How far can I tilt before I tip?

Mornin, fellas. I'm was once a country boy, returning now to the sunny side and using my old Ford 901 PowerMaster (with widetrack front end) to do, among other things, a lot of Bush Hogging. My pond's dam has a bank of about 45 degrees on the face and about 30 degrees on the back side. I don't have a sickle bar and the trees right at the foot of the back side (not to mention the water on the face side) prevent me from mowing vertically.

My question: When mowing a hillside horizontally, how can I know how far my old tractor can tilt before he tips? Even just a mild 20 degree lean feels kinda spooky.

Thanks.

Generally the wider your tractor is, the more stable it is. The tractor will not tip until the center of gravity passes over the point where the tractor touches the ground. The center of gravity is the imaginary point around which the tractor will balance. The lower the center of gravity the more stable the tractor. This is why tractors that travel on hills are wide and low.

For a crude way to check, we can approximate the center of gravity to be the drivers seat. Picture a string hanging vertically down from the bottom of the drivers seat. As the tractor tips to the side, the bottom end of the string will swing toward a rear tire. When the string hits the tire the tractor can tip. This will might give you about 30 safe degrees...for a stationary tractor. If the tractor is moving you have to consider things like rocks, holes, soft spots, etc. that can cause sudden shifts of weight. Driving with a front end loader raised or having one rear tire with liquid ballast will also work against you.

• Hobby farm

Best to learn to work banks with someone around that already knows what they are doing. Learning by yourself can end with bad results.

All the guys are right about if it feels spooky it is. No one can give you an accurate angle before it tips. I can give you this bit of help. Put duals on it will help BIG time and may save you from tipping over; with that said, you can still tip over anything! The next way to keep it from tipping is to mow at an angle; you can back down or go forward. Driving a dunebuggy has taught me to turn into the roll, the bad thing for you is you might get wet, but this is WAY better than rolling!
Good luck, Paul

It scares me to see them mow along the Interstate.

As Ken says, if you bounce into a hole on the low side or a bump in the high the rules change real fast.

K-Mo

Stay off that damned dam. :>)

Allan

Another thing you could do is see if you could buy or build a long articulating arm so you stay on top and the mower rides on the slope.

Rolling over on a tractor is probably the most dangerous thing that can happen to an operator.