Tip-over control

[Gem99ultra]

Maybe it's just me - I don't know. But it seems like my new L3400 doesn't feel secure at all on mild slopes. I have a FEL and BB on it, with R4 tires (filled rear tires), but to me, it just doesn't feel solid.

Is there anything else I need to do, other than just used to it, to make if feel more secure?


Thanks.

ps yeah - I know... think training wheels

 

[Charlton John]

I beleive you can get wheel spacers put on the back that will widen your stance about 3-4 inches, sounds like a small amount but many say it makes a world of differnce, also you most likely know this but travel up and down and not sideways.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Excellent idea! I'll check on the spacers today. Maybe I'm running too much air pressure in the tires too? They're air to sidewall spec, but that might not be ideal.

yep - I'm hip on running up & down, but sometimes I have to turn around on a slope. You'd laugh if you saw me creeping around at 1/10th mph in 4wd

 

[Charlton John]

Yes I am in the same boat, I have a 2620 so a little lighter than yours but a little better lower center of gravity. I have a section of my property that is also mildly sloped and it flatens out at the bottom. I try to get there before turning around but if I cant I turn slowly and pucker up

I too will most likely get the wheel spacers for this purpose also not sure where your located but the spacers are also needed to put chains on your tires if you are using for snow removal, good luck.

 

[TripleR]

It may not be possible on these, but when I was growing up on the farm, we just swapped sides with the rear wheels for a wider or narrower track; otherwise spacers. I added offset wheels on my Rhino and Grizzly adding 4" and that really helped the stability.

 

[Ace3]

I added wheel spacers to the rear of my B3030. I did it mainly to gain clearance for chains but the added benefit is that it also improved the stability of the machine on slopes. Since this question keeps coming up on TBN, I can't understand why Kubota hasn't widened the stance of their tractors. I would also recommend that you load the rear tires both for added weight and stability.

 

[Charlesaf3]

you might get an incline gauge, as discussed often here (R&B). Tractors have a high center of gravity and no suspension, and just don't like being sideways on a slope. 15 degrees is considered max. 10 degrees is as far as I'll go on the little one, the big tractors wider stance and more weight seem to take a lot more.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Thanks for the reply.

It appears (according to my dealer) that Kubota did modify the tire rims to accomodate tire chains, and thus, discontinued selling wheel spacers; at least for the L2800/L3400 series.

I do have the rears filled. Dealer's suggestion was to 'give it more time; I'll get used to it'. He may be right, but in the meatime, I think I'll keep looking for a set of spacers anyway.

I am wondering though, if spacers would put an udue load on the outer wheel bearings? Any thoughts on that?

 

[TripleR]

Thanks for the reply.

It appears (according to my dealer) that Kubota did modify the tire rims to accomodate tire chains, and thus, discontinued selling wheel spacers; at least for the L2800/L3400 series.

I do have the rears filled. Dealer's suggestion was to 'give it more time; I'll get used to it'. He may be right, but in the meatime, I think I'll keep looking for a set of spacers anyway.

I am wondering though, if spacers would put an udue load on the outer wheel bearings? Any thoughts on that?

Probably not as much as rolling down a hillside...

I mow some pretty steep stuff with my Case and have for years and it still makes me pucker up even though I "know" it didn't tip over the last time.

 

[teg]

You don't want to let air out of the front tires, mine get more tippy as the front tire's pressure decreases... I have swapped my front tires to get a little more spread. This does put more pressure on the front axle but I got tired of almost rolling several times. It also puts the air valve to the inside... (neither good or bad - just inconvenient for filling air). I looked into wheel spacer (when they did sell them) $200 for 1.5 inches x2 (3" total). Thought it was too pricey... anyway, I feel more stable now - FWIW.

 

[Charlesaf3]

I have my front tires filled too. Weight down low helps.

Fundamentally, turning a tractor on a hillside is just a poor idea. If you have to do it, go really slow - you don't want a dynamic load situation, or an inopportune bump or pothole. There are thousands of threads on here on the subject I'd guess.

A cheap gauge will go a long way to calibrating the seat of the pants "pucker meter"

I find the Ls much more stable than the Bs, btw. Anything is a trade off - you want high ground clearance, and narrow for maneuverability, and low center of gravity, but its tough to get all of them.

 

[jcaron2]

This may sound silly, but next time you're sideways on the hill, stop and get off and go look at the tractor from the front or back, picturing yourself in the seat. If you're like me, you'll probably find that you're so far from tipping over as to be laughable. I used to feel like I was just about to go over when driving sideways on a hill I have that's around 25% grade. After a couple of years worth of "calibration" including some much steeper leans, I don't even blink anymore when I mow that hill.

That being said, my tractor's a lot wider than yours, so 25% might not be so trivial for yours.

 

[taborekle]

I beleive you can get wheel spacers put on the back that will widen your stance about 3-4 inches, sounds like a small amount but many say it makes a world of differnce, also you most likely know this but travel up and down and not sideways.

