Terrified of tipping - how about an inclinometer?

[joecdeere]

Wheels keep turning?

and bush hog turning, took me about a minute or so to get situated in the seat enough to reach the fuel shut off. Someone was watching out for me, only damages were 1 fender, the lights on that side and my shorts, I'm in my 60's now, still can remember it like it was yesterday.

 

[VroomVroom]

A lot of the older tractors that I remember around here had no fenders at all. So the wheels would be right next to you. I’d imagine it might want to turn the tractor instead of the wheels too while you being amongst it all. No roll bars back then that I ever remrmber around here

 

[Torvy]

and bush hog turning, took me about a minute or so to get situated in the seat enough to reach the fuel shut off. Someone was watching out for me, only damages were 1 fender, the lights on that side and my shorts, I'm in my 60's now, still can remember it like it was yesterday.

I feel your pain. I put a much 'safer' Pathfinder on its side coming down a mountain slope on black ice. I was only going about 15 mph, but once the tires broke traction, I was in big, heavy bobsled and was sliding across the road into oncoming traffic. I still get sympathetic pucker just thinking about it! A rather surreal situation. The fun part was that the state of Nevada decided that since there was an accident, I must have done it wrong and deserved a ticket on top of destroying one side of my truck. After 2 or 3 trips to court, I got it reduced to a 110 dollar parking ticket...around 1992, so adjust for inflation as needed.

 

[DanMc77]

Gee.... I didn't expect this to be such a hotly debated topic. Of course it's tough to predict exactly how much angle will lead to a side-roll with a long list of various conditions. On our NH land, there's very little of it that's level, so it's hard to estimate roll other than looking at the trees. I grew up on a farm in WI, and we didn't have much ground that was that was out of level. The inclinometer will be helpful to properly calibrate my fear factor.

 

[Diggin It]

The Red 'C' in the bigger pictures are approximately where the phone was laying in the grass taking the measurement.

 

[shooterdon]

Gee.... I didn't expect this to be such a hotly debated topic. Of course it's tough to predict exactly how much angle will lead to a side-roll with a long list of various conditions. On our NH land, there's very little of it that's level, so it's hard to estimate roll other than looking at the trees. I grew up on a farm in WI, and we didn't have much ground that was that was out of level. The inclinometer will be helpful to properly calibrate my fear factor.

You may be setting yourself up for failure because it is nearly impossible to "properly calibrate" for the reasons others have shared.

What have you determined will be a safe slope? How did you come up with that?

When things get "puckery", do you want to be looking at a meter?

There are folks here trying to help. You have been a member for a while. You should know who to trust and who to ignore.

BTW, I am inexperienced and a "scaredy cat". I have no horse in this race. After reading the comments from people I respect, this little gadget could give a false sense of security.

$15 for a useless thing is not a big deal...trusting your life to it is another thing.

I am very fortunate. I do not need to "push the envelop". Fr tasks I am not comfortable doing I have others who will help me, I barter with, or I hire the job out. That limits my learning, so I will remain ignorant, and I get some ribbing from the "real men"....but I am OK with that. At 70 YO staying healthy and alive is hard enough.

Hope it works out for you.

 

[PILOON]

Simple tiltmeter, DIY!
If you are cabbed, you could always hang a DIY plumb bob from the windshield top with limit marks painted or taped on the glass.

 

[jmc]

Simple tiltmeter, DIY!
If you are cabbed, you could always hang a DIY plumb bob from the windshield top with limit marks painted or taped on the glass.

Sounds like a pendulum to me!

 

[VroomVroom]

Keep coffee an inch below lip. Cup has a diameter of 3.5 “, and one inch from top. Do the cosine function to get the angle, or the instant the coffee starts to spill. Stop what your doing, tip toe out of the tractor, then phone a friend with a chain.

 

[VroomVroom]

Simple tiltmeter, DIY!
If you are cabbed, you could always hang a DIY plumb bob from the windshield top with limit marks painted or taped on the glass.

I’d be nervous that plumb bob is what causes just the right amount to tip her over.