Monthly Archives: January 2013

Tractor Specs

Useful comparison spec site that covers a load of different types and manufacturers of agricultural equipment – asphalt, aggregate,concrete, construction equipment,forestry equipment, lifting and material handling equipment. mining and transportation equipment.

 

Gives detailed spec breakdown of tractors, Kubota and others, in very simple, easy to follow guide – useful , wherever you live.

 

Ritchie Specs

App for optimising crop spraying

An app, called the Ariel Spray Crop, has been developed by the Agricultural Research Service arm of the USDA, and has been designed to help make crop spraying more efficient.

 

There are a huge number of manufacturers of spray technology, with differing types of nozzles, different flow rats and different pressure setting ranges. This can make the whole process of spraying much more complex and inefficient than it need be,

 

This app is meant to help by introducing a easy to follow process that allows the sprayer to adjust the nozzle and setting to achieve their maximum effectiveness.

 

The full article explaining this can be found at the  Agweb web site, click here 

 

The app can be downloaded from the Apple app store, click here

 

The app can also be downloaded from Google Play , click here

 

For the USDA ARA, click here

2013 National Farm Machinery Show

Grain handling and storage equipment, latest in ICT – computers and electronics, all types of tractors and combines, tillage implements, latest advances in alternative energy sources and their different usage on farms, etc etc.

 

The 2013 National Farm Machinery Show runs from 13/Feb till 16/Feb at the Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville, and with over 850 exhibitors has a huge array of different areas of interest for anyone involved in farming, agriculture or livestock.

 

Click here for the 2013 National Farm Machinery Show Website

 

Click here for the  Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau Website

The farm as a workplace – Health and safety

Seeing the farm as a workplace is important because it is then possible to assess what the potential risks and dangers are to employees and plan safety measures accordingly. One of the problems with this is that many people see farming as a lifestyle rather than as a business venture.

I mean by that people who are not actively engaged in working on a farm! People who were, farm would be fully aware that it is a business that environment needs to be thought of as a workplace rather not as any type of lifestyle.

Many businesses and industrial complexes have very specific occupational health and safety legislation that apply to them and rigourously enforced. Farms are quite often either exempt from this legislation or have a number of special conditions attached to it.

This is simply because farms are much more difficult to regulate and control than a static industrial base.

There is also often a belief that farming and agriculture is by their nature are a hazardous occupation and that’s just a fact of life. Whilst there is some truth in that, it does not mean that a number of real precautions can be taken that make sure that the health and safety of workers and family members is protected, when using kubota tractors or equipment

This is especially important where children and teenagers are involved as many will grow up on a farm and be subject to its environment both at home and workplace.

Life on a farm by its very nature will mean that children and young people will have a much reduced lack of clarity about the differentiation between a home and workplace. Often simple things such as daycare will mean that family members will babysit or mind younger children or siblings while doing work around the farm.

There is often not the option to separate out life between work and home, or between work and home environment. This means that each family needs to adjust accordingly.

The social and economic factors that affect health and safety on a farm come down to a sense of awareness that although the farm is a workplace, it is also a home for a lot of children and young people. Often there can be a sense of adventure and excitement about a lot of areas of farm life and farm machinery, especially for teenagers and younger children.

Parents now from which to encourage this in one sense, but should also be aware that children and young people need to be aware of basic safety considerations that would be part of their normal upbringing in a home that was not part of a farm.

The safety considerations can range from simple things such as crossing a road, to be aware of the dangers of certain poisons and chemicals, to looking out for the safety of sibli through to the safety of driving factors or ATVs or quad bikes.

The farm as a workplace – Farm labor

Working on a farm in any capacity is probably as far as you can get from what would be perceived as traditional 9-to-5 job, if they even exist any more. The nature and type of work on any farm is intense, resulting in long unsociable hours, and all the problems that go with that.

It is likely that people on a farm or work anything from between 60 to 80 hours a week, often starting extremely early in the morning sometimes at sunrise, working right through sometimes into the night. Farm workers will need to be adaptive to the situation in extremes of weather, or if are significant problems with any animals on the farm, or other emergencies that may arise.

There is a real sense of instability in one particular context as to how farms work. They are not static places. Farms are continually changing in terms of the weather that has a huge effect on how they function, and the types and usages of different machinery that take place. The pace of work will vary considerably and this can sometimes be a difficult environment to plan for safely.

There is also less likely to be a distinction between so-called management and labour functions. This has real indications for safety on a farm, in that there is less likely to be a division of labour or responsibilities for specific jobs.

People who were, farm are not going to specialise, which is why unlikely they are going to specialise in one particular area of work. People will be expected to and will want to know as much as they can about all areas of work on the farm, in order to be as useful as possible.

