Runaway tractor nearly killed me yesterday!

[Renze]

You were amazed about yourself about how fast you could think in crisis: I had the exact same thing when i fell asleep behind the wheel right in front of a 90ï½° corner: when i woke up right in front of it, i could decide between ATTEMPT to take the turn, with the risk that if i couldnt make it, smash into 3 giant oaks, or:
Brake hard as possible to loose speed, and crash through the branches, OVER a ditch, BETWEEN those oaks, into a lilly flower field...

This microsecond math, told me that failing to take the corner at an unlikely 90 km/h would result in death or serious injury when crashing into the trio of oaks.
I decided the latter, braked as hard as i could, released the brakes in front of the ditch (speed stil 70 km/h !!) because the front end was ducking because of the brake forces, and i didnt want to flip it over when the front end hits the other side of the ditch. I parked it into the lillyflower field with no damage, just some scratches.
I was able to drive the car out of the loose soil on its own, after putting the battery clamp back on, because it was thrown off due to the violent ditch jump...

The other microsecond decision was when i parked a runaway trailer upside down in a ditch, after an out-of-control zig-zag with not enough tongue weight, due to a shifting center of gravity during the ride. (crappy trailer front gate bent over to the back, moving the load of planks about a yard back)


I am still amazed how fast i could analyse the risks of both choices i had, in just microseconds.... Or maybe it was a guardian angel that whispered it into my ear " jump the ditch, you wont make that turn" Anyways, when i came home i thanked God...

 

[MJPetersen]

Your story reminds many of us of some hair raising tales. Mine was with an old 988 Cat loader down a steep gravel road with a fair turn at the bottom. I got going too fast and the steering works with hyd, so unless the engine is turning fast you had no hyd steering control and with the engine running faster you went faster--it was a scary ride and one that I would not like to repeat. I was sliding that monster sideways in fast "S's" down that hill. I am not sure how it stayed on the road or how I made the corner at the bottom. The boss later said simply, "got going a bit fast down that hill, huh?" Yes and it will not be repeated, today anyway!!

Thanks for the story and reminder!

Mike

 

[Charlesaf3]

Thanks for posting this. I always like the oppty to try and avoid making similar mistakes. That way I can be creative and make entirely new mistakes.

Yesterday I dropped my 60 woods rototiller on my foot. Didn't do anything but bruise it - I was amazingly lucky. I am now better about jacking it when I work on it...

Which is to say, I continually prove that doing things the "long" way always ends up being easier. I still haven't got it through my thick head that its quicker to walk back to the barn for the right tool, but nature is gradually convincing me.

You're right, you should have gone for another tractor, or car, or come along to get you out. And I'm sure I'd have done the exact same thing you did. I hope this reminds me not to...

 

[texasjohn]

thanks for the post

obviously, you plan ahead and are safety oriented

glad you can think fast and react accurately, given bad choices, to select the better of the bad.

message to me is that even when I think I have thought it all out and have a safe plan, I need to be prepared for the unanticipated. it can happen quickly! This message has been reinforced, several times during my experiences with horses, cattle, driving with trailers, on the road and with tractors. I understand the adrenelin reaction after such a close call.. and I agree that the post event tremors can be disturbing, but very understandable!


I concurr with your analysis of what happened, and that it was not initially obvious that it WOULD happen.

thanks for your service..

 

[pitt_md]

Glad you made it out of that situation without any serious damage.

I had something like that happen but slower speeds. First day I had my Kubota I picked up something in the FEL and was going to take it to the edge of the meadow and dump it over the drop off. The grass was wet, I was in 2WD and started down a gentle slope. I eased the brakes on as the tractor picked up speed and it didn't slow down! I keep going faster as rear wheels just slipped over the grass without getting a bite. I was going to go over the edge and into the swamp below. At the last minute I dropped the FEL and plowed to a stop. I now make sure I have ballast on the back when I use the FEL.

 

[rox]

Glad you made it out of that situation without any serious damage.

I had something like that happen but slower speeds. First day I had my Kubota I picked up something in the FEL and was going to take it to the edge of the meadow and dump it over the drop off. The grass was wet, I was in 2WD and started down a gentle slope. I eased the brakes on as the tractor picked up speed and it didn't slow down! I keep going faster as rear wheels just slipped over the grass without getting a bite. I was going to go over the edge and into the swamp below. At the last minute I dropped the FEL and plowed to a stop. I now make sure I have ballast on the back when I use the FEL.

I was yearning for a FEL for our tractor, thought it would be so handy on the farm, but all these stories scare me. I think I'll put that idea on the back burner for a while.

 

[teg]

If you have 4x4 and use it... you should not have a problem. A FEL makes a tractor a work horse... I use it more then any other attachment.

 

[rox]

If you have 4x4 and use it... you should not have a problem. A FEL makes a tractor a work horse... I use it more then any other attachment.

Our tractor is 4WD so maybe it would be okay.

 

[Bird]

I was yearning for a FEL for our tractor, thought it would be so handy on the farm, but all these stories scare me. I think I'll put that idea on the back burner for a while.

Rox, a FEL can be dangerous, but if you go slow learning and don't try to move around with it too high in the air, it's also probably the most used and most handy accessory or attachment there is. A friend of mine had 3 old tractors, worked a herd of cattle, cut and baled hay, etc., but no front end loader. But then he finally bought an old International tractor with a FEL and within a month told me, "If I'd known how handy those things are, I'd have bought one 20 years ago."

