Choosing a Design for or Using a Locally Fabricated Tractor Lift

Topics:

Introduction
Preventing Slips and Falls When Using Tractor Chair Lifts
Preventing Slips or Falls When Using Tractor Platform Lifts
Preventing Cuts, Scrapes, Bruises, Pinched, and Catches When Using Tractor Lifts.
Reducing Injuries When Using Tractor Sling Lifts
Other Options to Consider that May Reduce Risks When Using a Tractor Lift
For More Information Contact

Introduction

Many agricultural producers who are affected by spinal cord injuries, neuromuscular impairments, or leg amputations use a lift to gain access to their tractor, combine, or other agricultural equipment. Although some producers have purchased commercially manufactured lifts, many others have built their own or enlisted a local fabricator to design and build one for them. The information presented in this brief is intended to highlight facts and ideas that those who choose to fabricate a lift should consider before beginning the risk.

Producers generally use one of the four most-common types of lifts.

A platform lift for individuals who can stand but not climb, such as the Lectra lift.
A chair lift for individuals who can transfer from a wheelchair to a chair lift, such as the Pilot Lift from Life Essentials.
A portable or independent multipurpose lift that can be used for more than one piece of equipment, such as the Freedom Lift from Freedom Technologies.
A homemade sling lift for individuals with severe injuries for whom transferring to a chair lift might be too difficult or whose tractor has an entryway to the operator station that is too narrow to access in any other way.

While three companies manufacture tractor lifts, the majority of tractor lifts currently being used are still fabricated by the user or someone he or she hires to do the job. These non-commercial lifts are not without risk of causing secondary injuries. In fact, in a study of 21 homemade lifts, 38% of the operators reported having fallen from their lifts (Willkomm, 1997). The cost of secondary injuries that result from falls can be significant. In an article about secondary injuries and spinal cord injuries, Michael Bonninger, M.D., reported that surgery and rehabilitation costs associated with a shoulder injury due to a fall can be as much as $100,000.00 (Seeman, 2000). Cuts, bruises, and scrapes can also occur during transfers leading to potential skin ulcers or infections requiring thousand of dollars in treatment.

Commercially available lifts with warranties, liability coverage and a proven track record should always be the first choice when selecting a tractor lift. However, unlike automobiles, there are no standards with which a farmer must comply in selecting or constructing a lift for his or her tractor. In addition, due to limited resources, many farmers feel forced to choose less-safe locally fabricated lifts over the more costly commercially manufactured varieties. Until lift standards are mandated for farm equipment, locally constructed/homemade lifts will continue to be used.

The following tips are provided to help increase general awareness of potential injuries that an operator who has disabilities may sustain when using a non-commercially manufactured tractor lift. They also provide facts and ideas/suggestions that will help operators avoid placing themselves in situations where they could sustain secondary injuries.

A crane-arm like lift attached to the back of a pickup truck lifts a person in a wheelchair into the cab of a tractor.
Freedom Technologies

A Lectra Aid lift attached to a John Dear tractor lifts a standing man to a height where he can easily get into the tractor seat.
Lectra Aid

A Life Essentials Pilot Lift attached to the side of a tractor lifts a seated woman into the cab.
Life Essentials – Pilot Lift

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Preventing Slips and Falls When Using Tractor Chair Lifts

Avoid using a cable winch. Most manufacturers warn against using cable winch for lifting people. Sudden drops or jerks due to uneven spooling of the winch cable or binding between the lift track and the seat or platform assembly can lead to a potential fall. In addition, if the cable breaks or comes loose from the lift seat, sling, or platform, the operator may fall.
Make sure that transfers from a wheelchair to chair lift are level. Uphill or downhill transfers should be avoided because they can result in loss of balance and a potential fall.
Include armrests on the lift seat to help the operator maintain stability during transfers and while the lift is being raised or lowered.
Provide a small ridge to prevent the operator from sliding out of the seat. The space between the front of the lift seat and the back of the operator’s knees should be approximately 2 inches.
Include a seat belt on every lift seat and the seatbelt should always be used. The seat belt can prevent the operator who has leg spasms as a result of a spinal cord injury from sliding forward out of the lift seat. The seat belt can also help the operator sustain balance and position in the lift seat.
Tilt lift seat upward slightly to prevent the operator from sliding forward.
Lock lift seat and the wheelchair during transfers to prevent the operator from slipping or falling should either one accidentally move.
Keep the distance of transfers between the lift seat and the tractor seat short. The shorter the distance, the lower the risk of a fall occurring during a transfer.
Ensure the distance the operator must reach to stow the lift seat is small. Reaching too far can make the operator unstable and could result in a fall. Remote controls and wireless remote controls inside the tractor eliminate the need for excessive reaches when stowing the lift seat.
Design lift to operate without the user having to push or pull himself or herself through the entry path to the tractor seat. A mechanical linkage or electric motor can be used to safely guide the lift seat to the tractor seat.
Design the lift to allow a brake mechanism to be included such that the operator platform can not free fall if the lifting mechanism (e.g., roller chain, ball screw, etc.) fails.

