Tips on using a FEL (how not to turn it over)

[Spiveyman]

Howdy all. I saw a couple of threads out there in the last couple of days where people turned their tractors over, I presume while using their FEL's. Luckily it sounds like neither one was hurt, and their threads are more about how to deal with the tractor after the fact.

Well, I am getting a FEL for my Ford 6610 installed next week and was curious if any of you folk with experience had advice for us newbies about operating a tractor with a FEL. I've been thinking of several things I want to do with it and the thought of turning it over has come to mind. It would be great to learn from other's mistakes to keep from having to do that one load of laundry - the one everyone seems to refer to right after turning over their tractors!

Thanks in advance.

 

[Chris527]

Hi Spiveyman,

I have a TC-30 w/ a 7308 front loader. I loaded the rears with washer fluid and did some testing on level ground first with a full bucket of wet sand to find the point of no return. It never happened for me(Knock Wood) but to be as safe as possible I always have a extra ballast like my Backhoe or Tiller when doing extended amounts of moving materals around. I think (IMOHO) loading the rears is a MUST, easy to do and well worth the piece of mind if you are going to do a lot of materal moving. Just my two cents..Hope this helps.

Chris

 

[mjncad]

I just follow the manufacturer's advice and keep the load as low as possible when carrying stuff. Also hang ballast off the rear. Even with about 500# of ballast in my ballast box, I can sometimes feel the rear end being a bit light if I have more in the bucket than usual. I know I could add liquid to the rear tires; but that seems like a hassle to me.

If I'm using the brush cutter, I only raise the bucket up high in tight areas on level ground. When I'm cutting the scary ditch as I call it, I curl the bucket back as far as it will go and let it skim the ground. My theory is to keep the CG low and hopefully the bucket and brush cutter will be wide enough to help prevent a roll over. I also do like racing yachters do when the wind wants to pull the boat over; they lean off the gunwale to help counterbalance the boat. I lean into the hill as much as my seat belted body will allow.

I was watching a couple of neighbors brush cutting their ditches the other day and they had the bucket up high, and I just shook my head. Fortunately nothing bad happened to them.

Hope this helps Spiveyman.

 

[Egon]

First be familiar with the area you work in. Take note of the slopes and any uneven ground.

Plan you loader work in advance to comply with the terrain. Try and work uphill or downhill when filling the bucket. Make turns on leveler ground. Always keep one hand on the joystick and be ready to stop the forward/reward tractor motion.

As noted keep you center of gravity as low as possible.

Seat time is important so be prepared to go thru a learning curve.

 

[txdon]

This is a good topic.
There are other ways to misuse a FEL besides turning over the tractor.

Be careful when raising the FEL with a load in it. If you do not adjust the tilt of the bucket while you are raising the load, the load could fall over the bucket toward you.
Also,
When using the FEL to push brush, (bulldozing) constantly adjust the tilt of the bucket to relieve pressure on the lines or you can bust a hydraulic line. (I did this twice)

 

[ustobefarmer]

Keep the bucket as low as possible. Know the area you are working in and take your time. I turned mine over backfilling a walk out basement area. The ground was lose and on a side slope. When I went to dump the bucket the right front tire sank in the lose ground and just that quick over the tractor went. Luckly I was able to jump off and out of the way. The tractor landed on it's side with no damage at all. I'm glad I do not disconnect the seat safety switch because as soon as I stood up the engine quit. We pulled it upright and left it set a couple of hours, checked the fluid levels and everything was ok. That was 3 years ago and I had no problems with the tractor. Now I take it a little bit slower and more caution when on uneven ground.

 

[MrJimi]

Being new to FEL, I've had a couple of laps of dirt on me as a dirty reminder NOT to curl bucket fully loaded, it's nasty and a very fast wakening

 

[RoyJackson]

Have adequate rear ballast on the 3PH. The loaded tires help, but ballast (follow the loader manual for weight requirements) really keeps that rear end of the tractor down on all four wheels. A couple hundred pounds probably won't be enough.
Also ensure you have correct inflation of the front tires. Without that, those front sidewalls get really squishy really fast.

This is in addtion to the previous posts.

 

[dbdartman]

All good suggestions above. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is this: If you have 4WD, have it engaged whenever doing bucket work if for no other reason than if the rear does get light, your braking effectiveness gets diminished because the brakes are only on the rear wheels. In 4WD, the brakes will also stop the front wheels. This is, of course, above & beyond the basics: Keep the load as low as possible & counter-balance!

 

[RoyJackson]

All good suggestions above. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is this: If you have 4WD, have it engaged whenever doing bucket work if for no other reason than if the rear does get light, your braking effectiveness gets diminished because the brakes are only on the rear wheels. In 4WD, the brakes will also stop the front wheels. This is, of course, above & beyond the basics: Keep the load as low as possible & counter-balance!

Actually, the rear brakes have no effect on the front wheels, but if in 4WD, you can take advantage of engine braking which is the drag the engine puts on the drive train when you reduce RPM.
This is somewhat equivalent to downshifting a car or truck when going down a hill.