roadhunter
Elite Member
It's amazing how even a little slope can feel like you are tipping on a tractor. Like was mentioned earlier all it takes is a tire going in a dip to lay the whole thing over when you are working on a slope.
The attachment points for the FEL on my Kubota are above the Center of Gravity (COG) of the tractor, so whenever the bucket is off the ground it will exert a tipping influence, especially on a side hill.
The attachment points for the FEL on my Kubota are above the Center of Gravity (COG) of the tractor, so whenever the bucket is off the ground it will exert a tipping influence, especially on a side hill. Dropping the bucket eliminates the tipping force immediately, so when things get steep I keep a hand on the FEL control and have developed a reflex to push that handle hard into the float position. That said, having the bucket up can act as an early warning that tipping is imminent, and provide a way to stop it when I feel a back wheel lift. For that reason I would never use the tractor on a side hill without the FEL in place. Without it, i'd have no way of quickly stopping a roll over.
This the kind of thing I was referring to in my previous post; 2 good pieces of advice that seem at odds with each other.
My BX is a very small tractor, but I think the overall physics principles remain the same regardless of the size. To satisfy myself about how it handled my hill, I decked it out in "dig" mode. The rear tires are loaded. I have a 275# weight bar for the 3ph, I added 50# of weights to the rear wheels and had the fel on (which IIRC is about 400 lbs). I parked on my hill, bucket just off the ground, got off and pushed on the ROPS. I could lift the rear wheel with one hand. I then went back to the garage, removed the bar, wheel weights, and fel. I tried the experiment again and couldn't lift the rear wheel at all. The tractor was much more stable on the hillside w/o the fel. The reasoning is simple. The fel transfers a LOT of weight forward from the solid rear axle to the tippy front axle. All tractors will follow this idea, though obviously the numbers can vary a lot. And it goes to show that I want to increase the rear weight even more. :thumbsup:
So while the fel slammed to the ground can help stabilize a tractor that has started to tip, there is a decent chance that the tractor may not have been unstable at all if the fel were left in the garage. But we buy them to do work and if that work requires a fel, so be it. Just keep your hand on the stick.
Right on, Richard. In that last instant when it hits the stops, it will help, but whether that is enough is questionable because we speak of these things in a static manner but the situations are always dynamic with motion and momentum involved. And once it hits the stop, the pucker alarm is blaring or you should get it replaced.The part I highlighted is missed by most users. The front axle is doing nothing to keep you on your wheels until the oscillator has maxed out. By then you'll wish you were somewhere else.....![]()
I was Deployed late 2005 thru late 2006. My wife was left with the task of mowing. She was very concerned about tipping the tractor. I bought a cheap tilt meter and installed it on our Kubota B2910. Told her to use the gauge to get accustomed to the tractor and it's abilities. Told her to never exceed 15 degree side slope. The tractor was amazingly stable at that angle so figured I gave her enough cushion that she wouldn't have problems and she didn't.
Here are some pics I took of that tractor using a rope hanging off the ROPS to show actual tilt of the tractor as well as the gauge. I posted these pics on TBN nine years ago as an example in a thread similar to this. I think any tractor will function at 15 degrees. Obviously I'm wayyyy past that in these pics.
Maybe purchase a tilt meter and do some experimenting on your own to find your "safe" place.
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