Beltzington
Platinum Member
Scared the **** out of myself yesterday because I thought I was going to roll, it happened so fast it was over before I fully comprehended what was going on. Last weekend I had hooked my RC up after it had sat all winter for the first mow of the year, something I have done dozens of times. After mowing 8-acres while putting the tractor up I did not like the way the RC was aligned on the tractor so I adjusted the lift arm stabilizer bars to center the RC with the tractor and than put it under the shed.
Yesterday we went out to enjoy the nice day and work a couple projects and my wife had gone down to our pond to feed the fish, I try and run the tractor at least once a week so I jumped on fired her up and headed down the slope toward the pond, the RC was fully raised and I was only going 4-5 MPH. I was heading straight downhill and all at once the tractor slid sideways, muscle memory made me turn downhill but I was sure it was going over. It slide sideways about 15' and to my relief straitened back out, I still had no idea what had happened. I got off and walked around the tractor and everything looked normal, from the skid marks it was obvious the left rear wheel had locked up but still I could not figure out why. The soil in that area is the worse kind of clay and we had had a couple good rains so it was wet and slick but nothing I was not used to. Still confused I wrote it off that I should have had it in 4WD and it never would of happened. The tractor had basically slid to the bottom of the hill, so I walked the rest of the way to join my wife feeding the fish, and calm down.
Leaving the pond I put it in 4WD and slowly started backup the slope, as soon as I turned slightly sideways I heard some major clanking and this time when I looked it became clear what had happened. When I had adjusted the lift arm stabilizer bars I had put the left locking pin it the hole at the front of the slotted section of the adjustment bar, with the RC lifted it could swing just far enough to the left to allow the front RC chain guard to contact the left rear tire. Because of the slick clay and no 4WD I had basically turned my tractor into a zero turn with nothing to keep it from pivoting around the locked up left wheel. I think it was more luck than driving skill because after the tractor turned sideways the RC swung to the downhill side which allowed the left tire to start rolling again and saved my bacon. Going forward you can be sure I will insure the RC cannot swing into either tire and start wearing my seat belt even on short trips.
Yesterday we went out to enjoy the nice day and work a couple projects and my wife had gone down to our pond to feed the fish, I try and run the tractor at least once a week so I jumped on fired her up and headed down the slope toward the pond, the RC was fully raised and I was only going 4-5 MPH. I was heading straight downhill and all at once the tractor slid sideways, muscle memory made me turn downhill but I was sure it was going over. It slide sideways about 15' and to my relief straitened back out, I still had no idea what had happened. I got off and walked around the tractor and everything looked normal, from the skid marks it was obvious the left rear wheel had locked up but still I could not figure out why. The soil in that area is the worse kind of clay and we had had a couple good rains so it was wet and slick but nothing I was not used to. Still confused I wrote it off that I should have had it in 4WD and it never would of happened. The tractor had basically slid to the bottom of the hill, so I walked the rest of the way to join my wife feeding the fish, and calm down.
Leaving the pond I put it in 4WD and slowly started backup the slope, as soon as I turned slightly sideways I heard some major clanking and this time when I looked it became clear what had happened. When I had adjusted the lift arm stabilizer bars I had put the left locking pin it the hole at the front of the slotted section of the adjustment bar, with the RC lifted it could swing just far enough to the left to allow the front RC chain guard to contact the left rear tire. Because of the slick clay and no 4WD I had basically turned my tractor into a zero turn with nothing to keep it from pivoting around the locked up left wheel. I think it was more luck than driving skill because after the tractor turned sideways the RC swung to the downhill side which allowed the left tire to start rolling again and saved my bacon. Going forward you can be sure I will insure the RC cannot swing into either tire and start wearing my seat belt even on short trips.
