Article published May 9, 2008
PTO accident kicks Farm Rescue operation into gear
Ellendale couple's soybeans planted by volunteers

2008-05-09 It happened in an instant.

One moment Dick Olson was grinding corn for his calves on his rural Ellendale, N.D., farm. He stepped up on the hitch of the tractor to see if the feed was finished, and the next thing he knew, his pant leg had caught on an uncovered bolt on the power take-off shaft, throwing Olson to the ground.

He clung to the hitch as the spinning PTO powering his feed grinder began dragging him toward the machine.

"Lots of things go through your mind. Time slows down," Olson said. "I was just thinking about staying alive."

Luckily, the shaft ripped his pants off, which allowed him to escape.

"Once the clothes came off, I was out," Olson said. "I was pretty happy to laying on the ground."

He crawled 150 feet to his shop in the 15-below-zero Feb. 20 windchill and called his wife, Peggy, who called 911.

Most people are killed when that type of accident occurs, said Olson, who was lucky enough to escape with a broken leg, broken arm and dislocated shoulder.

"It's a reminder to just stay away from those things," Olson said. "I lived to talk about it - too many people don't."

Dick was alive, but, without him, his farm could be in serious trouble.

"The first thing he said when he was going into surgery was 'What are we gonna do about the crop,' and that was the first thing he said afterward, too," Peggy said.

Their son, Troy, and grandson, Lane, were willing to help, but it was still too much. Then Troy heard about Farm Rescue on the radio, and the Olsons applied.

Dick Olson actually remembers hearing about Farm Rescue when it first started in 2006.

"I never thought I'd have to use it though," he said.

"We thought there'd be so many applications that we'd never get called," Peggy said. "But then Bill called."

On Wednesday, Farm Rescue volunteers finished three days of planting 850 acres of soybeans on the Olsons' land.

"If it wouldn't have been for Farm Rescue, I'd have had to rent out my land," said Dick, who still has a cast and uses crutches.

"It was a God-send," Peggy said. "For Dick and I, it was a God-send."

See Page 111F for more on work to be done this year.

Reprinted with permission of Aberdeen News Company, May 9, 2008