Got tipsy today!

[William1]

I have a stack of cedar logs in the back of my property. Saved for making posts out of, edging on trails. Probably 20 logs, 12" in diameter and 25 or so feet long.
I need 5 12' sections. Measured, Cut and laid them on the bucket (48" on a BX25D).
Nothing on the 3Pt as the only implements I have are the BH (too time consuming to install) and a rear blade (Too nervous about catching it on the yard as squared to the machine, it is too wide to fit though my gates.)
My property is not hilly but it is not flat either. When I got to a few places with a little bit of tilt, one of the rear tires rose off the ground, scared me, the wife said it was 6 to 12 inches up!
I took off three of the logs ( can pick up and carry one by myself, no more than 150 pounds each, I'd wager) and took the two in the bucket to the place I needed them, and went back, got the other three (slightly smaller) and took them to where I needed them.
The FEL was never more than 4' off the ground. It had no problem lifting.
I learned a good lesson about weight and spread past wheel width. A good 'It will never happen to me' lesson. I am glad I am one of those guys that as soon as it feels wrong, I stop and re-evaluate. Had I fought it, I could of had a real bad day.

 

[85Hokie]

It is amazing what a few inches of bucket will do......a 4' high bucket lowered to 2'....changes the whole game! AND even when you drop it lower, goes from higher than center of gravity to actually lowering it a tad!

I have had the rears off the ground too, but it might have been an inch.....scared the shhheat out of me, amazing how sllllllow the tractor will move when the super pucket factor is in high gear!

keep em on the ground William - dont want to read about cha in the paper or on the tube!

 

[bxray]

Yep!
You need some counterbalance weight in back.
With the engine at the front it is tipsy.
The Back hoe or blade works great.
Looks like you need a weight box.

Ray

 

[William1]

Yeah, I knew I was screwed. The approach to all three gates is not 'square and level.' I'd of had to raise the bucket over five feet to get it to clear the fence.

I can assure you, it will never happen again. If I have a load like that, I'll either make the load much smaller and make multiple trips or haul as far as I can with the big load, drop some off, do the tricky part with a light load or simply heft it with my old body.

Years (15 or 20) ago my dad was mowing his lawn with a B series SCUT. Along the edge of the pond, very step hill. Rolled it into the pond. It took two tow trucks to get the little guy out of the pond. I chalked it up to my dad not understanding angles and balance.
I was ten seconds from being my own worst enemy!

 

[Fastdonzi]

Yep,I hear Ya I took my week old tractor to my bosses house to gather some trees he'd just cut (against my wifes will) while carrying the last (largest) Oak Log through the woods, Backwards, I had to stop and turn. when I stopped it swung towards the tractor, then it swung away and lifted the rear tires (Oh ship) with my cat like reflexes I let the log down to the ground... whew, went and had a smoke and a prayer then hauled it the rest of the way about 2" off the ground Lol

 

[Ezlife45]

Gets scary quick! Glad you're OK.

 

[ShaunRH]

Keep the center of your bucket at or below the center of your axles unless absolutely necessary. That's about 6" or less of daylight under my loader bucket (LA524). Little to no effect on side to side CG at that point.

 

[meackerman]

My land is almost perfectly flat....it doesn't take the tractor moving to get the pucker factor going. I was using my post hole digger with downforce and the ground was hard enough that instead of digging in, it lifted the back of the tractor up and then the tractor tilted over onto one of the back wheels. I took it a bit slower after that.

 

[blktipton]

New member, but long time follower. Newest tractor is a l2501. Loving it so far. It's funny you post this today, I had an oh sheeet experience today also. I am trying to clear a hill for a larger driveway. I was being careful, but slid in the mud right into a rut. Definitely felt the weight of the tractor balancing on the down hill side. It doesn't seem to take much to make you sweat on these things


Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[Grouse Feathers]

There have been several threads about the front axle pivot. If you understand the front axle pivot you will understand why the tractor can so quickly get unstable when you have the front end loader, loaded and raised. The pivot allows the front wheels to maintain contact with the ground on uneven terrain. It will also allow the tractor to roll to the right or left. The rear axle keeps the tractor upright, but with the fel up and loaded the rear axle is unloaded. If the fel is raised and the load is not directly over the pivot there will be an unbalance that could roll the tractor.

 

[Greenhead]

The FEL was never more than 4' off the ground. It had no problem lifting.
I learned a good lesson about weight and spread past wheel width. A good 'It will never happen to me' lesson. I am glad I am one of those guys that as soon as it feels wrong, I stop and re-evaluate. Had I fought it, I could of had a real bad day.

Glad you're ok. One word for you; Ballast! Load your rear tires with fluid if allowed, then use some sort of ballast on the 3 point. A box with weight in it, implement, something... We use a 55 gallon barrel cut down a little, three point connectors installed inside and then fill with concrete. You could use a plastic 30 gallon for smaller tractors to get the weight you need. they sit tight on the 3 point and could easily go through gates. These tractors are inherently narrow and can easily get top heavy (remember the old jeeps). All that with the important knowledge Grouse Feathers pointed out is good stuff. They do have limits, keep the loader low and don't find out the hard way. Believe it or not I do wear the seatbelt when using the loader. Without them if it goes over the ROPS will be the first thing you'll feel.

