Do you let your kids ride your mower?
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abeja_reina_1989
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I do, but I think it's only alright if they are at least 13 and if you can trust them. I have enough land available that I don't have to worry about them. If I were near a busy street or anything like that, then I wouldn't let them drive.
There are two sides to this scenario. Ideally, you should never let your kid(s) get near a mower. That endangers and poses great risk to them.
Practically, allowing them to ride the mowers places them in a better position to learn the basics at a young age. All the same, keep a keen eye because even the slightest injury will be blamed on the parent(s).
Practically, allowing them to ride the mowers places them in a better position to learn the basics at a young age. All the same, keep a keen eye because even the slightest injury will be blamed on the parent(s).
Yes, with great caution. My 13 year old grandson wants to go to fast, the 10 year old granddaughter does quite well except very slowly. My 8 year old granddaughter just wants to drive around and make crop circles.
I started driving Grandpa's "little tractor" with direct supervision when I was in the first grade. On the last day of sixth grade classes I rode the bus to his farm as was common on Friday afternoon. When I arrived at his farm, no body was there. A note on the tool shed door told me to use his "little tractor" and start mowing the clover hay. I spend the rest of the afternoon on a Ford 8N with a 6 foot sickle bar neatly mowing hay.
During 8th grade summer breaks I used a John Deere 4020 with a 16 ft disk in the Wabash River bottoms chopping up horse weed, totally unsupervised.
I started driving Grandpa's "little tractor" with direct supervision when I was in the first grade. On the last day of sixth grade classes I rode the bus to his farm as was common on Friday afternoon. When I arrived at his farm, no body was there. A note on the tool shed door told me to use his "little tractor" and start mowing the clover hay. I spend the rest of the afternoon on a Ford 8N with a 6 foot sickle bar neatly mowing hay.
During 8th grade summer breaks I used a John Deere 4020 with a 16 ft disk in the Wabash River bottoms chopping up horse weed, totally unsupervised.
lizard
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Kids need to be supervised otherwise you will be trouble with everybody if there is a 'accident' and you regret it for the rest of your life if someone should die.
Mowing is dangerous experience in untrained hands.......you must be 100% alert at all times, life is serious.......it is not a joke...........'Death is Permanent'
Mowing is dangerous experience in untrained hands.......you must be 100% alert at all times, life is serious.......it is not a joke...........'Death is Permanent'
I do not know of any farm kids that did not run mowers ... Most were operating very LARGE AG tractors by the time they were teen age... If you grow up around equipment and are familiar with it, you are not apt to be careless or reckless with machinery... :smile:KennyV
lizard
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Well I come from a Farming background and you get know all of this.....by experience......but someone has to teach you or you may learn incorrect procedures and this is not good for everyone concerned.:wink:
In the time when I was growing up... you could not afford to damage your equipment and you certainly could not afford to damage yourself or those around you ... I would suspect that is still the same today. So a good dose of safety was always at hand...
I think it is possible to be careless or distracted regardless of age...
The question is about children riding mowers... That could mean a lot of things, anything from a ride, with you operating it (with or without) actually mowing...
OR letting them operate the equipment themselves...
Sooner or later they are going to want to OR need to mow your or their grass...
Plus in the states I would guess that the majority of rural & suburban kids got their first exposure to driving cars... from driving lawn or AG tractors, the original drivers training... :smile:KennyV
lizard
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How old are these Kids we are talking about?
Maybe 12 years old or above they could be trained to drive some tractor or mower implements as they are pretty keen at that age.
Speed would need to be restricted until they got a hold of how things work and this would be peace of mind for all concerned.:biggrin:
Maybe 12 years old or above they could be trained to drive some tractor or mower implements as they are pretty keen at that age.
Speed would need to be restricted until they got a hold of how things work and this would be peace of mind for all concerned.:biggrin: