Rural Cape man dies when tractor overturns

A 65-year-old man died Friday afternoon when the farm tractor he was operating flipped backward on a steep grade off County Road 657, north of Cape Girardeau.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner Mike Hurst identified the victim as Dearl W. "Bud" Boyd of rural Cape Girardeau. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Hurst said the sheriff's office was notified of the accident at about 1:35 p.m. Boyd had been loading loose dirt onto a trailer that was hitched to the back of the tractor.

"The trailer was pointed up hill, he got on and the load bogged down," Hurst said. "The tractor's front end rose up off the ground. It flipped over and came down on him, pinning him between the seat and the rail on the trailer. He was killed instantly."

The tractor was an older type model and did not have a roll bar or enclosed cab for protection, Hurst said.

"It was too much slope and too much weight in the trailer to be pulling up," Hurst said.

Witnessed by co-workers

The accident was witnessed by two people working with Boyd, Hurst said. The Cape Girardeau Fire Department was called to free the man's body.

The body was taken to Ford and Sons Funeral Home, where funeral arrangements are pending.

Hurst said it was the third fatality involving farm equipment he has investigated in the since taking office in January 2001.

Tractor incidents are the number one cause of death in agriculture accidents, according to the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Most are caused when tractors overturn without rollover protection and a seat belt.

Safety specialists say non-rollover protected tractors account for nearly 50 percent of all working farm tractors in the nation. Other tractor-related fatalities result when victims are run over by tractors, highway collisions between tractors and other vehicles and fires igniting during refueling.

The department offers the following tips for keeping safe on the farm:

Never allow extra riders on tractors or let underage drivers operate tractors or other farm vehicles.

Make sure that tractors and other equipment are in proper working order. Install rollover protective bars and seat belts on tractors that don't have them.

Discuss safety issues as a family and determine age-appropriate farm chores.

Take the entire family on a walk around the farm and through daily routines to identify potentially harmful situations.