Visit Tractor Mike website: http://asktractormike.com/ Subscribe to YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/thebigrockranch?sub_confirmation=1 Visit Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Ask-Tractor-Mike-312112962245304/ I had a real scary situation happen a year ago when trying to haul logs down a steep hill and I felt that by doing this video it might help a viewer avoid a similar situation and possible rollover. It's a real important video for anyone who operates tractors in hilly conditions, to watch. The scenario was brought about by a really large oak tree that was blown over in a windstorm we'd had. The tree was probably close to 100 years old and was uprooted. I have a neighbor who has an outdoor wood stove and he told me he'd be glad to cut it up in exchange for the wood. One day in late winter we started to remove it. Wes operated the chainsaw and I moved logs. He had his trailer at the bottom of the hill and he would cut up logs and I would use the tractor with pallet forks to carry them to the trailer. Because the area where we were cutting was cramped, I would drive up the hill, get the pallet forks under the wood, pick them up and then back down to load. The last log was the one that got me in trouble. The last log we cut was the biggest, (and heaviest) as we'd been working from the top down. I have no idea what it weighed, but it was a load for the 40 hp tractor. Since most of the wood had been removed, I had the opportunity to turn around and drive down the hill. That was a big mistake. As I age, I'm starting to have neck problems and I was tired of having to turn around to watch where I was going. Backing down the hill meant the back end of the tractor dropped, shifting a lot of weight to the back wheels and keeping everything stable. As I drove straight down the hill, the weight of the log heading down first made the weight on the back wheels decrease, and the front wheels couldn't hold the weight of the tractor. I skidded down and sideways down the hill and fortunately hit level ground before the tractor rolled over. Here's the takeaway...anytime you're moving a heavy weight in a bucket or on pallet forks down a steep grade, go backwards. Always have 4wd engaged if you have it and ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT! Hopefully you'll avoid a similar situation.
Comments
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And if you do tip it, don't turn it back on. The oil will be in the cylinders, if fired, it will bend your connecting rods and blow out all of the ring seals. $2200 fix
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You pack an extreme amount applicable information in less than 10 minutes consistently. Your knowledge and communication skills are superior to many!
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Going forward down a hill you can touch the load on the ground and push it down the hill of almost any size....if you have to.
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I move a lot of logs on a similar sized tractor. You should have a counter weight regardless of which way the tractor is going on the hill. When the backhoe is off the tractor I put a concrete filled barrel on the three point hitch. Be Safe.
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Great Videos, Can You Please post a Video of Proper Use of a 2 wheel drive Front End Loader and Safety Suggestions, such as counter weight etc, Thanks, Dan'O.
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Thanks for sharing - easy mistake to make.
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Thanks for this tip
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drop the fork
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I am 14 and drive a tractor
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thanks so much great advice!
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Super video. I have MF and had been using FEL and grapple on several jobs around house. One day grapple got hooked on thick root while lifting debris and as fast as that the rear end shifted and tractor started to tilt and it was so fast that my thinking was not as fast as what was occurring. I immediately lowered grapple and was back to semi-normalcy. It just doesn't take long to do something unsafe or stupid (in my case). Thanks for your lessons on the many things you show us.
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Very good information Mike, I am glad to find your channel and subscribed.
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Wow! Good info I just purchased my first tractor and I live on a ridge. I will be using it carefully. thanks again.
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your right. One thing I'll point out is sometimes people rely on the 4 wheel drive to much and do get in a lot of trouble to I have only had 2 wheel drive tractors and using them really show keeping enough weight on those tires are very important. Next time if you ever need to do that a good counter weight on the back good to not sure if you like to do a video on that sometime
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Put a box scrape on rear of tractor when using bucket or forks for a counter weight
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Anytime you are doing something with the loader on your tractor you need to always have an implement of some kind on the rear for balance.
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Thanks so much for taking time to make and share these videos.
I am a first time tractor owner and could not have made it without your instruction.
Great job and sincere thanks. -
I'm glad you are okay. It's things like this where we get used to doing something a lot and don't think much about it that we get ourselves in trouble. It's not that we're cocky it's just that we forget sometimes or don't worry. I'm sure something like this, or other incident has happened to everyone who runs machinery for a long time. I know I have had my share so far. Sometimes we just need these reninders to keep us in check. Thank you for sharing this.
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I did the same with a forklift a few years back (kind of) even though I had plenty of experience.. I hit the brakes/clutch brake too hard by accident with a load on the third stage, it tilted forward taking my rear wheels come off the ground. Luckily the load under it was only a few feet away so I kept my brake on and tilted the mast forward slowly to where my counterweight was close to the ground maybe a few inches then I lowered my forks a little and lt let me fall back those few inches opposed to forward or slam back down really hard and do some damage to me or the equipment.
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A counterweight for the 3pt hitch is also quite ease to make. You might need a welder but the only thing that's important is that it weights so if the result looks bad etc. doesn't matter. Quite a forgiving project.Usually made with some form of container (oil barrel) filled with concrete. Since iron has a much higher density than concrete it is also good to clean the workshop/garage for iron things you don't need/should have thrown away. You just put them into the weight when casting and you got yourself some "free" extra weight.