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Accident while restoring an old tractor

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4 years 11 months ago #200127 by Roderick Smith
Roderick.



April 8 2019 '​I survived under miraculous circumstances': Tim's tractor tale
FRIEND OR FOE: Tim Silverton with the 1950s Massey Ferguson tractor that almost claimed his life in an accident in February. Picture: Brodie Weeding
Tim Silverton tucked into bacon and eggs on a lazy Saturday morning; half an hour later he thought he was going to die.
There's little reason the Preston man should have survived the accident on his farm that February morning.
"It's what the firies said to me, it's what the police said to me, it's what every single farmer has said to me," he said.
But Mr Silverton did live to tell the tale of how superhuman strength, quick thinking and lots of luck saved his life.
THE ACCIDENT
FRIEND OR FOE: Tim Silverton with the 1950s Massey Ferguson tractor that almost claimed his life in an accident in February. Picture: Brodie Weeding
Mr Silverton's remarkable story of survival starts with the mundane task of moving a caravan out of a gully.
He'd planned to use a ute but decided to fire up his 1950s Massey Ferguson tractor when it didn't work.
Mr Silverton said he had carefully considered how to safely operate the vintage machine the night before but that went "straight out of my head" the day of the accident.
As he tried to tow the caravan, he watched incredulously as the tractor rose onto its back wheels.
"By the time that I could've put my foot down on the clutch or put my foot down on the brake and try to slow it or stop it, it was just too late," he said.
The tractor flipped into the air and Mr Silverton watched the machine crash on top of him in what seemed like slow motion.
"First I heard my leg break and so I don't know what part of the tractor did that but I know it was heavy and I know that it snapped. It was the femur...," he said.
"I screamed out in pain and I just realised with that scream I'd lost all my air because the tractor was on me. I tried to take another breath and I couldn't.
"... After considering all my options and coming up with nothing to get out of this situation, I thought that was it, this is how I die. There was no other way out. And still now it's inconceivable that I could've lived."
SUPERHUMAN SAVIOUR
THE TRACTOR: Tim Silverton plans to restore the 1950s Massey Ferguson tractor. Picture: Brodie Weeding
As Mr Silverton drifted in and out of consciousness, a friend helping to move the caravan raced over
"Next thing I know (my friend) Les is there with his hands under the wheel arch and somehow he's able to lift this thing by himself," Mr Silverton said.
This feat of superhuman strength shifted the tractor enough for Mr Silverton to gasp for air but not enough to free him.
Meanwhile, his wife Jane was in the kitchen when their daughter raced in and yelled "Dad's dead".
"When I looked out the window, I'm like, 'Holy shit, he's dead. That's it, he's dead'," Mrs Silverton said.
Mrs Silverton and Les' wife Shirene raced over to help lift the tractor and by their third attempt, they were able to drag Mr Silverton to safety.
As emergency services began to arrive, Mr Silverton realised he had "made a giant mistake by even considering to use an antiquated tractor to help out in any sort of task".
"It had no roll bar, it was not safe...," he said.
"So I survived under miraculous circumstances and I want people to realise that if they are running the same sort of risks I was, they may not have a Shirene or a Les or a Jane to be able to somehow lift that tractor off."
ROAD TO RECOVERY
SUPPORT: Jane Silverton has been helping her husband Tim during his recovery. Picture: Brodie Weeding
After a ten-day stint at the North West Regional Hospital filled with painkillers and surgery, Mr Silverton was sent home.
The accident has taken its toll on the family as Mr Silverton was the main breadwinner and has been unable to continue his consultancy work.
Mr Silverton said the family had to sell some cows to make ends meet while they waited for Centrelink payments to kick in.
"We had to sell at a time when the market wasn't crash hot. So we didn't end up getting a lot of money but then again we didn't have a choice," he said.
But the community rallied around the family, with friends and neighbours dropping off firewood and picking up their kids.
"I've got so much support from my local community. It's astonishing. And without that I don't know how we would be able to do it," Mr Silverton said.
The vintage tractor remains on their farm and Mr Silverton said he initially wanted to sell it for parts.
"It took me weeks before I could even look at it again," he said.
But Mr Silverton has come to terms with the accident and returned to his original plan for the machine: to restore the Massey Ferguson to its former glory and display it at shows.
"It's gone from scrap, to giving it away, to wanting to fix it again," he said.
< www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6005971/t...at-nearly-killed-tim >

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4 years 11 months ago #200129 by JOHN.K.
i reckon I had this drummed into me before I was school age........and so did every other boy...........the old iron wheel fordsons were notorious for going over backwards.....yet all the hobby farmers and newbies think they know it all..................and then they blame the tractor...............my neighbour had nothing but horses,wouldnt allow a machine on his land......he died when one of his horses kicked him in the head.

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4 years 11 months ago - 4 years 11 months ago #200130 by Dave_64
If that's not irony, don't know what is!
Bit like the bloke who boasted he'd never been in a motor accident since he started driving at age 12. Age 84 he stepped from behind a bus and was cleaned up by a taxi!
That bloke better not buy a Tattslotto ticket, seem to think he's used up his share of luck
Last edit: 4 years 11 months ago by Dave_64.

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4 years 11 months ago #200139 by JOHN.K.
years ago I bought a set of track chains from a guy wrecking a TD18 dozer......I broke the chains with my dynamite gun,and the bloke came round with a little petrol Fergie to pull the machine off the tracks..........dozer wouldnt move ,so he revved the tractor and dropped the clutch..........tractor reared up and very close to going over backward......the fergie was pretty gutles,because I hooked the Leyland up to the dozer,and moved it easily.

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4 years 11 months ago #200142 by cobbadog
Grey Fergies come in at around 20hp not much more than a late model ride on mower.

Cheers Cobba & Cobbarette
Coopernook, The Centre of our Universe
Working on more play time.

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4 years 11 months ago #200149 by JMR
Sounds like the theory of not pulling above the center line of the axle went out the window....

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4 years 11 months ago #200150 by oliver1950
Hardly an accident while restoring an old tractor,more like an accident cause by operator ignorance.

You can't have too many toys!

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4 years 11 months ago #200152 by Mrsmackpaul
Yep
Tractor is only as dangerous as the operator using it

Dunno how we all survived but we seemed to ok.

Operator seems to think it was the "antiquated tractor at fault"
Im thinking the nut behind the wheel

Poor little cup cake then complains about having to sell cows cheaply, I m guessing it never occurred to him that he is lucky to be around to even sell the cows

Paul

Your better to die trying than live on your knees begging

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4 years 11 months ago #200156 by Morris
I looks like a classic case of the old saying
"A poor tradesman always blames his tools"
It is not a Massey Ferguson, it is a plain old "grey" Ferguson TE20. I have had one rear up while pulling a large truck out of muddy ground. It is a bit frightening when it first happens but it is easy to push the clutch pedal before it gets high enough to be dangerous (my feet were hovering over the clutch and brake pedals "just in case") and I am not an experienced tractor operator but I do have some common sense.
I was towing from below the diff level and the tractor does have a roll bar.

I have my shoulder to the wheel,
my nose to the grindstone,
I've put my best foot forward,
I've put my back into it,
I'm gritting my teeth,

Now I find I can't do any work in this position!

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4 years 11 months ago #200162 by JOHN.K.
Ive pulled out stumps with my Chamberlain Champion without any drama,but I remember the old iron wheel Fordsons would rear up just engaging the clutch lever,and plenty went over backward pulling stumps.

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