Back Flip

[fire72]

This morning I took my 8N about 150 yards downhill from my house to retrieve my Gator, which I had gotten stuck in snow too deep for it. My 8N doesn't have a drawbar, so I rigged the tow strap to my 6' back blade. Had a complete brain fart and forgot to consider the height of the rigging in relation to the rear axle. Can anyone see the punch line coming? At an especially steep spot just below the house, the front wheels came up on me. The tires were about 4' off the ground before I could kick the clutch in and get the front end back down. After a brief pause to change my shorts, I re-rigged and finished the tow without incident.

The moral of the story? There isn't just one. Tow from the drawbar unless it's totally impossible to do so. That's what it's there for. Pay attention to what you're doing. I've been operating tractors on steep hills for years, but still made a dumb mistake by neglecting to check a very basic safety factor. All it took to correct the towing height was dropping the blade below the height of the axle.

With no ROPS and no seat belt on an 8N, I got away with my mistake by a combination of quick reflexes and sheer dumb luck. Many others haven't; back flips are frequently fatal. Be careful out there.

 

[fdmars]

Fire72, thanks for the post, I have heard this type of story on this site before and it is not one that I never really thought of...the relationship of the hook point and the rear axle
So goes to show the value of this site and what one can learn, and more importantly that you are OK and did not get hurt.
Regards Fred

 

[Carykong]

Glad you could share your near mishap. Its hard to illuminate our mistakes on a public forum,yet from your post, somebody will read your account and gain the wisdom to avoid the same path that you took and may save his neck. Thank you for sharing.

 

[LBrown59]

This morning I took my 8N about 150 yards downhill from my house to retrieve my Gator, which I had gotten stuck in snow too deep for it. My 8N doesn't have a drawbar, so I rigged the tow strap to my 6' back blade. Had a complete brain fart and forgot to consider the height of the rigging in relation to the rear axle. Can anyone see the punch line coming? At an especially steep spot just below the house, the front wheels came up on me. The tires were about 4' off the ground before I could kick the clutch in and get the front end back down. After a brief pause to change my shorts, I re-rigged and finished the tow without incident.

The moral of the story? There isn't just one. Tow from the drawbar unless it's totally impossible to do so. That's what it's there for. Pay attention to what you're doing. I've been operating tractors on steep hills for years, but still made a dumb mistake by neglecting to check a very basic safety factor. All it took to correct the towing height was dropping the blade below the height of the axle.

With no ROPS and no seat belt on an 8N, I got away with my mistake by a combination of quick reflexes and sheer dumb luck. Many others haven't; back flips are frequently fatal. Be careful out there.

Are the rear tires filled?
I'd rather have a little slip and no flip.

 

[JB4310]

Don't know if you could have gone all the way over with the box blade, but you could of been thrown off maybe just as bad.

If you gotta do it just be expecting the worst and keep that foot on the clutch, ready to disengage. Should be second nature to a tractor operator.
Similar to when handling heavy loads with loader, especially up high, be ready for shifting load or other situations that requires rapid lowering of loader to prevent machine from going over. Always keep your hand on the stick.

JB.

 

[RoyJackson]

Are the rear tires filled?
I'd rather have a little slip and no flip.

Having the tires filled probably wouldn't have helped.
There was a study on rear roll overs done by one of the states' ag dept (or safety, like OSHA). I remember this well...if the tractor rears up, you have about ¾ of a second to react. After that, it's going all the way over. Also, once the tractor reaches about 75° (relative to the surface), inertia will keep it going the rest of the way.
Scary, isn't it?

 

[20 20]

8n's were known for this, years back had a neighbor flip one on her, she died.

 

[Toyboy]

I darn near did that with my old Case 446 loading it on a trailer at too steep of an angle with ramps that were too short. I slammed it in reverse just in time. I know I was looking at the tree tops. And yes, you do have to change your shorts even with a small machine.

 

[lakeside]

Thanks for sharing your story. Probably most of us have done some really dumb things, I know I've done more than my share. We usually get way with it with a scare and maybe having to change our shorts every once and awhile.

By sharing stories like yours we can all learn. I've shared a few dumb things here and I hope someone else won't repeat my mistakes.

 

[tugboat-2]

A great lesson and a good reminder to others!!! I have no idea where I got the "instinct" to jump on the clutch,...but I too learned that scary lesson at age 8 and I have NEVER,..EVER,..forgotten it!!!

Trying to pull a dump truck out of the mud and it was the adult who chained it up,.......he also learned a very scary lesson that day!

As Roy pointed out,...you have a "split" second to react,...other wise you find yourself in a position where pushing down on the clutch,...only pushes you backwards off the seat because of your awkward, worsening angle.

