Can all tractors flip over easy?

[Learning2Tractor]

I thought about buying an older tractor like an 8N, but then I started reading about them flipping over. I'm sure you can use common sense be pretty safe, but I got to thinking that maybe all tractors could flip? Was looking for advice on safety. I was thinking I probably need a sub compact now because they look safer, but I could be fooling myself.

It for plowing new ground with stumps and roots, mostly the leftover roots.

Edit: I have no experience with tractors, if you couldn't tell.

 

[marhar]

I thought about buying an older tractor like an 8N, but then I started reading about them flipping over. I'm sure you can use common sense be pretty safe, but I got to thinking that maybe all tractors could flip? Was looking for advice on safety. I was thinking I probably need a sub compact now because they look safer, but I could be fooling myself.

It for plowing new ground with stumps and roots, mostly the leftover roots.

Edit: I have no experience with tractors, if you couldn't tell.

All tractors can flip. IMO the greatest risk is going back and forth on a hill rather than up and down the hill. I recall the 8N did not come with ROP, I would buy ROP and install. A friend of a friend was bush hogging going up the hill (which is safe compared to back and forth) the bush hog caught a stump, the front end came off the ground and the tractor flipped killing the operator. Always use a seatbelt.

Also be careful around the PTO shaft. It is safest to stay away from the shaft while it is spinning. If you get close to it and it is missing the guard or the guard is spinning your clothes can get tangled and pull you in. I have witnessed an employee get a sleeve tangled in a shaft, NOT on a tractor but in a machine shop.

 

[Cougsfan]

Any tractor can flip, but some easier than others. You can do things to reduce the tendency to flip, like filing the wheels with fluid or adding ballast. Things like that can make a big difference. The way you work the tractor can have an effect also. Tractors go straight up and down a slope a lot more safely than traversing the slope sideways. Turning up a hill is less stable than turning down a hill. Going fast on a side hill increases the chance of rolling over. FEL's can be very dangerous to lift very high on hills. Common sense is the the biggest safety factor, and just a small amount of that will keep you safe.

I have two tractors, a 6 year old Branson cabbed 47 hp tractor and a 65 year old Ferguson TO35. I also have some very hilly property. It took me a while to realize this, but I do all my mowing now-a-days with the old Ferguson rather than the comfy air-conditioned Branson as I have found that the Ferguson is considerably more stable on some of the more severe slopes. Both have filled tires. Using that as my only basis, I would say that new Compact utility tractors aren't necessarily less prone to roll overs than old tractors, but I may be wrong.

 

[scaredychicken]

even the sub-compacts can flip.

caution and knowledge improves skill

stay safe

 

[fatjay]

Flipping is front to back, rolling is side to side.

I have a ferguson To30 and it's not easy to roll because I have the tires flipped, which gives it an abnormally wide stance. Dragging the box blade is fine because the 3pt is mounted below the axle, so if it gets stuck on something the front wheels dig into the ground, rather than coming up.

My oliver industrial 77 is super easy to roll, because it's center of gravity is so damned high. I haven't rolled it, but I can see how it would be easy to do so.

 

[redman135]

Hello Learning2tractor, Yes, ANY tractor can roll (so can cars)if you do things badly wrong.
Learn about "Centre-of-Gravity" and how it effects tractors

Things YOU can DO to POSITIVELY affect a tractors stability:ADJUSTABLE RIMS, set them wide, positve "arseometer" feel.
Fill rear tyres with liquid ballast.
Dual rear wheels, gives more width than single rear wheels (no need to dual up the front wheels on compact tractors).
Learn how ballast effects the balance of a tractor, ie heavy brush hog on rear and suitcase weights on front so you can steer properly.
Keep front end loader low to the ground.

Things YOU can DO to NEGATIVELY affect a tractors stability: Drive with loader up high (raises centre of gravity making it easier to roll). (common mistake).
Carry heavy load in loader up high, makes it VERY easy to roll
Carry attatchment on 3 point hitch at maximum height(raises centre of gravity making it easier to roll).
Make sudden sharp turns with raised loader and/or attatchments(INCLUDES FLAT GROUND, not just slopes).

The single most important item is CENTRE OF GRAVITY, learn and understand this and how it affects a tractor and how to keep the C of G INSIDE your wheels.

Lastly this is a psycologically safe(you won't be flamed for ignorance), place to learn as EVERYONE on this forum started out with zero tractor knowledge at some stage, and learned by asking questions and gaining practical experience. In time you will be advising noobs
Good Luck

 

[4570Man]

Any tractor can and will hurt you. But those old tractors were prone to doing back flips if chained against something unmovable. A more modern tractor with small wheels has almost no chance of doing that especially with a loader attached.

 

[oosik]

I have 80 acres and some pretty steep hillsides. I simply do not go horizontal on steep slopes - common sense. I have my rear tires set at the widest setting and they are filled with Rimguard.

If I ever have to go into or on the steep areas - I go up/down - not horizontal.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Older tractors with tripod wheel configuration are easier to flip and roll.

 

[nyone]

I think the OP is talking about flipping over backwards. Any tractor can do that but I will say a 70yr old 20hp machine is not the machine to plow new ground with.

