Zero turn rollover

[Alan W.]

As my 17 year old son was driving home today he saw a man roll his exmark, trapping him. My son stopped and was trying to get the man free when others stopped to help. They were able to get it off from the man who was luckily only shaken by the incident. It only takes a second for things to go wrong fast. I have learned this all too well over the years.

 

[Dftodd]

Neighbor bought one shortly after I bought mine. Being in his mid 70's he had some adjustment issues going from a steering wheel to the skid steer style controls. His main issue was forgetting which way to go with his levers to turn, slow down, stop........

He got a little close to the ditch, hit a bump and this set off a chain reaction. Ended up in the ditch, which in our neighborhood are 4 ft deep.

He got lucky and didn't get hurt. He also didn't get pinned and was able to crawl out. I happened by just after it happened, so I latched onto the mower with a tow strap and pulled it out of the ditch with the truck.

No damage except to his pride.

There's been a few other folks that have been hurt mowing along ditch edges in our area. County comes through, adds more gravel, then paves the road, all of a sudden that gentle slop you were used to is too steep for a mower.

On the street side of the ditch in my neighborhood, I used to be able to mow it with a rider or zero turn. Since they raised the road 8 inches, it's sketchy mowing with a push mower.

 

[Alan W.]

Just found out that he has some broken ribs. The shock of the situation probably made it go undetected until later.
I remember when my father got his first zero turn, mom spent a lot of time pulling him out of the creek until he got the hang of it.

 

[fatjay]

That's a shame, but glad he's ok. I'm assuming he had roll bars. Were any hills involved? Typically the wide wheel base and low center of gravity really help. Typically zero turns are more stable than your typical cub cadet or craftsman. Now assuming he hit hte rollbar on a low tree that flipped him,t hat's another story.

 

[RoyJackson]

That's why it's essential to keep that ROPS up unless absolutely necessary to lower it.
Also, I think most are aware that these machines aren't too good on side slopes...well, any slope, especially if the grass is wet.

Even during maintenance, injuries can occur. We had a TBN member (name eludes me) killed when his mower fell on him. I don't recall all the details, but IIRC, he was working on it with the front raised and held by his tractor's loader. These mowers weigh more then 1000 lbs. (I think my Deere Z920 goes around 1200-1300 lbs.).

 

[Alan W.]

Son told me the ROPS was not up, and it took seven of them to lift it up enough to completely free the man. It was on a hillside and it had to be lifted uphill, leverage and gravity were against them.

 

[frugalangler]

I have 300' of lake shoreline and WILL NOT mow close to it w/ a ZTR, and I'm timid getting the riding mower (tractor style) close, the weed wacker gets a workout on that area!

 

[ovrszd]

As my 17 year old son was driving home today he saw a man roll his exmark, trapping him. My son stopped and was trying to get the man free when others stopped to help. They were able to get it off from the man who was luckily only shaken by the incident. It only takes a second for things to go wrong fast. I have learned this all too well over the years.

Thank your Son in my behalf for engaging and helping. All too often we are reluctant to help. Your Son has been well taught.

 

[Ford850]

I opted to not get a folding ROPS on my Grasshoppers, so I wouldn't be tempted to keep it folded. The permanent full ROPS are a pain sometimes, but worth it. I only have a couple areas that are steep enough to roll (I think) but I still use my seat belt 100% of the time.

 

[FTG-05]

Not rolling over and living and working on a hill is why I filled my ZTR mower Kubota ZD326 with water and RV antifreeze. Another ETC: 130 lbs (not +160 lbs) down near the bottom of the tractor!

 

[Dftodd]

Not rolling over and living and working on a hill is why I filled my ZTR mower Kubota ZD326 with water and RV antifreeze. Another +160 lbs down near the bottom of the tractor!

I thought about doing the same on mine when I was loading the tires for my Tractor. But haven't gotten to it yet. Was gonna run the tire sizes through the calculator first to see if the weight gain was worth the effort. Tires on my Z121s are more rim then tire.

 

[kthompson]

First time I used ztr (trial) slide sideways going in to road ditch with about four foot drop. Thankfully made right mover then turned mower downhill and it road though the ditch fine. But boy is a ztr easy to bog down. As has been said keep it off of wet slopes. You are fighting your self with not being able to use both rear wheels to pull for you normally have to slow one wheel for steering.

 

[JDL538]

First time I used ztr (trial) slide sideways going in to road ditch with about four foot drop. Thankfully made right mover then turned mower downhill and it road though the ditch fine. But boy is a ztr easy to bog down. As has been said keep it off of wet slopes. You are fighting your self with not being able to use both rear wheels to pull for you normally have to slow one wheel for steering.

I'v had a x-mark lazer z for the last 12 years 60 in. I am surprised that more hasn't been said about ztr's. If you have hills or if it's even slightly wet they are very, very dangerous and can get away from you right now. They are pretty hard to turn over though. Seat belt is highly recomended. I used to use a striper and took it off last year it handles much better without it.

 

[FTG-05]

I thought about doing the same on mine when I was loading the tires for my Tractor. But haven't gotten to it yet. Was gonna run the tire sizes through the calculator first to see if the weight gain was worth the effort. Tires on my Z121s are more rim then tire.

According to TD, the rear tires on my ZD326 are 26x12.0-12. Then, according to Rimguard tire fill chart, each tire will hold 8 gallons or about 65 lbs per tire or 130 lbs for the whole vehicle. I have to fix the number I put in the post above, I must have mixed it up for my tractor's front tires.

 

[riptides]

Guys lucky. A while ago around here, a ZTR lost traction, went downhill and pinned a guy against a fence. Mangled his arm pretty bad, no rollover, just entanglement.

 

[The Fred]

One should only wear a seat belt on ROPS equipped mowers IN THE FULL UPRIGHT POSITION otherwise instant death. Think about it you'd rather be thrown free than pinned underneath by a seat belt on a machine with no rollover protection.

Regards, Fred

Dangers of Roll-Overs of Riding Mowers | Occupational Safety and Health Administration

 

[Dftodd]

According to TD, the rear tires on my ZD326 are 26x12.0-12. Then, according to Rimguard tire fill chart, each tire will hold 8 gallons or about 65 lbs per tire or 130 lbs for the whole vehicle. I have to fix the number I put in the post above, I must have mixed it up for my tractor's front tires.

They say mine has 22x10-14 tires. Couldn't find a listing anywhere close on a ballast chart. Searched everyone I could find online. i got 6 gallons of all season washer fluid left over in the garage from when I filled the tractor tires. Guess I'll have to get out there one of these weekends and see how much they will take But first, I got 1,350 sqft of flooring to replace for a honey do list when I get home

 

[cqaigy2]

As my 17 year old son was driving home today he saw a man roll his exmark, trapping him. My son stopped and was trying to get the man free when others stopped to help. They were able to get it off from the man who was luckily only shaken by the incident. It only takes a second for things to go wrong fast. I have learned this all too well over the years.

Thank your Son in my behalf for engaging and helping. All too often we are reluctant to help. Your Son has been well taught.

Hear, hear!

 

[Alan W.]

Thanks for the kind words ovrszd and cqaigy2. He has turned out well despite my best efforts.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

I won't mow with my ZTR on the water side of the pond any more. Been stuck in the edge of the water twice. It never had a ROPS. Neighbor took the ROPS off his. He has flat ground and said he almost flipped it over first day when it hung on a low limb.