Driving with a FEL

Chris English · May 7, 2017

I was always told to drive with the front end loader as low as practical. I followed someone the other day driving with the bucket up above his eye level while seated. Is this a personal preference or am i missing somthing?

Dieseltech · May 7, 2017

Simply put, lower is safer..

coshoo · May 7, 2017

On hilly ground, lower is safer. But having the bucket lower is annoying, as it is in you're line of sight- so on flat ground, many put it up high so they can better see what they're doing.

steve706 · May 7, 2017

The lower the bucket is, the lower the centre of gravity of the tractor becomes. For safest operation of a tractor you want the lowest centre of gravity so tipping is at it's lowest chance. Loader accidents will always happen because people sometimes overestimate their abilities and forget how fast physics come into play.

Russ from MN · May 7, 2017

Agree!

PJH · May 7, 2017

My neighbor hauls round bales high enough that he can see under them. I'm talking about 100 hp bales on a 50 hp tractor. I can't bear to watch.

One of these days. . .

Eldon (WA) · May 7, 2017

(quoted from post at 15:05:41 05/07/17) I was always told to drive with the front end loader as low as practical. I followed someone the other day driving with the bucket up above his eye level while seated. Is this a personal preference or am i missing somthing?

Low is better.....too low is worse

wilson ind · May 7, 2017

so unsafe when empty spire is just at windshield IE driver head height of oncoming traffic.

Brendon-KS · May 7, 2017

In addition to the center of gravity benefits having a low bucket is safer when on the road since if bad stuff happens it puts the bucket in a position to hit another vehicle in the lower structure instead of coming through the windows at head level.

ray hofstetter · May 7, 2017

Happened to me....on a backhoe and a woman crested a hill and was on MY side of the road...bucket was in just the right spot, she didn't go over it and she didn't go under it. Backhoe AND car totalled. Glad I'm around to share the story.

oj · May 7, 2017

Lower is safer, but my factory case loader on my case tractor blocks the headlights when the bucket is anywhere close to the ground, and coincidentally blocks the front 4 ways when up in the air so you can see under it, but if you use a bale spike I like the loader above traffic level just incase something stupid happens, those spikes will penetrate anything...

Ultradog MN · May 7, 2017

The general rule is it's better to keep them lower.
But we really don't have all the info here.
How big of a tractor? How much weight was on the loader? What was he carrying? How fast?
Was the terrain a flat road or was it a hilly, mogally field?
Rules as rules are good and all that.
But don't forget there are usually exceptions to every rule.

old · May 7, 2017

Over the years i have seen many tractor laying on there side due to the person driving it having the loader way up in the air and many did not live to learn how big a mistake it was. It is simple if you run the loader way up in the air you also put the center of gravity way up in the air and that is a recipe for a bad thing to happen sooner or later. Or in other words run it with the loader up in the air says the person has no common sense and an accident waiting to happen

rockyridgefarm · May 7, 2017

My favorite way to run a tractor with loader is to take the stinkin' thing off when it isn't needed! I have a 4430 with Koyker K6 and I drop that thing off the tractor just as often as I can.

When it is on, I run it so the bucket is just below the hood line. That way it is out of the line of sight, but doesn't skid the ground, and it also doesn't raise the center of gravity.

showcrop · May 8, 2017

I rarely see anyone with a loader up high unless they are dumping it. However a friend has a CIH 685 that tends to run hot going down the road, so he runs it with the bucket just above eye level, which incidentally also puts it above car windshield level, and he says that it brings the temp down a little.

Leroy · May 8, 2017

On tractors and loaders I have had lower is out of site as you look over it, higher looking under it the lift arms block line of site. What kind of loader looking under would the lift arms NOT be in line of site?

David G · May 8, 2017

I generally put the loader low with the bucket tipped in, run with pallet or bale spear straight down when on road.

BarnyardEngineering · May 8, 2017

Lots of silly made-up reasons for doing it unsafely.

Tractor's tipped over, you're dead, but it didn't overheat!

showcrop · May 8, 2017

(quoted from post at 05:44:49 05/08/17) On tractors and loaders I have had lower is out of site as you look over it, higher looking under it the lift arms block line of site. What kind of loader looking under would the lift arms NOT be in line of site?

Leroy, All loaders that I have seen the bucket goes all the way across the front of the tractor, while the arms are only 4-6 inches wide, so of course the bucket if it were in front of you would block your vision, but the arms would block hardly more than the exhaust stack on many tractors. Apparently you know of some loaders with some very wide lift arms.

ericlb · May 8, 2017

ras low as practical, always, with the loader all the way up the tractors center of gravity also goes up, thats a lot of weight high up, and the tractor will roll over pretty easy, down, it is still easy to see , just look ahead of the loader, only time i raise mine empty is when i disc my roping arena and its only for the first lap it allows me to get closer to the fence, but the arena is flat, and im traveling slow

Driving with a FEL

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