B7100 Turned Over

[Kelvin]

I sold my old Kubota B7100 (...old faithful...) to some friends a couple of months ago.

The wife of the couple was slightly hesitant to use the tractor at first, but then started to like it a lot, and thus started using it a lot.

She turned it over today while dragging a tree stump up a small hill. Fortunately, she was not hurt. Other than one minor dent and a bent wheel on the mid-mower, the tractor is fine as well.

Hopefully most readers on this board are aware of the safety lesson here. She had tied the rope to the ROPS which is above the tractor's center of gravity. This worked fine (I guess?) at until she started up the hill at a slight angle.

Anyways... Be sure and tow or pull items from the lowest possible point on the tractor.

Kelvin

 

[MossRoad]

Man, that's scary! Glad she wasn't hurt.

 

[Kelvin]

Of course, this is certainly not the best technique for accessing the bottom of the mid-mower for maintenance!

 

[Mark_in_NH]

Sometimes I read posts like this and think to myself, things like " What was this person thinking in the first place" Don't they know that common sense should, most times! tell you what's the right way to do such things.
Those are also the times that I forget how fortunate I am, to have been able to grow up around tractors and implements, farming, haying, BIG gardens, cutting and hauling LOTSA firewood.
But alot of these "right and safe ways" of doing things which might be 2nd nature or common sense to me, are still things that need to be learned by others.
Although there are many times that I take an unsafe shortcut, or leave the tractor running, while I jump off for just a second. I really have to thank my Father for teaching me all the right things about equipment. Without this knowledge, learned from him, none of this stuff WOULD be 2nd nature or common sense to me.
Thanks Dad /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[5030]

Kelvin:

If they need a factory shop manual for the tractor, I have one. I certainly don't need it anymore, that tractor would fit in the bucket of my 5030.

 

[Kelvin]

I had operator's manuals for the tractor and mower as well as an I&T Shop Manual for the tractor. If your shop manual is an original Kubota Shop manual, then I would think that it would be better than the I&T manual.

I don't know if it makes a difference, but this B7100 is the older gear drive model. It originally came without ROPS and adding one was the first modification / improvement that I made to the tractor. Looks like it was worth it.

Let me know how much you want for your shop manual and I'll ask them if they're interested. Shoot, I might even buy it for them as a Christmas gift or something, as they are good friends of mine.

Kelvin

 

[NIXON]

I really have to thank my Father for teaching me all the right things about equipment. Without this knowledge, learned from him, none of this stuff WOULD be 2nd nature or common sense to me.
Thanks Dad /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )</font>
You were lucky . But most folks don't have the luxury of a mentor . In fact after working in construction for a long time ...... I'm convinced a lot of people don't have "walking around sense " . For the most part folks want a machine to do work , yet don't appreciate, or respect the power that machine has . Or the ability for it to cause very substantial damage if mis-used .
It all boils down to Darwin being right /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif John

 

[5030]

The Kubota manual I have covers the HST as well as the gear drive units. I remember that I dismounted the muffler and put it on vertically. Made it look like a BIG tractor!!

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue"> It originally came without ROPS and adding one was the first modification / improvement that I made to the tractor. Looks like it was worth it.
</font>
That's the understatement of the year. Looks like it was priceless. A good lesson to anyone that doesn't have a ROPS: they are available for most tractors.

 

[Kelvin]

The 2nd photo I posted (showing the underside of the belly mower) shows both rear wheels off the ground, indicating that the tractor would've continued rolling over had the roll bar not stopped it.

Adding the ROPS was a very high priority for me. Even so, I never thought it would have turned over on that small of a hill. Of course, I know that it would not have turned over without the assistance of that stump, but I still find that hard to believe that it turned over.

Kelvin

 

[Henro]

Kelvin,

I don't think you mentioned it above...was there a seat belt along with the rops? Was she wearing it?

Glad it turned out to be a minor mishap!

 

[Kelvin]

Actually, I didn't mention it...

But since you asked...

A seat belt came with the ROPS and you can bet I installed it with the ROPS.

My friend's wife told me that she ALWAYS wears the seat belt when operating the tractor. EXCEPT this one time. She thought that she was lucky that she wasn't wearing it; I told her that if the tractor had rolled further than on its side then she'd be dead. She has mixed emotions about whether she would've been better off with or without the seat belt. Her husband and I both critiqued her quite a bit for not wearing the seat belt, but congratulated her on thinking quickly enough to get back to the tractor and shut off the engine before it was ruined.

Kelvin

 

[fishman]

Interesting paradox. Had you not installed the ROPS, she wouldn't have been able to tie the stump to it, yet it likely saved her live. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Scary, scary.

 

[Kelvin]

I agree.

I stressed to her that the ROPS saved her life. I didn't mention that I thought that the ROPS sort-of created the problem to begin with by providing her an un-safe attachment point.

She now has learned TWO important lessons:

(1) When pulling objects, pull from the lowest point on the tractor that you can attach to.

(2) Don't try any new tractor tricks when you are home alone (I hadn't mentioned the fact that she was home alone when the accident occured).

Kelvin