Close call--almost tipped over!

[Bob_Young]

Hi PM,
This time yesterday I was looking at your post and shaking my head about the predicament your clothesline post got you into. This afternoon I did the same thing with my new B7610.

I was cutting my Dad's backyard for the first time with the new machine and had the ROPS folded. Gotta watch the ground carefully there as it's kind of a minefield. Felt the tractor hesitate and then the front 'hopped' a little. Stopped immediately and looked under it to see what I'd run over; of course nothing was there. Was about to climb back on when I looked back and saw the clothesline post lying on the ground. Oh well, planned to pull it out anyway. The whole thing happened on flat ground so there was no danger of tipping.

An hour later I was cutting close to the base of a small tree and heard a heckuva crack right next to me ear. Next thing a limb about the size of my arm in diameter fell down between the ROPS and my back. At that point I was ready to take the ROPS off the tractor. If the lights and the remote weren't bolted to it, I would've.

So far the ROPS is gotten me into more trouble on tractors than 4 decades of ROPS-less tractoring ever did. It seems that worrying about what the ROPS might hit is just one more thing to distract the operator from concentrating on keeping the tractor itself out of trouble.

So today, PM, I'm sympathetic to say the least....for whatever that's worth coming from a guy who has failed to learn from either the mistakes of others or from his own /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif.
Bob

 

[Bob_Young]

Hi PM,
This time yesterday I was looking at your post and shaking my head about the predicament your clothesline post got you into. This afternoon I did the same thing with my new B7610.

I was cutting my Dad's backyard for the first time with the new machine and had the ROPS folded. Gotta watch the ground carefully there as it's kind of a minefield. Felt the tractor hesitate and then the front 'hopped' a little. Stopped immediately and looked under it to see what I'd run over; of course nothing was there. Was about to climb back on when I looked back and saw the clothesline post lying on the ground. Oh well, planned to pull it out anyway. The whole thing happened on flat ground so there was no danger of tipping.

An hour later I was cutting close to the base of a small tree and heard a heckuva crack right next to me ear. Next thing a limb about the size of my arm in diameter fell down between the ROPS and my back. At that point I was ready to take the ROPS off the tractor. If the lights and the remote weren't bolted to it, I would've.

So far the ROPS is gotten me into more trouble on tractors than 4 decades of ROPS-less tractoring ever did. It seems that worrying about what the ROPS might hit is just one more thing to distract the operator from concentrating on keeping the tractor itself out of trouble.

So today, PM, I'm sympathetic to say the least....for whatever that's worth coming from a guy who has failed to learn from either the mistakes of others or from his own /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif.
Bob

 

[proudestmonkey]

That's my utility shed (one of them). The other one actually built on a good slope, so much so that I had to use railroad ties to help keep it from rolling down the hill (its an old large enclosed trailer that was here when we bought the propert). I use it to store fertilizer and other landscape chemicals to keep them away from and out of the house.

 

[proudestmonkey]

That's my utility shed (one of them). The other one actually built on a good slope, so much so that I had to use railroad ties to help keep it from rolling down the hill (its an old large enclosed trailer that was here when we bought the propert). I use it to store fertilizer and other landscape chemicals to keep them away from and out of the house.

 

[proudestmonkey]

Yup, I was. I pretty much always where my seatbelt.

 

[proudestmonkey]

Yup, I was. I pretty much always where my seatbelt.

 

[proudestmonkey]

Actually, I held the camera vertically so you could see the clothesline and tractor. I am standing on the hill lower down.

 

[proudestmonkey]

Actually, I held the camera vertically so you could see the clothesline and tractor. I am standing on the hill lower down.

 

[proudestmonkey]

Like I said, I didn't intend to go across the hill. I intended to head mostly straight up the hill, until I hit the clothesline, which jerked me parallel to the incline of the slope.

 

[proudestmonkey]

Like I said, I didn't intend to go across the hill. I intended to head mostly straight up the hill, until I hit the clothesline, which jerked me parallel to the incline of the slope.

 

[proudestmonkey]

Thanks for the suggestion. I had it delivered with liquid (windshield washer fluid) in the tires.