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Preventing Slips or Falls When Using Tractor Platform Lifts

Ensure that the platform is constructed of non-slip material.
Place additional handholds on the lift and the tractor to help the operator maintain stability and guide himself or herself in and out of the tractor and in or out of the tractor seat.
Place lift controls so that the operator can easily reach them.
Mark lift controls clearly so that they can be easily seen to prevent errors and potential injuries.
Size the platform on a platform lift to allow the operator to rest both feet completely on it at all times. This will allow room for maneuvering if the operator's center of gravity should shift while the lift is rising.

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Preventing Cuts, Scrapes, Bruises, Burns, Pinches, and Catches When Using Tractor Lifts

Edges and corners of the lift seat should be rounded or covered with proper guards or shields to prevent the operator from sustaining cuts or scrapes during transfers.
Remove sharp edges and pad blunt edges to prevent the operator from sustaining cuts, bruises, or scrapes while moving through the entryway to the tractor seat.
Cover lift seat with an insulated covering to prevent burns.
Wear protective clothing to reduce the risk of secondary injuries, scrapes and bruises.

The operator’s back, legs, ankles, and feet should be completely covered. However, loose clothing can make transfers using a sling lift or a chair lift dangerous by allowing the person to slide forward and backward, while their pants remain stationary with the sling or chair. This sliding can lead to a fall and can also create friction against the operator’s skin causing abrasions, which could result in a pressure sore.

While wearing boots or shoes with laces, make sure the laces are tucked into the boot or shoe to prevent the lace from being caught on the lift track, lift mechanism, steps or tractor door. Boots or shoes without laces pose less risk of entanglement

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Reducing Injuries When Using Tractor Sling Lifts

Sling lifts are the most hazardous lifts and use of them results in the highest number of injuries to the operator and co-workers. Injuries reported include: falls resulting from improper placement of the slings; back injuries to co-workers and those who assist in guiding the operator to the tractor seat or wheelchair; cuts, scrapes, and bruises during transfer; and foot catches.

Ensure co-workers are able to hear and follow the operator’s verbal instructions while he or she is operating the lift.
Have two people present to assist the operator. One person is responsible for keeping the operator’s feet from catching on the tractor, wheel, steps, or door. The other person is responsible for watching the operator’s head and guiding him/her over to the tractor seat. Without such assistance, operators frequently catch or scrape their feet or legs on the outside protrusions of the tractor or hit their head on the top of the lift. Due to insufficient overhead clearance between the sling lift track mounted diagonally to the inside roof of the cab and an operator’s head, both operators and co-workers have reported sustaining a head injury when the tractor hit a bump.

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Other Options to Consider that May Reduce Risks When Using a Tractor Lift

If the lift requires the assistance of one or two people, instructions should be provided to the assistant(s) prior to their assisting an operator with the lift. Allow the assistant(s) an ample amount of time to learn how to use the lift and how to avoid potential hazards when using the lift before he or she helps the operator.
The operator should always have a portable cell phone or radio on his or her person to call for assistance in the event of a lift malfunction or other emergency. A cell phone or radio inside the cab may not be within the operator’s reach when he or she is using a lift.

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For more information on tractor lift design considerations contact:

National AgrAbility Project
University of Wisconsin-Extension
Therese Willkomm, Ph.D., Technical Consultant
Phone: (866) 259-6280
twillkomm@nhaat.mv.com

Breaking New Ground, Purdue University
1146 Agricultural and Biological Engineering Building
West Lafayette, IN 47907-1146
Phone: (800) 825-4264
jonesp@purdue.edu

For information on the Life Essentials Lifts Contact:

Life Essentials
8796 S US 231
Brookston, IN 47923
Phone: (765) 742-6707

For information on the Freedom Lift contact:

Freedom Technologies Incorporated
#3-2949 Miners Avenue
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7K 4Z6
Phone: (306) 244-1508

For information on the Lectra Aid Lift contact:

Lectra Aid® Person Lift
SFH Products, Inc.
1801 East Medlock Drive
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: (888) 224-1425

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NOTE: Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product, or firm in text or figures does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Easter Seals, the University of Wisconsin, or the AgrAbility Project, and does not imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.

The AgrAbility Project is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture CSREES. Funding for this document was provided under project number 00-41590-0932.