Choosing And Using A Tractor

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Foremost among those is the danger of a rollover—of turning the tractor over backwards, wheelie-fashion, or flipping it onto its side. Either will probably kill you, and a glance at any farm tractor immediately tells you why. When it goes over, there's nowhere to hide, and no sheltering roof to hit the ground before your head does. (Virtually all new tractors can be ordered with an integral roll bar-Fig. 10-but these guards are not often found on older models.)

A rear rollover sometimes occurs when the tractor's drive wheels freeze solidly in muddy ground during a cold snap. When that happens and the operator tries to free them by yanking back on the throttle, there are only two possible outcomes. The first is that the wheels will break free of the bond holding them to the ground. But if they don't break free, the tractor will pivot around the immobile wheels, rather than the other way around (Fig. 11). That can happen with almost unbelievable speed. Tests have shown that the point of no return can be reached in as little as three-fourths of a second, with the top of the tractor crunching into the soil three-fourths of a second after that.

That can be avoided, however, by one simple precaution. If you suspect that there's the slightest chance of your wheels being frozen in, try moving the tractor in reverse, since it's impossible for a rollover to take place in that direction. If it won't budge, you may be stuck until the weather warms up-frustrated, perhaps, but unhurt.

Rear rollovers can also take place if the rear wheels are so heavily loaded that it's easier for the front end to come up than for the wheels to spin. That's most likely to happen when the drawbar is in too high a position and chained to a rock, a log, a stump, or some other heavy weight—but it can also happen with nothing more than a set of harrows in the hitch, given an uphill direction of travel, too much throttle, and too fast a release of the clutch. No matter what's fastened to the tractor—and even if nothing is—make a habit of releasing the clutch slowly and carefully when you start moving, and be prepared to push it in again at any sign of the front wheels lifting off the ground. A set of front-end weights (Fig. 12) will help keep the wheels downmaking for more positive steering, as well as increased safety—and are well worth using if you habitually pull or drag heavy loads, as when working with a logging winch.

Sideways rollovers almost always result from venturing onto too steep a sidehill, or allowing the wheels on one side to drop into a ditch or hole. The solution is simply to use your head and watch where you're going. A tractor is considerably less steady on its feet when moving sideways along a slope than when traveling straight down or straight up oneand that makes it imperative that you consider the path ahead from all angles before committing yourself. For example, don't try to drive straight down a slope you wouldn't dare cross-because you may slip sideways and suddenly find yourself in big trouble.

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