Nature of normal employment practices take pre-much a back seat in farming. This means that so-called normal time off, either days off and holidays simply did not happen why have to be planned for with much care. Equally there is unlikely to be any type of structure by way of training or job learning.

People who work on a farm,with kubota tractors,  perhaps more than any other learn their tradethrough experience and observation, and whilst this is a natural way to learn does raise real safety concerns. That works fine if the operator of the farm is aware of safety issues and plans accordingly.

There is in many ways a real sense of uncertainty about working on a farm. This can be either because of external factors, or changes in farming practice and the use of technology. External factors are primarily things such as the weather, mechanical or tractor breakdowns, or extreme situations no one could plan for.

Farms need to adapt to have a run as a business continually, and the use of technology is a big part in this. This sense of uncertainty means that the level of risk intensifies and again makes safety and planning safety more difficult.

All these things mean that health and safety issues on a farm need to be planned and acted upon in a way and manner that’s other businesses simply cannot do. Safety needs to be a primary instinct of everyone who works on a farm said it becomes a central part of their thinking, rather than anything to do with policies or procedures that people might be aware of and thing they have to follow.

This does not mean that the farm should not have a health and safety policy, or have policies and procedures in lots of areas, such as storage of poisons or use of agricultural machinery. A well-run farm will have well thought out health and safety policies and procedures, but people who were, farm need to have a much more instinctual sense than perhaps other people in different businesses as to how safety can and should be observed in a number of different and challenging situations.

The farm as a work and home environment

It is perhaps you need to farms that many families grow up on them and as such get involved in the running of the farm from an early age. In other types of household children would do chores around the house and run errands for the family. In a farm these chores and errands are effectively translated into part of the work environment from an early age.

At the other end of the spectrum many people who own or run a farm will do it most of their lives, there is not a point at which they retire. This means that at both ends of the age spectrum there are people involved in the work of the farm and special care and consideration needs to be given to their protection.

Young people and children who work on a farm, are perhaps especially vulnerable simply because they are exposed to dangers and hazards that they do not perceive as being out of the ordinary, or which are out of their normal range of abilities to deal with at a specific age.

Many of the dangers they will be exposed to are simply day-to-day mechanics of the farm either concerning plant or machinery or toxins or poisons that are used on the farm. Extra care must be taken to ensure that any risk they are exposed to disproportionate to their age and ability to understand what the risk is.

At the other end of the spectrum are people of a much older generation or age who simply never retire. They may well have worked on a farm or their life, and it is important to recognise that their level of experience is a vital asset. Equally the older they get their physical and mental faculties are likely to become more impaired, quite often without them realising it.

Given that the farm is likely to be their livelihood they may well feel in denial of the own physical or mental reality at times. Both these factors need to be taken into account by whoever has active day-to-day responsibility for the running of the farm and looking after kubota tractors and equipment.

Especially difficult is that it is different to many other businesses in that it is not possible often to transfer people to different or lighter duties and difficulties arise. The nature of a farm but not lend itself to this.

Children or people who grow up in a farm to not have too enter the workforce and be subject to physical or mental examinations in the way that other businesses require. There is unlikely to be any type of ongoing assessment or evaluation of the capabilities of the people employed on the farm.

This means that special care has to be taken to ensure that employees are well cared for and assess raided by other means to make sure they are cared for in a proper manner. The farm operator will have a duty of care to look after everyone on the farm, be they employees or relatives or both.

The nature of people who work on a farm will vary hugely, ranging from those you see it as an agricultural profession, often people with degrees in horticulture or other types of qualifications from agricultural colleges, through to people who simply see farming as a type of lifestyle option.

In between will be many people who spend the majority of their lives on a farm at as family members, or as full-time or part-time labourers are earning a wage, by the short-term or long-term.

The diverse nature of these personal factors means that whoever is responsible for the farm must insure that the workforce is popular but after in whatever way is practicable given the nature of the farm and its environment.

The farm as a workplace – environment

The term environment in an agricultural or farm setting makes people think in terms of either the layout of the land, or the type of practices that are used on a farm that can range from organic farming through to a farm that uses all types of pesticide that it can. The time environment makes people think of an eco-friendly system that is beneficial to the earth beneath it.

Whilst all this can be true to a farm, the time environmental factors relate much more to the external and internal environment that characterises the nature of the farm. Perhaps more than any other business if farm is subject to the weather.

The weather characterises what can and cannot be done at any particular time of year on a farm, but also determines that work, farm must be carried out irrespective of what the work is. Many farms situated in areas that experience extremes of weather, and have to adapt and run themselves accordingly.

