What causes tractor rollovers?

[McCaskey]

Moving with a loaded bucket too high.
Nobody hurt

 

[beowulf]

The nearness of the tipping point is in direct correlation to your butt pucker. If you don’t have that feel for what you are doing you don’t belong on a tractor

The pucker factor has kicked in a few times even when I thought I was being careful - for me it is always a sudden thing - front wheel dips into an unseen hole on a slope, or raises over a rock. I agree that having a feel for the circumstances you are in is critical. What helps: going slow - i.e., matching the speed to the terrain, a low bucket, keep your hand on the stick, and being aware if there are holes or rocks you might run into or over.

 

[Jstpssng]

When I told my father that I was tractor shopping the first thing that he said was "Make sure that it has a loader."
After I found one, the first thing that he said was "Keep the bucket as low as you can."
He ran small farm tractors most of his life, after they replaced the horse; and knew what he was talking about.

 

[beenthere]

I was using heavy equipment for paying my tuition and was driving a tractor when I was sent over to mow a steep hill near a school in the morning. Well, there was heavy dew so it was very wet and I slid down all the way to the bottom, over and over and I wonder how they managed to mow such a hill but I got it done. Well the next morning the assistant asked who had mowed that hill and when I raised my hand he went into a long "lesson" on the dangers of rollovers and how lucky I wasnt killed, and chewed out the one who sent me as he said you can never mow a hill when its wet or early morning, so my first lesson in tractoring..

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

 

[jyoutz]

The guys mowing the medians and sides of the highways is Vermont amaze me.
Vermont isn't called The Green Mountain state for no reason. Some of the slopes have got to be 20°, at least.
The tractors are large, cabbed utility machines...mostly red, so I'd guess they're Massey's. Some have dual wheels on the rear, some don't.
They all run across the slopes towing a good-sized rotary cutter (I'd estimate 10 footers ± a foot in width)

Yeah, I’ve always been amazed at some of the slopes that the highway department folks actually mow.

 

[RancherGuy]

Yeah, I’ve always been amazed at some of the slopes that the highway department folks actually mow.

One of the advantages they have is the mower itself. Most are batwings that they use weigh 4,000-5,000 pounds. The front of that mower is pressing down on the hitch which is centered between the rear tires. Creates an added stability factor. They also have set the tires extremely wide.

 

[fishdrivel]

EH?

I had proper technique. My tractor was pointing straight down hill. My load was marginal.

The tractor hit a patch of ice, slid to the side, like a jack knife. Over it went, because of the load shift.

I'd call that - an accident.

"The problem starts when someone starts driving the tractor in a situation they should not."

 

[fishdrivel]

Tractor safety . . . the best resource I've found is right here, Tractor by Net.

When I got my tractor (2018), I read the "manual" and discovered there really wasn't much in it about tractor safety. I went to Google and found a couple of short articles about tractor safety, but they were very general. I found a few ag department courses on tractor safety, but they were in Minnesota or Michigan (I'm in Florida) and I hear it gets real cold up there so I ain't going.

What I'm seeing is a discouraging number of tractor accidents due to inexperience, ignorance, and sometimes, alas, to just plain dumbness. Darwin isn't very forgiving, accidents involving tractors can easily be serious or fatal.

Even if WE are careful, sometimes the people around us are not. I've had people walk between the tractor (with pallet forks) and the trailer I was unloading. I yelled at them to keep clear, they realized how dangerous it was, and then five minutes later, they did it again. I had to chase someone away who wanted to take pictures, told them to back up about 30 feet. They got huffy and said "nothing's going to happen" (must be nice to be able to predict the future) and backed up five whole feet, telling me they could get out of the way in time "if" there's a problem. I said unless you back up to over there, I'm not working any more. They got even huffier, but backed up.

I see people remove PTO safety guards because they are "a nuisance". I'm told losing an arm is a bigger nuisance, I know someone who did. I see people stepping over running PTO shafts because it would take three more seconds to go around. I see people getting off running tractors and not setting the parking brake or even shifting into neutral, when the real answer is if nobody is in the seat, the engine shouldn't be running and the parking brake should be on. I see people raise a bush hog to clear something out and not bother blocking it up before crawling underneath.

One of the more memorable nuggets I've gleaned from TBN was someone who said "Tractors are slow but they are inexorable." That's SO true . . .

What we really need to have available is a serious book about tractor safety, not just "hey, don't do X" but also WHY we shouldn't do X, and the results if someone does it anyway.

I can't write it, I'm still a newbie at this and there is no way I would even begin to describe myself as anything like an expert. What I CAN do is assemble it and make it into a book, then publish it. My main business since 1978 has been book publishing, and I'll modestly say I've done "OK" at it.

Whaddaya think?

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

Lot of sage advice in your post.
When I worked for Federal Government, we followed the EM 385 safety manual. My #1 job was safety. One thing we told complaining contractors was, "Every line in that manual was written in blood"
An accident is very rare. If you are sitting at a stoplight waiting for a green light and someone plows into you from behind, that is an accident! The guy that ran into you has no excuse. that is not an accident!
You should have seen some of the "accident" investigations that I performed. Most of the time, the incident started with at least 1 and usually more safety violations. I was never looking to blame. I was looking for root cause and how to prevent it.

 

[fishdrivel]

Yeah, I’ve always been amazed at some of the slopes that the highway department folks actually mow.

