Safe situation unsafe!

[KJM]

Well, I just tipped the little B7100 over!

Lesson learned! I live on a steep property - my hillside is 20+degrees and I'm always incredibly cautious doing things on the hillside. Today I was working on the "flat" bit of the hill - preparing a site for a new shed.

I've got the pad levelled and was cutting a "trench" (all of 200mm (8") deep!) around the perimeter - using the loader and the backhoe. I then used the backhoe to dig a drainage ditch down to the hillside. All just peachy. Needed to connect the ditch to the tiny trench - so I drove down onto the "trench" (it is 1200mm (4') wide). Dug. Moved back along the trench - one wheel up on the pad....blammo, over.

Slow motion tip, but the BH hit the side of the excavation (the pad is cut into the hillside on one edge) - which kept the tractor not-quite-over. It kept slowly falling, until I could get up, turn around, flip the BH seat down (we're now WELL over 45 degrees and accelerating), grab the joystick and slew the BH. Thank goodness I hadn't put the PTO into neutral when I decided to move.

So, here I am, teetering tractor - precariously balanced with the engine at just-above-idle and the slew motor not-quite-holding the thing up. Need more revs! Somehow, managed to knock the hand throttle up and pushed the boom down + full slew and it stopped tipping, but wasn't righting itself. Ahh! Stabiliser ram - stabilised (almost).

Due to the "geometry" of the situation, I couldn't use the BH to right the tractor, but the loader managed to twist the thing a bit higher, then it was boom down hard, stabiliser up - insert brick, stabiliser down, etc etc...

Adrenalin prevented the use of the digital camera . Sorry. Will have to clean the brown stains off the seat tomorrow

A very salient lesson - I thought nothing of driving over the 200mm edge. As soon as the rears tipped up, over she went. Neither the tilt meter nor the pucker meter were quick enough to stop me! All very obvious in hind sight, but...

/Kevin

 

[BTDT]

Glad to hear your ok. No harm to tractor? I always keep telling/asking myself, "What could go wrong here to hurt me?", and try to plan around that, but sometimes the unexpected happens.

 

[Thomas]

Glad you came out on the winning side Kevin...one can be so darn careful than all sudden YIKES.

 

[patrick_g]

Don't you just hate it when hind sight shows that the problem was avoidable and not a random accidental oops sort of thing. The only folks who never have a problem are the ones that don't do much. If you work hard enough long enough you will eventually have a problem.

Sure glad you were able to get it under control and recover with no harm to you or the equipment. I have had my tractor in every possible two wheels on the ground combination and never had it lay down (so far) but it got close a few times.

Pat

 

[mrutkaus]

These messages pop in my mind when I'm doing something a little edgy on the tractor, thanks.

Mike

 

[Tollster]

Glad everything worked out for ya. I had some sticky situations digging a trench at my place. One thing that seemed to help is keeping the stabilizers very close to the ground when adjusting for position, and a very usfull tool which I posted here recently is "Booming out on the uphill side to maintain center of gravity". Try it next time and see if it helps, just don't forget your boomed out when you use the loader.

 

[scott_vt]

Afternoon KJM,
Whew, glad your OK that sounded close ! Some things do happen real quick ! Sounds like you made it through unscathed !

 

[KJM]

Hmm - thanks for all the hope-everything-is-OK messages. Yes, everything is fine, nothing actually got bent (except maybe pride..).

My big problem with what happened is that this is a flat site. As in dead flat (within earthmoving tolerances..). There is a humble 8" step and then it is flat again for 4'. This is what tipped it over!! I've subsequently had the courage to drive it back there and while it is definitely "tippy", I can't get the same approach angle and make it get to the oops point again. I suspect that the big divot I made with the bucket, boom and stabilisers has re-worked the geometry a bit...

Tollster: I normally do spin the boom around to maintain a counter-balance, but only if I feel I "should" ! And I used to hoon around with the stabiliser feet down close to the ground, but got one hooked into the side of the bank. That was not nice - slewed the tractor instantly so it was cross-grade. Since then I retract them when moving, unless of course it is just moving along the trench - I just nudge them clear of the ground.

As is always the case with tractor things - it seems there can't be a hard-and-fast rule. But I'm still concerned that I didn't see the problem - normally I'm pretty good at that. I guess I'll be anally careful from now on - the front axle swing is pretty obvious from the seat, so whenever I see that happen I figure I'll get ready to hit the brakes (or at least be ready to do something).

Cheers
/Kevin

 

[stayalert]

lucky. Glad it worked out. Thanks for sharing - could prevent someone else doing similar...

 

[pat32rf]

If it looks like there will be a problem you normally counteract. Its the ones you don't see......
I was disposing of a bunch of rocks today in a big hole, trying to get them below final grade for a garage pad. Lifted the landing gear before moving to the loader seat but then noticed one rock a little higher than I wanted so I reached out to hook and nudge it sideways. Didn't realize that I had also hooked a bigger one under it until I lifted and swung the hoe bucket in the same motion. The front wheels came up, the back end went down and the front end came around, ALMOST putting one back tire into the 3'deep hole before I got her stopped.....