Another issue concerning a farm is that there is an overlap in terms of boundaries, both physical and emotional between the farm as a workplace and the farm as a place where the family live. This is not unique to farms and often occurs in retail or other types of businesses.

Where it matters perhaps more narrowly is that people who live on a farm are pretty much on call at all times bail night if the situation warrants it. This could be done to weather or other factors to do with animals on the farm. As long as people who live on the farm recognise there is no clear boundary they can adapt to it but it does make it a more difficult working environment to be in.

People who work on a farm are possibly by nature much more self-sufficient than other people. The nature of most farms means they are quite isolated geographically, and are not easy to get to by any medical or emergency services if needed.

That may sound a bit dramatic, but the nature of work, farm is often quite hazardous and people who were, farm need to know how to deal with any emergency that arises as best they can. This means that emergency services may take a considerable time to reach a farm, and workers and residents of the farm need to be aware of that and plan accordingly.

People who work on a  farm, often using kubota tractors, can feel quite isolated, both physically and emotionally.

The nature of work means that people will be on their own quite a considerable period of time during the day or night, with little backup or support from other workers. The sense of isolation can potentially be a problem but can be planned for, if thought through and adjusted accordingly.

Any farm is going to have a number of environmental hazards such as noise, vibration, lighting etc which are a byproduct either of the environment or the work that is carried out on a farm.

The issue from a health and safety perspective is that there is unlikely to be any monitoring or regulation of these hazards in the way that they would be in most other types of businesses take place in either an office or industrial setting.

This means that people who work or who run the farm need to be especially aware of these at hazards, and make sure that both themselves and their co-workers are protected accordingly as best as possible.

Equally there will be no or very little control over personal hygiene of workers on the farm, which can actually be quite a sensitive issue and is down to the individual and their own sense of personal responsibility. There is unlikely to be any type of statutory or legal requirement on personal care or hygiene of workers in the way that they would be in other industries.

The farm as a work environment – general safety concerns

Thinking in terms of a farm as a work environment, is really important in terms of understanding the health and safety issues involved in working on or running a farm. It is important to appreciate that a farm can vary hugely in terms of size and scope of activity. In terms of size it can range from a small holding of a few acres to a large area of land could cover tens of thousands of acres.

A farm can be involved in many different types of agricultural activities. It can be used to grow different types of crop, such as corn, soy bean, wheat, hay or even grass or tree or flower plants. If farm can also have a considerable amount of livestock on it, and many big industrial farms produce beef, dairy, hog, sheep and poultry. There are also many types of fruit and vegetable farms, and in addition many types of garden centres that are of a significant size could also be classified as farms.

The type and layout of land can also vary hugely on a farm. In some areas land is incredibly flat, other areas if farm can have a lot of almost mountainous type terrain, whereas some farms will be a mix of both.

Farms will have a multitude of different types of buildings, with different types of machinery, both fixed and mobile. There will be a wide range of vehicles used on a farm, ranging from heavy duty industrial tractor type diggers, through to normal tractors, through to atv and quad bikes.

A wide range of people will also be involved in running the farm. using Kubota tractors and Kubota equipment. If farm is slightly unique because it is likely to employee people as any business does, but it is also likely to employee or at least make use of the services of family members as well.

Many children grow up on a farm and get used to the way of life from an early age. This can also raise significant issues concerning health and safety, and particular importance needs to be paid to the welfare of young people in any agricultural or farm setting.

There are four main areas of activity that give rise to safety issues surrounding a farm.

These are environmental, personal, work activity and social economic and political factors. All these areas are to an extent unique in the running of a farm because of the nature of safety and how these factors need to be treated in order to make a farm safe environment to work in, but at the same time make sure it is not a risk averse environment.

Kubota lawn tractor – maintenance

Day-to-day maintenance of a Kubota lawn tractor is important both in terms of the safety of the machine, but also in terms of the longevity of its usage and disability to function properly in between regular servicing or maintenance schedules will stop at a practical level when adding fuel to the tractor treated as you would a motor vehicle.

Make sure the engine is off and has cooled down. Kubotakubota.net writes about safety features such as do not fill the tank indoors and make sure you always cleanup any spill spillage of fuels.

Think of the lawn tractor as a motor vehicle in the sense that it should not be started up or allowed to idle in a confined area, in much the same way that it is potentially dangerous to start up or let a motor vehicle idle in a restricted space.

If you need to transport the Kubota lawn tractor any reason, there are two important safety protocols to observe. Firstly make sure that any attachments to the tractor are disengaged both in terms of power supply and physical attachment to the tractor.

