Respect your tractor's PTO, and other wisdom

FALLS VILLAGE — The Housatonic Valley FFA held a home and farm safety workshop Saturday, May 8, at Housatonic Valley Regional High School to teach people of all ages the right way to “do it yourself.�

The workshop covered the proper safety procedures for using and transporting everything from lawn mowers and chainsaws to tractors and skid steers so people of the community can become better aware of the hazards — and prevent machine-related fatalities and serious injuries.

Among the handouts given to each of the 30 people in attendance was a list of nine outdoor power equipment accidents that resulted in loss of life or limb to Northwest Corner residents.

Before anyone could jump on a tractor Saturday, Sharon Scofield and Todd Fiske of the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health, which provides education and outreach on farm safety from Maine to West Virginia, talked about how to use a first aid kit; proper emergency protocol; and general safety information, including protective equipment.

“I think this is an excellent opportunity for the farm and rural communities to identify and prevent some of the hazards around the home and workplace by getting hands-on experience,� Scofield said.

After lunch, the group moved from the classroom to the outdoors. They saw firsthand the power of a tractor’s PTO, or power take-off driveshaft, which provides power to attachments behind a tractor. A dummy filled with straw was set on the driveshaft, located behind the rear wheels of a tractor, and was spun into oblivion as Housatonic senior Jesse Cole engaged the PTO.

“Never walk across the PTO. It’s dangerous,� Cole said.

Cole and Housatonic sophomore Dalton Jacquier set up the obstacle course, brought the loaned tractors to the school and went to Crane’s Outdoor Power Equipment in North Canaan to prepare for the workshop.

“It took a lot of preparation for today, but it was well worth it for the safety of the community,� Jacquier said.

Richie Crane, co-owner of Crane’s, loaned a tractor and other equipment for the workshop and instructed attendees on how to safely operate a trailer to transport machines.

Cassidy  Considine, a freshman from North Canaan, learned how to operate a skid steer and use it to move a pile of mulch with a little help from her friend, Austin Jacquier, a junior from North Canaan. Jacquier knows how to operate everything from skid steers to tractors, having lived on Laurelbrook Farm in East Canaan since he was a child.

“It wasn’t hard,� Considine said. “I thought it would be more difficult.�

Mark Burdick, co-chairman of the agricultural education department, teacher of mechanics and forestry at Housatonic for 23 years and Housatonic Valley FFA instructor for the workshop, showed Julia Sheng, 27, how to start, drive and hook up an attachment to a John Deere tractor. She works at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, where there is a large working farm.

Sheng said she was excited to drive a tractor and learn the ins and outs of chainsaw use.

Trooper Sean Prusinowski of the Connecticut State Police at Troop B in North Canaan, is the high school’s student resource officer. He covered the Connecticut Department of Transportation size and weight regulations for commercial vehicles. These machines require the driver to have a CDL, or commercial drivers license, as well as commercial license plates.

“Commonly, local landscapers fall into certain categories unknowingly and are fined, so we are trying to make them aware of that ahead of time,� Prusinowski said.

Other sponsors included Pine Plains Tractor, which brought a manure spreader; Stanton Equipment, which brought a tractor and wood-chipper; and Stihl USA, which sent application specialist Andrew Krenz as well as chainsaws and safety gear.

Krenz instructed Nathaniel M. Floyd of Lakeville on how to start and operate a chainsaw safely by letting the saw do most of the work. He also advised wearing protective gear from head to toe. Floyd was decked out in a hard hat with noise-canceling ear muffs; a protective mesh shield that covered his face; and, most importantly, chaps.

The workshop was made possible through a $5,000 grant the Housatonic Valley FFA received from the USDA and the National FFA.

The remaining funds from the grant will enable Housatonic students to go to local farms and map out potential hazardous sites that emit gases such as methane so firefighters and EMTs will know if they are walking into an explosive situation. The school will be able to purchase a laptop and two handheld GPS devices to record data.

“I think it went well,� Burdick said. “We hit the audience we wanted to hit, though we wish more people showed. People got to use equipment they might have used before but didn’t know how to use properly.