Bx25 use on a steep hill

[Ken45101]

My father-in-law is on his 2nd BX 24 with FEL and BH. His property is very hilly. He also uses his BX on other properties that are steep as well. He has owned and used a BX for so many years that he has gotten very comfortable with using his tractor on the steep hills. He has told me often that the only way you will ever get comfortable and confident in your tractor is to test it out and use it allot to get comfortable on it. He has never had any problems or any possible tip overs and he has been in places that I would not attempt. Just use the old seat of your pants rule...that works for me:thumbsup:

That is true...to an extent. However, just because one has experience under their belt does not make them safe. Farmers with years of seat time roll tractors and get killed. Overconfidence can be deadly.

I have a friend who was an assistant fire chief in a rural VFD. Every year they had roll overs with injuries or death. Often there is no warning when a tractor starts to go over.

Be safe out there!

Ken

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I have trouble believing anyone that has worked on a hillside for many years on a tractor has never had a "near" tip over. That brown shorts feeling can be alot closer to red all over than one can ever know. I've ran over rocks or went in small holes and went oops before without ever knowing how close I was but it scared me. I also went down a hill on wet grass one time and won't do that again.
I know there are people that will never tell of their foolish mistakes no matter what. I've done some in only 7 years of tractoring and I'm usually fairly careful.
I'd back up a scary hill with a loaded FEL but I'd never back down with the load.
Kentucky is a mining state. More people are killed in Kentucky in farming accidents than in mining. Most of the farming accidents are from older farmers on tractors. Never get to comfortable on a tractor is my belief.

 

[149owner]

I find the pucker factor is less by backing down a hill in my BX2200. I have loaded rear tires but it still feels like it's going to tip forward by going forward down a hill even in 4wd and the bucket low.

 

[ultrarunner]

I guess I've been doing it wrong...

Most of yesterday I was backing down a steep and well compacted aggregate ramp I made carrying heaping loader buckets of gravel in the BX23. I also have loaded tires and backhoe.

I needed to back down to place my gravel and there was no room to turn at the bottom... at least not yet.

Standard procedure is to go very slow whenever I move material... it's not like I'm on the clock.

An old timer once told me how he was going down a steep path and the weight of the loaded bucket lifted the back wheels off the ground... I figured this would be less of a problem backing down because some of the weight of the loaded bucket would be transferred to the back wheels as the steepness increased.

 

[dstig1]

I find the pucker factor is less by backing down a hill in my BX2200. I have loaded rear tires but it still feels like it's going to tip forward by going forward down a hill even in 4wd and the bucket low.

Forward is basically the one direction a tractor won't flip over. Yeah, I'm sure anything can be done, but if you have a FEL, the chances of flipping forward have got to be several orders of magnitude lower than side or rear flips.

If you are carrying a load, the safest technique is to go forward downhill, backwards uphill. I thought it said that in my Kubota manual, but it just says to work up and down hills, vs cross-slope. The first times I took my tractor through the ditch up into my land (pretty sharp short slope there), I backed it up to be sure it would not flip. Once it was clear it was OK to go up forwards, I started doing that, but reverse it much safer.

 

[LBrown59]

"Hills" can mean different things to different people. If your idea of a hill is what gets climbed in extreme off-road 4x4 or motorcycle trials riding or the like, no, the BX is not meant to travel extreme grades, just like any other tractor.
It can handle moderate grades, as others have described. If anything, there is abundant horsepower. It is just about impossible to bog the engine and you will run out of traction instead of power, even when on hills. The tractor itself has a low center of gravity, but with the FEL, backhoe or attachments on, the dynamics change and it can be tipped if you are not careful.
Speaking of being careful, be sure you have the right weight distribution, the right tires and avoid cross-slopes if at all possible. Always use 4wd low range on hills... going up or down. Keep the bucket low when transporting material.
If you have lots of material and a long enough distance to travel, consider some kind of trailer instead of just the FEL.

I loaded this little Dodge D 50 pick up



with my BX23
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hauled 35 loads of dirt down off this hill to my front yard.

This kept the tractor off the hill and was much faster getting the dirt moved .
All in all it was a 5 mile trip hauling the dirt in the truck.

