Pucker factor to the 10th degree !

[dcyrilc]

A little late to this thread, shows three pages already, but.....

I agree with dropping the bucket in a situation like this but why pick up the mower?

I would assume it's to get the full weight of the mower on the rear axle.

 

[missourithunder]

two_bit_score,
dcyrilc is correct (I love your last name by the way, the first three letters spells my last name, that is so cool). I didn't believe it at first until others mentioned it and then I played around a little tonight expermenting. It makes sense.

MT

 

[two_bit_score]

I would assume it's to get the full weight of the mower on the rear axle.

dcyrilc and MT, I see.


But...I gotta confess that I'd been hard pressed to think about dropping the mower.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

While the math is correct that lowering the FEL to lift the front wheels and lifting the mower would have been the correct thing to do to add traction to the rear wheel I think all are in agreement on that but would that have made things better at that point.

The issue is when events start there is only time to react and not many mentally practice recovering from these types of accidents. The physics can get complex.

With the rear wheels siding and the front ones off the ground to transfer weight to the rear wheels who knows how it would have slid. We are taught to keep the nose pointed down by steering.

Monday morning quarterbacks can never be proven correct or incorrect because the game is past tense.

Thanks for all sharing those of us with steep slick hills can practice using all of the advice. NOT

I was mowing on a 45 degree dewy slope at 10 PM and rolled me and the push mower down into the parking lot. The mower was OK but I ripped the screws of my metal hip socket from my butt bone. That was nearly a $30K repair job and no one locally would touch the job so I had to got to Nashville to the Southern Joint Clinic.

It does not require a tractor to get hurt mowing.

 

[dcyrilc]

two_bit_score,
dcyrilc is correct (I love your last name by the way, the first three letters spells my last name, that is so cool). I didn't believe it at first until others mentioned it and then I played around a little tonight expermenting. It makes sense.

MT

It's not as effective with a standard flat blade on the bucket, but that's one wicked tooth bar you've got on yours!:thumbsup:

 

[missourithunder]

Gale Hawkins,
You sir are a scholar and a gentleman. Thank you for keeping this in perspective.

dcyrilc,
Thanks fot the compliment. That tooth bar is already paying dividinds.

MT

 

[dcyrilc]

dcyrilc and MT, I see.


But...I gotta confess that I'd been hard pressed to think about dropping the mower.

My first? reaction is typically the bucket (after brakes of course). Part of that comes from running backhoes for many years. The bucket has a lot more uses than just carrying things. I've never had a tooth bar on the front bucket, but I've experianced the difference on the rear bucket from having teeth vs a flat plate.

MT
How far did you go with the bucket digging in? Did you get far enough to brake the rear tires loose instead of moving any further? Down angle on the front bucket will have a great impact also. You want to be steep enough that the bucket is grabbing agressively, but not so far that your overstressing the equipment. Probably somewhere between 10 and 30 degrees. If you get too steep, the teeth will begin dragging rather than digging in and cutting. Too shallow will slide along the ground.

 

[missourithunder]

dcyrilc,
No no no. I did not drop the loader to help me stop. I wished I would have thought of that during my 5 second ride from he$$. All I did was hold on for the ride and thankfully came to a stop before going over the cliff.

Dropping the bucket pronto or raising the RFM would have helped me regain control of the situation but bp fick said it best that you don't have time to think about "which levers to pull" in a crisis. You have to think these things out before they happen. I learned a very valuable lesson trust me.

MT

 

[dcyrilc]

dcyrilc,
No no no. I did not drop the loader to help me stop. I wished I would have thought of that during my 5 second ride from he$$. All I did was hold on for the ride and thankfully came to a stop before going over the cliff.

Dropping the bucket pronto or raising the RFM would have helped me regain control of the situation but bp fick said it best that you don't have time to think about "which levers to pull" in a crisis. You have to think these things out before they happen. I learned a very valuable lesson trust me.

MT

Sorry, I thought you said that you played with the bucket on flat ground afterward to see how that would work.

"dcyrilc is correct (I love your last name by the way, the first three letters spells my last name, that is so cool). I didn't believe it at first until others mentioned it and then I played around a little tonight expermenting. It makes sense."

 

[missourithunder]

dcyrilc,
Sorry I misunderstood you. During the incident, I did not touch the FEL joystick. Tonight I went down the same slope, in the same direction, in a much more controlled enviorment (top soil dry and at a much slower speed) and played with the FEL and got reassurannce that dropping teh bucket in an emergency will stop you faster than anything else. Hope this helps.

MT