tractor stability

MossRoad · Feb 5, 2021

Slowpoke Slim said:
You can get a free inclinometer app for your smart phone and measure the various slopes around your house. Most will give you a slope measurement in both "percent" (as in percent of grade) and "degrees".

Slope chart:

View attachment 685433

As to safely "discovering" your tipping point, you can put a jack under one side of your tractor and start lifting that side, stopping to test pull from the opposite side to see how far over you can raise the tractor before the center of mass gets close to the tipping point. Once you feel the weight start to come off of the jack from pulling on it, that can be your hard stop, "not to exceed" number for that tractor.

If you have an iPhone, there's a Measure tool that also has a level. Works great. Lay a 2x4 on the slope and lay the iPhone on edge on the 2x4 and you get a nice reading of the slope in degrees.

CobyRupert · Feb 5, 2021

Tire spacers (or rim settings) for a wider stance will make the biggest difference on gaining more stability .
Having the center of gravity low, as compared to tractor’s width, will be the biggest factor, more than overall weight.

Standing at the back of the tractor, draw an imaginary line from the outside of the rear tire at the ground to the centerline of the tractor at height that you think represents the COG. (Probably a couple inches above the rear axle height). Your tractor can roughly tip sideways until this line becomes vertical, then it will roll (Not taking dynamic forces and momentum into account). You can see that if tractor is wider, or COG lower, this has a big impact on how far tractor can tip.

Some say taking loader off makes it more stable..IMHO, yes and no. If you keep bucket low, and the bucket and it’s contents weigh greater than the loader arms above the COG, then the bucket will actually lower the COG, as compared to having no FEL. Also having weight on the front end to counter 3 point hitch attachments will make the tractor feel more stable vs all the weight teetering on just one rear tire.

WranglerX · Feb 5, 2021

IF you don't want to add weight (loaded tires) , wheel spacer will help.... I added 3 inch spacers to my MF GC 1715 and it made a lot of difference.... Basically the wider the width the more stable you tractor will be...

Dale

bearthebruce · Feb 5, 2021

CobyRupert said:
Some say taking loader off makes it more stable..IMHO, yes and no. If you keep bucket low, and bucket and contents weight below normal COG is greater than loader arm weight above COG, then bucket will actually lower the COG, as compared to having no FEL. Also having weight on the front end to counter 3 point hitch attachments will make the tractor feel more stable vs all the weight teetering on just one rear tire.

We run on fairly steep hills - I have not measured the actual angle or slope. Let's just say my first time mowing them did cause some seat pucker!

The brush hog weighed a lot and the tractor had no front weights. Making turns at the top of the hill was exciting if one did not slow to a crawl and make gentle wide turns. We added a FEL and most of those problems went away. I believe running with the bucket low - less than a foot above the ground - gives our MF1533 with a 60" hog much more stability.

We have not tried moving the wheels out further. I suspect that too would help.

PILOON · Feb 5, 2021

My CUT is a Mitsubishi 180-D
VERY narrow and often generates a pucker but I've learned to live with it.
Reversing my rims did help a lot as did as did tire ballast (beet juice).

When using the FEL I only drive keeping is close to ground.
And, I've 'puckered' more than a few times while learning its limitations.

If I could locate a pair of 2 inch extensions* in Canada I'd be a buyer.
\
*(W8x18 rims)

WranglerX · Feb 5, 2021

PILOON said:
My CUT is a Mitsubishi 180-D
VERY narrow and often generates a pucker but I've learned to live with it.
Reversing my rims did help a lot as did as did tire ballast (beet juice).

When using the FEL I only drive keeping is close to ground.
And, I've 'puckered' more than a few times while learning its limitations.

If I could locate a pair of 2 inch extensions* in Canada I'd be a buyer.
\
*(W8x18 rims)

Bro-tek - Contact

Dale

RaydaKub · Feb 12, 2021

My BX2230 felt very tippy. I put 11 gallons in each tire.
On my hill with the loader and 265 lbs on the 3pt almost dragging on the ground, I got off and could lift the uphill side rear wheel by pushing on ROPS with 1 hand. Without the loader or weight, I could not lift the wheel pushing on the ROPS. I only used ultra-cold washer fluid. It's 80-90 lbs per tire, but a world of difference.

rademamj1 · Feb 13, 2021

So removing that loader really does make a difference in overall stability during mowing. I was thinking that is correct, because just during normal tractor movement, I see increase in stability on my tractor when the loader is removed. I have only removed my loader twice in 3.5 years, but stability improvement was noticeable.

frogpond · Feb 13, 2021

Just another voice to endorse wheel spacers to increase stability. I have a BX25D, and I'm constantly operating on steep slopes here in the Cascade Mountains foothills investors Washington. I don't mow with the bx, but I move logs with bucket-mounted forks and by dragging, and I've been moving lots of fill dirt, big rocks, and gravel. I had the rears filled with Rimguard when I bought the tractor (1400 hrs ago), so I can't tell you what it would be like unloaded.
But I can tell you for sure that there was a really noticeable, significant improvement in stability after I installed a pair of 3" spacers on the rears last summer. I got them from Bro-tek in Canada, and it was a totally positive experience. Delivery was quick, they fit perfectly, and installation was simple. You will need a few sockets and a torque wrench. I also used blue loctite on the bolts, just in case. The instructions are very complete, and even tell you what tools and sockets you will need. Since I have a backhoe, adjusting the height of the axle with the stabilizers to put the wheels back on was easy, but you can also do it with a jack.
Your mower deck limits you as to size of spacers you can use. Bro-tek has a useful discussion of this on their website.
I only wish I had added the spacers a few years ago.
I know people have mentioned using cheaper jeep or other spacers. If you do this, check to see that the bolts will fit, and also that the hub and the central hole match, as they apparently carry a significant part of the load. The advantage of the Bro-tek spacers in this regard is that they are sized exactly for the bx. I seem to recall that they offer a choice of steel or aluminum. I went with the aluminum ones, as I didn't want to bother with priming and painting the steel ones.
By the way, in really iffy situations, I have resorted to swinging the backhoe to the uphill side and extending it. It makes a pretty good short-term movable counterweight.