 

[Wendi]

So true about the FEL. We bought a TYM with a FEL after my husband got run over by our old Ford 9N - Thank God the rear wheel went over his upper hips and the weight of the tractor sort of shifted off his body.

After that accident we decided that safety was worth the investment!!

And, as a bonus we now see how useful the FEL is.

 

[texasjohn]

ROX, fear not the FEL. GET one and you will NEVER be sorry. Use 4WD, be sure and put weight on the rear when you use it...I just LEAVE something heavy on my 3PH all the time because 99% of the time when I get in the tractor the FEL gets used, somewhere along the way. Get a toothbar as well. Put chain hooks on it. Get a quick attach so you can use several implements. With all you do, there is no reason to forgo the benefits of a FEL...none at all. You respect equipment and that's all it takes to benefit from a tractor with FEL.

 

[dtd24]

This post is exactly why I love this place. It's like a free saftey course. I never thought of not having brakes on the front tires. When I plan to lift something heavy, especially now that I have the grapple on the FEL, I use my backhoe attachment for ballast.

Learning from someones mistakes helps me not create those same mistakes and operate safer.

Thank you for sharing your experience, I am glad you pulled though it.

 

[texasjohn]

I think the message is:

1. approach from down hill side
2. weight on rear
3. 4wd at all such times
4. be ready and DROP the FEL/3PH if things start going wierd, put something on/in the ground, QUICK!

 

[dmccarty]

Miltrade,

When you got stuck did you push the forks down to lift up your front tires and then try to back out? If you did not get any "lift" because you had the forks on the tractor instead of a bucket throwng some decent sized limbs/wood in the hole can give the forks something to push against to lift up the tractor.

But with those slicks on the tractor you still might not have been able to move backwards. Sometimes you have to go forward..

I have not gotten the tractor stuck to the point of needing a pull. The worse I have done was crossing two trenches with a load of wet sand. I happened to cross the first trench so that my rear tires where in the one trench just when my front tires went into the other trench.

I could push down with the FEL to get the front tires out so I had to dump the sand. That alowed me to lift out the front tires and back out. If I had been 6 feet in left or right of where I had the trenches I would not have had a problem. I just happened to cross the trenches where they were apart the same length as the tractor axles.

The most nervous I got was using the backhoe to cross trenches I had been digging. Long story short that hoe did not have enough length to get me as far across the trench as I liked. I was TOO close to the trench and in danger of flipping. I would hate to have known my heart rate. I put retaining wall blocking in the trench so i could drive out. The trench was to lay the block so I had it handy.

Seems like you made rational decisions for each event its just when you added them all together they ended up being not so rational in hindsight. Which is usually how it goes.

Why was the tranny in such a high gear? When I'm messing with stumps and such I'm in the low range and first gear. And often wishing I had a creeper gear.

Later,
Dan

 

[texasjohn]

I think the point is that his tractor turned into a teter-totter... with rear wheels off the ground, thus because he was in 2 (rear wheel) drive, the engine speed did not slow him down, brakes are on the rear and off the ground and there are no brakes on the front wheels. So, he was stering a 2 wheeler down the hill because of terrain, tractor weight (im) balance, and gaining speed because he had no braking capability and didn't want to jam his forks into the ground at that speed because he was afeared of turning a flip.

 

[roguesam]

Story reminded me of my own errors after purchasing my first 4WD. Minneapolis, first heavy snow storm since I bought it and my wife and her sister want to go to the nursery due to early spring fever. I, of course, offer to drive them because "I have 4WD". We start heading down a minor incline and I "of 4WD" am driving too fast to stop in a reasonable amount of time. Slid through a stop light, missing a city bus by inches. Stopping distance remains the same, 4WD or not....

 

[PANHAPP]

Miltrade if you learn only one thing from this experience it should be that you have to be ready to drop the load immediately. There is no time to think about it. You evidently had your hand on the control. When you feel
it start to go push forward dont think. If you start to feel a wheel ( or both ) come up push forward. Thinking about it can make the difference between turning the tractor over or not (or taking a ride like you did). Your forks were relatively level if you slid them under the stump so I would think you could have dropped it even after you rolled forward. If not curl and drop. DO NOT LET ANY ONE NEAR THE TRACTOR WHEN USING THE LOADER. If someone needs to guide something use a rope.

 

[farmfun]

You probably took off because you lifted the rear, or lifted enough to loose your braking ability. (no brakes on the front). Ask me how I know. If you were in 4 wheel drive and low gear it probably wouldn't have happened. I learned this going down our drive with a bucket full of gravel. It can happen in a flash as you found out. Glad your ok.

The bolded text above just became a note on my tractor's dash ...

Thank you

 

[Sackett2]

After I got my Montana, I was fine using it all over the place; then I decided to read the owners manual. It mentioned not using the 4wd unless needed, so I took I put it into 2wd and drove down my parents asphalt driveway. I quickly discovered I wasn't braking as effectively and to get it to stop, i actually skidded one tire. It took another skid mark for me to figure out that i had grown use to the 4wd helping stop the tractor. It stays in 4wd most the time now.

 

[tatra805]

Just read this thread, agree with you all on the 4wd but not on the add weight when new to FEL

I learned the behaviour and balance of my tractor without any counterweights and that now, with counterweight, ensures i "know" or "feel" that a load is over the normal limit and the counter weight is keeping me horizontal.

If you start with counterweights and you cross the limits (which you will in your learning phase) the outcome may be more dramatic as you are talking a lot more weight moving the wrong direction.

Learn light, work heavy is my advise.