another tippy tale (with pictures)

[apease]

I tried to mow "just a little more" down the hill, and got into trouble, with one wheel off the ground. I dropped the FEL, turned off the tractor and stopped to think. Turning the wheel seemed to make it less stable, so I felt stuck. No way to go forward or back. I got a 4000lb tie down and looped the ROPS to a nearby tree. I was then able to pivot around the tree and get to safety. These pictures show the tractor once I had maneuvered a bit and gotten all wheels on the ground. This may be an obvious solution, but maybe it will help someone.

 

[beenthere]

Glad you managed.
But with the rotary cutter on the rear, you should have turned the wheels the opposite way (from shown) and backed out with a slight lift on the 3 ph.
Brake the right wheel so the left rear wheel maintained traction and the right one wouldn't spin (may not be possible if the individual rear brakes are on the right side with the HST forward/reverse pedals).
But good thinking and now just backing straight down the hill to mow should work ok for you.

 

[Grandad4]

Good save! I'd bet that was pretty scary. Hard to tell from pictures, but it looks like it falls off pretty far and seems to slope to the left so you really were off camber quite a bit. Have you mowed there before? I'd be thinking about backing down the slope, but all those trees certainly get in the way. Are your tires ballasted? Glad you are OK.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Good save.:thumbsup: I've gotten myself into similiar situations and also stopped to ponder. Once I had to ponder over night till a friend showed up with his bulldozer to get my tractor off of a bunch of downed trees.
Don't know if you tried it or not but if not try tilting your bucket down, drop it to the ground, raise the front wheels slightly off the ground and tilt the bucket back to forward while giving throttle in reverse till it pushs you back a bit. Some times a few inches can make the difference and then engage the differential lock pedal.
I know bench advise is alot easier than sitting on the seat actions but some people don't utilize/understand the use/value of the front bucket for moving the tractor. I over valued it when I got myself so stuck. The bucket tilted right can also keep the tractor from continueing on it's forward direction.

 

[Bird]

Looks like a good save . . . as long as you're confident you aren't going to pull that tree down on yourself.

 

[chopped]

I like the new 'phrase'' '''TIPPY TALE''' I hope it take very fitting title.

 

[TripleR]

Glad everything worked out well. I find my tractors to be more stable on side hill mowing without the FEL though more stable going up or down hill unless you add weight to the front. I also may get some wheel spacers for our BX to add stability.

It looks like you saved the day pretty well.

 

[fish6942]

How heavy is the sun shade? Whatever it is, it certainly didn't help the situation.

 

[korydz]

I've found with my BX2660 that it is FAR more stable with the MMM and no FEL than with the rotary cutter and the FEL. That lower center of gravity makes a big difference. Loaded tires are a must on any BX, IMHO. Obviously, the whole unit is far more manouverable without the FEL and Rotary Cutter. It all depends on what you are cutting. It looks pretty much like you're just mowing grass, unless there's hidden rocks and stumps. It might be worth getting the MMM, assuming you don't have one, just to prevent a reoccurance.

Glad to hear you made it out OK.

 

[crazyal]

I bet having that brush hog on the back really helped. Weight down low is always nice when you get a little tippy.

 

[apease]

I hadn't mowed there before, so fortunately was taking it slow. The immediate problem was a couple of small rocks under the wheel that suddenly changed the pitch. The sunshade is plastic, and light, but with the ROPS as a level arm, a small weight can make a big difference. That was easy to see when I attached the tie-down. Just a couple of easy cranks brought the tractor much more vertical. I'm guessing just 100lbs of force made it safe, and was why I didn't worry about the force on the tree. I know in theory turning the wheels downhill should have solved the problem, but it felt so unstable when I turned either direction I figured it best to stop and play it safe. Given the side tilt I was uncomfortable using the FEL to push the tractor back up the hill too. Lots of little lessons learned for me.

 

[slan]

Hard to tell from the pictures but do you have you bush hog swung all the way to the left?
That will also have an effect if it is on the downhill side.
Glad you mad out ok.:thumbsup:

 

[RoyJackson]

I wonder if you'd been able to back down that slope? Maybe not quite the same route...little bit more across the slope.
This is based upon what I think I see in that second picture...which may not show the whole situation.
This is just a question...not a criticism...

 

[kco]

I hadn't mowed there before, so fortunately was taking it slow. The immediate problem was a couple of small rocks under the wheel that suddenly changed the pitch. The sunshade is plastic, and light, but with the ROPS as a level arm, a small weight can make a big difference. That was easy to see when I attached the tie-down. Just a couple of easy cranks brought the tractor much more vertical. I'm guessing just 100lbs of force made it safe, and was why I didn't worry about the force on the tree. I know in theory turning the wheels downhill should have solved the problem, but it felt so unstable when I turned either direction I figured it best to stop and play it safe. Given the side tilt I was uncomfortable using the FEL to push the tractor back up the hill too. Lots of little lessons learned for me.

You certainly live in a beautiful setting.

I think you did everything right by playing it safe, stabilising, and taking it slow--as witnessed by the fact there's no damage to you or the tractor. From your pictures I too would have been reluctant to turn more directly downhill for fear of being unable to crawl back out or further destabilising things.

Hilly terrain is dangerous and demands extreme care when operating "near the edge". Even when one is familiar with such areas conditions can change. Taking a slightly different track and running one tire over a previously unnoticed mound, depression, or rock can dramatically change what previously appeared as a stable condition.

Thanks for sharing, it serves as a reminder not to get over-confident.

 

[Johndeere3720]

yes, have you tried backing down the hill? Since all my dads pastures are on inclines that trick gives me the ability to use the 3720 and the MX6 to get most of the grass cut. As many TBN users know the 3x20 tractors are very tippy, more than your BX24, try the backing down the hill trick, it should work. :thumbsup:

 

[IC Smoke]

4wd and back straight up and you will come right out of it:thumbsup:

 

[riptides]

My first thought was, glad he is sharing the story.

My second impression was also asked by the TBN noters, why not back up, down the slope? The pictures for us seem to look like that is the better way to do it.

You seem to have it under control. Good for you.

As a side note, even mowing flat pastures, when I find a groundhog hole, the pucker factor still goes up. You know what I mean.

 

[radioman]

good ole physics! pivoting to save your tractor!:thumbsup:

Did you try the diff lock when you felt stuck and sat on the highest part of tractor off the seat? I had to do that couple times .
Did you load the rears? It would help some working on hills like yours.

For beenthere- the BX doesn't have individual rear braking, only diff locking.

 

[RoyJackson]

I wonder if you'd been able to back down that slope? Maybe not quite the same route...little bit more across the slope.
This is based upon what I think I see in that second picture...which may not show the whole situation.
This is just a question...not a criticism...

After looking at the pictures again, you can see how the cutter drifted sideways, downslope. Seems like the anti-sway links must have been pretty loose to let it get as far as it did and I'm pretty sure this contributed to the near rollover (although the leftward movement made have happened after the fact).
When backing down a slope, a cutter is going to track the path of least resistance (especially on rutty, uneven ground) and I just follow as long it's cutting somewhere near where I need to mow. Sometimes I have to raise the cutter to get it back on track. Got to watch when doing this though..especially on a slope!!

 

[apease]

Backing down the slope is certainly the way to do this in the future. The only problem is that is much slower that just driving forward across the slope. Tightening up the three point is a good point - it was tight when I started, but seems to loosen up after a few hours of mowing.