Rollover angle of a JD 3720

[woodlandfarms]

I own one of these bad boys

YouTube - Power Trac PT1850 Slope Mower

Rated up to 45 degrees, and I think you could probably go a bit more. But honestly, 30 degrees is quite the tilt. If you watch this tractor work, you will see it struggling to maintain 45 degrees without sliding.

In terms of degrees, in my opinion I think that people tend to overrate it (Gee, thats 30 degrees when really it is 20). 30 is frikin steep. I have also heard and do not know for sure that many tractor engines are not designed for more than 25 degrees, that the oil pickup may become exposed.

We looked a long time for a tractor to work our slopes, a normal tractor might have worked, but with wheels pushed out the end, and tires heavily loaded, and the dealer was telling us maybe 25 degrees at the max in that configuration.

I say get the slope meter BTW. There are two of us in the PT section with te 1850's and both of us run with Dual slope meters (one for front and back and one for side to side).

 

[J_J]

I can tell you about fear factor, when a wheel motor burst, and I was rolling backward down a slope. It changes your thinking about what you should be doing, to the panic mode, like Oh crap, what is going to happen now. What can I do? Cold sweat, heart pounding, to, O Lord, help me if you can.

 

[Johndeere3720]

In my studies, i realized that some of the factors werent right like weight size, etc. Oddly enough, my 40" wide yanmar feels more stable than my Dad's Johndeere 3720. The rear wheels on my Yanmar are filled with calcium but for some reason it feels a lot more stable. In my opinion, I think 25* is plenty steep to drive a tractor on sideways and it makes sense to just dig a road through the area if you will drive on it a lot. I havnt yet used my yanmar on to bad a slope but I still feel like it is more stable. Atlaest I have ROPS and a seatbelt.

 

[Ken45101]

In my studies, i realized that some of the factors werent right like weight size, etc. Oddly enough, my 40" wide yanmar feels more stable than my Dad's Johndeere 3720. The rear wheels on my Yanmar are filled with calcium but for some reason it feels a lot more stable. In my opinion, I think 25* is plenty steep to drive a tractor on sideways and it makes sense to just dig a road through the area if you will drive on it a lot. I havnt yet used my yanmar on to bad a slope but I still feel like it is more stable. Atlaest I have ROPS and a seatbelt.

Sure! Loaded tires put more weight closer to the ground and provide more stability.

If it's just an issue of getting from point A to point B, of course there are alternatives to driving across a slope. But when you have to MOW the slope, digging a road won't do any good.

I have hillside pastures that I've had to mow by backing down them. Now with a wider tractor and loaded tires, I can mow across them.

Don't forget that weight up high (like a cab) decreases stability on a hillside. Weight down low, like properly loading rear tires, increases stability.

 

[DCJL]

15 years ago when we built our house I had a guy on a tractor york rake my property. There is one place in the front of my house that is pretty steep. The guy went up, down, sideways wherever he wanted. I swore he was going to tip when he went sideways on the one area, but he never tipped. I've gone on some of it with my TC34DA with loaded tires set up wide, but my pucker factor always kicks in when I get to the steep area. I can't seem to get my tilt meter over 20º before my factor kicks in. Now on my little CubCadet gas critter I hop off the seat and sit on the fender in this area which I estimate peaks at 25º. I probably could get by without moving off the seat but I prefer the safety factor of my weight lower and on the uphill side of the rear tire. I'd probably be able to go over 45º like this so there is a huge safety factor built into riding the fender.

 

[LBrown59]

This post brings to mind a questioin.

Can a roll over meter provide a false sense of security and one maybe better off without it?

Kinda like the old argument regarding helmets in hockey and high sticking?.

Joel
Yes but it shoulden't.

 

[zzvyb6]

I believe you will find that another advantage of ag lug tires is that they will slide sideways pretty easily. On my back hillside, my tractor slides sideways down the grassy hill before it gets light on the topside wheels. I'm thinking of measuring the angle of this hill because of my own and others' interest. Yes it makes a difference whether its dirt or grass you are on, but I've lost my fear of this area of the property because of my sideslip experiences. When running my hay mower across this area, I have to use some heavy brake steer to keep the rig going straight. When I run the baler across this part of the property, the bales drop off the pan and roll down the hill about 20 - 30 feet. (They come off a 1/2 pan to turn them 90 degrees, though).