 

[proudestmonkey]

Thanks for the suggestion. I had it delivered with liquid (windshield washer fluid) in the tires.

 

[cisco]

I feel uneasy over 15 degrees, but with the tilt meter for reference know I'm safe until the mid-20's, probably higher if I keep the implements (FEL and/or brush cutter) low. Came close today, though, and was thankful I had a ROPS and a seatbelt. I was brush cutting along a 3-4 foot bank around a boggy area. The downhill front tire dropped into very soft soil (OK, it was mud, and really dumb to drive a tilted tractor into), and as the tractor tilted the same side back tire settled in a bit - so the tractor went from about a 15-18 degree tilt to about 24 degrees, within ? 3 seconds. Not good. So, hit the clutch, and dropped the FEL and brush cutter onto the ground - then, after my angina settled down, I did manage to turn into the direction of the tilt, and slowly reorient the tractor down the slope. Then I could reverse out (in 4WD) of the situation. It does get your attention, and you have my sympathies. Now, as to your tractor free-wheeling towards your house - lucky your wife didn't kill you. Unfortunately for you, she was a witness - me, I was alone, so when my wife asked "how'd things go, dear", I said, "fine".

 

[cisco]

I feel uneasy over 15 degrees, but with the tilt meter for reference know I'm safe until the mid-20's, probably higher if I keep the implements (FEL and/or brush cutter) low. Came close today, though, and was thankful I had a ROPS and a seatbelt. I was brush cutting along a 3-4 foot bank around a boggy area. The downhill front tire dropped into very soft soil (OK, it was mud, and really dumb to drive a tilted tractor into), and as the tractor tilted the same side back tire settled in a bit - so the tractor went from about a 15-18 degree tilt to about 24 degrees, within ? 3 seconds. Not good. So, hit the clutch, and dropped the FEL and brush cutter onto the ground - then, after my angina settled down, I did manage to turn into the direction of the tilt, and slowly reorient the tractor down the slope. Then I could reverse out (in 4WD) of the situation. It does get your attention, and you have my sympathies. Now, as to your tractor free-wheeling towards your house - lucky your wife didn't kill you. Unfortunately for you, she was a witness - me, I was alone, so when my wife asked "how'd things go, dear", I said, "fine".

 

[proudestmonkey]

My wife was a good sport about the whole thing. She knew I was embarassed and still a little scared. Then when we were pushing the tractor backward, I said its gonna roll pretty good and suggested she let go and I'd jog with it to slow it down. That worked out okay because of the upward slope toward the house, but I think she appreciated how dangerous this thing can be if not handled correctly (like I did). I think my wife also kind of likes it when I make mistakes on the tractor. It makes her less leary of riding it herself because she knows there's room for error.

 

[proudestmonkey]

My wife was a good sport about the whole thing. She knew I was embarassed and still a little scared. Then when we were pushing the tractor backward, I said its gonna roll pretty good and suggested she let go and I'd jog with it to slow it down. That worked out okay because of the upward slope toward the house, but I think she appreciated how dangerous this thing can be if not handled correctly (like I did). I think my wife also kind of likes it when I make mistakes on the tractor. It makes her less leary of riding it herself because she knows there's room for error.

 

[JerryG]

<font color="blue"> I didn't intend to go across the hill. I intended to head mostly straight up the hill, until I hit the clothesline, which jerked me parallel to the incline of the slope.</font>
Wow, I can see how it would be time for some different shorts if it turned and lifted that much. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[JerryG]

<font color="blue"> I didn't intend to go across the hill. I intended to head mostly straight up the hill, until I hit the clothesline, which jerked me parallel to the incline of the slope.</font>
Wow, I can see how it would be time for some different shorts if it turned and lifted that much. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[proudestmonkey]

He he. No dirty shorts here. It kind of happened so fast, I didn't have time to be too scared. By the time I realized how precarious it was, I had stopped and wasn't tipping any further.

 

[proudestmonkey]

He he. No dirty shorts here. It kind of happened so fast, I didn't have time to be too scared. By the time I realized how precarious it was, I had stopped and wasn't tipping any further.