Zero turn rollover

[Alan W.]

As my 17 year old son was driving home today he saw a man roll his exmark, trapping him. My son stopped and was trying to get the man free when others stopped to help. They were able to get it off from the man who was luckily only shaken by the incident. It only takes a second for things to go wrong fast. I have learned this all too well over the years.

 

[Dftodd]

Neighbor bought one shortly after I bought mine. Being in his mid 70's he had some adjustment issues going from a steering wheel to the skid steer style controls. His main issue was forgetting which way to go with his levers to turn, slow down, stop........

He got a little close to the ditch, hit a bump and this set off a chain reaction. Ended up in the ditch, which in our neighborhood are 4 ft deep.

He got lucky and didn't get hurt. He also didn't get pinned and was able to crawl out. I happened by just after it happened, so I latched onto the mower with a tow strap and pulled it out of the ditch with the truck.

No damage except to his pride.

There's been a few other folks that have been hurt mowing along ditch edges in our area. County comes through, adds more gravel, then paves the road, all of a sudden that gentle slop you were used to is too steep for a mower.

On the street side of the ditch in my neighborhood, I used to be able to mow it with a rider or zero turn. Since they raised the road 8 inches, it's sketchy mowing with a push mower.

 

[Alan W.]

Just found out that he has some broken ribs. The shock of the situation probably made it go undetected until later.
I remember when my father got his first zero turn, mom spent a lot of time pulling him out of the creek until he got the hang of it.

 

[fatjay]

That's a shame, but glad he's ok. I'm assuming he had roll bars. Were any hills involved? Typically the wide wheel base and low center of gravity really help. Typically zero turns are more stable than your typical cub cadet or craftsman. Now assuming he hit hte rollbar on a low tree that flipped him,t hat's another story.

 

[RoyJackson]

That's why it's essential to keep that ROPS up unless absolutely necessary to lower it.
Also, I think most are aware that these machines aren't too good on side slopes...well, any slope, especially if the grass is wet.

Even during maintenance, injuries can occur. We had a TBN member (name eludes me) killed when his mower fell on him. I don't recall all the details, but IIRC, he was working on it with the front raised and held by his tractor's loader. These mowers weigh more then 1000 lbs. (I think my Deere Z920 goes around 1200-1300 lbs.).

 

[Alan W.]

Son told me the ROPS was not up, and it took seven of them to lift it up enough to completely free the man. It was on a hillside and it had to be lifted uphill, leverage and gravity were against them.

 

[frugalangler]

I have 300' of lake shoreline and WILL NOT mow close to it w/ a ZTR, and I'm timid getting the riding mower (tractor style) close, the weed wacker gets a workout on that area!

 

[ovrszd]

As my 17 year old son was driving home today he saw a man roll his exmark, trapping him. My son stopped and was trying to get the man free when others stopped to help. They were able to get it off from the man who was luckily only shaken by the incident. It only takes a second for things to go wrong fast. I have learned this all too well over the years.

Thank your Son in my behalf for engaging and helping. All too often we are reluctant to help. Your Son has been well taught.

 

[Ford850]

I opted to not get a folding ROPS on my Grasshoppers, so I wouldn't be tempted to keep it folded. The permanent full ROPS are a pain sometimes, but worth it. I only have a couple areas that are steep enough to roll (I think) but I still use my seat belt 100% of the time.

 

[FTG-05]

Not rolling over and living and working on a hill is why I filled my ZTR mower Kubota ZD326 with water and RV antifreeze. Another ETC: 130 lbs (not +160 lbs) down near the bottom of the tractor!