It’s one of the farmer’s most basic tools of the trade; the tractor. But clocking up long hours in the tractor seat means making every effort to ensure you’re sitting comfortably to avoid pain and repetitive stress injury.
sk any farmer how he or she is physically and the complaint of back pain is always high on their list of ailments, especially at this time of year with long periods spent in the tractor cab.
While there are many causes of back pain, all those rocks, bumps, furrows and ditches the farmer drives through can take a physical toll.
Farming is a physically demanding profession with many of the daily tasks that have to be done potentially harmful to the back muscles. Tasks such as pitching and lifting heavy weights are notoriously hard on this part of the body.
Recent evidence-based research identified a high prevalence of musculoskeletal injury among Irish farmers. A survey of 600 Irish farmers — 100 farmers from each of the six main farm enterprise systems in Ireland — found that 56pc of farmers had experienced a musculoskeletal injury.
The most common types of injury or disorder were related to the back (37pc). Risk factors include heavy loads, awkward postures, repetitive tasks and poor access in the area in which the work is being carried out.
Long days sitting in the tractor with the constant vibration of the machine can put the muscles under more strain. This combined with doing things repetitively with poor posture can lead to pain.
According to occupational therapist Catherine Durcan, there are some rules of thumb which farmers can follow which will make spending long periods at the wheel of the tractor easier.
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Durcan, the daughter of a cattle farmer from Co Mayo, says taking regular breaks by getting out of the tractor can help. She advises a standing-up break every half hour. This gets the blood flowing again and while it’s always best to get out of the tractor, even just getting up and out of the seat will help.
Durcan says repetitive stress injury (RSI) is a common complaint if seating isn’t adjusted properly. Nerve damage can also occur due to the constant vibration in a tractor if the suspension is poor or ergonomics in old cabs is bad.
Being aware of your posture as you sit is important, adds Durcan. She asks the questions, ‘are your feet flat on the ground?’ and ‘do you have any gaps between your thigh and your seat?”
These are things farmers need to be aware of before they embark on a long day in the cab. She advises farmers to sit back into their seat and to look for a higher back on the tractor seat to allow themselves to do this with comfort.
“One of the first things the farmer needs to be aware of is his size in the seat. It’s a good idea to measure the widest part of yourself while sitting and then try to get a seat that’s at least 75pc of that,” she says.
Making sure the back rest of the tractor seat is providing adequate support is also important. “The back rest of your seat should support the back of your bottom and your lower back — it should support your back as much as possible — and your seat should also support your thigh to the back of your knee.
“It would be nice if they could have arm rests. Farmers turn around a lot in the functionality of the tractor and they should look for adjustments on the seat so it can go up and down, backwards and forwards.” Durcan points out that if they’re sitting back in the seat, the farmer should be able to reach the steering wheel without coming forwards. “They should be able to turn it as far as they need to without coming away from the back rest”.