Stupid hill

[Tractorist]

I must be nuts. If anyone here knew who I was, this picture would not be shown. But, I thought, we're here to share. Good or bad, we do share our world of tractor fun. This, however, was NOT FUN. This happened on the second day I had the new tractor. I pulled up to the hill after coming to the house in high gear. I was in the process of turning around and I have to admit, my mind was in that comfort zone. I pulled right up to the bank and hit the ...........well, .........the ........little peddle under the brake pedal. Being in high gear, the tractor practically leaped off the bank. After a brief discussion with my Lord and Savior, I hit the brake pedal. The tractor instantly stopped. Granted, the time from contact with the brake pedal to full force trying to push that pedal into the dirt, was not long. At first, all I could do was thank Him. I eventually locked the brake and got up enough nerve to let off enough to know that it was going to hold. I then reached to release my seat belt and .........no seat belt. I very slowly crawled off and again, told Him how happy I was that I was in His care. That's the only explanation I have for being here today, or at the least a very bent up tractor. That hill does not let up for another 600 feet. And at the end of that 600 feet, you'll find yourself 200 feet lower than where the tractor sits now. I backed my truck up to the back of the tractor and tied a chain to the scraper blade and the hitch on my rig. I then took a breath. I had not had one sinse I exhaled hard enough to stop the tractor dead in it's tracks. I know my neighbor a half mile away thought I was having a tent meeting, but I had some "thanking" to do. I got in the truck, pulled forward enough to take out the slack and then got back on the tractor. Even with it tied to the truck, it took guts to strap myself onto a tractor that looked like it was about to roll off a mountain. I put it into Low, pushed on the brake and held it, started it, set the throttle to about 2000 rpm, and with my left foot reached across and pressed the "backup" pedal and very slowly let off the brake. It backed up until I could not see light between it and the truck. I then got back in the truck and pulled forward until I had the slack out again. Due to a very short chain, it took several trips like this. Believe me, I didn't mind.
Looking back now, I'm glad this happened the way it did and I didn't get hurt or scratch my new tractor. It sure made me more cautious in every other thing I've done with it.
So take my goofy experience and be warned: Don't let your guard down for one minute. Keep your mind on what you're doing.
And thanks again to everyone for sharing your knowledge and experiences.
Rog

 

[jaybrad]

Yeow!

Great picture and story. Glad it turned out the way it did.

I'll bet there are lots of us who have done the same thing, just on flatter ground.

Jay

 

[rcrcomputing]

Ha! Looks VERY familiar of me headed down the back side of the d@mn. Brakes on, still going down. Fence at the bottom.
Sooo, bucket in the dirt. That stopped me. Bucket and backhoe crawl backwards to the top. I was on the d@mn with the rops down.

Live hard, die young! hehe

Course, now that I think about it, I don't exactly remember it being funny at the time.

 

[davitk]

Welcome to the brotherhood

 

[woodchuckie]

I have made extensive trails on my acreage with my 2800. I mostly just cut the brush with the cutter and a couple of passes and I have a good trail for walking or ATV riding. I try to stay on a ridge or in a bottom but occasionally have to do a hill like that. I usually cut it going down in low gear going straight down so as not to roll over sideways. With even a hint of getting sideways I change directions.I have had to turn around on a sandy hillside and it's nerve racking and might take me an hour. I think the most dangerous, at least the scariest feeling was trying to go down the hill with the clutch in trying to use the brake. Maybe my brakes don't hold evenly but it'll slide every which way. Slow and steady in low feels very safe especially with the FEL kept low enough to rub the ground.

 

[Willl]

Hind sight now but you should have stuck that front bucket into the ground and dropped that rear blade.

 

[Tractorist]

By the way, rcrcomputing, thanks for the signature notation about Image Resizer. It was not compatable with windows Vista but a quick Google search with the same name found a program updated for Vista. And yes, it is very easy to use. I've wished for something like that for years and you provided it unselfishly. Thanks for sharing. Rog

 

[Timber]

I bet you will not forget your seat belt now.

 

[Egon]

Seems there is member here who's avatar seems very similar!

 

[MarkV]

It always seems to happen when you have a new tractor. Everything feels right, life is good, you let your guard down for a moment and it is time to change shorts. I did more damage to my newer tractor the first week than I have in the last three years.

Glad it all worked out well. That would not have been a ride I’d want to take.

MarkV