dumb idea?..or somebody already thought of this?

RCannon · Jun 29, 2004

I didn't search too hard on the subject...

I have ways to cut around my pond, with it's 15 -25 degree slope, other than the NH so it's not really a concern..more of a pondering along with all the other pondering I do...
my thought process today was this: If the NHRA can put wheelie bars on those beasts so they don't flip backwards...why couldn't I put a "side" wheelie bar on my tractor...so I don't roll sideways... if I was to try to cut around the pond with the tractor? Does all that make sense? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Henro · Jun 29, 2004

I have ways to cut around my pond, with it's 15 -25 degree slope, other than the NH so it's not really a concern.. 

25 degrees is a great concern to me! Did you actually measure those slopes? 20 degrees is more than my mind can handle on my Kubota B2910...but at the same time not too uncomfortable sideways on my BX2200 Kubota with MMM.

Anyway, I guess it would work to have some way to limit a tip over. Like they do when testing cars for roll overs...

May make more sense to mow up and down though...rather than across...

Bob_Skurka · Jun 29, 2004

I think you have some different dynamics at play.

With a car that is lifting its front end, you simply let off the accelerator and the lifting stops. The wheelie bars prevent the front end from coming up too high, but probably are not capable of hold back the entire weight of the car. And car is never in a position where it's center of gravity has reached a point where the car is going to continue flipping over on its own. The wheelie bars really do not need to hold the whole weight of the car because any driver with any brain cells functioning would simply let off the gas to stop the upward momentum.

A tractor that begins to roll over on its side is going to accelerate as the center of gravity passes the point of no return. Wheelie bars on the side of the tractor, in order to prevent the roll over, would have to hold the entire weight of the machine, so they would have to be incredibly strong. Further, if the ground is soft (as it might be along a pond bank) the wheelie bars would simply sink, and as they sank, the center of gravity of the tractor is continuing past the point of no return.

At least that is what I think.

JimR · Jun 29, 2004

You could hang weights on the high side of the tractor to keep you from flipping.

Bob_Skurka · Jun 29, 2004

( You could hang weights on the high side of the tractor to keep you from flipping. )

Just for the sake of the discussion, if you hung those weights on the wheels (as in wheel weights) and you had the tractor beginning to flip, then you still have same dynamics of the roll. You may have changed the position of the center of gravity, but the physics would remain the same.

Now if you had a wheel weight on each of the rear wheels instead of just the uphill wheel, then it is likely that the uphill wheel might help slow the roll over, but the down hill wheel weight might actually "pull" the tractor over?

I suppose if you hung the weights on the uphill side on an I-beam that holds the weights several feet off the side of the tractor that might work. Not sure if it would be practical.

Personally I would buy a Steiner or a Ventrac for mowing a 25 degree slope (oh wait <or did I mean OH WEIGHT>, I did that!)

herdfan · Jun 29, 2004

( I suppose if you hung the weights on the uphill side on an I-beam that holds the weights several feet off the side of the tractor that might work. Not sure if it would be practical. )

Actually, I have used that concept while going along some hills where I was unable to traverse in another (ie safer) way.
I just extended out my backhoe on the high side of the hill, with the bucket fully extended and low to the ground to sort of ballast the tractor. Some heavy clay in the bucket also helps.
Of course, I was doing some loader work at the time and you couldn't exactly have a hog and hoe off the back of the machine at the same time.

Ozarker · Jun 29, 2004

Makes perfect sense to me. In fact, I have seen a setup like that on tractors in rollover testing.

Someone posted a picture here a couple of years ago of a mower mounted offset behind his tractor to mow a pond bank.

Cliff_Johns · Jun 29, 2004

[quoteI suppose if you hung the weights on the uphill side on an I-beam that holds the weights several feet off the side of the tractor that might work. Not sure if it would be practical. )

Just like an outrigger canoe or a hoby-cat where you use your own weight as the counterballance for the wind.

Cliff

cqaigy · Jun 30, 2004

Back when I was in construction, we used to use the back hoe to change the center of gravity, but it's not exactly a safe way to run a hoe around. i.e. you drop the front into a hidden whole and the boom may snag on something like the ground and give you a boost to a wild ride. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

MikePA · Jun 30, 2004

If the NHRA can put wheelie bars on those beasts so they don't flip backwards... 
From the NHRA site. Wheelie bars are not designed to prevent cars from flipping over backwards.

Wheelie bar(s): used to prevent excessive front-wheel lift.

 The wheelie bars prevent the front end from coming up too high, but probably are not capable of hold back the entire weight of the car. 
They are not capable, that's why top fuel dragsters still blow over. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif