What causes tractor rollovers?

[TractorTYMe]

I've never been close to tip the tractor either, but sliding down the driveway on wet snow with R4 tires losing traction backwards while plowing. THAT took me a few hours to unpucker the the seat from my arse. So now I'm always chained on 4 wheels.

 

[ruffdog]

Now then, long story short - poor judgement causes many rollovers. ( Not to mention broken shoulders, cracked vertibrei and ribs. But the pain is a good safety reminder even 10 years later)

Smart people will learn from their mistakes while wise people learn from other's mistakes.

 

[Hoho223]

And flipping one on its side, is not a rollover.

Close enough….

 

[fishdrivel]

Yeah....you want to explain that quote.

I think your sitting back playing arm chair general.

Most on here have experience and maybe training. There are owners manuals and even decals.
A lot of times, incidents start when you are not paying attention, do not plan or think your way through, or give it a shot when it's dicey.
Most of the incidents that i read about began at the point where they were doing something they should not.
If it caused a mishap, you should not have done it. I was making a simplified statement.

Your comment sounds personal.....

 

[fishdrivel]

Fishdrivel mentioned the EM 385 Safety Manual so I found it online and downloaded it.

I had no idea there are so many spectacular and exciting ways to get hurt or killed in this world . . . and EM 385 primarily talks about dangers at work, not much else.

More important, it talks about ways to KEEP from getting hurt or killed while you are doing X.

If you download it, read it online (as a PDF) because it is BIG, if you print it out, you'll be there all day (Case # 9m46523452 - 2b, person killed when two mile tall stack of papers from printing EM 385 fell on him).

What I found scary was that I've done some of the things covered in EM 385, and even though I try to be "careful", some of the subtler risks and safety procedures were unknown to me. I'll know better in the future, and I'll also be able to guide anyone who I'm working with or who I might hire for short term jobs.

Remember, I once had a self proclaimed contractor assemble a steel building for me and when I visited the job site, he had guys working construction barefoot and without hard hats or safety harnesses. I'm smarter now, in addition to the standard two questions of "How much?" and "When?", I also say "I wanna see your contractor's license and PROOF of your workman's comp insurance." Then I check the insurance company to see if the policy is still in force - some clowns pay just the first premium and then let it lapse, but present the declarations page of the policy as covering an entire year. Lotsa varmints out there, be warned.

Anyway, as to EM 385, when all else fails, read the instructions . . .

(Unfortunately, there wasn't much there on tractor safety.)

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

While doing accident investigations, the 1st thing I ask is, did you read the owners manual. 2nd is what did it say about using this equipment in high winds (or whatever)
I remember a safety meeting in Japan. I asked about the owners manual and contractor said, "we're just renting the crane." I would not want to have that equipment way up in the air as a typhoon is approaching. You could keep working if you knew what MPH you should stop! Stopping when it has toppled over is not a good plan.

 

[Brushcutter1]

When working on steep ground its helpful for your safety to switch the wheels over, IE put the left one on the right side and the right one on the left side, due to the dished wheel hub this will increase the wheel base giving you a safer turning, I used to work on a hilly farm and all our tractors were set on wide wheels

regards
Bob
This might explain it better; www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLsh5zLLQN0

I do this on my tractors also. I also use wheel weights when I can get them. On my Kubota B 7100 I built a front bumper that weighs over 100 lbs. with a 40lb. weight that I can swing out to the side for a side slope. I "weighed" the idea of putting duals on the back. (I have an extra set of tires and wheels) Decided that the possibility of the downhill dual breaking off would immediately cause a roll. In general I try for maximum width and low center of gravity with my mowing tractors. Appreciate everyone's input.

Doug

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

...I built a front bumper that weighs over 100 lbs. with a 40lb. weight that I can swing out to the side for a side slope. ...

Doug

Good technique!

When in doubt, I swing the backhoe on a tractor (or the boom/dipper/bucket on my mini excavator) to the uphill side. All the while Keeping the loader and/or implements low.

 

[jimglassford]

I flew helicopters in the Army for 18 years and what they teach is that there is a critical angle and a rolling motion that causes rollovers. I always look in the user manuals to see what the critical angle is, no one ever has it listed. If the critical angle were published an an inclinometer were installed there would probably be less rollovers. Even a simple bubble gauge would help. In any case what has worked for me is the pinch factor, when my **** starts to pinch a hole in the seat cover I back off what ever I am doing.

If you knew the center of gravity and the exact angle of the hill, there is still the unknown. Just a small mound of dirt on the high side of the tractor or an unseen hole on the low side could give it the push it needed to roll.

Taking this away from the tractor, look at cranes. I am a supplier to the off-highway industry. I have customers that build rough terrain and truck mounted cranes. I asked a design engineer once why they do not have safeties built in to stop someone from overloading the crane and reaching too far causing a tip over. It seemed simple since the cranes were stationary when used and sensors always know the angles and load. He told me that they install alarms to tell the operator they are approaching the limits of the lift. However, the operator must still have full control over the machine.

 

[jimglassford]

What causes tractor rollovers?​

Tractor Drivers
Someday someone will tell me why people drive around with the bucket raised

Hollywood. It looks better in the movies with the bucket raised. Bugs Bunny does it all of the time.

 

[5030]

While doing accident investigations, the 1st thing I ask is, did you read the owners manual. 2nd is what did it say about using this equipment in high winds (or whatever)
I remember a safety meeting in Japan. I asked about the owners manual and contractor said, "we're just renting the crane." I would not want to have that equipment way up in the air as a typhoon is approaching. You could keep working if you knew what MPH you should stop! Stopping when it has toppled over is not a good plan.

In today's 'woke' world, owners manuals play second fiddle to coming on the net and asking questions and getting answers instead of looking at that document. Problem with doing that is simply the diverse amount of answers and trying to determine what is factual and what is conjecture.

I often times wonder how many automobile owners have ever bothered to read the owners manual or even know where it is for that matter.