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.

 

[5030]

While doing accident investigations, the 1st thing I ask is, did you read the owners manual

I don't consider that a nice profession, it's very mentally stressful. I did it as as well as a safety and compliance officer for a large trucking company for a couple years prior to retirement. Lot of tense people, some telling the truth and some lying and it's up to you to deduce the truth and make a judgement call and someone is always unhappy. Did a few where fatalities were involved too. Tough playing devil's advocate at times.

Sure is nice to be retired and away from that stress. The compensation wasn't bad but the stress level at times wasn't commensurate with the pay. Spent an inordinate amount of time either driving or flying somewhere and lots of hotel / motel rooms and restaurant food.

 

[Helogabals]

Everything is in wheels

https://www.brielmaier.com/en/brielmaier-in-action/am-berg

 

[ruffdog]

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.

Also, the inertia of sliding on wet grass and then digging in could easily flip it over.

 

[fishdrivel]

I don't consider that a nice profession, it's very mentally stressful. I did it as as well as a safety and compliance officer for a large trucking company for a couple years prior to retirement. Lot of tense people, some telling the truth and some lying and it's up to you to deduce the truth and make a judgement call and someone is always unhappy. Did a few where fatalities were involved too. Tough playing devil's advocate at times.

Sure is nice to be retired and away from that stress. The compensation wasn't bad but the stress level at times wasn't commensurate with the pay. Spent an inordinate amount of time either driving or flying somewhere and lots of hotel / motel rooms and restaurant food.

I did it at 1 location (at a time) I did not find it terribly stressful. I developed relationships with every contractor or sub. I was helpful.
I avoided the "write em up!" as much as possible. If someone worked with me towards the safety of themselves and others, it usually went very well for them. If they would not work as a team, they learned to wish they did.
I was in a unique situation in that nobody got paid until I signed off.
My boss nor my boss's boss could make me sign. They could be held personally financially liable if they got someone paid without my approval.
That meant less pressure. Less pressure - less stress!

 

[Jstpssng]

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.

You also can ask for a Certificate of Insurance from their agent. With that, the agent is supposed to notify you if they cancel, but it doesn't always happen. (I also would ask for a General Liability policy. If nothing else it shows they are trying to be a legitimate business.)

 

[5030]

I did it at 1 location (at a time) I did not find it terribly stressful. I developed relationships with every contractor or sub. I was helpful.
I avoided the "write em up!" as much as possible. If someone worked with me towards the safety of themselves and others, it usually went very well for them. If they would not work as a team, they learned to wish they did.
I was in a unique situation in that nobody got paid until I signed off.
My boss nor my boss's boss could make me sign. They could be held personally financially liable if they got someone paid without my approval.
That meant less pressure. Less pressure - less stress!

I was in a different position representing the company at a loss scene so I got to deal with LE and insurance carriers plus the victims and the guilty parties and if the drivers were at fault, they knew their job hung in the balance of what I decided and I didn't like playing 'God' with someome's livelyhood.

I believe the worst ones were the one's that burned. Nothing uglier than a burned out truck and trailer and the others involved as well.

Was a job and now being retired I can look back on it as a learning experience. I still hold my class A with all endorsements but haz-mat and I own a Class 8 tractor trailer but my driving is limited to grain hauling to the local elevator. Once you do it, it's always in your blood I guess.

 

[sunandsand]

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.

Owner's manual? There's an owner's manual?

Unfortunately, most of them are a joke. Dear Bride was afflicted with a 2013 Mazda 3 for a while. The manual was several hundred pages long, it told how to operate the "entertainment suite" and the "climate control suite" (I guess cars don't have radios and heaters anymore) but there were only a few pages which talked about the CAR. Gas goes here, this is the front, and the best part was "If you need to replace a burned out headlight bulb, see your dealer." Really.

Bought it new, it was afflicted with so many obscure and incurable electrical problems that we called it "Marvin the Paranoid Mazda". It didn't need a mechanic, it needed a psychiatrist. Or three. Or maybe a lobotomy, calling Nurse Ratched!

Someone with a jacked up pickup truck backed into it in a WalMart parking lot - the car looked like it had been hit by an asteroid, utterly demolished. We were not sad to see it go.

The best part about a paper manual is that you can always tell what parts of that particular vehicle are troublesome - just look for the pages with the most greasy fingerprints.

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

 

[ccogg]

I’m no expert, but I’ll at least attempt to be helpful.
Setup:
Ballast in the tires or any other weight that is LOW to the ground will help.
Wider stance helps - old tractors with narrow front ends are incredibly tippy.

Technique:
Keep the loader and implements as low as possible.
Make sure anything you lift is centered on the tractor, or biased slightly uphill, and can’t slide or shift. (My neighbor rolled his tractor when an unsecured stump he had in the bucket suddenly slid to one side.)
If you have a backhoe or other implement that moves side to side, swinging it uphill might help.
If you start to tip, turn downhill and drop the bucket, but don’t hit the brakes.
When possible, go straight up or down hills rather than across. (Most tractors are incredibly stable going straight down a hill with the loader touching or almost touch the ground. Of course if you start to slide sideways for some reason all bets are off.)

That’s kept me mostly upright so far…

 

[fishdrivel]

I’m no expert, but I’ll at least attempt to be helpful.
Setup:
Ballast in the tires or any other weight that is LOW to the ground will help.
Wider stance helps - old tractors with narrow front ends are incredibly tippy.

Technique:
Keep the loader and implements as low as possible.
Make sure anything you lift is centered on the tractor, or biased slightly uphill, and can’t slide or shift. (My neighbor rolled his tractor when an unsecured stump he had in the bucket suddenly slid to one side.)
If you have a backhoe or other implement that moves side to side, swinging it uphill might help.
If you start to tip, turn downhill and drop the bucket, but don’t hit the brakes.
When possible, go straight up or down hills rather than across. (Most tractors are incredibly stable going straight down a hill with the loader touching or almost touch the ground. Of course if you start to slide sideways for some reason all bets are off.)

That’s kept me mostly upright so far…

Very good information for even experienced operators.
The unsecured load catches a lot more people than you'd expect.

Nothing uglier than seeing a load of rebar suspended on a chain from bucket. You know what happens when they hit the brakes? Rebar swings and comes back into the cab!

 

[JasperFrank]

I had one of the lower three point mounts break. So in between the time that the "fix it" part showed up, I started running with out any three point counter weight using an FEL. This was seriously stupid. I had never run the tractor before with out at least some rear weight, and with the FEL, and not the weight of the three point attachment, it was a whole other game. After the second time I nearly flipped it, I got the point, that this thing is unstable with out a rear counter weigh for the areas I'm use to.