Jumping off is how you die. Keep the ROPS up and wear your seatbelt.I used to race cars... done testing limitsDo need to invest in forks. Doesn't help when the bucket obstructs the view forward.
I have rolled rental mini skidsteer before couple years back (had to use winch to right it), so I had the instinct to jump off. Which I did. Fortunately, lowering the FEL as I was jumping off stopped the issue
Almost rolled my tractor today
Was helping my neighbor to move some logs. Tires filled with rimguard, ballast box filled with sand. Learned the lesson today about how tippy these tractors are (note, I don't even have 2 hours on my 1023E). I was moving ~24"X6' pine log chained to the FEL and max 10" from the ground while traveling. Path I took looked like a non-event. Boy did I have oh crap moment when the tractor started tipping and I instinctively lowered the FEL. I guess the next purchase will be spacers and wheel weights.
81 - 97 of 97 Posts
I found that if I leave the backhoe on when doing heavy loading the unit is less apt to tip forward. I tried lifting a 3pt rototiller out of my pk up when mine got squirrely. I was using a set of add on forks hooked to the loader bucket. Way too much out front and not enough in the rear. Taught me a lesson. I set the load back on and moved the forks further under the load and was successful but not comfortable.Was helping my neighbor to move some logs. Tires filled with rimguard, ballast box filled with sand. Learned the lesson today about how tippy these tractors are (note, I don't even have 2 hours on my 1023E). I was moving ~24"X6' pine log chained to the FEL and max 10" from the ground while traveling. Path I took looked like a non-event. Boy did I have oh crap moment when the tractor started tipping and I instinctively lowered the FEL. I guess the next purchase will be spacers and wheel weights.
Please go read the thread: What is "Rear Ballast"? And why do you need it?I found that if I leave the backhoe on when doing heavy loading the unit is less apt to tip forward. I tried lifting a 3pt rototiller out of my pk up when mine got squirrely. I was using a set of add on forks hooked to the loader bucket. Way too much out front and not enough in the rear. Taught me a lesson. I set the load back on and moved the forks further under the load and was successful but not comfortable.
Good for you! Any day we learn something is a good day in my book.Thank you all for th advice. Cleaned up my neighbor's large log pile today. Moved a bunch of gnarly wet pine logs across the wooded property to the swamp.
All best/shortest paths ended up with one15-degree or so downhill (only like 20 feet of travel down it though) and moving rounds with a bucket all way down and going forward worked the best. And when I had to move large logs (yes, I was lazy a couple of times, didn't shorten them too much), I just went backwards down the hill with ballast box as close to the ground as possible and bucket barely off the ground. Biggest ones I just chained and dragged. 5 new hours on the tractor, happy neighbor, a good amount of practice and learning the machine.
I learned to keep everything low and slow. I used to work with the “ little” 25,000lb capacity lift in a lumber yard, so I know a good bit about lifting and then in commercial roofing as a warehouse manager unloading trucks. But I also had an in the oh#$&@ moment when my 1025R lifted both right tires off the ground and I immediately dropped my younger neighbor’s chicken coop. Better the coop than me and my new tractor. Should have seen the looks on my 40 something neighbors😂. My mistakes were not having rear ballast on and trying to load on a steep slope, I don’t know how to measure slope, so don’t ask, it was steep. Though I’m willing to learn if someone can tell me how to measure slope by myself! Whenever I am loading something be it with the grapple or FEL, I always put the rear ballast on, lesson learned. I also know to keep everything as low as possible to move anything until reaching the trailer, etc. if I have to move logs out of the woods, mostly hardwoods, I chain them and use our 4x4 ¾ ton truck until I can get them to a safe place to pick up with the grapple. A log arch would be much better but I would still use our truck due to steepness of the area.
The advice given is great on carrying logs, center the weight, not the logs. It can make it a bit tricky on hills as one side may want to dig in the ground. But low. And slow is always the answer. And when young friends are helping on our little plot of land, I always remind them to put the seatbelt on as I don’t want to tell their family they’ve been in an accident. The ROPS is always up, I have a Rhinocover, so that is never an issue.