I don't have wheel spacers but I was thinking about my tractor. Right now, the inside of the front tire lines up with the inside of the following back tire. On my 2920 I have turf tires front and rear, so the back tires extend out to the side about 6-8 inches more then the front. I load my tractor on my trailer using 14 inch wide ramps, so it's important to get the ramps just-so, so that they are lined up with the back and the front. If I were to push the back tires out 3-4 inches, then they would largely be off the ramps (if the ramps were positioned for the front tires).

It also means that the tires will not follow themselves through the fields, which could be a consideration with crop row spacing and such.

I know I have one ditch alongside a narrow road that I take to my gravel pit area. If I had to allow 6 more inches, then the ditch side tire would probably be in-the-ditch.

Just somethings to think about.

Larry

 

[RadarTech]

I have a L3400 just like you.
When I first got it, there was so many times where it felt uneasy..
now, 200 hours and a year and half later.. I almost laugh at some of the old pucker factor areas...

Now I still have a great deal of respect for the pucker factor...

but let me say, you will always need to be careful!!!



Jim

 

[TPS]

You have had some great answers to a good question. I have to mow and work on my hill all the time. I have gotten used to mowing and know what I can get away with on my hill(see Photo), but with the FEL I always feel a little uneasy when turning around. I always have my hand on the stick and have had to put the loader down to get stable a time or two. I try to back or move forward at angles and keep the loader as low as possible. There are some places on the hill I will not go with it unless I can do so going up or down only. My little BX can get a little tippy and so I go slow also but I have found that going on with it beats going too slow at times as the longer I take the more unstable it seems to me anyway and my pucker facter just increases. Be careful as can be on those hills. Take care-TPS

 

[newbury]

This may sound silly, but next time you're sideways on the hill, stop and get off and go look at the tractor from the front or back, picturing yourself in the seat. If you're like me, you'll probably find that you're so far from tipping over as to be laughable. <snip>.

The best way I could figure out how to determine the pucker factor was my first real use.
I was carrying full FEL's of sand, being apprehensive of tipping. Drove the same grade twice. The third time my front wheels slipped, the rear left lifted and I did a "hike out".
The real test is to get one of those short levels with degrees on them and and an egg.
Tape the level on to a horizontal bar on your tractor and put the egg between your posterior cheeks. go drive on slopes.

Then which either happens first:
You start to tip
or
The egg breaks
Thats the slopemeter.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Excellent idea! I'll check on the spacers today. Maybe I'm running too much air pressure in the tires too? They're air to sidewall spec, but that might not be ideal.

yep - I'm hip on running up & down, but sometimes I have to turn around on a slope. You'd laugh if you saw me creeping around at 1/10th mph in 4wd

Tires have a max air on the side wall and can be used on different pieces of equipment. Check your owners manual for air pressure for your tractor.
I've bought 9 Kubotas in the past six years and my personal experience on hillside, rocky, treed and ditched property has me on a BX2660 for mowing and Ferguson Overseeder and a B3200 for my fel, Ratchet Rake, Landscape rake and boxblade work. I had a B7800 for 3 years and traded it for a L3240HST which I had for one year then traded it for a B3200 because of the unstable feeling of the L on my property. The B feels more stable than the L to me and the BX feels more stable than the B, to me on hillsides (fel not loaded). My B is out past Barlows for now and I moved some fully loaded buckets of red dirt (clay,sand) last week in the BX2660 and it felt very tippy so I'm going to wait till I get the B3200 back here before moving the rest of the dirt. Would have helped if I had some weight on the back of the BX.

 

[Baby Grand]

My L3240 with unfilled R1s set narrow enough to allow coverage with 5' implements feels very tippy on any kind of side slope. Two years and it still makes my heart race. Part of the feeling comes from the high driver seat which tends to magnify the tipping effect. I remember the first time I drove a ten wheel Mack with a full load of dimension lumber thru a left turn on a back road with a steep crown - thought I was gonna go right over - slowed me down some. Same thing with the tractor. Heard this on WWUH driving in to work this morning:

Well the poor old dirt farmer
How bad he must feel.
He fell off his tractor
Up under the wheel.

And now his head
Is shaped like a tread
But he aint quite dead.
-Levon Helm

Made me think of this thread.


-Jim

 

[bstrom]

I got a tilt meter and it helps. I know they react slow and are not fail safe but I was scared to death at ten degrees without it, now I don't get scared until fifteen and don't look at it much anymore. I got use to the feeling and go slow if it looks over 10. I grew up in a very hilly dairy farm county in the east (housing developments now) and you use to hear about kids rolling tractors once in awhile so I had that scary memory to overcome.

 

[FullBucket]

JohnThomas,

Always wondered about the other series' stability. I have the BX and find plenty of pucker opps with it. So its good to hear the others wouldn't feel any better. As I keep finishing my landscaping, I look for opportunities to lessen slopes and fill in low spots. Hope that my seat time gets boring some day

I have been tempted to try rear wheel weights. Anybody had good experience with them out there?