Preventing a rollover with a backhoe stabilizer

[Jaylegger]

I guess it also goes without saying that moving forward slow and steady is paramount as well. The centrifugal (rollover) force created when and if a tire drops down into a rut or if for some reason you turn into the hill is a square of the speed. ie: doubling your tractor speed will increase the centrifugal forces by 4 and conversely simply reducing your speed from 4mph to 2mph will reduce centrifugal forces by a factor of 4.

 

[Goodluck w/ That]

It would make me feel safer, can't hurt to have a brace out there to catch you, kinda like a wheelie bar on your side.

 

[RayCo]

Cool. This all is what I expected (or hoped) to hear. There was a small part of me that feared that five people would jump in with, "Don't do that! If it starts to roll, it will change the pivot point and crush your spine!" or some other alarming thing I hadn't thought of. So, not seeing any of that, I'll keep it filed where I already had it, in the "it can't hurt" category. Thanks.

 

[jlrsn]

Your stabilizers are designed to stabilize your tractor while using your backhoe, changing a rear tire, and for many other uses but they require solid footing below them. A couple of days ago I went to dig a ditch to divert snow runoff from leaving a foot of what I thought was standing water from around my well head. I put both stabilizers down and they kept doing down into the wet soil and never raised my rear tires at all. My only stability was my lowered FEL Bucket. I was reaching out 13' and very carefully retracting the BH Bucket digging the ditch but finally chickened out when I slowly took a full bucket off to one side to dump it and the whole tractor started going over. I should have put some 1" thick squares of plywood or something under the stabilizer feet but I finished the ditch with a shovel by hand.

That's when I discovered a rapid flow of water coming up from a old tree stump about 20' away and flowing past my wellhead and my ditch became a little fast flowing stream! Yesterday I uncovered a neighbor's septic tank that was on a slope with my backhoe but I had firm footing. I'm retired and don't work my backhoe for hire but will help friends. Keep a few 2x10 planks 4 or more feet long or thick plywood squares for firm BH footing and use them when nec. Many truck cranes and backhoes have toppled on level ground due to soft soil.
Jim

 

[Tractor Factor]

I guess it also goes without saying that moving forward slow and steady is paramount as well. The centrifugal (rollover) force created when and if a tire drops down into a rut or if for some reason you turn into the hill is a square of the speed. ie: doubling your tractor speed will increase the centrifugal forces by 4 and conversely simply reducing your speed from 4mph to 2mph will reduce centrifugal forces by a factor of 4.

Cool stuff. I think we can all sense this and therefore instinctively slow down, but it's eye-opening to put numbers on it. Isn't it fascinating how many things in the natural world are subject to mathematical formulas involving squares and inverse squares? For instance, if I recall correctly, decibel levels increase by the square of the distance to the sound source.

And now back to your regularly scheduled post...

 

[mustangsallysdad]

Cool stuff. I think we can all sense this and therefore instinctively slow down, but it's eye-opening to put numbers on it. Isn't it fascinating how many things in the natural world are subject to mathematical formulas involving squares and inverse squares? For instance, if I recall correctly, decibel levels increase by the square of the distance to the sound source.

And now back to your regularly scheduled post...

Yep...I remember (it's been a long time) taking Calculus, Trig., Geometry and Algebra in high school...being the 17 year old "genius" I was at he time, I remember thinking that there's no way I'm ever going to need this crap in the real world. Move ahead 35 years and there's hardly a day goes by that I don't use an element of one of those principles. And Dads, do your children a favor as my Dad did with me...teach them to read a tape measure...a lot of grown men have no idea how to read one. Knowing how also helps calculate fractions in your head which comes in pretty handy.