Mowing Almost rolled it- dumb, stupie, smart

[daveshoot]

The brand new B2320... I was mowing the neighbors for fire control with a Gearmore rotary mower. They have a lot more "terrain" than I do.

There is a bowl shaped depression (a holler) and I was skirting the drive around the rim. I know just enough to go straight up and down slopes to avoid rollover conditions.

Anyhow, I was tracking along pretty flat but there was a pile of branches that looked like ground. Oops, not ground, it was their "trimming dump" that they've used for ages, and there was a drop and soft sand underneath. Tractor canted sharply to left, leaving me the side with the FEL lever as the way out. It was kinda tippy.
The mower couldn't be lifted enough to get it out the sand and weeds, complicating thins.

Locked up the hubs with the lever thingie and used my 4WD capability. Oops, further in, and thing was canting dangerously to port (I was corkscrewing into the bowl). I stopped and lowered the FEL to bottom to lower center of gravity.

I decided enough was enough, picturing $16k rolling down the hill. Shut 'er down and called the homewowners for support. We filled in the holes in the softer sand caused by my 4WD antics, hooked a chain to the high side rear, and connected to a Tacoma. Backed her out the way I went in.

Lessons:
Don't mow there (at least close to edges) again. Terra incognito sucks.
Don't lock hubs and move forward, when forward is what got you in trouble.
Power down and jump off and call for help when you're in over your head.
Calling for help sucks but the alternatives can be far worse.

End Result: Drove home, had 2 Johnnie Walker Blacks. Back on the horse tomorrow.

I gotta say, this thing is a riot, but there is definitely a learning curve. I think I was ignorant, dumb, and moderately smart, in about that order. YMMV.

 

[Kubota 2350]

Went home with an undamaged tractor, can't be all bad, sounds like a good day to me.:thumbsup:

 

[TripleR]

Went home with an undamaged tractor, can't be all bad, sounds like a good day to me.:thumbsup:

Gotta agree; operative word is "almost".

 

[rekees4300]

Lesson not learned: Remove FEL before mowing.

 

[wdchyd]

Just read about "Layed down BX24" minutes ago and he did not have the same results, glad you lucked out (Maybe Lottery Ticket should be bought:laughing

 

[timswi]

Now that there was some compelling writing. Felt like I was there.

Glad there was a good result.

 

[Baby Grand]

You kept your head, shut her down and walked away when you did. That's often very hard to do, but it was the right decision and you should feel very good about that.
-Jim

 

[daveshoot]

Geez I just read the "layed down BX24" thread... I totally got off easy. I feel for that guy and now I know how it easy it would be to do that. I really dodged a bullet here, and I think it was about 4" away.

I have yet to ever remove the FEL and I was running it low in case there were stumps or other obstacles in the foreign terrain. I do think I would probably have been better off without it (unless there was a stump).

Frankly I am still mastering the 3-point hitch switcheroo between the mower and the box blade. I am pretty sure this is laughably easy to the pros, but I thought the X300 garden mower (that the place came with) was a "tractor" until recently! I found the rear hook-ups a little daunting and the FEL, well that is like BP oil rig stuff at this point.

Y'know a 3-pt video for dummies would be great. The interesting videos at everythingattachments.com are really great for me, but they always start with everything hooked up. I am not really that far, yet!

I wasn't offered this Kubota insurance and I believe I will ask about it.

 

[Tractor Factor]

Lesson not learned: Remove FEL before mowing.

How exactly does that help? Does it lower your center of gravity?

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I'd venture to say that just about all of us that have used our tractors for more than just mowing level lots has had some "browning of shorts" experiences. Those of us that are still alive have hopefully learned some lessons from our moments of (can't think of an appropriate word here, use your own)...
Yes, the FEL off is better on hillsides or always keep it low.
I was learning the power of my first tractor BX2200 MMM FEL and decided it would go anywhere. I had a brush pile that included trees and limbs on a hillside so it was almost level on the downhill slope. I was sort of rounding up the stray limbs and compacting the pile. I did have some concern of falling through the pile but was venturing forward a bit more each time. Knew the FEL would lift my front end and let me push myself back and out. Well, thought I knew it.I got stuck with the MMM and couldn't get it out. Had to get a friend that was doing some dozer work for me get it out when he came over a few days later. For years I've cursed having the MMM on while doing all my excavation work but now the "fan tears up on BX's" story has came to the forfront so I guess the MMM probably saved me that experience.