Nearly rolled - Stay safe

wozza · Jan 19, 2019

Had a near catastrophe yesterday. Was working on a bit of a slope trying to build up some footings on my shed pad with sand and gravel. I had a fair bit of sand down and started to top it with gravel. Coming across the slope I started to raise the bucket and the load of gravel shifted causing the BX to sink into the sand on one side and raise the left rear off the ground. I was about to jump off and at the same time lowered the bucket to the ground which stopped it rolling.

It was my own stupid fault and should serve as a reminder not to become complacent when working on our machines. So a reminder to everyone to stay safe.

skeets · Jan 20, 2019

How long ya think its gona take to get all that soft brown stuff off the seat

Glad your OK mate, bet ya a beer you dont make that mistake again

jonmad · Jan 20, 2019

wozza said:
Had a near catastrophe yesterday. Was working on a bit of a slope trying to build up some footings on my shed pad with sand and gravel. I had a fair bit of sand down and started to top it with gravel. Coming across the slope I started to raise the bucket and the load of gravel shifted causing the BX to sink into the sand on one side and raise the left rear off the ground. I was about to jump off and at the same time lowered the bucket to the ground which stopped it rolling.

It was my own stupid fault and should serve as a reminder not to become complacent when working on our machines. So a reminder to everyone to stay safe.

Scary. We’ve probably all been there. I know I have. Glad it all worked out okay for you.

Lil Foot · Jan 20, 2019

Glad it didn't go over. Thanks for posting, these postings serve to remind us to be careful, and that it can happen to anyone.

Kennyd4110 · Jan 20, 2019

Glad your OK, did you have any rear ballast when this happened?

bearbait · Jan 20, 2019

Yep, happens pretty quick, just glad you're ok.

DustyRusty · Jan 20, 2019

If you try to jump off, you run the risk that the tractor will land on you. When using my BX, I rarely use the seat belt, but if I am doing work that I believe the tractor might roll over, I use the seat belt, because I know that I have a better chance of survival if I stay in the seat than if I get thrown off, and the tractor rolls over me. I also have a gauge that tells me the degree of slope, and keep a close eye on it. I never go across a hill, only up or down, and never turn on a hill. I have loaded tires, and a very heavy weight box, and my hand is always on the loader handle to drop the load quickly. When traveling with a load in the bucket, I raise it only enough to give the bucket ground clearance, and never raise it any higher than necessary to dump the load.

GBJeffOH · Jan 20, 2019

I wear my seat belt if I am not on level ground.

Be ready to drop the load.

shootem604 · Jan 20, 2019

GBJeffOH said:
Be ready to drop the load.

Both loads...

bearbait · Jan 20, 2019

shootem604 said:
Both loads...

Lol, definitely a pucker.

SidecarFlip · Jan 20, 2019

shootem604 said:
Both loads...

Yessir.......

troverman · Jan 24, 2019

DustyRusty said:
...I never go across a hill, only up or down, and never turn on a hill. I have loaded tires, and a very heavy weight box, and my hand is always on the loader handle to drop the load quickly. When traveling with a load in the bucket, I raise it only enough to give the bucket ground clearance, and never raise it any higher than necessary to dump the load.

The BX is a pretty stable tractor. It has small tires and not much ground clearance...nice low center of gravity. Raising a heavy load obviously could cause a problem, but just be careful and use common sense.

I mow fields with fairly steep slopes. I am mowing across the hill. I use a B2920 as my smallest machine and an MX as my largest, with an L-series in the middle. I have a flail mower on the back. Being cautious and using good common sense, these tractors can actually handle a side-slope quite well. I have mowed a 30 acre all-slope field in this manner for 4 years now and not had an issue. The point I'm making is simply that side slopes can be operated on; just use caution.

Kevin1 · Feb 3, 2019

Survival rate with ROPs up and seat belt on 99%.

Dunbar · Feb 3, 2019

Troverman - I don't have much in the way of slope to deal with but would love to see video of you crossing slopes you regularly mow and showing what slope you would avoid.

JeepinMaxx · Feb 3, 2019

Dunbar said:
Troverman - I don't have much in the way of slope to deal with but would love to see video of you crossing slopes you regularly mow and showing what slope you would avoid.

I'm curious too! I pucker at a 5 - 10 ° side slope!

JohnDB · Feb 9, 2019

Thanks for telling us.

Kennyd4110 asked about rear ballast.

A word of warning for those who use a rear grader blade as ballast. I got complacent and got a sharp reminder that it's OK as ballast - as long as it's not touching the ground

. I was repairing a track and had a bucket-load of stones, tractor was nose down on a slope, with the roll centre pretty much parallel to the slope, so I was being extra careful. I decided to get off to check the exact position of the bucket before dumping the load, so as usual applied brakes, lowered the blade (happy it would be an extra good ground anchor too).... whereupon the upper rear wheel promptly started lifting up in the air. Luckily I was only lowering the blade slowly, still had my hand on the raise/lower lever, so I was able to get the blade up again pronto. I don't know how close the whole lot was to going right over and rolling down the slope.

The tractor has a ROPS. I bought a seat belt, like Kevin1 says.

bambam31 · Feb 10, 2019

I had a scary moment a few weeks ago. We have a puddle on sloping gravel road at out property. I've probably driven though that puddle 100+ times without any problems. We recently had some heavy rains that caused a lot of flooding. The puddle has become a major hole and I almost rolled my tractor. Thankfully I was going slow so I was able to avoid a major disaster. The width of the puddle did not change, only the depth. The lesson for me was to never assume.

RCW · Feb 10, 2019

I’ve mowed my yard for almost 30 years, so I know it. Not much is flat. Some is steeper than this.

I posted this a couple years ago mowing my ditch. I chuckled to myself that the tractor looked tipped over from above. (I think someone dumped their McDonalds bags is why I stopped[emoji35]). My right front comes about a foot off the ground exiting the ditch ahead of where the tractor sits - you can see some old ruts.

I don’t know degrees, etc, but a BX is pretty nimble without the FEL on, like troverman said.

I’ve joked here for years my tractor needs to be part mountain goat.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In Utopia · Feb 11, 2019

DustyRusty said:
If you try to jump off, you run the risk that the tractor will land on you. When using my BX, I rarely use the seat belt, but if I am doing work that I believe the tractor might roll over, I use the seat belt, because I know that I have a better chance of survival if I stay in the seat than if I get thrown off, and the tractor rolls over me. I also have a gauge that tells me the degree of slope, and keep a close eye on it. I never go across a hill, only up or down, and never turn on a hill. I have loaded tires, and a very heavy weight box, and my hand is always on the loader handle to drop the load quickly. When traveling with a load in the bucket, I raise it only enough to give the bucket ground clearance, and never raise it any higher than necessary to dump the load.

Can you give me an idea using your gauge at what angle (degree of angle) you'd be in danger of tipping over?

Search

Nearly rolled - Stay safe

wozza

New member

skeets

Well-known member

jonmad

New member

Lil Foot

Well-known member

Kennyd4110

Well-known member

bearbait

Well-known member

DustyRusty

Well-known member

GBJeffOH

Active member

shootem604

Member

bearbait

Well-known member

SidecarFlip

Banned

troverman

Well-known member

Kevin1

Member

Dunbar

Member

JeepinMaxx

Member

JohnDB

Active member

bambam31

Member

RCW

Well-known member

In Utopia

Active member