Tilt Meter

[oosik]

I have 80 acres of open range land. The land varies from perfectly flat to completely vertical. Barring gopher holes or mounds - I know exactly where it is safe/not safe.

I do not need a gauge to tell me. More importantly - I don't need a gauge to encourage me to go where I should not be. This comes from living on the land for over 40 years.

However - if a gauge will keep anybody from a rollover - then, I'm all for them having one.

 

[AnotherBueller]

First I should have said that I have no affiliation with any company that makes these things. Just your average Joe that owns a tractor.

Second I have about 100 hours on my current machine and have used all sorts of other tractors, bobcats, miniexcavators, etc... The fact is that the feel of a slope is a function of the machine. On my current unit the operator sits up quite high and seems a lot more tipy than a compact tractor. However, they are alll designed for a 20 degree slope limit.

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Why? Common sense will tell more than any meter or gauge on the market. Seems to me like another gimic or add on that some just "have to have". Just my opinion.

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Nope. I don't believe that you can tell how much of a slope you are on by feel. This is a tool and low cost at that. So why would you oppose something that can't hurt and costs on the order of 0.1% of your tractor investment? In addition, as Rick says it simply provides info. In fact it seems to me that on some slopes I had underestimated the slope and on others had over estimated.

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The first impression I got from reading the first post in this thread yesterday, was that the gentleman [sorry, can't read your name as I write this], now that he got his tilt meter, might actually get himself in trouble, because it made him feel comfortable in a situation where he used to feel uncomfortable, and that as a result he might drive faster across that slope, and hit a rut/bump, and experience undesired results.

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I don’t think so. In fact I think most guys tend to get sloppy with time. The more time you spend on slopes the more comfortable you get with it and the more you push the edge. So the meter allows you to establish a quantitative level that will get you in to trouble. This level is independent of how you feel on the slope. Have you seen the post about the guy that loads the backhoe on the train car? Maybe after enough times through that process it might even start to make some sense. Not for me but maybe for some guys./w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

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No matter how many safety shields, warning labels, or safety devices you put on a piece of equipment there are people in this world who will manage to hurt themselves or others.

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I also hate the lawyers’ labels. You know the ones: don’t stick your foot under the mower, don’t stick your hand in the chipper, the coffee we serve is hot, etc…This stuff is all common sense.

The tilt meter, IMHO does not fall into that category. You can’t tell what is safe by feel.

Fred

Need to know at what angle your tractor (as equipped and at what bucket position) will tip, then subtract what ever safety factor you wish. Then that's the max angle for your tractor. However I don't know how to get that information and I don't want to do the trial & error method. My hold my beer and watch this days are behind me now.

 

[IXLR8]

I put a tilt meter on my box blade to help with grading our road to get it to drain properly.

 

[Sonny580]

NO gauge can fix stupid!! You have to use common sence and know you and your equipment. As already stated, try watching some gadget and you WILL get yourself into trouble!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[scootr]

To be honest my BH is the best tilt meter I've ever used. It works great, if it gets tight I slow down...if it get real tight I stop.

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Guys,
Rick at R&B here. Just a little feed back on the tiltmeters.
A highway dept. we sell to recently had two roll-overs in two
days. They buy my meters exclusively. However, they just
leased new tractors and did not have meters mounted on
them yet. According to a district purchasing agent for the
highway dept., a directive was sent to all districts telling
all districts that ALL tractors must have a tiltmeter and
where to get them. R&B was the only approved supplier.
The highway dept. has been using my meters for 2 years.
According to the purchasing agent, the directive sent by the
safety engineer for the dept. advised that roll-overs had
reduced by over 70 percent since adding tiltmeters.

A large farm bureau insurance company placed their second
order last Monday. 100 more tiltmeters. They bought 100
last spring. They sell them to their clients for cost. Seems
roll-overs have gone down drastically.

A manufacturer of slope mowers just placed their third order
in the last 12 months. At first, they offered tiltmeters as an
option. No roll-overs by users. They have decided to put
a tiltmeter on ALL their mowers. No added cost to the buyers.

Seems like this GIMMICK is saving lives. Go figure.

A tiltmeter is not for everyone. They will not prevent a roll-over. A speedometer will not prevent speeding. Both are
guages for safe operation. My wife drives so slow she does
not need a speedometer. Some tractors are never used
on slopes. No need for a tiltmeter.