 

[RjCorazza]

All good info provided. You will be fine plowing on relatively level ground, even if you get anchored on a root. People get into trouble with machinery on slopes, and when chaining to anything but the drawbar.
Since you mention roots, if you need to pull any out, ALWAYS chain up to the drawbar! Chaining to the 3 point hitch (or anything higher than the center of gravity) greatly increases the chance of bringing the front end up and over.

 

[jeff9366]

I probably need a subcompact now because they look safer.

Its for plowing new ground with stumps and roots, mostly leftover roots.

I have no experience with tractors.

Subcompact tractors weigh 1,400 to 1,700 pounds. Subcompact tractors are fine for mowing grass and moving light loads around a smooth property in the FEL bucket. You can plow an established garden plot with a subcompact tractor, though most with a choice would prepare a garden with a PTO powered rototiller. Few employ subcompact weight tractors on more than two (2) smooth acres, three smooth acres tops.

As soon as a plow on a (light) subcompact tractor encounters any but the smallest underground root or other obstruction, including hard ground, the tractor will lose traction and stop.

When plowing dirt, tractor capability is a factor of 2-WD or 4-WD and tractor weight.

A 4-WD compact tractor with a bare tractor weight of at least 2,700 pounds, such as the Kubota L3901 in the second video, will pull a single bottom turning plow through almost any moist soil, including sod which has been first mowed VERY SHORT or previously killed with Roundup/Glycophosphate. Plow will sever tree roots up to 1" if roots are not too concentrated.

Compact tractors under 3,000 pounds bare weight operate in landscape, kitchen/commercial garden or hobby farm applications on one to ten flat acres.

BUY ENOUGH TRACTOR

 

[jeff9366]

I thought about buying an older tractor like an 8N.
I have no experience with tractors.

A Ford 8N will surely plow. But there are safer, easier to operate 10 year old to 20 year old compact tractors to learn on.

Ford 8N Weight
Shipping - no fluids	2,410 lbs 1093 kg
Operating	2,717 lbs 1232 kg

The compact tractor era functionally began when Henry Ford licensed Harry Ferguson's tractor and Three Point Hitch design in 1939. The tractor industry uniformly adopted the Three Point Hitch after 1955, when Ferguson's patents began to expire and his tractor and Three Point Hitch design were available to industry participants besides Ford open source.

Improvements in approximate order: Power Steering, "live" then "independent" PTOs, Rollover Protection, 4-WD, Industrial Tires, Loaders, later Loaders and attachments with SSQA couplers, synchromesh geared transmissions, Diesel Engines, heavier tractors with Category 2-3-4-5 TPH, TPH telescoping Lower Links + pin-adjustable Lower Link stabilizers, Landscaping tractors of <2,000 pounds bare tractor weight, hydrostatic transmissions, shuttle shift gear transmissions, cruise control, Cabs with heat and AC. And, continuously, shields separating operator from moving parts.

 

[workinonit]

I personally disagree with the statement that tractors flip easily. Be it backward or on their side. Don't get me wrong, tractors flip. I've seen it hundreds of times. Almost all of the times I've seen it was during the commissioning of something stupid. If an operator is aware of the limitations of equipment and operates it accordingly I surmise that operator will never flip their tractor. Of course suituations happen that take the operator and equipment out of their "bounds" and you get a roll over. Or some external force such as another driver causes a roll over or worse. But under normal operating conditions and within the bounds of the machine a tyractor is about as stable as machines come.

 

[dodge man]

I agree, tractors don’t flip easily, but any tractor can flip. On newer tractors the roll bar(ROPS) and safety belt make them safer.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

All go carts can flip. All golf carts can flip. I know first hand that 3 wheelers and 4 wheelers can flip. Tractors can flip too. If it has ROPS wear a seat belt. If no ROPS, don't wear a seat belt. Old tractors are fine. Mine is a 58 model. It's hilly here. Never flipped or rolled a tractor.

 

[npalen]

I wonder what happens with fluid filled tires in a rollover. It would seem that the momentum of the fluid might help flip a tractor over onto its top where it might have been just a roll on to its side.

 

[5030]

You can roll about anything if you try hard enough and have an empty head (no common sense).

 

[Raul-02]

maybe all tractors could flip?

Every one.
Not because they are unstable but rather because of what the operators are doing and the terrain.

I've come soooo close a few times. Always managed to get my bucket or grapple on the ground in a hurry.
One time the soil underneath me was so liquified I was sinking on one side and fast. These things come up on you really fast.
Go to Goodworks tractors youtube and watch his videos on how not to kill yourself or destroy your tractor.
There's other: Tractor Mike
Tractor Time with Tim
EverythingAtachments
Dave knows how
my wild kioti adventure
Tony's tractor adventure

 

[Eagle1]

One time the soil underneath me was so liquified I was sinking on one side and fast. These things come up on you really fast.

Been there more than once, in fact just yesterday. Digging out silt and expanding a wildlife pond that is most dry for the first time in 10 years., Rushing to beat the incoming rain. Got it 95% done last evening -- now to see what the storms did last night.