Tipping over

[rc51stierhoff]

that is what I was wondering I have a 6ft back blade on now so leaving that a foot off of the ground it may act a little as a stabilizer.

Great info from all above. There is no doubt balllast helps. I’d also recommend any of us who suffer from acute testerone poisoning / happy with throttle to also consider how the energy is also stored in the tractor chassis. Many say tractor doesnt have suspension…sort of true…it doesn’t have struts / leafs / coils. The chassis includes the tires and wheels and tires are part suspension, and they flex and bounce…even happens on a trailer…as the machine bounces even while strap down it adjusts…we also have to readjust the mechanism it’s tied down with (chains/straps). Point being is it happens when operating…since a tractor doesn’t have struts when the tire bounced the energy is released back to the machine. Bouncing of the tractor is bad…worse as compounded by heavy load, height of loader, and the ground condition (bumpy/incline/etc). Ballast absolutely helps. Control of the tractor speed helps as well to reduce the bounce. Keep the rubber side down.

 

[JohnDB]

... I have a 6ft back blade on now so leaving that a foot off of the ground it may act a little as a stabilizer.

Be aware that under most circumstances, the moment that back blade touches the ground when you operating, it no longer provides stability. I nearly rolled my tractor down a slope when I decided to stop to take a look at something. Being safety conscious (I thought) I lowered the blade and the moment it touched the ground the up-hill rear wheel started lifting. Fortunately I was also doing the 'slow' part so raised the blade again before the tipping tractor got beyond the point of no return, and got all 4 wheels back on the ground. Phew.

My advice is when you are operating when you need ballast, make sure there is always clearance between the ballast and ground.

 

[top gnome]

Be aware that under most circumstances, the moment that back blade touches the ground when you operating, it no longer provides stability. I nearly rolled my tractor down a slope when I decided to stop to take a look at something. Being safety conscious (I thought) I lowered the blade and the moment it touched the ground the up-hill rear wheel started lifting. Fortunately I was also doing the 'slow' part so raised the blade again before the tipping tractor got beyond the point of no return, and got all 4 wheels back on the ground. Phew.

My advice is when you are operating when you need ballast, make sure there is always clearance between the ballast and ground.

thank you that makes sense

 

[tractorX]

bud blade

box blade... right?

OP, i find a heavy BB comes in very handy and is cheap ballast, plus a heavy rear bumper.
my land is hilly and wooded. im currently cleaning up and burning a 15' X 200' pile of trees we had removed around our levee last yr.
when moving debris around (don't own a grapple, so i use pallet forks) the jobsite gets cluttered up fast. transporting debris from point A to B with scattered logs, branches and small stumps can flip a tractor in a NY second! so instead of jumping off the tractor and clearing debris, i push with the BB to keep the jobsite clear.

i always wear my belt and ROP's up. carry loads as low as possible with 4X4 engaged... and keep the site clean, BOLO! did 10wks in ICU after being hit by a 1.5 ton car... that hurt!!! dont wanna think about 2.5 tons landing on me... screw that!!

 

[CGMKCM]

Load rear tires and have the tire guy put the rears in the widest configuration. Loading will add several hundred pounds of ballast per tire. I purchased this and have it loaded with gravel. It added several hundred additional pounds of ballast weight.

 

[top gnome]

got to watch the back blade. I just smacked my gazebo and tore up the beam holding the roof up with the back blade because it sticks out a foot on each side.

 

[GeoHorn]

About 30+ years ago when this city-mouse moved to the country…. the landlord (I leased the place a couple years before I bought it) had a 1960’s JD with a FEL to work the place. He was elderly and figured with the younger-new-guy around he’d put me to work…so asked me to set out some round bales for the cows.
Whoooo-Eeeee…. I was playin’ FARMER! GREEEN Acres is the place for me…

Having absolutely ZERO experience with a tractor or loader I was really enjoying it. Just to see how powerful that loader was…I thought I’d see how high it could lift a round-bale…..(which I had no idea what it weighed)….. I had it about 15 feet in the air, about 6 feet higher than myself….
FORTunately…. the owner happened to just come by to check on me …jumped out of his truck and in a HUGE PANIC started Waving HIS ARMS and clearly indicating for me to put that bale DOWN!

Although I was stationary… (damn good thing!)… only testing out the loader…. it was a miracle I didn’t lay that tractor on its’ side and on top of me! (no ROPS. no seat belt.)

ALL it would have taken for a disaster would have been for me to MERELY TURN THE STEERING WHEEL ….and that high-heavy-load….. being so above the axles…..would have laid that tractor over!
I was a very lucky IDIOT!

Soo… Moral of the story: Don’t think adults know what they’re doing especially if they’ve never done it before…. AND…. carry ALL LOADS as LOW as absolutely possible…because when the center-of-gravity of the LOAD is ABOVE the Axle…. ANY movement at all or any shift of momentum can turn the WHOLE SHEBANG OVER!

 

[D2Cat]

I stopped by a neighbors house a couple of day ago and he had just bought a mini skid steer. His nephew, about 10 years old, was standing on the platform using a grapple. His dad helped him get some branches in it and the youngster closed the grapple and headed towards the brush pile in back. He had the loader up high, I guess so he could see under it.

I had parked my Ranger in a place he needed to get through so he had to wait on me. I walked over to the boy's father and explained the necessity of keeping the loader as close to the ground as reasonable. He gave the message to his son, and on they went, safely.

Little things do make a difference.