By the way, we sell to numerous highway depts. They come
back every year and buy more. Seems the GIMMICK works
well for them. Rick

I normally don't like it when a person selling a product comments on their product, but in this case, I found it informative.

I don't have a tilt meter, and I've gone back on forth on buying one. When I'm mowing along the edge of my pond, I'm uncomfortable by the angle, but I've done it so many times that I believe it's safe. Kind of like, I got away with it before, so I'll do it again.

But now I'm curious what the angle is. And how close I am to being dangerous, or if I'm just being a sissy, and it's really ok.

 

[scootr]

I'm a sissy too when it comes to side tilt. Yesterday I felt I pushed the limit and was honestly a bit ashamed I would have taken the risk considering the consequence.

 

[RayIN]

I forgot to say, I do have one of these. I haven't put it on my new tractor yet.

 

[EddieWalker]

What side angle is when I need to start to panic?

 

[RjCorazza]

What side angle is when I need to start to panic?

Not sure how to interpret that question. I run my zero turns on banks of 20-28 degrees. The tractor not nearly so much!
I am very conservative with the tractor, avoiding going sideways on slopes of over about 10 degrees.
The actual slope is only part of the equation.... I have seen several tractors go over (or nearly go over) on level ground.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

What side angle is when I need to start to panic?

and therein lay the $64,000 question.

notice gauge makers never give recommendations when enough is enough/ cause so many variables like type of tyres, what the ground surface is, moisture content of surface, center of gravity height, etc....

so only my individual opinion but thanks for the gauge, makes little or no value to me as to many variables at play to trust a "dumb" single variable gauge.

Cheers

 

[RayIN]

What side angle is when I need to start to panic?

When the upper side drive tire begins to lose traction.

 

[Happy in NC]

I still feel like I would like to have one...not because I really need it, but because I would like to have something to calibrate my pucker factor with.

That is my feeling too.
If I feel that center of gravity shift the FEL goes down and I back out. I am usually quite cautious as my land is pretty hilly.
My 2 cents

 

[steve tym]

My pucker factor was rearing its ugly head, so I bought a tilt meter. I thought I was being a baby, tilt meter shows about 15 degrees. IF you can find anybody to throw a number out, it's about 20 degrees. I was closer than I thought.

 

[EddieWalker]

This was before I widened my wheels to their maximum width. Easily the most terrifying angle that I've been at with my tractor.

I got too close to the ditch that comes from my culvert and my tires slide down into it. I hit the clutch and brakes at the same time, and watched the front tire settle back down to the ground. Seeing it in the air isn't something I ever want to see again.

What angle is this? I don't have a clue. The angle of the camera makes it look worse, but it was really scary and that's why I think a tilt meter might be nice to have.

 

[2manyrocks]

This was before I widened my wheels to their maximum width. Easily the most terrifying angle that I've been at with my tractor.

I got too close to the ditch that comes from my culvert and my tires slide down into it. I hit the clutch and brakes at the same time, and watched the front tire settle back down to the ground. Seeing it in the air isn't something I ever want to see again.

What angle is this? I don't have a clue. The angle of the camera makes it look worse, but it was really scary and that's why I think a tilt meter might be nice to have.

View attachment 2102016

You could roughly find the angle by using one of the trees in the background as the vertical compared to the tilt of the rear tire. I wouldn’t want to have been in the operators seat. Glad you weren’t hurt.

 

[Carl_NH]

Eddie, I'd say that's about 25* - definitely beyond my comfort zone!

I have had the tiltmeter since 2003 and don't often need it - my pucker factor is about 15-17* and mostly by the "seat of the pants" method, e.g. when it feels too steep I'm focused on getting out safely than looking at the tiltmeter.

 

[sreeb]

On sale through Sunday with a 30% off coupon.

https://www.harborfreight.com/dial-gauge-angle-finder-34214.html

 

[flyerdan]

A cheap and easy tilt meter is a level app for your phone, with a spare case mounted somewhere, or a strip of velcro on your case to the dash if you don't want to swap it all the time. There might even be an actual app for that, haven't looked.

Edit: I did take a look and there are in fact off-road inclinometer apps.

 

[bigtiller]

With my "pucker factor" spots I gave up mowing them. I'm not taking a chance to break things any more.

I use 2-4D to keep the weeds down and trying to maintain a nice stand of brome grass.

I do the same thing over the septic tank and distribution box.