FARMER Philip Gorringe narrowly escaped with his life when a 300 kg tractor wheel crashed down on him at home on the family farm in Herefordshire.

The incident three years ago in the farmyard at Upper Blakemere was a salutary lesson for Philip, who, like all farmers, well understood the hazards of changing the massive rear wheels.

He was left with a smashed shoulder - and a determination to devise a safe method for getting the job done. With help from his neighbour Keith Dale, the two men designed a prototype which would effectively save lives.

Then they approached Andrew Watkins, who runs the successful agricultural business AW Trailers at Madley, and the ‘WeelySafe’ implement was born. Already the invention is turning heads having won a highly commended prize for innovation at the Royal Welsh Show.

Clean, simple and safe to use, it enables the operator to remove and carry large tractor or combine wheels and tyres up to two metres in diameter, and it will fit most tractor loader machines and telehandlers.

Philip’s plan to take the gamble out of this potentially dangerous task received strong support from his wife, Heather, who runs the Wiggly Wigglers business at the farm as well as the Great British Florist enterprise.

“I was putting on a rear wheel but slipped on wet concrete, the wheel fell flat on top of me with my head in the middle,” said Philip. “I ended up with a smashed shoulder for my trouble, and shoulder injuries take a long time to recover.” With “wifely” encouragement and the chance appearance of Health and Safety representatives in the yard a few days later, Philip decided to look for a solution.

He accepts that there is no visual monetary benefit for cash-strapped farmers, but the rewards in terms of safety are legion.

“Tractors are so much bigger than the ones I remember when I was starting out,” he says. “The rear wheels of those old tractors are the same size now as the front wheels of a new tractor.”

He continued: “These modern wheels are very heavy, there’s a lot of steel in them, they weigh over 300 kilos.”

Philip shudders to think how the wheel that toppled on top of him could easily have killed him. “It grazed my eyebrows, but if it had been six or eight inches closer it would have been my head.

“I don’t remember how I got out from under the wheel – we normally do this when there are two people in the yard, and the other chap found me sitting on the wheel.”

He adds: “It was a seminal moment.”

Just to show that the “frightening” incident has not affected his sense of humour, Philip points out: “That 300 kilos of wheel fell on me with such force that I had the words, Good Year tyres, imprinted on my rear!”

*For more information about the WeelySafe invention go to Andrew Watkins’ website, AW Trailers