I've watched them. They look like they are just casually driving sideways but if the feel any shift, they turn downhill. It seems to work for them - not me. I won't sidehill.

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

When faced with a situation I'm not completely comfortable, I stop and think it through. If I decide to proceed, I review in my mind what corrective action might be needed if something doesn't go as planned. Early, decisive, and correct action(s) is way better than trying to remember which doohickie gets messed with and in what way to get the thingamabob to move in a particular way!

 

[Brushcutter1]

Something else to mention is the "unknown factor". I learned that the hard (painful) way. On a property that I rented, looking at a hillside covered in blackberries I saw that the top was level for turning around and the bottom looked ok. The slope itself was ok to mow going up and down. So I started mowing that way. It worked fine until one of the turn-arounds at the bottom. There was about a 10" rotten log hidden under the brush unseen. As soon as the uphill rear tire was on it, the tractor started slowly going over. I had time to consider options. FIRST option, jump off on the uphill side. Problems were hydraulic lines between that fender and engine, and 2 shift levers that looked a good bet to catch feet. Unhappily, I figured that I better try to hunker down and hope. I did. I couldn't get both shoulder's between the fender and steering wheel, so there was some crunching as it slowly rolled. (Forgot to mention tractor to old for rops.)I decided to stay on the ground and let it finish without me. The tractor (25hp) and brush hog (5')got all the way back on it's wheels still running with the mower in gear (the transmission fortunately popped out of gear) . So I hobbled to it and shut it down before calling for an ambulance, and then a neighbor to lead it to me. 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)

 

[BOB_UK]

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

 

[riptides]

"The problem starts when someone starts driving the tractor in a situation they should not."

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

I think your sitting back playing arm chair general.

 

[5030]

I was using heavy equipment for paying my tuition and was driving a tractor when I was sent over to mow a steep hill near a school in the morning. Well, there was heavy dew so it was very wet and I slid down all the way to the bottom, over and over and I wonder how they managed to mow such a hill but I got it done. Well the next morning the assistant asked who had mowed that hill and when I raised my hand he went into a long "lesson" on the dangers of rollovers and how lucky I wasnt killed, and chewed out the one who sent me as he said you can never mow a hill when its wet or early morning, so my first lesson in tractoring..

Far as I'm concerned, abject stupidity is the prime reason for any roll over. Lot of stupid people out there in tractorland too.

 

[Reddogs]

Far as I'm concerned, abject stupidity is the prime reason for any roll over. Lot of stupid people out there in tractorland too.

So what would you say when you roll over, chances are it can happen...

 

[sunandsand]

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

 

[warrendeere]

Remember, tractors are heavy and sit up high. They are used in off road conditions, where rough terrain is present. So understand that a high center of gravity is present and can turn things deadly very quickly.Its rare that rollovers happen the first year of usage. Normally its after3-5 years when you have a rollover because you have reached the point of being overconfident in your ability and in that machine. The people that work for my commercial mowing business never had an accidednt 1st or 2nd year. Now on my 4th year, and more accidents now than ever.This is because they have become familiar and confident with the machine, so they are willing to push it beyond the limits and over the boundaries. The more experienced you become, believe it or not, its more likely to have an accident than in your first years. The key to take away from this is to be familiar with a machine and be confident, but understand your boundaries and the limits of both the machine and the operator. Know your limits, and make sure not to exceed them in the realm of safety.

 

[5030]

So what would you say when you roll over, chances are it can happen...

In 30 years I've never come close to rolling over with a tractor. Not saying it's impossible but I actually watch where I'm going and never do stupid things with mine. Of course the one is a cab unit with a built on ROPS structure (cab) and the other has a foldable ROPS which is never folded anyway.

 

[sunandsand]

Warrendeer says:

"Its rare that rollovers happen the first year of usage. Normally its after3-5 years when you have a rollover because you have reached the point of being overconfident in your ability and in that machine. The people that work for my commercial mowing business never had an accidednt 1st or 2nd year. Now on my 4th year, and more accidents now than ever.This is because they have become familiar and confident with the machine"



That's pretty interesting . . . same thing in aviation. Pilots under 400 hours are pretty safe because they know they are newbies, pilots over 1,500 hours are pretty safe because they've developed safety habits and have experience. The danger with mid-time pilots is the attitude that "OK, I've got this whipped!" and they become overconfident.

Same thing applies to motorcycles, boats, cars and trucks, power tools, pretty much anything.

(There's a required statement on financial offerings which says "Past performance does not guarantee future performance." Evidently that covers a lot more than investments.)

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

 

[warrendeere]

Warrendeer says:

"Its rare that rollovers happen the first year of usage. Normally its after3-5 years when you have a rollover because you have reached the point of being overconfident in your ability and in that machine. The people that work for my commercial mowing business never had an accidednt 1st or 2nd year. Now on my 4th year, and more accidents now than ever.This is because they have become familiar and confident with the machine"



That's pretty interesting . . . same thing in aviation. Pilots under 400 hours are pretty safe because they know they are newbies, pilots over 1,500 hours are pretty safe because they've developed safety habits and have experience. The danger with mid-time pilots is the attitude that "OK, I've got this whipped!" and they become overconfident.

Same thing applies to motorcycles, boats, cars and trucks, power tools, pretty much anything.

(There's a required statement on financial offerings which says "Past performance does not guarantee future performance." Evidently that covers a lot more than investments.)

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

very true. Indeed