Owner of Farm Land Died Due to a Tractor Overturn to the Side into a Ravine, Michigan

SUMMARY

In spring 2015, a male farm land owner farmer in his 80s died when his 585 International tractor, equipped with a front end loader and from which he had removed the rollover protection structure, rolled over to the side into a ravine. Strapped to a carrying mechanism on the rear of the tractor was a tank containing herbicide. The decedent had been in his rented field conducting weed-killing hand spraying activities at the field/woods edge. As he was returning home in the rain, he came across a washout of the ravine edge on the passenger side of the tractor. The tractor rolled to the side down the ravine wall, pinning him under the tractor. When a family member could not reach him on his cell phone, the family member called another family member to look for him. The family member and the farmer who rented the land were walking to where the decedent was last seen and found the overturned tractor. The family member called another family member who called for emergency response. The decedent was declared dead at the scene.

Owner of Farm Land Died Due to a Tractor Overturn to the Side into a Ravine, Michigan [PDF 768 KB]