Near Miss

[fenneran]

I wanted to share an "Upholstery Pinching" moment that I had this weekend. We had a large Maple tree cut down and the tree guys left all the wood for me to deal with. The pieces were cut about 18" long, and the main trunk was about 30"-36" in diameter, so some of the pieces were quite stout.

I was taking the big pieces to my gully, using a big ratchet strap to tie them to the FEL so they would not get away. One of them was jsut too big to fit in the bucket the way I wanted it to, and the strap kept falling off (would not get a good grip on the stump), but I was able to get it set in the bucket if I put it up high and "jiggled" it a little. No big deal, I thought to myself, I'll drive slow with the bucket up and it will be fine.

It wasn't.

I forgot the basic rule of FEL usage: keep it low. As I started to back away from the tree site, one of my rear wheels hit a low spot. Not much, maybe 4 inches lower than the other, but it was enough. I went up on two wheels and immediately knew I was in trouble. I leaned my body way to the other side (left) which compensated enough to get it back down on all fours. After I caught my breath, I used my toe to gently bring the FEL back to earth.

Amazing how you can get sloppy for a moment and things go south in a hurry.

 

[JerryG]

Thank goodness, you were lucky. As large as my tractor it doesn't do any good to move my personal weight round. If the load is in question, I keep my hand on the joystick. That way, I can drop the loader very quickly. I have had to do that more than once. I'm glad that you're alright. Once in a while when someone quits posting, I wonder if something bad happened. If it did we more than likely would never know.

 

[SkyPup]

One of my basic tractoring rules is to always keep my hand on the joystick when something is in the FEL, another is to always keep the load as low as possible at all times.

 

[Thomas]

Afternoon fenneran.
Glad you came out okay...whew...yeah those kinda lessons we pass on to others.

 

[3RRL]

Man, I know that feeling when you get "air". Hahaha ... stretches the old pucker factor to the limit. Keep your hand on the fel joystick and carry low as you found out. Also, for big heavy stuff, consider dragging until you are near your destination and then lift or even push into position. Good luck.

 

[dirtworksequip]

fenneran, did you have your seatbelt on? If you did good for you! If you didn't "Shame,shame,shame on you!"

 

[Iowachild]

fenneran, did you have your seatbelt on? If you did good for you! If you didn't "Shame,shame,shame on you!"

Before you answer that question, do you have a ROPS? Everything I have read says "NO ROPS, No Seatbelt"!

 

[fenneran]

ROPS: yes
Seatbelt: No

I have an old Yanmar and found a ROPS at an auction last year. Had a friend modify it to fit and got it installed, but the seatbelt does not work (just pulls out, but never engages). I keep meaning to get it fixed......