Ultimate newbie question

[thenewblack]

I have a brand new B7800 with a serious Woods backhoe and standard FEL. OK, it is new to me even if 250 hours old. What a wonderful machine! But it is a bit back heavy. On my first day, I took it up a steep hill and I know enough to take that head on, not sideways. But at one point the hill sloped a bit to the left and a front wheel lifted about four to six inches, slowly. Then it went back, equally slowly. I obviously have the ROP and you can guess whether I was wearing the seatbelt. So the question is. Should I have quickly updated my will? Or is this normal? Extra credit for answering whether I should keep some ballast in the bucket to make me a little less Kardashian.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Could be the backhoe is to large for your tractor to have on there. May not be a bad idea to put some weight in the bucket for extra balance.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Actually, thats a very good question. Let me pass on my experience. Not a kubota or a tractor for that matter.
A bobcat on tracks.
Reccomended loading is back on to trailer. Unless the attatchment is quite heavy.
So the thoery is back up the hill or ballast in bucket , carried low. Manufacturer probably has reccomended operation,would be maximum slope for safe operation.
Another thing would be to make sure rear wheels are set at widest position for noticeable stability.

 

[85Hokie]

I have a brand new B7800 with a serious Woods backhoe and standard FEL. OK, it is new to me even if 250 hours old. What a wonderful machine! But it is a bit back heavy. On my first day, I took it up a steep hill and I know enough to take that head on, not sideways. But at one point the hill sloped a bit to the left and a front wheel lifted about four to six inches, slowly. Then it went back, equally slowly. I obviously have the ROP and you can guess whether I was wearing the seatbelt. So the question is. Should I have quickly updated my will? Or is this normal? Extra credit for answering whether I should keep some ballast in the bucket to make me a little less Kardashian.

Thanks in advance.

Loading the rear tires will help only a little in that case, HOWEVER placing something in the bucket will help a hellva lot........from pivot point (rear tires) to out in the bucket is about 8+ feet, if you added 100# ...thats 800 foot pounds out there.....I would find something that you can scoop easily and drop easily in a place to do it again, and over ......or you can add weights to the front bumper too !!!!!

 

[ShaunRH]

You can also just drop the hoe bucket until it skims the surface and if the hill is fairly smooth, drive right up. The hoe bucket becomes a drag point but also stabilizes the tractor going up hill.

 

[Ezlife45]

Is there enough space between the front bumper and the bucket for a couple of suitcase weights?

 

[BLKSTi]

I have the same issue with my B7510, no FEL and woods mower. I would ride wheelies, on command even. Adding 100 lbs of suitcase weights up front helped. Wheelies are much less often and no longer on command.

 

[Dave_eng]

A point many new tractor owners are not aware of.
The front axle of all tractors pivots like a teeter totter. This is to keep all 4 wheels on the ground unless something unusual is going on.
However, the pivoting axle provides no roll resistance until the axle reaches physical stops provided by the manufacturer. The stops are not going to prevent you from rolling over, they are just to limit damage to the equipment.

The roll stability is primarily provided by the solid rear axle. Controlling the center of gravity of the machine with weight carried low in the bucket also provides some stability.

Backing up steep hills is the safest way. The torque rotating the rear wheels tends to lift the front end if you drive up but presses the front end into the ground when backing up.

ATV's with a short wheel base, high center of gravity and lots of torque are best backed up steep hills to avoid flipping over.

Dave M7040

 

[kubotasam]

I have a B7100 with a Woods BH-750 on the back. When I first installed the backhoe it was a little light in the front and acted much the same as you are experiencing. I added front wheel weights and it took care of the problem. It has been quite a while since I put them on but I think they were 75 pounds each.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

You didn't say lifted off the ground, did it?
And did it lift on the side that changed to a lower grade?

Yes when have that much junk in your trunk it helps to be a little "Top" heavy too, well in your tractors case, front heavy.

Like everyone is saying, the front pivots so no real issue there, the wheels will rise and lower with the terrain change as the rear is fixed to the rest of the tractor with no suspension travel, unlike a car that all 4 wheels move on the frame and body.

 

[thenewblack]

Yes, the front wheel lifted off the ground on the uphill side. So that got me wondering if it can lift four or six inches off the ground was I close to toppling over or is that normal. How high before it topples (the mechanics of that calculation is too hard for my brain to figure out without overheating)

Many thanks for the good suggestions and advice. Front wheel weights sound like the best general solution + driving backwards up that very steep hill. Because the hill was steep, the FEL was also higher than it would normally be, which contributed to the problem.

I have rented backhoes before, but never owned a tractor. I love this one.

 

[ShaunRH]

Rolling over backwards is a function of center of gravity and angle of attack.

If a hill is at 30° and your tractors CG critical point is at 45° (just for arguments sake), you only have 15° of tilt you can 'play' with and if you wheelie, all your play space is gone in a second. What you'll find is that at about 5-10° near the CG critical point, even the slightest weight shift (only a few pounds) can take you over the limit faster than you can react. This applies going uphill or sideways. My L3200 with the FEL about 1" off the ground and filled tires with a medium spacing on the rears can only handle about 20° of side angle before it gets very squirrely and unsafe feeling. That is why I now have one of these mounted on my tractor:
Clinometer