My only advice would be to STOP,....and seriously consider, (think about) what it is you are about to do,...BEFORE you do it. I know that is not always what we are going to do,...BUT,..BUT,...when it comes to tractors,...TRY to train your brain that way because with tractors,...you don't always get a second chance!!

I was extremely lucky,...as was the OP !!! Thanks for posting this danger!

CHEERS!
. . tug

 

[Lunk]

Excellent Post!

Sometimes it's way to easy to become complacent, and if you're lucky, you can reflect on it later without major injury.

Another lesson (don't ask me how I know...) is this:

When you hook your $100.00, 6" wide, 30' long, 20 ton Keeper snatch strap to a bush you are pulling out, use the drawbar, and make sure the box-blade is all the way up.

I ended up with a 25' long strap after that. Amazing how quickly / cleanly it cut it. You'd think a box-blade wouldn't be that sharp...

My .02

Lunk

 

[RoyJackson]

Here's another one...read this one when I first got on TBN about 10 years ago (but it was not a TBN post)...

Pretty sure this happened in Nebraska. Farmer left his tractor on a field overnight in freezing temperatures. He got on it the next day (morning, I suppose), started it and put it in gear. The rear wheels had frozen to the ground and the tractor rotated about the rear axle.
Killed him...

I don't normally leave my 790 outside overnight...but if I do, I used to shift into reverse gear first (just in case). That did get me into researching tractor safety and safety related incidents.

A bit off topic, but still safety related...guy was operating a 770 (very similar to the 790) and was trying to shift gears on a slope. Well, he didn't and went for a wild ride down slope. Problem was a steep drop off at the end of the slope. The tractor ended up on top of him. A 770 is a relatively small tractor, but still pretty close to a ton. He was killed too.

 

[bstrom]

You guys seen this one?


YouTube - Man Trapped Under Tractor

 

[JB4310]

A bit off topic, but still safety related...guy was operating a 770 (very similar to the 790) and was trying to shift gears on a slope. Well, he didn't and went for a wild ride down slope.

This can happen with hydro machine as well, it did to me when I tried changing ranges on a slope and hit neutral. It was a bit of a wake up, since with hydro you rarely use brakes, it took me a long second to realise I better get on the brakes.

JB.

 

[tugboat-2]

YES,..Roy Jackson,...very good point! Tires frozen down and the consequences thereof. I've had my truck and tractor tires frozen to the ground overnight and it is a worrisome experience. With the truck, probably the most likely action if you tried to gun 'er on out of there,...would be to simply "tear" the tires up.

But with the tractor, it can be a whole different matter. As I mentioned before on a much older post,...a tractor's main job is to "turn" its driving wheels. Most everything about a tractor, (especially older models) is fairly direct, firm and made to just get down and "drive" those wheels!

There is no spring suspension to absorb or warn of mistakes, just solid driveing action,.... and by golly a tractor worth it's salt will do its doggondest to get that job done! So yes,.. it will "turn" those wheels one way or another and if the wheels refuse to turn because they are frozen to the ground, or because the tow is impossible to move, (tooo big or too heavy),... that tractor won't disappoint you,... no sir, it will do its job and get those wheels turning or else "turn" the tractor over in a back flip,...but it WILL turn "something" !!!

Todays ROPS in combination with a "connected" seat-belt,.... will go a long way to providing an operator with a "lucky" second chance.

In today's way of life, we tend to just jump in the car and go,... and/or just jump on the tractor and go!! With the tractor, because they "can" be very dangerous,.. we really should get in the habit of going a tad slower,.. THINK about the task immediately ahead BEFORE beginning,.... could save your life!!

Be careful out there !!!!

CHEERS!
. . tug

 

[JoelD]

If you can't hook strap below axle level, then go under the tractor and find a spot up front to hook to. Impossible to flip the tractor that way.

Joel

 

[Renze]

With no ROPS and no seat belt on an 8N, I got away with my mistake by a combination of quick reflexes and sheer dumb luck. Many others haven't; back flips are frequently fatal. Be careful out there.

If you did nothing, your tractor would move the front axle a couple of inches further up untill the blade drops to the ground, which is the ultimate backflip safety device.
I like to pull from the toplink with the 3pt scoop to rip out trees. I can adjust the weight transfer in varying surface conditions to get max. grip but it cant move the front axle more than 6 feet before the bucket touches the ground and i loose all traction.

When tightening fencewires, i used to take the old 2011 and let it climb into the wire so the front tires are 3 feet in the air, then close the throttle so the tractor stalls. Then i have time to tighten those wires to the corner poles, works much better than a parking brake.