Interesting (but stupid) experience...

[Henro]

I am putting in a sewer line from the house down to the new line that went in last year, but is as yet not operational. I am trying to get it done before the snow flies...as when the powers that be decide it is time...you are given 90 days...don't like working in the snow and freezing rain too much...My goal is to get it in and inspected and back filled, and to only have to worry about swinging it over at the house end when the time comes...

Anyway, locally they want you to support and cover the pipe with stone or gravel rahter than sand. Since the trench goes about 260 feet down behind the house, I decide I will just go up a little bank behind the house and swing to the left to drop a load of 1B crushed limestone...

OK going up and over, but when backing out, the front of the tractor starts to slide down and the bucket rests against a pine tree.

So far so good, until I notice the up-hill front wheel is about 4" off the ground...

Backhoe was on, so I extended it as I swung it towards the up-hill side...front wheel on the up hills side did not lower...

Starting to feel uncomfortable...Even though my head is telling me the slope is not that great...

 

[Henro]

Now I know that does not look like much of an angle...

But when you are on the tractor, and you see the front right wheel about 4 inches off the ground, and the bucket resting agains the tree, you start to wonder...

My head was saying don't worry about it. My gut was saying...think this out carefully. This picture shows the front up-hill wheel in the air. The loader bucket was not lifting it. I just sat the loader back on top of the dirt before getting off the tractor...

 

[Henro]

Another shot that shows the front wheel a little better.

One thing that made me feel more comfortable with the situation was that I could grab the loader bucket and pull it off the tree a little...that told me that the tractor was not really trying to tip on its side...

 

[Henro]

A final shot before I got back on and back out of the problem.

I had to use the steering brakes to get free, as without them the front end just wanted to slide down the hill, which was prevented by the tree.

Locking the left rear wheel and applying rear motivation caused the tractor to pivot around the rear left wheel and I could back down as easy as pie.

This is really a none issue post...but it could have been an issue I suppose had the tree not been there to keep the front end from sliding down to the left [and into the ditch?].

But more importantly...it is an example how we can sometimes get ourselves into trouble, even when we should know better... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Message: Think before you act and you will be a happier camper! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RonR]

Henro--looks plenty scarey to me! I'm not familiar with the BH. Can you drop the down hill pad?

I was putting the finishing touches on a job today for a guy planting grass (I know--it's too late, but he wanted it done). This area was at the rear of his property and beyond where he sodded. It had a slope similar to your pic.

I first had to mow it, then used the scarifier teeth to loosen it up. Tilled it a coupla days ago. Today it was harrowing to put in the seed.

TWICE today, I got in situations where the uphill rear wheel was off the ground. Scared the stuffing out of me. Obviously, I was crawling super slow, had the FEL almost skimming the ground.

I told my buddy the owner this was the last job I would take working on slopes like that. Just too risky! Now if I had a small dozer, maybe...................... Working in the small gulleys where water had washed ruts was just too tippy for me.

I survived today and won't get in that spot again if I can help it.

Ron

 

[aardvark]

I know they exact feeling you are describing. Last weekend I removed the backhoe from the BX23 so I could tow around the landscape cart in a failed attempt to sift junk out of topsoil. Anyway, once that was done, I moved on to moving concrete blocks, but I didn't put the backhoe back on since I was going to use the cart again when I was done. Anyway, to make a long story short, as I was backing up, the front right tire went down in a ditch that was about 8" deep, and the bucket started pulling the left rear tire off the ground. Luckily, I was going *really* slow, and the loader was only about 6" off the ground, but that was enough to perfectly balance the tractor on two wheels, with it teetering back and forth. Dropping the bucket fixed half of my stupidity. Re-installing the backhoe while moving the rest of the concrete blocks fixed the other half. I was ready for a break after that one.

 

[Henro]

Oh, almost forget...what was interesting about this???

Simply that the front up-hill wheel was well off the ground, but the tractor was apparently really in no danger of tipping over.

I think it has to do with the geometry of the front pivot on the front axle...

Sort of like a table with a short leg...lean on that end, and the other opposite leg will raise off the floor, but the table is really in no danger of tipping...

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> TWICE today, I got in situations where the uphill rear wheel was off the ground. Scared the stuffing out of me. </font>

RonR,

As opposed to the front wheel being up in the air, I am pretty sure a rear wheel up in the air on a side slope is REALLY SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT.

In my view you always want your rear wheels on the ground...

Wonder if there really is a practical difference though. Maybe someone has thought this out and has an answer...?

 

[daedong]

Henro,

On the Daedong (kioti) one front wheel can easly lift off the ground due to the restricted movment through the centre pivot of the diff, in fact this is one of it biggest down falls of the Kioti. On sand if you try and traverse at an angle across a sandy slope the upper most wheel ends up with no weight on it so then it spins, no diff lock in front so 4WD is finished, bummer. But believe me if your back wheel leaves the ground you could be in for a bigger bummer.

The answer is that there need to be more movement through the centre pivot.

 

[daedong]

Henro,

The sewer pipe you are laying is it white-grey 6" PVC pipe?

What sort of system are you on at the moment, septic with a soakage pit?