Bob_Skurka
Super Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2003
- Messages
- 7,615
Regarding hills, I think I qualify as owning a few of those, some steep enough that only the little garden tractors go on because the bigger toys would flip over backwards . . . so I've puckered a few times in a few places on my land and thankfully have never rolled.
But here is my take on it. <font color="red"> WEAR YOUR SEATBELT, keep your arms tucked in, and let the ROPS do its job. </font>
We were running some electical lines down to my pool house and pool, which sits 100 feet from the house, much of that distance is downhill. The senior electrician strapped an apprentice into the cage of a "Ditch Witch" and pointed him in the general direction of where we needed to end up . . . his parting words to the newbie were: "WHEN it starts to roll on you, just stay inside the cage!"
I trust my ROPS but I don't want to test it. As for building a roll cage, that is a PROFESSIONAL project and you run into some problems because if you don't built it strong enough the front of the cage could collapse down on you. And you run into the problem of connecting it up to the ROPS. Drilling or welding to the ROPS would likely void its warrenty as it would potentially damage the structural integrity. You'd probably want to clamp the roll cage to the ROPS and then weld the front connections of the roll cage directly to the frame of the tractor.
I think wheel weights or fluid loading the tiress might be a very smart idea for you because it keeps the center of gravity low. On my B2910 I have iron plate under the frame to pull the C.O.G. down. On my NH TC24D I have EZ-Weights installed inside the wheels. On my Cub Cadet I have factory wheel weights on the rears. I prefer iron to fluid becuase if you get a flat you don't get a leak, but many prefer fluid fills and it can lower the C.O.G. lower than iron weight. If you want to see what EZ weights are, at the bottome of this post is a link to the custom weights I put on the front wheels of my NH TC24D to prevent my tractor from popping wheelies and tipping over backwards . . .
<font color="red"> Do NOT operate the F.E.L. without rear weights, filled tires, wheel weights, or the backhoe attached. A heavy bucket combined with a light rear end will flip your tractor (and I have a story about a very close call I had about a month ago . . . it is posted somewhere on this board) </font> /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
EZ Weights on the Front Wheels of a Class I Boomer
But here is my take on it. <font color="red"> WEAR YOUR SEATBELT, keep your arms tucked in, and let the ROPS do its job. </font>
We were running some electical lines down to my pool house and pool, which sits 100 feet from the house, much of that distance is downhill. The senior electrician strapped an apprentice into the cage of a "Ditch Witch" and pointed him in the general direction of where we needed to end up . . . his parting words to the newbie were: "WHEN it starts to roll on you, just stay inside the cage!"
I trust my ROPS but I don't want to test it. As for building a roll cage, that is a PROFESSIONAL project and you run into some problems because if you don't built it strong enough the front of the cage could collapse down on you. And you run into the problem of connecting it up to the ROPS. Drilling or welding to the ROPS would likely void its warrenty as it would potentially damage the structural integrity. You'd probably want to clamp the roll cage to the ROPS and then weld the front connections of the roll cage directly to the frame of the tractor.
I think wheel weights or fluid loading the tiress might be a very smart idea for you because it keeps the center of gravity low. On my B2910 I have iron plate under the frame to pull the C.O.G. down. On my NH TC24D I have EZ-Weights installed inside the wheels. On my Cub Cadet I have factory wheel weights on the rears. I prefer iron to fluid becuase if you get a flat you don't get a leak, but many prefer fluid fills and it can lower the C.O.G. lower than iron weight. If you want to see what EZ weights are, at the bottome of this post is a link to the custom weights I put on the front wheels of my NH TC24D to prevent my tractor from popping wheelies and tipping over backwards . . .
<font color="red"> Do NOT operate the F.E.L. without rear weights, filled tires, wheel weights, or the backhoe attached. A heavy bucket combined with a light rear end will flip your tractor (and I have a story about a very close call I had about a month ago . . . it is posted somewhere on this board) </font> /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
EZ Weights on the Front Wheels of a Class I Boomer
