Increasing hillside mowing stability

[bam43431]

Have a 2011 L3200 w/ R4 tires. Mow ridgetop and sides with FEL and bush hog and want to add stability. Just added 30 gal/220# of liquid ballast to each rear wheel. Was thinking of adding wheel spacers to rear tires. How wide should I go, the width of the FEL bucket?

 

[85Hokie]

Weight is great at or below the centerline of the axle! AND the further the wheels are apart the better the stability becomes...... but with everything - too much is also bad!!!

Weight IN tires is great ballast - the tractor does not carry the weight!!!! THE rubber tires do! BUT adds pressure to the ground.

Weights ON the axle do the same thing BUT the tractor and the tires are carrying the total amount of weights added.

Both will help tremendously with stability.

AS for spacers - I would NOT go wider than the FEL - when trying to scrape or fill anything near a wall or fence line - the wheels rub!!! I would measure outside of bucket .... and the rear set of the tires - and add spacers to get close to the width of the FEL but not the same nor exceed it!

 

[ayak]

I’m going to go with 3” on mine (R4s), which will keep me about the same width as R1s that are all the way out, should there be axle considerations.

 

[bam43431]

Weight is great at or below the centerline of the axle! AND the further the wheels are apart the better the stability becomes...... but with everything - too much is also bad!!!

Weight IN tires is great ballast - the tractor does not carry the weight!!!! THE rubber tires do! BUT adds pressure to the ground.

Weights ON the axle do the same thing BUT the tractor and the tires are carrying the total amount of weights added.

Both will help tremendously with stability.

AS for spacers - I would NOT go wider than the FEL - when trying to scrape or fill anything near a wall or fence line - the wheels rub!!! I would measure outside of bucket .... and the rear set of the tires - and add spacers to get close to the width of the FEL but not the same nor exceed it!

FEL bucket is 66" and outside of rear tires now is 60" so using your suggestion the most I would go on each rear wheel would be 3". Thanks!

 

[je1279]

Removing the FEL for that work will make a substantial difference as well.

 

[bam43431]

Removing the FEL for that work will make a substantial difference as well.

How's that? I was thinking the FEL would give it better overall weight balance since I have 440# of liquid ballast and a 5' bush hog in the rear.

 

[je1279]

How's that? I was thinking the FEL would give it better overall weight balance since I have 440# of liquid ballast and a 5' bush hog in the rear.

The loader increases the center of gravity on your tractor. You can add a front weight bracket and weights to offset some of the bush hog weight if needed but removing the loader will increase your stability. I do recommend adding the rear spacers as well.

 

[jimh406]

I don’t agree that removing the FEL will help the COG of the machine. The FEL and bucket will be much lower than the engine. The FEL will put some weight on the front which will help traction for a 4 wheel drive tractor. If the front end is off the ground, you won’t be steering and just going along for the ride.

 

[ayak]

Often I’ll be temporarily insane and will be moving along with a full FEL of gravel when I realize my back-end (even with ballast) is now feeling a little light (if it only it were true in real life) and things could go very badly quickly, especially if I’m not in 4WD. I definitely see the argument both ways (mostly if you tend to be up or down), but any time I seem to be without my bucket, I find something to do that I’m at that point now wishing it was on there (like flicking a rock out of the way I don’t want to resize with my brush hog). Also that design with the Quick Attach for the FEL bucket is a bit fragile (with no bucket on) and can get easily get twisted without too much effort. So for me, it’s keep the bucket on, but run it as low as I can. And I’m running some pretty steep grades here in WV (with bucket and brush hog both on). Wheel spacers are gonna make it really nice.

 

[jimh406]

I found this interesting article that might explain a few things. Also, I found that depending on the size of the tractor and loader, the FEL could hurt or not. For instance, the very small tractors already have a very low COG.

NASD - Safe Tractor Operation: Rollover prevention

Tractor Fatalities According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), about 250 people are killed each year in tractor accidents. Rollovers account for more than half of these fatalities, despite decades of effort by tractor manufacturers and farm safety professionals to

nasdonline.org

 

[je1279]

I don’t agree that removing the FEL will help the COG of the machine. The FEL and bucket will be much lower than the engine. The FEL will put some weight on the front which will help traction for a 4 wheel drive tractor. If the front end is off the ground, you won’t be steering and just going along for the ride.

All I can suggest is try both and see which feels more comfortable. By removing the loader I'm suggesting the entire assembly and not just the bucket. If you need weight to offset the bush hog, add suitcase weights to a front weight bracket to keep the additional weight as low as possible.

 

[jimh406]

All I can suggest is try both and see which feels more comfortable.

If I was going to try that, I’d probably create some different weight brackets to put the weights lower than even the grill guard also, they’d need more capacity than the standard front weight holder.

Just wondering, has anyone seen any results of actually weighing the front/rear or attempting to find the actual COG of a tractor with various configurations? It would be great if someone has. It seems it would be very possible.

My thought is that nobody has which is kind of a shame consdering that stability is a significant tractor concern.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Removing the loader greatly reduces the COG, a lot more than you can imagine.

 

[mikester]

Have a 2011 L3200 w/ R4 tires. Mow ridgetop and sides with FEL and bush hog and want to add stability. Just added 30 gal/220# of liquid ballast to each rear wheel. Was thinking of adding wheel spacers to rear tires. How wide should I go, the width of the FEL bucket?

Can you flip the wheels around to give you a wider stance?

 

[jimh406]

Removing the loader greatly reduces the COG, a lot more than you can imagine.

What does reduce mean in this case?

 

[TX Chris]

What does reduce mean in this case?

Lower, closer to the ground.

 

[BigG]

This video is so simple and it answers so many questions. Weights, spacers are demonstrated so simply.

 

[jimh406]

That’s a pretty good video although the loader is high at 43.5. I wonder why he chose that height for his BX.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re: I wonder why he chose that height for his BX.

Well, if he'd put the bucket low to the ground(where it's supposed to be during transport), the tractor is STABLE......with OR without weights.

 

[Hobbit Habits]

I found this interesting article that might explain a few things. Also, I found that depending on the size of the tractor and loader, the FEL could hurt or not. For instance, the very small tractors already have a very low COG.

NASD - Safe Tractor Operation: Rollover prevention

Tractor Fatalities According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), about 250 people are killed each year in tractor accidents. Rollovers account for more than half of these fatalities, despite decades of effort by tractor manufacturers and farm safety professionals to

nasdonline.org

Good stuff in that NASD document. Thanks. I can't believe I'm still here to enjoy my new LX2610. Hasving grown up on a large dairy farm in WI my father and grand father ALWAYS stressed safety, but as a young buck with no fear and almost always in a hurry to get the current job done and on to the next there were times when safety was hardly front of mind. Somehow survived them all (and I'm sure "tractoring" since I was 7 or 8 helped somewhat). Anyway thanks for the post... rollover caution is far more on my mind now than it was... let's say... 50 years ago! ;-)