Cruise Control and Mowing Uphill

[Rhino35]

Fellow Safety-Minded Forumites,

I'm about to start my second ever bush hogging adventure and do my hills again (those cursed hedge apple saplings are shooting up again), and in the interim I've been scouting this forum and researching wheel spacers (will order some today) for cautions. One thing I thought about since I bush hogged was that my new tractor has a cruise control. It is a magnet that when a rocker switch is engaged holds the hydrostatic go forward pedal in place. When you switch off the rocker switch it releases and the spring in the pedal will stop the tractor. When you hit the brake pedal it releases the magnet. It does not work in reverse.

It's a nice feature. Gives the leg a rest. I used it crawling up and down the hills having a blast chopping hedge apple saplings to tiny pieces. Did I say I hate hedge apple trees?

So in my stability research and spacer quest for information I saw an article that said that a tractor can go from level to the point of no return in a vertical backwards rollover in three quarters of a second! If your rear wheels are stuck in ice, or you attach a tow cable too high behind the tractor and the load doesn't move, or you're bush hogging and the back lip of the bush hog catches a stump and the tractor stops abruptly. Maybe even if you pop the clutch!

Both my neighbors are experienced tractor drivers and both have almost gone over backwards. One was the catch the stump scenario. The other caught a rock just right. They had manual transmissions and instantly knew to depress the clutch. The nose came up and banged back down.

So it occurred to me that using cruise control going uphill while bush hogging might be a pretty bad idea. I'm already 20-30 degrees nose up. I have the empty FEL low, but still a couple of feet above the ground because the bushes were that high. If I caught something the cruise control won't care. I could hit the brakes and that should release it, but who knows? I probably won't be able to reach down and click off the rocker switch in time. The fastest, and simplest, and most intuitive reaction to the nose coming up would be to pull my foot back and off the go forward pedal.

I thought I'd post my little safety insight in case other newbies are using cruise control like I...was!

Best,

Rhino

 

[TripleR]

How is using the cruise control any different than using a geared tractor which does essentially the same thing as an HST with cruise control engaged?

 

[medic0648]

No clutch. And the hst takes a second or 2 to stop once the cruise is released. The clutch cuts power as soon as it is depressed.

 

[TripleR]

No clutch. And the hst takes a second or 2 to stop once the cruise is released. The clutch cuts power as soon as it is depressed.

No significant difference in time using either of mine. Hitting both brakes cancels cruise control just as quickly as using the clutch.

 

[Bird]

Both my neighbors are experienced tractor drivers and both have almost gone over backwards. One was the catch the stump scenario. The other caught a rock just right. They had manual transmissions and instantly knew to depress the clutch. The nose came up and banged back down.

Our first tractor was a little John Deere L and we had a rectangular concrete water trough mostly buried for a fish tank, and it needed to be moved. So we dug around it, put a chain around it, and Dad was pulling it out with the tractor, and he did just as your neighbors. I sure thought he was going over backwards for a second.

So it occurred to me that using cruise control going uphill while bush hogging might be a pretty bad idea. I'm already 20-30 degrees nose up.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I agree that it's a bad idea; no way I'd use the cruise in those conditions.

 

[Rhino35]

I went out again since my post and for the most part I did not use the cruise control going uphill. On a place I knew there was nothing the bush hog could catch on I did to give my "go" foot a rest for a few seconds. It was still uncomfortable on the steep parts.

My neighbors say I'll get used to what the tractor can do going up and down - and sideways.

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

Rhino

 

[TripleR]

Do what makes you most comfortable, as mentioned I operate both an HST as well as geared tractor and see no difference in reaction time between the two.

It is always advisable to go slow in areas with which you are not familiar and I will usually look at it on foot or at least a UTV/ATV.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Your HST doesn't have a clutch?