My first tractor operating scare

Cityboyfarmer · Jun 6, 2005

MFL,

Judging by your roll-over photo, it sure doesn't take much of a hill or depression in the ground to tip over. The laws of physics and gravity can be quite unforgiving when combined with certain conditions. I didn't think I was on much of a hill at the time.......

gabby · Jun 6, 2005

( Hey Gabby! Where in Georgia are you? )

Hey City Boy!
I'm near Thomson, about 30 miles west of Augusta. www.pinetopfarm.com.
gabby

MFL · Jun 6, 2005

City,

FEL too high, ground too soft, and a bad choice of counter weight on the back end. I had been working with the tractor for about 4 hours when it tipped. Been going over the same ground laying in fill dirt in a depression when the ground gave way under the front left wheel. All said and done, I walked away with a h*ll of a scare, a great lesson and almost no damage to the Kubota. Some friends that stumped and graded our property had some HUGE Cat dozers out back when this happened and they put me back on my feet. They've been in the earth moving business for over twenty years, and were too happy to share all of their war stories. Flipping dozers, excavators, tractors, etc. Made me feel not-so-bad about laying down my baby! The pic is the Kubota after I gave her the once-over and a bath, and her paramedic!

Maybe it's just something about GA clay that likes to suck in tractors!

gizmo · Jun 7, 2005

Yea, I did nearly the same thing right after I got my loader. I had enough wits about me to slam the control into float which took care of the situation really fast.

I also had another event with my older tractor that looked like something right out of a cartoon. I was hauling a long log on the end of my boom pole through the woods (too fast) when the log turned sidways and caught between two trees. I was up at 45 degrees in about a half second. Clutch and brake saved my bacon.

Cityboyfarmer · Jun 7, 2005

Hi Mike!

Nice web page. Family is the #1 reason in my mind for safety.

I graduated Jonesboro High School in 1982. Small world. Is your land in Clayton County?

LBrown59 · Jun 28, 2005

my left front wheel rode slightly up the pile and the tractor tilts to the right, lifting the left rear wheel off the ground! 
=================
 Approach the pile slowly - don't lift the bucket till the list minute - keep an eye on where your wheels are heading and the type of surface they will be going over.

Never get in a hurry: When tempted to get in a rush I remind myself that no matter how long it's taking with the tractor I am way ahead time wise compared to doing it by hand.
Keep in mind the slowest tractor is much faster than the speediest shovel and wheel borrow,

TractorLegend · Jul 3, 2005

I was made aware this weekend on my hilly terrain pulling heavy tree poles up hills and around curved driveway that you could turn a tractor over sideways with not much effort.
In my case a Kioti CK30HST with poles chained up and attached to bucket I could get the tractor to lift one rear wheel off ground (which is NOT good).
It would be a benefit to lift the poles slightly to not dig into the driveway but not worth dying for.

JimMorrissey · Jul 7, 2005

City...What kind of counter weight are you using on rear end of your machine and how much does it weigh? Enough counter weight is critical for operating a loader safely.

I've had that happen multiple times with a BX and a L3830. Not a great feeling, but if you drop the loader AFAP you will take care of the situation.

Cityboyfarmer · Jul 7, 2005

Jim,

I had a box blade on the back, 500-600# maybe. Not enough I learned. The position I was in was not conducive to dropping the loader. I believe it would have tipped me on over had I floated the loader down because it was raised over the dirt pile. The loader would have hit the pile and kept the tipping momentum going. I believe in most cases it is good advice to drop the loader, though not in this instance.

JimMorrissey · Jul 9, 2005

Hummm, 5 or 6 hundred pounds sounds pretty good on the back end. In the future, consider lowering your counter balance....low enough that it doesn't drag, but the lower the better on the rear end.