Rollover angle of a JD 3720

[Riderguy]

Hi folks, I'm a new tractor owner (JD 3720/300CX FEL/Frontier RC2060 cutter) and have been curious about one thing in particular. Does anyone know the maximum slope allowed before the JD3720 will roll over? I see TractorByNet sells a tiltmeter, but without knowing the critical angle that the tractor will start to roll, it doesn't do me much good.

I figure you folks have a library of knowledge, so I am asking the experts.

Thanks,
Scott

 

[MogginMike]

There's too many variables for there to be an answer here.... tire sizes, tire weights, filed tires, implements in use, FEL present, FEL's height, weight of material in the FEL etc etc...

 

[WH401]

Well, I don't intend to find out, but loaded tires and keeping the loader bucket as low to the ground as possible will help tremendously in cross-ways slope traversing stability.

 

[Baby Grand]

WH401,

That's a very important question for any operator & I don't know the answer.

I don't even know the answer for my machine, with my tires, with my FEL, with whatever 3pt implement I happen to have on the back at the moment, with however soft the soil is today and how big the 'chuck hole I'm about to drop my downhill front wheel into may be.

Here's question for you: If someone told you it was xx.xxx degrees and you had a tiltmeter, what angle would would you feel safe driving at?

You will hear a lot about "pucker" around here. In pucker I trust, but I'm also "inclined" to avoid doing anything that even hints at pucker. Keep your ROPS up & your seatbelt on. Take it easy and you will gradually develop a sense of when your machine starts to feel "tippy". Try to develop that sense with great care for yourself and the people close to you.

Sorry it's such a lame response to such an important question, but based on my very limited experience, it's the best I can do.

-Jim

 

[WH401]

WH401,

That's a very important question for any operator & I don't know the answer.

I don't even know the answer for my machine, with my tires, with my FEL, with whatever 3pt implement I happen to have on the back at the moment, with however soft the soil is today and how big the 'chuck hole I'm about to drop my downhill front wheel into may be.

Here's question for you: If someone told you it was xx.xxx degrees and you had a tiltmeter, what angle would would you feel safe driving at?

You will hear a lot about "pucker" around here. In pucker I trust, but I'm also "inclined" to avoid doing anything that even hints at pucker. Keep your ROPS up & your seatbelt on. Take it easy and you will gradually develop a sense of when your machine starts to feel "tippy". Try to develop that sense with great care for yourself and the people close to you.

Sorry it's such a lame response to such an important question, but based on my very limited experience, it's the best I can do.

-Jim

As far a specific angle your guess is as good as mine, I go by "feel" as you do. If you wanted to base if off a tilt meter than you could say 15 degrees, since that's about the rating at which the meter starts to go into the "caution" area.

 

[Dead Horse]

WH401,

That's a very important question for any operator & I don't know the answer.

I don't even know the answer for my machine, with my tires, with my FEL, with whatever 3pt implement I happen to have on the back at the moment, with however soft the soil is today and how big the 'chuck hole I'm about to drop my downhill front wheel into may be.

Here's question for you: If someone told you it was xx.xxx degrees and you had a tiltmeter, what angle would would you feel safe driving at?

You will hear a lot about "pucker" around here. In pucker I trust, but I'm also "inclined" to avoid doing anything that even hints at pucker. Keep your ROPS up & your seatbelt on. Take it easy and you will gradually develop a sense of when your machine starts to feel "tippy". Try to develop that sense with great care for yourself and the people close to you.

Sorry it's such a lame response to such an important question, but based on my very limited experience, it's the best I can do.

-Jim

That is the correct answer, if not the scientific one........

Each situation, slope, surface condition, etc has its own set of variables that go into the linear equation....... By the time you figure out the answer, you are already in trouble.

Lift a tire, with a load up front and you will never forget the taste of "pucker factor". Rock her just a bit, turning up hill and that is enough to remind you she will kill you in a heart beat if you "cheat" on her.

You doing something dangerous where rollover is a remote possibility??????? Do what you have to to make sure you stay with her if she goes over, and the ROPS stays up........ believe me, you CANNOT get off in time.

 

[eepete]

I can tell you that for me, the angle I can tolerate is less than it used to be. You need some margin for rocks, shifting loads, terrain changes, etc. My pucker meter got re-calibrated for life in under three seconds. Somewhere between 10 and 15 degrees I'll get that funny feeling and I just stop and think.
I know what everyone is saying is vague and probably not the answer you're looking for. I hope that in time everything said here will be wisdom that you posses, and that you come by that wisdom without trauma.

Pete

 

[Jeepnford]

Judging by the highway workers that mow the right-of-way it appears to be a lot more than I'm willing to try. My BIL used to mow for the state and it seems like I've seen him on his farm tractor at 30 degrees.

 

[brin]

Judging by the highway workers that mow the right-of-way it appears to be a lot more than I'm willing to try. My BIL used to mow for the state and it seems like I've seen him on his farm tractor at 30 degrees.

I agree with you...I watch these county and state DOT highway folks on the right of ways and they are at least 30 deg or more and they move along at a good clip...all they need it to hit a rock with an uphill rear tire or a chuck hole or depression with a down hill tire and they go over. The only ones that might be safer would be the ones with a 15 foot batwing behind them. I see them and I do not know how they do it , much too dangerous for me. Slow and easy and err on the caution side.

