Learned my lesson today

[amg280]

Just glad your ok! I dont even put my loader on unless I have a massive counter weight. My loader saved my butt this past friday....

 

[bikerdib]

My closest call came while hauling a log on pallet forks on the FEL. It was about 20 feet long so it stuck out to the sides pretty far. I had to climb out of an old creek channel where I was building my pond and to make it up the bank I had to pick up the FEL higher than usual while hauling something that long/heavy. The tractor got overbalanced to one side and started going over. Luckily, I always keep my hand on the loader control and immediately dumped/lowered the FEL.

I always keep my hand on the joystick for such situations.

 

[9973720wb19]

Lesson learned, you absolutely can not get good use out of a FEL without the proper amount of ballast/counterweight. Even with loaded tires, I usually use something on the 3PH.

Agree keeping bucket reasonably low is a good idea, but even better, don't get greedy and put too much weight there in the first place; easy to do with wet dirt/mud. As per BeezFun, make sure you are balanced well before moving and if not, drop/add weight to come into the proper balance.

Even when properly balanced, you can still roll, so do some reading on old threads and tailor your use to your level of experience as your skill confidence builds.

nebraskasparks has some good threads on rollovers/slopes etc as do some others.

One last thing, no matter how long you do this or how good you get, it can still happen so never get complacent and always have a strategy to abort or mitigate the effects.

TripleR - your last statement can not be overlooked. this weekend i was telling myself how good I'm getting with my FEL after (just) two years practice and found myself moving much faster than i use to. it occurred to me that i should not be so cocky and after reading this thread it's going to help put things in prospective again.

 

[PACountryGuy]

Maximus,

Thank you very much for this story today.

I am undoubtedly the World's Best Tractor Operator and what happened to you could never happen to me.

Uh huh.

You made me realize that no matter what I think about my (self bestowed) World's Best Tractor Operator title, I have not been wearing my seatbelt for a while. I will start buckling up again. Thanks for reminding me. :thumbsup:

Gratefully Yours.

 

[maximus1277]

All good comments... And yes, one should never get to cocky even after years of experience. This is my fourth loader tractor and a first close call since I got into tractors 6 years ago.
There is one more thing which I feel is important: I will be sure my wife knows when I am out on the machine to occasionally check in to be sure nothing happened. I could not imagine getting trapped and not having anyone around to come to the rescue. I usually work on the back of my property, where if something were to happen, it would be a while before someone would come out looking for me. So my take away from this is to ensure someone is around when doing serious work, and occasional check in with the family just to be safe.

 

[Bartcephus]

AMG,

Wow.... good save! I had a similar incident loading my tractor onto a trailer. Board floor gave way to one of the front wheels. Without the loader, It would have surely been catastrophic.

Y'all be careful out there!

 

[Deano]

. There was no time to react... I could not believe how quick and easy it is roll this thing.

WELL said!!!

 

[dodge man]

Probably everybody on this board has had the same wake-up call at one time or another. My lessons learned were always get the bucket as low as you can as fast as you can and keep keep your hand on the FEL control and be prepared to shove it forward.

Also, on wet ground, at any kind of a slope, it will slide down the slope really easily. Have it in 4wd to get maximum breaking ability.

Pretty much agree with this statement. I've had it get a little light and tippy a few times. I loaded my tires, and it helps a lot.

 

[harleyboy]

Wow Glad you're ok !
I have a scarey story worth reading check my posts.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kioti-owning-operating/214054-seatbelts-when-do-you-use.html
HB

 

[Verticaltrx]

It is somewhat embarrassing to admit this, but I nearly rolled over my still new b2320. I went out right after heavy rain to move a pile of dirt. The ground was soaking wet and after moving a few buckets, a slight rut developed on the right side of the tractor... Right where the back wheel is. I did not have my backhoe attached so the tractor was light. In a split second while backing away from the pile with a full bucket, the tractor rolled right after biting the rut. There was no time to react... I could not believe how quick and easy it is roll this thing. What saved me is kind of funny.... While the tractor was rolling to the right my shorts got caught on the loader control stick.... Somehow my pants pulled the lever down and the bucked dropped quickly.... I sat there maybe for 10 minutes going over and over what just happened. I guess I am lucky to say that I was saved by the seam of my pants. Lesson learned: I will not lift stuff without a backhoe for added weight and stability. A weight box or filled tires will also be considered.

Did both wheels on one side come off the ground or just the rear tire off the ground? While a little unnerving the first time, lifting one back wheel, even quite a bit, isn't necessarily that dangerous (front axle pivots only so far). When you get it up on the side on two wheels that is scary.

I was clearing brush with my B3200 a year ago and had already dug out a large bush which left a decent sized hole. I was working on a slight hill with the nose of the tractor down hill and the wheels on the right side in the hole from the bush. While a bit steep it was workable. Then after rooting out some more brush (tractor still partially in hole) I went to back up. Unknowingly a huge vine had gotten around the backside of my bucket on the down hill side. As I backed up the force of the tractor moving backwards against the firmly rooted vine caused the tractor to raise up on the back and tip to the side very quickly. I immediately let off the hydro pedal and the tractor stopped. Sitting precariously on the two right side tires (both left tires where about 18" off the ground) I paused and assessed the situation and decided the best thing to do would be shut the tractor off and get off and take a look. Well, I was so close to the balance point that when I got up to take a look it started to go over even more, so I quickly sat back down. I was working by myself so the only option was to get out of the mess myself (I would have had someone hook a strap to the ROPS to secure it if I had any help.) Sat back down and re-buckled my belt knowing that my two options were rolling over or getting it back upright. Started it back up and with some very slow and careful repositioning of the loader while turning down hill and moving forward a bit I got it to set back down. That's about the closest I've come to turning a tractor over in thousands of hours of tractor operation.