2320 Rollover- Always use 4WD going down a hill!

[jdpotter]

Learned a painful lesson on the importance of 4WD on steep hills. I had been mowing straight up & down a steep hill wiithout any problem. I took it out of 4WD to mow on the flats for awhile and then forgot to put it back into 4WD for one more pass down the hill. Th wheels started skidding (the grass was a little slick) & since I was headed towards the power transformer you can see in the photo, I turned the wheel and the tractor rolled over. I had the roll bar up and the seat belt on, so I was fine other than a slightly bruised shoulder since it had hit the ground. It's nice to know the ROPS works.

It cost me almost $1000 for the wrecker to get it off the hill + repair the damage. The engine cyliders were full of fuel, and it would not crank, so the injectors had to be removed. Also broke a rear light.

[dex3361]

Dave the good thing is you are OK. Its a bummer that you damaged your machine but that can all be fixed with some time and money. Glad you were not injured.

[B58Hustler]

JD, glad your still among the living! What a ride that must have been. Other than using MFWD, as you replay your options...are there other things you would have tried. Other guys have reported a runaway diesel engine because the fuel delivery switch didn't get turned off prior to bailout.

[defed]

curious, did it roll completely over or just lay onto the side? i can see where the rollbar will protect when it is upside down, but it sure doesn't look like a lot of protection while on its side, even if you stay in the seat.

[jd110]

The purpose of the roll bar is to keep it from going upside down. If it flips upside down without a roll bar you will be dead. Admittedly you might get banged up a little when it turns over on it's side, but that's much better than getting pinned under the tractor. BE SURE TO WEAR SEAT BELTS! With out seat belt, you can still get pinned under side of tractor or rollbar itself.

[JD 4520]

JD - thanks for sharing. I have hills and wet grass and am always aware of this potential hazard. Its a good reminder to wear the seat belt (I don't do it often) and be very thoughtful of approaching and descending on hills.

[charleyfarmall]

I am curious as to why you think keeping it in 4wd would have saved you? Were you on the brakes and one of the wheels locked up? Which wheels began to slide? Was it late in the day and there was dew starting to to accumulate?

Sounds like you were in a marginal situation and Maybe 4wd would have save you but you would still have been cutting it close.

[jenkinsph]

JD, glad you are alright and could walk away from this.

[JD 4520]

4WD makes a huge difference in traction when going down hills. Yes, the rear tires can / will begin to slide which is likely what happened to our friend. If he mows this often, he obviously knows the difference.

[k0ua]

You start to slide due to compression braking of the engine when you either have a gear tractor in a lower gear or you let off of the pedal a little on a hydro tractor, since you only have connection on the rear wheels now in 2WD, they can slip.. he mentions damp grass. or a little gravel on a road can do this ( I know this first hand) . Once the sliding starts there is no stopping it, he cannot hit the brakes, that's the problem now, too much braking resistance and not enough traction because the front wheels are freewheeling. he didn't have a bucket to drop and add drag, so the speed will just keep on increasing until the wheel drag and the angle of the ground levels out and traction is restored. Obviously when he cranked the wheel at high speed, well that is when she flipped. If he had the tractor in 4wd it would have NEVER happened. He also knows this because he went up and down the exact same slope in 4wd many times without incident.. This is a good lesson in why to keep your tractor in 4WD. I learned mine about 3 years ago.. No flip, but I did need new underwear.

James K0UA