Anyone ever tip a tractor?

[HarleyBob]

Yes, I rolled a B21 onto its side while mowing with a bushhog on level ground. I had the bucket up just a bit
and the front wheel went into a very small hole, about the size of the wheel. The tractor came over slowly
onto its side. I was wearing seatbelt and the B21 had a canopy attached to both the FEL bracket and ROP.
The seatbelt kept me from falling out and having the tractor land on me. The tractor came over MUCH slower than I would have slid out of the seat without seatbelt. I know where the belt 100% of the time, even when on level pavement and no implements. Even when getting on and off when moving through gates. All the time.
A good friend died this summer after having a small Kubota roll on him.

 

[JimMorrissey]

SK,

This was one of the first things I wanted to ask when I joined Tractorbynet because I had my BX on two wheels two hours after they dropped it off. I know what you mean about wanting to bail, it's instinctive. I have found it nearly impossible to "stay with her". I guess you have to condition yourself for it and somehow force yourself to stay on.

I rolled my father's JD about 15 years ago and it wasn't fun....especially since is was brand new. I bailed to the high side and it tipped over pretty quickly as it climbed up a grade without me on it, clutch engaged (no hydrostatic drive) and rolled. I was about 16 yrs. old, and scared nearly to death. My BX has been on both two and three wheels already and it has less than 30 hours on it! The simple truth is these things are dangerous (no matter how careful you are) and I have drastically changed my method of moving heavy materials with my FEL (low and slow is the honest truth). Don't even think about using it without at least 200 - 300 lbs. on the rear end. As my old man says "ya gotta run scared with these things" I think the BXs are especailly vulnerable due to the size of the front wheels. Those little things just drop in every hole they can find and disturb the machine's balance.

On a side note....a distinguised sugar maple researcher who worked on a University of Vermont farm and who had hundreds of hours of tractor time under his belt was recently killed when the tractor he was driving rolled over on him. I believe he took the ROP off as to not damage the lower limbs of his trees It was quite sad and a big deal around here, all over the newspapers. --A hardcore reminder that your cute little tractor can turn on you like a caged lion.

 

[TresCrows]

Roll overs are actually quite common but we never hear about them till someone is killed. I wonder why the manufacturers do not provide seat belts and ROP's on smaller LT and GT's. It seems these things roll over just as easy when guided by the typical yahoo like the one I saw mowing a steep incline with one front wheel hanging off the curb with one hand on the wheel and the other wrapped around an infant. Being a Geologist I now something about Natural Selection but we humans have disturbed the evolutionary path by protecting the genetically challenged because that guy would probably just take the ROP and seatbelt off and then sue when he broke his neck becasue K-mart did not weld the ROP on but instead bolted it so making it possible for asses like himself to easily remove it. Surgeon General's warning; this tractor may roll over on the operators head and squash it like a ripe tomato under an elephants foot. J

 

[rbargeron]

Using a Tractor requires using the ol'e squash. And the butt.
Low and Slow is the best - when the butt says a back wheel is getting light, that's a good time to have the corner of the front bucket rubbing the ground. Whenever lifting a load in the bucket, do a couple of abrupt valve motions (few inches up & stop, down & stop) just to see if its reasonable. Loaders have enough force to lift the back end, even with big filled tires so there's always a temptation to do more than it should.

The real problem is - it's more often us guys who think we know better that get hurt. (maybe all them Berkline Recliner drivers know something we should) Oh, well, if it isn't illegal, fattening, or a little dangerous, what fun is it anyway.