Slope...what is safe?? Anyone here ever roll over?

[DennisArrow]

Gary............my TL 2300 has a ROPS permanently installed....with a really neat canvas canopy.......looks to me like it came from the factory.........it is bolted to the frame with 15mm bolts and is 2" or so square tubing.......hope I never have to test it..........got seat belts from an auto supply place and installed them..........Wish I could help you more......maybe Shaeffer Supply or EFC could help you.....Dennis

 

[PondKeeper]

Past Saturday I was clearing cattails along the edge of my pond, I went to clear another section that I knew had some testy slope, it sure did /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif. I was belted in with the ROPS up and I was just creaping along when the sod just gave out and I started sliding towards the pond, only about six feet of turf to spare. Pretty scary for a second, no thought of bailing but I dropped the FEL (it was empty) and stopped the front moving and the rear settled a foot later. The slope wasn't toooo bad, I was about 15 on the tilt meter but the ground was the surprise. I had walked and checked that area a dozen times in the prior 24 hours and the footing was dry, but not six inches deep where it broke free.

I curled the FEL upward and backed up literally with the FEL touching the ground for support until I was out of trouble

I /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif had to go dig out the old wheel barrow and do the repairs the old fashioned way.

Mike

 

[fivestring]

Thanks, Dennis.

 

[Libertine]

Trev:

Yeah, in real time rolling logs good image. Have never seen ship roll personally, but seen a number of video images (taken in real life).

As far as HST vs gear, suspect you're not going to have time to do anything with EITHER of them. Also, if you panic react with the HST you could make whatever is happening far worse. The whole issue is lack of time to carefully reason it all out while it is happening.

riptides:

Gee, you must have the fastest brain in the universe! In my old age and approaching senility if I can muster 3 or 4 cycles per second I'm doing pretty good. To measure reaction time in nano-seconds. Wow.

et al:

Some of the accidents/situations described very thought provoking. Unanticipated sinking through/sliding down ground interesting - have had ground give way knowing I was in loose area, but never out of the blue. You never know!

JEH

 

[DavidB]

Good discussions.... I have been lucky with this, not skillful, but lucky. I've tipped two tractors (not rolled them) and was lucky to get the education without injury. The first time I was on a slight slope moving dirt and picked the load up too high. As I raised the bucket to dump it the tractor which was sitting still started to tip over sideways! I had no idea that this was even possible. This was a little compact tractor. Immediately lowering the bucket fixed it, but it got my attention.

I own a huge farm tractor and the wheelbase is so wide and the tractor is so heavy that tipping is not an issue for any situation I'd find myself in. Reading about snagging an implement or attaching one too high and flipping a farm tractor over backwards is scary though. You are squished before you even know it's happening.

The second tip was with my BX22. I was using the backhoe and got off to move the tractor forward a foot or two. I didn't put the belt on of course since I was on level ground and only moving the tractor inches. Flipped the seat around and pulled forward a foot or two and one of the back wheels climbed a chunk of wood hiding in the blackberries I was working in. The tractor tipped about to the balance point and I found myself standing (on the "downhill side" of the tractor) before I even realized what was happening. With no suspension on the rear, the tractor goes sideways with a vengeance when something like that happens. I got lucky both times, but am trying to be much more religious about wearing the belt!

Remember too that you may not be the only one using your tractor. Make sure that everybody else wears the seatbelt too...

 

[GaryM]

I was using the FEL on my JD4100 to remove some bushes for a friend last fall. I must have had a combination of low front tire pressure and an unbalanced load on the FEL, because as I curled the bucket to tear out the bush, the left front of the tractor went down and the right rear tire came about a foot and a half off the ground! Well it felt that high anyway. I gingerly dumped the bucket and the back settled down.

That's close enough for me! I don't ever want to roll or tip any further. I was wearing my belt, but I think the pucker factor kept me in the seat as much as the belt did.

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> That's close enough for me! I don't ever want to roll or tip any further. I was wearing my belt, but I think the pucker factor kept me in the seat as much as the belt did. </font>

GaryM...you may have discovered something here...I have never seen mention on TBN of the pucker factor having a suction aspect!

I'll have to keep watch for this and report back if I can confirm your fingings! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[yellowdog99502]

Bill,

There's another phrase that goes along with the 'suction factor'.

In a previous life I was working in Alaska on several construction projects. A partner in our architectural firm had fallen about 60 feet from a steeply pitched roof on one our projects. He lived to tell about it with only a broken leg. When they let me into see him at the hospital his first comment about sliding towards the edge of the roof was (I apologize now if this offends) "My a--hole tried to grow teeth".

When you think about it, makes sense . . . . . .

Don

 

[Libertine]

Henro:

<font color="blue">GaryM...you may have discovered something here...I have never seen mention on TBN of the pucker factor having a suction aspect!
I'll have to keep watch for this and report back if I can confirm your fingings! </font>

Excellent thought. I just knew there had to be a way to be safe without a seatbelt. Use astringent in lieu of the seatbelt. Do ya think alum would work? Good idea.

JEH

 

[GaryM]

Maybe fasten a saddle horn to the middle of the seat for emergency use?