 

[beersngars]

I can't add much to what others have said. I do have a tilt meter and it just gives a very rough guide line to what's going on. I have glanced at it when I felt safe and it read 13-15 degrees and other times when the pucker factor was in "High Alert" and it measured maybe 10 degrees.

My next investment is rimguard. The L3400 with R4's are pretty narrow tractors so my quess is it may be of more benefit on my tractor than some wider models.

 

[roamerr]

The State Workers are not a good comparison. In 1990 my dad purchased a MF 245 that was used by the state of Va. That tractor will hold a hill very good -- the State of Va purchased it with wider wheels and full fenders and I'm comfortable mowing banks on it that my little Kubota BX feels awful on. Set-up and options on a tractor make a huge difference...

 

[Gary Fowler]

I got my tractor into a very compromising position a month or so back while trying to mow a ditchbank and suddenly the ditch got deeper and the right side got higher really quick. Before I could stop, the tractor was on at least 30 degrees but it didnt seem to want to flip. I could step off the platform and the ditch was higher than I was on the side. Maybe it was the tires wedged into the narrow ditch that kept it upright. After evaluating it, I saw that with the ditch bank on the low side as high as it was and the FEL up, there was not way for it to go over, so I shifted to LOW/LOW range and eased it back up the ditch till I was back on level ground. Pucker factor was at 100% on that one. That ditch will forever stay either grown up with grasss and vines as it is now or I will use a weedeater from now own. It was so overgrown that I couldnt tell that it was washed out pretty deep as it went further down the hill. MY error for not walking it down prior to bailing off in it with my tractor on new property that I was not familiar with at all.

 

[Gary Fowler]

One other issue I should relate on how much does it take to flip you over. A few years back, as I was driving past the school yard close to my house, I saw a car in the school bus drop off driveway setting on its roof. I stopped to see if I could lend assistance. The engine was still running and the lady was standing by her car. The doors locked back after she got out, so we couldnt do anything but wait till the engine died on its own. Anyway, she said she was only going about 10 MPH making a slow 180 that the school buses made everyday. She hit the curb with her front tire which jerk the wheel and she then procedeed to climb up a concrete stanchion that a street light was mounted on. It was just right to roll her upside down on perfectly flat ground and not much above walking speed. That is how fast a rollover can happen and nothing that you see coming at you to show you the danger.
Funny thing about this one, the woman said that this car was a rental as she had her car in for repairs from another wreck. Bet her insurance company was not a happy camper.

 

[DanD78]

The county guys mow this ditch all the time but we couldn't. No damage just fell over.

Dan

 

[LBrown59]

Hi folks, I'm a new tractor owner (JD 3720/300CX FEL/Frontier RC2060 cutter) and have been curious about one thing in particular. Does anyone know the maximum slope allowed before the JD3720 will roll over? I see TractorByNet sells a tiltmeter, but without knowing the critical angle that the tractor will start to roll, it doesn't do me much good.

I figure you folks have a library of knowledge, so I am asking the experts.

Thanks,
Scott

15 max
But you can turn any tractor over on any surface if the lower wheel drops into a low spot or an upper wheel goes over a high spot.

 

[roamerr]

DanD78 -- Good Pic. I always thought that one of those wide bush hogs added stability but I guess not. That ditch does not look that bad but pics never do justice. That Tractor does look tall...

 

[Lyrch75]

If you have your ROPS up and are going slow; putting a tractor on its side tends not to do much damage if you get engine shut off PDQ. I broke a couple lights and ripped a couple OH **** handles off but never damaged the tractor.

Yes, I have parked tractors on their sides enough to use plurals. Do not want to repeat with my new one, so my driving has gotten MUCH more conservative.

 

[JoeL4330]

DanD78 -- Good Pic. I always thought that one of those wide bush hogs added stability but I guess not. That ditch does not look that bad but pics never do justice. That Tractor does look tall...

Looks to me as if the batwing is towed rather than 3ph, which means it provides little if any rollover restraint ...in roll it is decoupled from the tractor.

If the weight were roll-coupled (via 3ph) then lots of weight low down helps lots ...if wide enough then there might be a bit of "outrigger" help, but remember that the 3ph "floats".

Note that we are discussing side-hill stability here ...if you were going down (the "fall line") with the mower down then the mower doesn't keep the rears from "unweighting" (at least until you have reached the bottom of the 3ph float, which really too low to be of help, here) ...this problem is not so noticeable/serious in 4wd as you still have engine braking on the fronts, but in 2wd if the rears begin to unweight you have no braking ...and, while it seems counter-intuitive in the heat of the moment, raising the 3ph is the right move ...that is, taking the weight off the ground and coupling it to the tractor. (of course, coming up the hill, if the tractor wants to nose up, then lowering the 3 ph to set its load on the ground is the right move ...always pays to plan ahead, cause it's hard to work out physics problems under pucker)

 

[JoelD]

This post brings to mind a questioin.

Can a roll over meter provide a false sense of security and one maybe better off without it?

Kinda like the old argument regarding helmets in hockey and high sticking?

Joel

For me, when in doubt, slow down and drop bucket.

 

[RobertN]

Please quote your sources.

Is this a fact for my Kubota, my old Farmall, and my Dad's Ford 9N?

Like others have said, it "depends". How wide are the tires set, is the bucket full, is the bucket high or low, is the ground soft, hard, wet... ect ect...

15 max