Someones Bad Day II

[JDeere]

If you run heavy equipment long enough you will find yourself upside down sooner or later. One machine inverted is bad, two is crazy.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hynckEbrgWo&feature=fvw

[Autocar]

Just looking at that run's cold chills down my spine !

[Dave Shepard]

Tracks on ice or frozen ground is bad business.

[IMOWOOD]

wow that sucks

[Okrafarmer]

So far I've only ever put a pickup on its side-- but the time could come. I have to do a pretty steep hayfield. Always pay attention and don't make assumptions.

[Bobus2003]

gotta love floppin equipment over... Glad the operator made it out alive

[northwoods1]

Can you see how narrow that bridge is?? Skidder looks like its running 28" tires... and with those double diamonds on there anyone trying to cross something like that is just asking for trouble! I think I have an almost perfect record I've tipped every woods machine I have ever run for any length of time over : some quite a few times like the feller bunchers! Most embarrasing probably was first day on a job running someone elses cable machine a 440 D john deere. Went out and brought a big skid of tree length in to the slasher, was coming up behind slasher and turned short and promptly flopped the machine over cause the blade was up. Right in front of boss and slasher operator.  :D never had to remind me again to keep the blade down.

[Okrafarmer]

Can you see how narrow that bridge is?? Skidder looks like its running 28" tires... and with those double diamonds on there anyone trying to cross something like that is just asking for trouble! I think I have an almost perfect record I've tipped every woods machine I have ever run for any length of time over : some quite a few times like the feller bunchers! Most embarrasing probably was first day on a job running someone elses cable machine a 440 D john deere. Went out and brought a big skid of tree length in to the slasher, was coming up behind slasher and turned short and promptly flopped the machine over cause the blade was up. Right in front of boss and slasher operator.  :D never had to remind me again to keep the blade down.

I've driven dozers, loaders, tractors, trucks, but never a skidder. Can you explain what you mean about keeping the blade down? What about having the blade up made it flip over?

[northwoods1]

I've driven dozers, loaders, tractors, trucks, but never a skidder. Can you explain what you mean about keeping the blade down? What about having the blade up made it flip over?

Having the blade up didn't make it flip over, having it lowered would have prevented it though. When traveling over rough ground or in any situation that the machine is unstable you always want to carry the blade low because the blade coming into contact with the ground is what will stop the machine from going over. In the situation I described I was pulling 7-8 80' aspen which is a pretty good pull, with that kind of load behind a smaller john deere skidder like a 440 or 540 just turning tight can cause the wood behind you to pull the machine over even on level ground. If the blade is close to the ground the machine will just tip over until it rests on the blade allowing you to correct. When your working steep ground with cable machines the norm is to be in situations where your in danger of tipping over this is just the nature of that type of work.
I look at that video and it is still hard to believe someone would take a machine like that across that bridge seems like the operator was asking for a ice water bath. What seems even crazier is that they thought they might get and upside down skidder out of a whole in the ice using that little hoe. I bet the guy who dumped the skidder in was the same guy who got in the hoe and dropped that in 

[Bobus2003]

Same deal I had, if I hadn't turned sharp and had the blade a foot closer to the ground it prolly woulda stayed greasy side down

[Okrafarmer]

Well anyway I'm just guessing that flipping one on dry land still makes for a better day than dunking one in the fish tank upside down--  do they carry on pretty well after being dry-tipped, when you get them back up? They seem to be among the toughest machines out there for resiliency.