Farmers and agricultural contractors who are in the midst of ‘busy season’ have been warned to ensure that their tractors and trailer implements are properly connected during the summer months.
This warning comes following the emergence of a video on social media showing what can happen if hitches and draw-bars aren’t properly checked.
Posted on Thursday, July 4, by Solihull Farm Watch, a rural community group based in Solihall, in the English West Midlands, the video shows a tractor drawing a trailer packed with square bales.
As the tractor climbs up an incline in the road, the trailer comes loose, breaking away from the machine and speeding backwards out of control.
The loaded trailer careers to one side, crashing through a fence and shedding some of the stacked bales.
Fortunately it then slows down and comes to a halt without any further damage.
Posting the video, Solihull Farm Watch warned tractor drivers: “Don’t forget to check the condition of your hitch and draw bars before the summer rush!”
Driver flung from tractor
Meanwhile, a similar incident occurred last year in Devon, England, where a tractor driver was thrown from the cab of the tractor he was operating.
Devon farm manager Jason Hutchings is believed to have suffered severe bruising and concussion when he was apparently flung through the window of the tractor he was driving when the balance-weight block came off the front of the machine.
The weight is believed to have lodged under the front wheel, pitching the vehicle forward – and hurling the driver out of the cab in the process.