Sometimes but not always. A friend was telling me that he was carrying a load in the bucket of his new Kubota BX down his very steep, concrete drive, the front tipped down, rear tires lost traction then raised up and the tractor started moving really fast then turned and rolled over. I said "the fact you're here means you must have had the rops up and wearing the seat belt". He said no, the rops was up but he didn't have the belt on which was a good thing because he jumped off and watched the tractor roll then slide down to the bottom. The rops was bent completely flat to one side and the seat broken off, basically every external part of the tractor was bent or broken.Jumping off is how you die. Keep the ROPS up and wear your seatbelt.
He knows now to use 4wd in situations like that and keep some kind of ballast on the back.
Glad to see the word 'almost' in the title and that you are OK.
Everyone does things differently, but if it were me I would have dragged the log downhill with a chain connected to the rear hitch rather than trying to move it with the bucket. I built a two tiered 50' retaining wall earlier this year out of railroad ties using my 1025r, a set of pallet forks and homemade concrete ballast box of 520lbs. I also moved a few 30' long telephone poles that surround our garden. I learned a lot about weight, weight distribution and moving heavy loads across uneven terrain with this little tractor. Pallet forks allowed me to pick and move two 8' long railroad ties at a time provided they were centered and backed into the forks as close as possible to the pivot point. No way I could have done that safely with added weight of the bucket instead of forks. When crossing uneven terrain both the forks and the rear ballast were as close to the ground as possible. That said, I would never try to hump a heavy log up or down a sharp grade with this little tractor. I'd drag the thing with a chain from the rear hitch with bucket attached for front weight. That's how I moved the telephone poles. I've also found it useful to have slope meter on my smart phone. For me: I'm not comfortable going across any slope more than about 12 degrees (degrees from level, not slope angle). Up and down, but not across. It turns out that my built-in pucker meter is pretty well calibrated to my smart phone app.
Back in my horse competing days, I’d walk the cross country course a minimum of 3 times, looking for inclines up or down toward and away from jumps, fire ant beds where the ground might give, other soft or hard packed ground, the depth and footing in water jumps, and always one walk at as close as I could get to my scheduled ride time the next day. That one was for shadows, sun glare in the horses’s eyes, or anything the sun might make look scary to the horse.Treefarmer, your correct about walking the ground.
Go to a motocross race early and you'll see the riders walking the track for this very reason.
ROPS and seat belt isn't a complete guarantee but the odds are demonstrably better with belt and ROPS than hoping you will fall/jump off safely. Just like seat belts in your car, there are instances where they don't help and may hurt but the data says you are better off with them than without.Sometimes but not always. A friend was telling me that he was carrying a load in the bucket of his new Kubota BX down his very steep, concrete drive, the front tipped down, rear tires lost traction then raised up and the tractor started moving really fast then turned and rolled over. I said "the fact you're here means you must have had the rops up and wearing the seat belt". He said no, the rops was up but he didn't have the belt on which was a good thing because he jumped off and watched the tractor roll then slide down to the bottom. The rops was bent completely flat to one side and the seat broken off, basically every external part of the tractor was bent or broken.
He knows now to use 4wd in situations like that and keep some kind of ballast on the back.
Best case is to keep the tractor upright with wheels on the ground. Your friend was exceedingly lucky and got away with some dangerous practices- bucket too high, not enough or no ballast, not using 4wd on the slope. It's possible he should either have been backing down or not on that slope with a load at all. Glad he was ok.
Thanks! Found out I’m from an 11% to 17% on most areas of the yard, and I didn’t check the really steep areas I don’t take the tractor on, ever. LOLI've also found it useful to have slope meter on my smart phone. For me: I'm not comfortable going across any slope more than about 12 degrees (degrees from level, not slope angle). Up and down, but not across. It turns out that my built-in pucker meter is pretty well calibrated to my smart phone app.
Earlier this summer I was moving this white pine with my 1025R. What’s not obvious here is that this area is sloped in two directions, and the ground had many soft spots. I have a BH for ballast and filled rear tires. I found 4’ sections were the max for the largest segments. It was a live tree so wet and very heavy. At that size and moving very slowly the machine was working hard but I didn’t feel any wheels lift.
