Zero Turn Accidents

Married2Allis · Oct 5, 2016

For some reason in my area there have been a lot of zero turn mower accidents in recent years - some fatal rollovers. Not sure why. Skill level? Overconfidence? Touchy controls? Too fast or too much horsepower?

A good friend of mine has a Kubota zero turn and has several steep banks to mow. But he said he's selling it now after almost rolling over several times this summer. Said he's getting too old to handle it, and would rather not crap his pants while mowing. LOL

Butch(OH) · Oct 5, 2016

Mower accidents here recently have been dominated by idiots running off the road while texting or screwing with their phones and hitting some poor unlucky soul out mowing their yard. When you think about it what are the chances? BUT it has happened three times in our county in the last 3-4 years. I live on a township road with a traffic count that can be tabulated on my fingers but when out near the road I WATCH for traffic.

I am not an anti Z turn person nor safety Nazi but I can not for the life of me, in this day and age, figure out how they can continue to sell them with out both a roll bar, frontal protection for the operator (to protect him from being hit if he runs into something low hanging) and some sort of wheelie protection system. As fast as I see some people running them they need a helmut too.

leroy in ne · Oct 5, 2016

learned years ago to mow up and down or at least at an angle on slopes with a zero turn. upper wheel on slope looses traction and instant turn to down slope occurs, real interesting when creek bank, fence, pond or sewer lagoon is down slope. yup like anything else they have their place in proper applications. use it wrong and it will try to educate you. have been running zero turns since about 1980 with cone drive 30 inch Dixon as first one.

markct · Oct 5, 2016

Part of the trouble on hills is that
think about when you lose traction on a
traditional tractor..You slide down the
hill kinda scary and try and steer your
way down safely with the front wheels.
With a zero turn your steering is
entirely dependant on your drive wheels
and there traction.

Mule Meat · Oct 5, 2016

Mow some fairly steep slopes here with a Ferris 1500, Gravely Z260 Zero turn mowers and a Kubota F2880. Never have experienced anything bad.

Keep the front wheels slightly uphill and always make your turns up hill and you will not have any problem. Dont pay attention and let the front end get pointed downhill and you are gone.

Full size farm tractor accidents hurting or killing people here happen often on our hills. But have yet to hear of anyone getting hurt on a lawnmower..

Steve@Advance · Oct 5, 2016

I had a very close call going to work one morning.

About 5:00 AM, still dark... Came up behind a man on a zero turn driving on the street, no light, no reflectors, no other crew or trucks anywhere near. Still don't know how I managed to swerve in time!

WGM · Oct 5, 2016

All quality ZTR's sold these days have roll bars. Do any of the lawn/garden tractors sold today have frontal protection and wheelie bars or do those requirements only apply to ZTR's?

WGM · Oct 5, 2016

I've been mowing flat and hilly lawns for years using Dixie Choppers. Never once had an issue on the hills. I know their limitations. But of
course, common sense comes into play. Many people are too stupid to use a ZTR.

jeffcat · Oct 5, 2016

You think that nut running down the street was bad, over in
philadelphia some idiot on a BIG wheel was pedaling down rosevelt
blvd. A couple of days ago in an area where they do 55mph!! I do not
mean a kid. I was hoping somebody would run the idiot over!! Going
back to zero turns here is a tip I use on my lawn and garden tractors.
Fill the rear tires with anti freeze or washer fluid. Your choice. It
gives you more we8ght fir traction but the bigger thing is it lowers
the center of gravity by quite a bit. With my smaller garden tractor
it will stay on the slope while I am sliding right out of the seat!
Give it a try. Also slow the heck down!

tech5201 · Oct 6, 2016

With a ZTR's very low COG (center of gravity) you can't just "roll" them over.
You'd have to slide down a hill & smash into something or fall into a hole to turn you over.
I've never heard of anyone going over backwards either.

I'd rather drive a ZTR than a lawn/garden/CUT tractor on a steep slope.
Like others have said, always turn uphill.
You can back down a steep slope very safely.

Most commercial-grade ZTRs have roll-bars. Are they more dangerous up or down?
Have you ever caught a low tree limb with a roll bar?

ZTRs are very safe & efficient if you operate them properly.
It's hard to relax when driving them 'cause you're always bracing for the next bump!
A good seat suspension or insert solves this problem & run the tires @ 10 psi.

Butch(OH) · Oct 7, 2016

Notice I said that I am surprised they are not required, not that I thought they should be? Your questions should be asked of the federal safety narks that mandate such things.
Whomever decided that a rollbar was a safety apparatus on a Z turn should be required to run one under a low hanging branch and have it flip the mower over backwards as has happened twice in our area including my next door neighbor. He was lucky to only be badly bruised when he ducked a large branch but the ROPS caught it,,take a guess what happened next? His ROPS is now in my scrap pile.

Zero Turn Accidents

Married2Allis

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Butch(OH)

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leroy in ne

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markct

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Mule Meat

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Steve@Advance

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WGM

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WGM

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jeffcat

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tech5201

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Butch(OH)

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