 

[Ken45101]

An old timer once told me how he was going down a steep path and the weight of the loaded bucket lifted the back wheels off the ground...

Probably very true for an old timer with an old 2WD tractor. That's one of the reasons I traded my 2WD M4700 for a 4WD: wanting braking with the bucket loaded.

With a 4WD, you have braking via the drive system.

Ken

 

[ultrarunner]

Probably very true for an old timer with an old 2WD tractor. That's one of the reasons I traded my 2WD M4700 for a 4WD: wanting braking with the bucket loaded.

With a 4WD, you have braking via the drive system.

Ken

Thanks Ken... makes sense now.

 

[Dirt Doctor]

IT is not safe to back down a hill with a loaded bucket of material with your BX as the tractor can potentially flip if the brakes are applied with force as the front of the tractor will want to follow the direction of travel and if the tractor is sliding >>>>................ The rear wheels will want to continue to roll backwards and the weight will continue to travel in an arc as the tractor will not have a tether to add resistance to the mass moving down the hill.

"A body in motion tends to stay in motion"


The heavier end is the engine end and the potential for rear rollover is huge;
its no different than if a tractor is pulling another stuck tractor from the rear drawbar THEY WILL FLIP because the rear wheels will continue to rotate and this has killed many people this way.


Edit: If you examine how the the Nebraska tractor tests are conducted you will see how these things can destroy themselves on hills and steep slopes as they are tested using a remote control tether system.
Tractor pulls are a prime example of this happening and why they have mandated roll cages for these tractors.


The easiest decision is to simply have your neighbor move it from the top with his machine as it has a low center of gravity, much greater wieght, and will carry more in less time for you.

Well, I have had a L275 with a backhoe and with the scraper, went down a hill loaded bucket (low to the ground) Never up in the air.... The pucker factor was nil, going down hill with a load in the bucket with it low to the ground is not going to allow you to roll over.
But I have also dropped a d-7 over a semi cliff, for work, had to do it many times making a road for a drill rig. Articulated kubotas always will have to back down steep hills, to do so forward is just plain stupid. I have never rolled a piece of equipment, in my 20 plus years as an operator.
The general rule still works, "If your not up to the task, find the right piece of equipment that can do it." Sometimes its an experience issue. Time in grade.

Cheers Jack

 

[Dirt Doctor]

You are right about the counterweight. I don't know what the length of the boom would do in this situation of a full FEL on a steep hill, but I would be afraid that extending it away from the CG just makes the whole thing more unstable, yet on the other hand I would want to have the bucket teeth ready to impale the ground as a brake. The issue of counterweight did cross my mind when I put up my last post. It would be helpful to have something that could be a counterweight AND be able to serve as an emergency brake. A box blade with some extra steel attached would provide weight and the blade would dig in if breaking were needed. The light weight of the sub-soiler is why I put extra ballast on mine. Pics in this post:


http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/148963-post-hole-digger-warning-6.html#post1771314

In a emergency situation looking at the hypothetical situations, depending on the teeth of a loader to "dig in" or the Teeth of a BH bucket to "dig in", that will only work at a slow speed, if the weight of the machine and the speed of the machine sticking the backhoe teeth in the ground would most likely just skid or toss the hydraulic ram back (damaging the seals etc).

USing the front teeth of the bucket to stop the tractor in the forward motion can be catastrophic too. too fast, digging in it could toss the unit to the side,
(This I have witnessed,) Using the implements to DRAG the tractor to a slower speed is best.
The one thing to remember is that small mini tractors designed for level ground / mowing / tilling etc.. are different, than say a Construction backhoe.

Getting back to the Backing downhill comments, if your in a backhoe going down hill. Backwards is not the way to go.... But I have put the little L275 with a scraper on it down hills that were extremely steep, loaded bucket (not over loaded, just loaded) backing down hill bucket low. Works fine for me. You can also use the left/ right brake for steering when your operating, keeping the tractor headed straight.
Other options are with a backhoe you can swing the backhoe to the uphill side and travel along the hillside. (depending on the steepness of the hill).
With the left & right braking, you can also walk the backhoe.

Just be careful, seatbelts, and approved ROPS.
Still living to tell it,
Jack