Salesman Killed By
Falling Grain Elevator

In the spring of 1998 a 50-year-old seed salesman was killed while trying to upright a new portable grain elevator that had tipped over in a residential street. He purchased the elevator from a machinery dealership the day before, attached it to the bumper of his pickup truck, and parked it overnight in a residential driveway, preparing to tow the machine home the next morning. The portable elevator was 27 feet long, weighed 1060 pounds, and had a single axle with a wheelbase of six feet. When leaving the next day, he backed the elevator into a driveway across the street and then turned too sharp to the left, driving the left wheel of the elevator over a small snowbank causing the machine to tip over in the street. The salesman, his son, and some neighbors tried to lift the machine by hand, but could not. Then they tied a nylon clothesline rope to the elevator with its other end tied to a 4-wheel-drive vehicle sitting in the driveway. While pulling with this vehicle, and lifting by hand, the men managed to get the end of the elevator above their heads, but suddenly the rope broke, and the elevator immediately fell to the ground, striking the victim on the head. His head injury was severe, and he was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital. The elevator hitch was simply a flattened tube bolted to the bumper of the pickup. It had twisted when the elevator fell, probably providing significant resistance during the attempt to raise the elevator by hand. The County Sheriff called for a wrecker service, who uprighted the elevator with their wrecker truck.

1. Drivers pulling trailers must be aware of the limitations inherent with towed equipment.

--The axle of this elevator was 6 feet wide and located 15 feet from the rear of the pickup truck.

--This increased the turning radius and required the driver to take wide corners.

--Turning with trailers should be done slowly with careful attention to rear view mirrors.

2. Uprighting an overturned machine requires a careful site assessment and safe procedures.

--The bent draw bar, bolted to the bumper, provided significant resistance in raising the elevator, a factor that may have been eliminated with careful planning.

--The nylon rope was clearly not designed for heavy pulling.

--If a safe method cannot be discovered using available resources, one must call for help.