The manufacturers recommend that the tractor is not used on public roads or highways. If it is necessary to transport it then it is recommended that you either use a pickup truck or a suitable trailer to transport the tractor to where ever it needs to go to.

This is an important point to realise when buying the Kubota lawn tractor that it is not like a vehicle that you considered right back to the garage. Maintenance and servicing our issues that can be addressed with the dealership which can include the issue of how the lawn tractor is transported to and from the dealership where it is to be serviced.

Kubotakubota.net writes about maintenance safety which is important not just to prevent things going wrong but make sure that the tractor works at peak efficiency. Before making any repairs or checking anything make sure that the engine switched off, brake applied and that it has cooled down sufficiently to be safe to work on.

If when driving the tractor to strike any type of foreign object then the tractor should be stopped and after a safe time inspected to see if there’s any damage caused. If any damage has been caused to the tractor or attachment then this needs to be repaired or corrected before tractor is used again.

The manual will have a specified maintenance recommendation schedule and it is advisable to follow this as far as possible. It is likely to recommend that your tractor be inspected by an authorised Kubota dealer, probably once a year, and this should be here to.

When purchasing the Kubota lawn tractor it is advisable to see if any of the schedule of maintenance recommendations has an effect on the terms of the warranty. Obviously if you buy a new or used Kubota lawn tractor it is likely to have some type of warranty depending on the dealership.

The terms of the warranty may be affected if regular maintenance or servicing is not carried out, or if parts other than recognised Kubota parts are used as replacement parts for the lawn tractor.

When storing a Kubota tractor followed the same basic guidance that you would when storing a motor vehicle. Make sure that the tractor and any fuel supply for it is kept locked in a safe environment that is not accessible by children or other people without your permission.

Always make sure that the ignition key is removed, and if the tractor is to be stored for a significant period of time it is worth considering removing or disconnecting the battery. Depending on your circumstances it may well be worth draining machine of any fuel as well, probably advisable to check this with your dealership when buying the tractor.

Take the same precautions that you would regarding any vehicle, but especially with a lawn tractor make sure that the engine is kept free of grass leaves for excessive grease which could potentially increase the fire hazard potential to the tractor.

Kubota lawn tractors – attachements

Most lawn tractors, and certainly most Kubota lawn tractors, are equipped so that they can use a number of different attachments which will allow them to attend their lawn or garden more effectively.

These attachments can vary in size and mobility, but one of the things that they all have in common is that a lot of extra care needs to be taken when using a lawn tractor that has an attachment on it.

The operation of a lawn tractor when pulling a load has a number of certain safety protocols should be adhered to. A Kubota lawn tractor will have a specified point on the tractor that is known as a hitch point, a term that is a familiar one on most lawn tractors.

There may possibly be more than one hitch point, in any event it is important that only designated hicks points are used when attaching any type of extension to a lawn tractor. Kubotakubota.net shows the need to be aware of the size of the load that you are carrying all likely to use on an attachment, tractor.

The Kubota lawn tractor manual may specify the type of attachments that can be used on the tractor, but in any event common sense will tell you the type of attachments and the types of load that tractor can safely handle. If in any doubt consult the manual and if that does not give you the required information then consult a dealer.

It is important, as when carrying any load that the attachment is proportionate in weight to the tractors is pulling it. Any disadvantage in weight is potentially dangerous and could cause the operator of the tractor to lose control.

When driving a Kubota lawn tractor that has an attachment, be careful about turning sharply and also take great care when backing up the tractor. There is a natural sense to remembering that the tractor has an extended angle to it because of the attachment, and this should be taken into account with all movements of the machine.

If the Kubota manual recommends it, make sure that front ballast or wheel weights are used on the tractor. Failure to do so could result in a disproportionate weight of the load between the tractor and attachments causing it either to upend author the operator to lose control of the tractor.

It is always important to look out for traffic or other people when crossing or near roadways. If using an attachment to the tractor be aware that there’s an extra length to what you’re driving and this will affect the time and speed of your ability to manoeuvre any public highway.

Make sure that you disengage power to any attachment and stop the engine, making sure any break is applied, before leaving the cabin or the operators position. If you need to leave the tractor unattended take all precautions that you would take when leaving a motor vehicle unattended.

Make sure you disengage the power takeoff, lower any attachments, put the dear in neutral, make sure the break is on and turn off the engine. Kubotakubota.net writes about safety features such as making sure that you take the ignition keys with you and do not leave anything in the cabin of the tractor that could be used to started again.

These are simple precautions to take and all in effect similar to those that you would take when starting or using a motor vehicle or leave it unattended.

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