Complacency - It doesn't take much.

[Wagtail]

Well, today I had my first 'arse puckering' near roll-over and it didn't take many factors to add up to what I should've seen coming... at least in hindsight.

I was side on to a paltry/gentle 2 degree slope, using my FEL/bale spikes to position a new roll of hay for the horses. I didn't have the ballast box on 'cause I thought that I'd save some time as I was going to chain harrow the paddock that I was moving them from. I also didn't have my seat belt on because, hey, I was getting off & on the tractor several times and what could possibly go wrong on a 2 degree slope?

The short story is that the hay roll tumbled as I was flipping it onto its side but catching the spikes inside, which lifted the tractor up by the FEL & I started to lean down-slope. I leaned the other way & slammed the joystick down, recovering.

Now, I'm a bit of a safety nut (pounded into me due to my years of Navy training) but hopefully this experience of how little it takes to get into a dangerous situation will be of benefit to others.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I reckon I'll have a beer.

 

[Sysop]

Congrats on getting through damage free to both man and machine. These things are good things because it keeps us cautious. Nice save too, that's making some quick thinking on a slow thinking day

Happy you're OK, please remember your ballast and seat belt though. When you don't choose enough of one, the other helps to save your arse. NEVER forget both! (can't be preached enough)

 

[k0ua]

Yep I almost turned over my L3400 hst 1 day before I traded it in for the Kioti. Had a big rock on the forks, and the wife wanted me to get off to help position others. Instinctively (like an idiot) I dropped the ballast on the 3pt. down on the ground, and shut down the tractor. But I did not want to drop the rock (it was about 1 foot off of the ground) as I was at the limit of my lift capacity and I wasn't sure I could get it back up again. I was on a slight down-slope on the left side. I got off and started down the step, and the tractor started a slow sideways roll toward me. My weight on the tractor was crucial. I pushed it back towards the high side and managed to keep it from rolling over. I asked the wife to kindly go to the upside of the tractor and operate the joystick to drop the rock while I held the tractor from rolling over. It was late, I was tired, and it all happens so fast. I normally don't do stupid stuff and I normally think things thru. But not this time. Glad you fixed your mistake without loss of life/health or machinery.

James K0UA

 

[NVBigBlue]

I'm glad everything turned out okay for ya.

I hate to say it, but I know for me, it seems like a little near miss sort of 'resets' the safety clock for a few years....

When I was home on leave a few months ago I was getting ready to do some maintenance on my quad, so I figured I'd use the loader on my GC2300 to lift it up and I could power wash the underside of it. So I ran the bucket to full dump, wrapped a strap around the middle of it, hooked it to the back of the quad and with the tractor idling, stood on the side and picked the bucket straight up. Hey, this works pretty good.... power washed it, then thought I'd lift the other end and really clean it.... dropped the bucket, hopped on the quad and turned it around. Only when I pulled up to the bucket I was off center, no biggee.... I moved the strap to the right side of the bucket and hooked the other end to the hook on the quad's winch. Walked to the controls and up she went. My son walks up and asks me if the tractor could lift the quad all the way off the ground..... you see where this is going?... I ran the loader all the way up and curled the bucket to lift it up some more. Just about the time the back wheels of the quad were starting to get light, the left rear tire on the tractor came up. Luckily, I felt it start to come up and quickly dropped the bucket back down, nearly wiping out the front rack of the quad. I did finish power washing the underside of the quad, but I was a little more humbled doing it.
Now, the quad is pretty small, just a little Suzuki 250 4WD, and only weighs about 400 pounds, and the 2300 is rated for about 600 pounds I think, but having the strap on the far side of the bucket and the extended amount of 'arm' the lever had when I curled the bucket (the front edge of the bucket taking most of the weight) was enough to bring that back wheel up.
All of this was on level ground. :confused2: If there had been ANY slope to the right, the outcome may have been quite different.
The only good thing to come out of it (other than the tractor still staying shiny side up) was that it was an excellent safety lesson for my son (also for me).
Stay safe out there!
NV

 

[pat32rf]

When I bought my first tractor, a little, used Kibota with no ROPS I had my tenant show me what can happen when he did me a "favour" one day while I was in town. I came home and found the tractor on its side out behind the barn. He had a come-along hooked to it so he could right it before I got home, except it turned the rest of the way over while I watched and he cranked the comealong.
It turned out that a big rock slid to the low end of the FEL bucket and he never thought to lower the load.

 

[pat32rf]

When I bought my first tractor, a little, used Kibota with no ROPS I had my tenant show me what can happen when he did me a "favour" one day while I was in town. I came home and found the tractor on its side out behind the barn. He had a come-along hooked to it so he could right it before I got home, except it turned the rest of the way over while I watched and he cranked the comealong.
It turned out that a big rock slid to the low end of the FEL bucket and he never thought to lower the load.

 

[Wagtail]

I'm glad everything turned out okay for ya.

I hate to say it, but I know for me, it seems like a little near miss sort of 'resets' the safety clock for a few years....

Stay safe out there!
NV

Thanks to you and all for your good wishes/comments on my little 'cock-up'.

I started this thread, I suppose, to "confess my sin" and to hopefully do a wee bit of 'safety clock' reset for those (& myself) who take the time to read our collective short stories.

Telling my near-miss tale to the TBN world may encourage others to add their own stories, if only to serve as an example that it can happen to anyone. If not, well, at least I put mine 'out there'.

I've since been out chain harrowing some dead-flat paddocks... with my seat-beat on!

 

[Sysop]

I've since been out chain harrowing some dead-flat paddocks... with my seat-beat on!

I don't know that I'd rolleyes at that...

I personally think, at least for my uses, a tractor seatbelt should be worn at all times. Just simply for the fact I can get it out with full intentions of using it on flat ground, then be putting it away and see a tree limb down at the edge of the meadow on the hill that I may as well tend to before putting the tractor away (or any other number of "oh I should do that too real quick" tasks I have around my place)... To me it's not like a helmet on a four wheeler where it's such a hindrance to wear it just to "walk" across the yard I can't wear it all the time. It's also not like a helmet in the fact that if going out in the meadows, it's easy to forget. Helmet being so big and uncomfortable is a hard thing to forget. For me I feel it's best to keep the seatbelt as part of my mount/dismount procedure. My mother called me her absent minded professor for a reason...

 

[Wagtail]

I don't know that I'd rolleyes at that...

Sorry for the confusion, Mate... the 'rolleyes' was for me "having been a twit in the past & I've now learnt my lesson".

I agree. Seat belt on at all times.

 

[Sysop]

I meant nothing by it at all, I've had my share of being a twit in my lifetime Luckily nothing bad has happened (and hopefully I shouldn't need to add "yet" to this statement). Discussions like this are good, and all the various talking points of safety can never be preached on enough unless all the sudden people worldwide simply stop hurting themselves (would be nice, but will never happen). There is another thread been going around TBN recently on the topic of helmets during UTV use which is partly where my thought process wandered in the above post in this thread. Either way, safety topics are always good so it's always in the forefront of everyone's mind.

Cheers and be safe!