,your having a bad hair day.
I don't have em' myself,more like a bad scalp day for me

as a thick cocky.
most of the quad accidents that have happened on farms (well that i know of)
a helmet would have done no use.
a better alternative would be courses that are run already be made a compulsory thing.
but in saying that you only take out of these what you want to.
as for the safety frames you mention.
these were a craze a few years ago.
but they are way worse than a bike without one.
no bike dealers will sell a bike with one on anymore as they can hit the rider when they roll or on steeper hills they catapult the bike as it rolls
and if that hits you its a lot worse.
i knew a guy who drowned and his young son also perished as the bike rolled onto them in swampy ground. no safety gear would have saved them.

[James Deuce]

as a thick cocky.
most of the quad accidents that have happened on farms (well that i know of)
a helmet would have done no use.
a better alternative would be courses that are run already be made a compulsory thing.
but in saying that you only take out of these what you want to.
as for the safety frames you mention.
these were a craze a few years ago.
but they are way worse than a bike without one.
no bike dealers will sell a bike with one on anymore as they can hit the rider when they roll or on steeper hills they catapult the bike as it rolls
and if that hits you its a lot worse.
i knew a guy who drowned and his young son also perished as the bike rolled onto them in swampy ground. no safety gear would have saved them.

In most of the bike accidents I've been in a helmet was no use. Didn't even touch the ground. The one were I needed it, it was vital.

There is one piece of safety equipment that doesn't get engaged in farm work involving repetitive use of equipment and that is the brain. Once it has become commonplace it is all too easy to forget to think, to observe, to actively scan for changes in the environment that affect the safety of an individual enagaed ina repetitive commonplace task. That is why people drown in 6 inch deep creeks with a quad bike pressing their face into the creek bed.

[soundbeltfarm]

In most of the bike accidents I've been in a helmet was no use. Didn't even touch the ground. The one were I needed it, it was vital.

There is one piece of safety equipment that doesn't get engaged in farm work involving repetitive use of equipment and that is the brain. Once it has become commonplace it is all too easy to forget to think, to observe, to actively scan for changes in the environment that affect the safety of an individual enagaed ina repetitive commonplace task. That is why people drown in 6 inch deep creeks with a quad bike pressing their face into the creek bed.

totally agree wity you .
im guilty of doing that.
never really thought about it until i read this.
and i am bad at calculating risk while im on the farmbikes.
never really think about what if. i think about how long to get a job done and neglect to think of the risks with the bike.
cheers for that as i will make a mental note to use my brain in the morning while i bring the cows to be milked.
cheers mate

[James Deuce]

totally agree wity you .
im guilty of doing that.
never really thought about it until i read this.
and i am bad at calculating risk while im on the farmbikes.
never really think about what if. i think about how long to get a job done and neglect to think of the risks with the bike.
cheers for that as i will make a mental note to use my brain in the morning while i bring the cows to be milked.
cheers mate

Crikey! You're welcome.

It only occurred to me when the Father In Law rode into the flooded drain full tit because the "black" bridge had been washed away.

(...sneaks off hoping that he isn't having the mikey taken out of him)

[Gixxer 4 ever]

This has been an interesting thread. I still believe most of us work hard not to have accidents. A lot of the people that live over here in Hawkes Bay, as in other areas, work on very steep farms and not only do we take care not to have accidents but many of us choose not to have 4x4 bikes because of the effect of gravity. So how much more care can we take? I still find it hard to accept the comments about farmers being thick. Look at the hours we spend on the bikes in a year. Is the accident rate that high considering the hours the bikes are working? I have attended 2 ACC safety days. The trainers at these days really did not understand the work place or the work we do. Some of the safety training was impractical. If you are going to have some one to teach you to ride a road bike shouldn't they have experience in riding? So it is with the ACC days for farmers. The trainers at one of our training days had never worked on a farm let alone run a farm. This thread has provoked good discussion and that must be a plus for everyone.