First I should have said that I have no affiliation with any company that makes these things. Just your average Joe that owns a tractor.
Second I have about 100 hours on my current machine and have used all sorts of other tractors, bobcats, miniexcavators, etc... The fact is that the feel of a slope is a function of the machine. On my current unit the operator sits up quite high and seems a lot more tipy than a compact tractor. However, they are alll designed for a 20 degree slope limit.
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Why? Common sense will tell more than any meter or gauge on the market. Seems to me like another gimic or add on that some just "have to have". Just my opinion.
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Nope. I don't believe that you can tell how much of a slope you are on by feel. This is a tool and low cost at that. So why would you oppose something that can't hurt and costs on the order of 0.1% of your tractor investment? In addition, as Rick says it simply provides info. In fact it seems to me that on some slopes I had underestimated the slope and on others had over estimated.
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The first impression I got from reading the first post in this thread yesterday, was that the gentleman [sorry, can't read your name as I write this], now that he got his tilt meter, might actually get himself in trouble, because it made him feel comfortable in a situation where he used to feel uncomfortable, and that as a result he might drive faster across that slope, and hit a rut/bump, and experience undesired results.
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I don’t think so. In fact I think most guys tend to get sloppy with time. The more time you spend on slopes the more comfortable you get with it and the more you push the edge. So the meter allows you to establish a quantitative level that will get you in to trouble. This level is independent of how you feel on the slope. Have you seen the post about the guy that loads the backhoe on the train car? Maybe after enough times through that process it might even start to make some sense. Not for me but maybe for some guys./w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif
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No matter how many safety shields, warning labels, or safety devices you put on a piece of equipment there are people in this world who will manage to hurt themselves or others.
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I also hate the lawyers’ labels. You know the ones: don’t stick your foot under the mower, don’t stick your hand in the
chipper, the coffee we serve is hot, etc…This stuff is all common sense.
The tilt meter, IMHO does not fall into that category. You can’t tell what is safe by feel.
Fred
