iam2sam
Member
Not sure if my experience will add anything useful to the discussion at this point, but I will share it in the event it might. I own some steep-ish vacation property with a dirt access road that has ~150' at 15-deg or slightly steeper, and has a slight RH curve. A few years back I rented a T6. I tried towing it up with my F250 4x4 V10. Got stuck nearly at the top of that grade. Because of the curve and my inexperience at towing, when I tried to back down I got the trailer wheel stuck in the drainage ditch. I decided to back the Terramite off the trailer from there (not many other options 
Add to the grade the angle of the ramps and the fact that the RH ramp was resting in the ditch, not on road surface. I started to back the tractor off by nudging the pedal into reverse, then returned it to a neutral position (so far as I could determine.) The tractor, once motion was started, _did_ continue to roll backward down the ramps after changing pedal position, at a speed that was greater than suited my comfort level. I decided to counter this by nudging the pedal into forward, thinking I could feather it and use for braking. Not. The T6 went vertical, and I was momentarily stuck at an angle that afforded a great view of blue sky and cumulus clouds through my trees. After the adrenalin rush subsided, I let off the pedal, and the tractor slowly returned its front tires to the ramp, after which I was able to complete backing off, and ascended the grade with tractor alone uneventfully. Now, this was a rental unit, and may have been pretty well abused. I also may have slightly misjudged neutral position on the pedal as a result of my own angle from horizontal. Nevertheless, the tractor did appear to (continue to) roll backward at a slow walking pace while the engine was running and the pedal was in a (more-or-less) neutral position, then abruptly did a wheelstand when I attempted to use the pedal to brake. Wheelstands are exciting and fun on a dirt bike, still exciting, but somewhat less fun on a tractor My wife describes this incident as the time she saw _my_ life flash before _her_ eyes... I now own a T5 that I plan to take down to this property as soon as I complete a bit of fixing up. I'm planning to drive the tractor up my access road on its own.
Add to the grade the angle of the ramps and the fact that the RH ramp was resting in the ditch, not on road surface. I started to back the tractor off by nudging the pedal into reverse, then returned it to a neutral position (so far as I could determine.) The tractor, once motion was started, _did_ continue to roll backward down the ramps after changing pedal position, at a speed that was greater than suited my comfort level. I decided to counter this by nudging the pedal into forward, thinking I could feather it and use for braking. Not. The T6 went vertical, and I was momentarily stuck at an angle that afforded a great view of blue sky and cumulus clouds through my trees. After the adrenalin rush subsided, I let off the pedal, and the tractor slowly returned its front tires to the ramp, after which I was able to complete backing off, and ascended the grade with tractor alone uneventfully. Now, this was a rental unit, and may have been pretty well abused. I also may have slightly misjudged neutral position on the pedal as a result of my own angle from horizontal. Nevertheless, the tractor did appear to (continue to) roll backward at a slow walking pace while the engine was running and the pedal was in a (more-or-less) neutral position, then abruptly did a wheelstand when I attempted to use the pedal to brake. Wheelstands are exciting and fun on a dirt bike, still exciting, but somewhat less fun on a tractor My wife describes this incident as the time she saw _my_ life flash before _her_ eyes... I now own a T5 that I plan to take down to this property as soon as I complete a bit of fixing up. I'm planning to drive the tractor up my access road on its own.