tractor tipping question

[BlueKnife]

Maybe this has been mentioned, but I think some people forget one very important fact. When your back wheels come off the ground, ALL of the weight on the back of the tractor, ALL of the weight on the front of the tractor, PLUS the load in or on your bucket, forks, ALL the weight is on the front wheels and tires. it exceeds the maximum weight the front axle and wheel tires by double or triple. Maybe more than that even. I know this because I do stupid things sometimes. Sometimes I get by with it. Sometimes it costs me..

Yup. Plus, when that happens, the load is dynamic, not static, meaning things are under even more strain.

 

[WranglerX]

And in the end, remember the teeter-totter principal you learned in elementary school....

And as rear wheels come of ground you probably lose forward and backward motion and brakes....

 

[Camofurever1]

And in the end, remember the teeter-totter principal you learned in elementary school....

And as rear wheels come of ground you probably lose forward and backward motion and brakes....

Ah, any dents or anything will buff right out.......

 

[koshari]

Maybe this has been mentioned, but I think some people forget one very important fact. When your back wheels come off the ground, ALL of the weight on the back of the tractor, ALL of the weight on the front of the tractor, PLUS the load in or on your bucket, forks, ALL the weight is on the front wheels and tires. it exceeds the maximum weight the front axle and wheel tires by double or triple. Maybe more than that even. I know this because I do stupid things sometimes. Sometimes I get by with it. Sometimes it costs me..

precisely, and fwiw the letters SWL printed on the machine actually mean something rather than something some random bored passing by teenage graffiti artist decided to "tag"

 

[CliffordK]

And in the end, remember the teeter-totter principal you learned in elementary school....

And as rear wheels come of ground you probably lose forward and backward motion and brakes....

Well, not exactly... With 4x4, one can walk on the front wheels, and at the speeds I travel, stopping never is a problem (except for a couple of downhill slopes). Perhaps the rear brakes transfer through the differential.

However, once you lighten the rear wheels enough, steering becomes very problematic as the steering really needs a good rear point of contact, and the tractor just doesn't go where one wants it to go.

Angles are also critical. So, I had one load of steel that seemed to be doing OK, but the tractor veered to the left down a very slight incline on its own, and I rapidly went from balanced with rear wheels on the ground, but a little floaty feeling to the bucket dropping to the ground and the rear wheels high. Rather disconcerting but no real danger since the front axle is blocked from tilting, and the bucket wasn't up that high.

I think if I had headed up the hill I had planned, it would have shifted the weight back and I'd have been fine, but it was much better that I changed my load in a relatively flat area rather than on the hill.

Still, it is a good reminder to keep the ballast on the tractor.