 

[bradmond]

Another thing to remember here is that when the rears are up you have no brakes. Keep in in 4 wheel drive so you can stop if needed.

 

[William1]

LOL, I knew I was being risky and fortunately, only had one place (Getting through the gates) where the loader had to be up in the air. Unfortunately, the ground/approach to the gates is not flat, it is tilted to one side. So as the loader went up, I began to tilt! So the loader came back down.
Yup, in 4wd as a precaution to prevent slipping (turf tires). I know to make wide sweeping turns and take my time on the lawn, even when not in 4wd.
For the amount of times I'll need to go into the yard (the gates are just 56" wide, 2" wider than the BH outriggers!) it is just as easy to unload, hand carry through the gate and reload on the other side than to go though the trouble of having a ballast box. None of my neighbors have them as none have small gates and they keep a blade, box or tiller on the back all the time.
Yup, tires are filled. But basic physics (a penny on the end of a yard stick can feel heavy) wins every time.

The aerator I have is too wide to fit through the gates. I have to unload the filled cement blocks (each is 85 pounds) unhook the aerator, tilt/drag it through the gate then hook it up and reload the block. Tolerable because I aerate once a year. It would bre great if it had a 3Pt and was not for use by the garden tractor. It is the transport wheels that are the problem. But it is a once a year implement and not worth the expse to modify or replace for the amount of use.

Get wider gates..... like 15'....................

 

[Grouse Feathers]

It must be nice to be young. Us old guys bought tractors to do more work with less effort. Unloading and loading to pass through a gate does not sound like less effort for a retired back(unloading / loading cement blocks ugh). That's why you are getting so many suggestions on how to add weight to pass through the gates. If length would not be to big of a problem you could try the rear blade with it rotated parallel to the tractor.

 

[D2Cat]

William1, how about replacing the gate with a wider one? Eliminates the tipsy risk, unloading and loading, and saves time. Stay younger longer!!

 

[Daren Todd]

I have to agree with d2cat if you can enlarge the gate yourself, it can be fairly in expensive. If it's chain link, then only one extra gate needs to be installed with a concreted in post. This is only if you have the space to do so. I installed a set of gates on one side of my property. You never know when you might need to get a vehicle in the back yard And I made the opening wide enough to be able to squeeze a dump truck or concrete truck into the back yard if need be

 

[William1]

I'm only 58 and in extremely good physical condition. Due to the 'lay of the land' widening the gates is not an option as is changing the contours.

I dug an entire house foundation by hand with a shovel and a wheel barrow. Took me all summer. I actually enjoyed it. I have a strong satisfaction for hard physical labor, being drenched in sweat. Though I'd never do it to earn money.
Certain jobs, the tractor cannot be beat. Working on the driveway (1/2 mile long) Dredging the pond. I can do in a day what took me a week and make less of a mess.
Moving these five cedar trunks, it might of been just as easy to of just tossed two on my shoulders and walked, making three trips. Or use the tractor and move one or two at a time and not all five. I have a stack of close to fifty of them, from 20' long to 50' long. All hand carried and stacked by me solo.

The loader bucket will easily fit between the gates so if it were loaded and nothing hanging over the sides, I could keep it low and safe and scoot right through.

I have a rear blade, I thought about having it set parallel to the tractor but I was concerned the 'front' corner might catch the ground and tear it up. I'm sure if the BH had still been installed I might of not had any problem as I could lower the hoe, stick the arm out straight and swing it to the uphill side for ballast.

This was a good learning lesson for me. I am glad I am wimpy and as soon as I felt a tilt, I stopped. I know a lot of guys that just try to barrel on through and often with horrific results. I am confident as long as everything goes according to plan. When something does not, I stop and re-evaluate. I have no problem walking away and pondering it for a few days. For example, when hand digging, if you hit something solid, stop and investigate. Inspect the object. Do not wail on it with a sledge. It might be a gas line..........

 

[oldrockfan]

glad you did not tip over and lessons learned without an incident are always good.

Be safe and maybe this will be a good excuse to get a new implement for the rear that will act as balance. I have a boxblade on the back of my Kubota and that thing is very handy.

 

[William1]

"But honey, I need it for SAFETY!!!!"
"I really do not want it but I am thinking about you...."

Followed up by....

"Look what I got YOU!!!!"

 

[wardsfarmnj]

I took a nice roll on my riding mower over a edge...luckily a tree stopped us but not before I was basically trapped under the other side...Only person there was a my 93 year old grandfather. Luckily it was a riding mower so I pushed it off of myself enough to get from under it and then had to drag it up off the side of the cliff/dropoff. No damage to me or the riding mower I got lucky but I learned my lesson of getting to close to edges. I have gotten a bit tipsy with my load on the bota but nothing that made me think I would tip