Tractors made before 1982 should not be used commercially after a Tasmanian man was struck and killed by his tractor, a coroner has recommended.
Ian John Barwick, 67, was removing hay bales at his Chudleigh farm, west of Launceston, when the tractor ran over him on June 9, 2020.
It was likely Mr Barwick noticed the tractor moving and tried to jump back on but he slipped or tripped and was caught under the wheel, Coroner Olivia McTaggart found.
He died from traumatic mechanical asphyxia.
Mr Barwick's tractor had a non-operational handbrake and the 67-year-old either applied the handbrake and it failed or he didn't apply it, not knowing it was ineffective, Ms McTaggart said in her findings.
Some 131 Australians have died in tractor accidents in the past decade, with about 15 per cent the result of unexpected tractor movement.
Mr Barwick's death was the fifth tractor fatality in Tasmania since 2017, with four of the tragedies involving old tractors.
The coroner heard new safety standards were introduced in 1982, with rollover structures made mandatory for any tractor used in Australian workplaces.
Any tractors made prior were not required to follow the higher safety standards.
Ms McTaggart recommended tractors made before 1982 be banned from use in commercial farming operations.
If that recommendation was not followed, then all tractors manufactured before the 1980s should be retrofitted with the rollover structures.
