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KENNETT, Mo. -- A combine and a truck collided near Kennett Thursday night, igniting a fire inside the combine.
The Kennett Fire Department received a call at 7:10 p.m. that a tractor had run over a pick-up truck and was on fire on County Road 553. The driver of the pick-up truck, Mike Faught, and the operator of the combine both escaped the incident unharmed, according to officials. The Kennett Fire Department discovered that the rupturing of a hydraulic line caused the fire in the tractor. Officials remained on the scene until a wrecker arrived.
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Farm equipment should not be on the roads period after dark. Most do not have adequate lighting and it makes it extremely dangerous for everyone including the farmers. Nuff said!
Dang! You talk about being Chevy tough.
Ooo... That's a bad day.
Mike Faught; yer perty dern luky to git out uf that not hirt!!!
.....and so it goes.
Mike Faught; yer perty dern luky to git out uf that not hirt!!!
.....and so it goes.
I guess my comment was so nice
that my fingers clicked it twice
Sundance, farmers would like to not be on the roads after dark, but when harvest is pushed back by continuing wet weather and slow maturing crops, it runs into the early darkness of November. This is a stressful time for agriculture. The year's income is hanging there by a thread on bean and corn stalks. Soybeans are already popping onto the ground, lost forever, with frosts, freezes, and contrasting temperatures. In some parts of the midwest, corn is molding on the ear. That creates a dilemma as to what it can be used for. The bankers and farm lenders want their money, too. To get in a good 10-12 hour day at harvest, when you can't begin until the dampness of morning dries, you can't stop at "dark".
A second thought: presumably the combine was backing down the road and "ran over the pickup truck"? Or was it more likely, speed, inattention, and lack of understanding as to what a SMV triangle on the back of the combine means on the part of the pickup operator? That stands for SLOW MOVING VEHICLE. For the writer of the article, this is a farm combine, not a tractor, and it's fairly obvious in the picture that IT didn't run over a pick-up truck, the pickup ran under it.
A combine can be a bit front heavy and the back part can tend to raise up when pressed into a sudden braking situation. Maybe he was folowing his own combine that was forced into a sudden stop. Or maybe not. Just not yet the time to start judging.
For the unobservant - please note that this accident occured on DIRT - not on a road (paved or gravel). It appears that the combine did in fact back up and over the front end of the truck. Combines do have enough horsepower and traction to make this a possibility. Also noted from the picture, appears the truck was in reverse trying to get out of the way. Accidents happen and visibility while backing a combine is minimal.
Farmers send text messeges too, The guy in the pick up was texing his ole lady who was in the bar...! SHAME.....SHAME
mimiks I completely understand that as I have lived in a major farming community all my life but, I still feel that if they are going to be out there after dark they need to have more lights on the back of the equipment and someone in a truck behind them with their flashers on. Then you can see them. Also during daylight or evening if they have a pack of cars behind them and they can safely pull off and let the cars behind them pass I think you find a lot more understandable drivers. Nothing is more aggravating then follow a tractor with 20 cars behind you and you keep passing plenty of places that the tractor could have pulled over and let everyone around them. Farmers do have a job to do and that is understandable but, they should also be more aware of what they can do to lower the potential for an accident too!
how do you not see that coming...
Sundance, having previously spent nearly 25 years in fields, and on the roads operating combines, and tractors with wide, winged equipment, I agree, and have pulled over into field driveways, and such, to let someone around me many times. Don't believe I ever had 20 cars behind me, though. We all think of signs, little and big, as good things, but when their posts keep you from taking to the shoulder as needed to meet a vehicle, they are a problem, too. (a bit off subject but no more than "the ole lady in the bar!)
I noticed the backup lights pictured on the pickup, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was in reverse, and backing when the event occured. Well, this is an interesting blog if you have been there.
The truck following the combine was with the farm crew of the combine. The truck was following the combine for safety reasons because it was changing fields in darkness. The hydraulic fire caused the combine to jump into reverse and back up over his own truck.
mimiks, your posting was very well put. Thanks for the support.
OH! My condolences on the accident--can't imagine the pickup front and top are in very good shape. Did the driver take a rolling dive into the floor, or was he (or she) already out looking for the fire? I didn't see injuries mentioned so I hope for the best.
I have a collection of amazing agriculture accident pictures in my computer, and this will go right with the rest.
No injuries. The driver ducks and runs fast!