Golden Bay farmer Melvin Robinson with sons Brendon (right) and Zane Robinson. Melvin was one of two farmers killed in separate accidents in December 2023 while working beneath a vehicle. Photo\/ Robinson family<\/p>\n
Then, days later, on December 22, 69-year-old Patrick Richard Goodin died on a farm in \u014chaup\u014d, Waikato<\/a>, when he was crushed by a farm vehicle which fell on him as he worked beneath it.<\/p>\n Goodin had also used the front forks of his tractor to raise the vehicle so he could get underneath and remove grass caught around the driveshaft. <\/p>\n Coroners\u2019 warnings<\/p>\n Associate Coroner<\/a> Stephen Burdes has now issued a warning about the lethal use of tractors in a manner they were \u201cclearly not designed for\u201d.<\/p>\n His comments in findings released today into Robinson\u2019s death followed those of another coroner in relation to Goodin\u2019s death.<\/p>\n Coroner Ian Telford said then that it was a reminder to the farming community<\/a> to always use farm machinery in line with its intended purpose. <\/p>\n In today\u2019s findings, Coroner Burdes urged \u201canyone, especially farm workers\u201d, to \u201cresist any temptation\u201d to use the front forks of a tractor, or forklift, to lift a vehicle to work underneath.<\/p>\n Popular member of the community<\/p>\n Melvin Robinson was a popular and active member of the Golden Bay community, having moved there from Palmerston North<\/a> in the early 1980s, when the opportunity came up to buy his first farm, his son, Brendon, told NZME.<\/p>\n \u201cHe looked at one up in Kait\u0101ia and one down here, and chose down here because it was right by the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n The Robinsons initially lived in Pakawau, at the base of Farewell Spit, before Melvin bought a small farm in the seaside hamlet of Patons Rock, about 10km west of T\u0101kaka<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brendon told NZME on behalf of brothers Aaron and Zane, and their sister, Bridget, that their dad was a \u201cbit of a larrikin\u201d who liked a beer, supporting and coaching rugby, and who loved his horse racing and the trotters he trained.<\/p>\n He said when they had all grown and left home, Melvin got into training horses on the long, sandy beach at Patons Rock. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019d train them behind his cart or he\u2019d do three of them at a time behind the car.\u201d<\/p>\n Brendon said it was this vehicle that his father was working on at the time of his death.<\/p>\n Fatal decision<\/p>\n On the morning of December 11, 2023, Melvin was at home figuring out how to remove wire, which had become wrapped around the car\u2019s driveshaft. <\/p>\n A friend who had called in suggested using a disc grinder, which Melvin thought was a good idea, Coroner Burdes said.<\/p>\n About 3pm, Melvin\u2019s neighbour heard the tractor running, and grew increasingly concerned when it was still running 30 minutes later but had not moved. <\/p>\n As he went to investigate, he met a police officer<\/a> who was passing at the time and the two went to Melvin\u2019s property.<\/p>\n They found the tractor still running with its front forks up in the air, with a car positioned below and a chain running from the forks to the front of the car. <\/p>\n They found Melvin pinned beneath it, lying next to a disc grinder. <\/p>\n The opinion of the pathologist who conducted the post-mortem found he died of crush injuries to his head and chest, likely resulting in traumatic asphyxiation.<\/p>\n Police investigation<\/p>\n Police investigators concluded that Melvin had raised the car off the ground by connecting a chain between the box frame of the front forks of his tractor and the front tow connector of his car.<\/p>\n The coroner said, based on police findings, the chain was likely wrapped around the highest and lowest metal struts of the box frame of the forks, and, while Melvin was under the car, the highest metal strut had snapped. <\/p>\n The weight of the car was no longer supported properly, and the car dropped on him. <\/p>\n Brendon believed a failure he observed in the chain was a more likely scenario. <\/p>\n He said his father was perhaps as much a risk-taker as many others, who lived knowing that any day, \u201csomething might fall on them\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThey [farmers] do live on the edge a fair bit of the time, but I guess what happened was probably a little bit sillier than the normal stuff.<\/p>\n \u201cHe probably could have died a thousand times, and I was surprised that was the one that got him,\u201d Brendon said.<\/p>\n Farmers\u2019 organisation says \u2018too many deaths\u2019<\/p>\nGolden Bay farmer Melvin Robinson developed a love of horses he trained on the beach at Patons Rock. Photo\/ Robinson family<\/p>\n