![Tire Plant Wheel Vehicle Automotive tire]()
Pretty impressive to move even a 4' section, especially on muddy ground.Earlier this summer I was moving this white pine with my 1025R. What’s not obvious here is that this area is sloped in two directions, and the ground had many soft spots. I have a BH for ballast and filled rear tires. I found 4’ sections were the max for the largest segments. It was a live tree so wet and very heavy. At that size and moving very slowly the machine was working hard but I didn’t feel any wheels lift.
View attachment 806744
The arborist I hired agreed! I have a wide mix of jobs for the tractor and six months in I still feel like the 1 series was the right choice. It's limited but if you respect the limits it can still do real work.Pretty impressive to move even a 4' section, especially on muddy ground.
This 77 year old just realized that FEL stands for front end loader.Main thing is that the new operator, Agurkas, learned a very important lesson about the limits of his new equipment and now, for the foreseeable future, he is likely to think MUCH more about such movements than he did prior to this experience.
It's easy to sit here and Monday morning Quarterback the experience of another and try and explain it or even be critical or judgemental of it. But the truth is, even experienced operators are surprised when they reach the limits of these small machines, because they are quite unstable and have a difficult to determine Center of Gravity, until you get that feeling which is the "pucker moment", etc. Usually, that pucker moment happens before we think it would / should with the equipment. It's important to be aware of that threshold.
Rear wheel spacers are very important. In fact, I would go as wide as you can based upon the equipment you use with your tractor. If you have a MMM, then talk to the wheel spacer maker and obtain the maximum width which will work. If you don't have a MMM, then go with the 3" per side and the machine's stability improves significantly.
PLEASE Be very careful jumping from equipment, etc. I know some have done it successfully and I am very glad they were successful. But the simple reality is its best to use the safety equipment and avoid sketchy situations. Side hills are treacherous on these machines. Even slight side hills. Add in FEL loads and other such issues and the situation instantly becomes even more dangerous.
None of us want to see anyone injured or anyone's machine damaged. I guess we can be thankful that Agurkas kept the machine right side up and already, with 2 hours of machine time, is assessing the use of the new machine more carefully.
One last thought, most of us see our capabilities at more than they truly are, or perhaps what they used to be when we were younger. But age changes things, it makes us slower and also have less strength, which is hard to admit and even harder to accept for most of us.
We should commend Agurkus for sharing the experience and for him desiring to learn what mistakes to not make again. I often wonder how many who are critical of others who share such experiences, have their own moments and simply don't post them.
And FELB stands for Front end Loader Backhoe machine for those so equipped.This 77 year old just realized that FEL stands for front end loader.
There used to be a feature where when you put the cursor on the term or abbreviation in GTT, a description is provided of the abbreviation to help those who are unfamiliar with the abbreviation or phrase.
Not sure if it still works or if you have to turn on a feature such as the "Toggle BB Code". Sure one of the moderators will know. But that will help you find any such phrases or abbreviations so the message is clear.......
Whew! Probably won’t be the last either. Glad you caught it. Being in 4WD helps. AND PUT UP YOUR ROPS! WEAR THAT SEAT BELT! (do as I say, not as I do) 😖 My rear weight is a 260 BH and sometimes it’s not enough. My 3PH ballast is a 1/3 50 gallon barrel full of concrete but don’t use it much now. About 800~850 lbs. Liquid ballast, wheel weights and 3” spacers are the ticket. Love mine. Be safe.
![White Light Fluid Plastic bottle Bottle cap]()
![Automotive tire Hood Green Motor vehicle Chainsaw]()
![Automotive tire Motor vehicle Gas Machine Auto part]()
![Water Liquid Automotive tire Automotive lighting Hood]()
Forgot about this guy.........wonder whats New @
@agurkas
@agurkas
81 - 97 of 97 Posts
- This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Green Tractor Talk
A forum community dedicated to John Deere tractor owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about towing, PTO’s, reviews, attachments, modifications, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Recommended Communities
