Prevent rear rollovers: Tipping a tractor happens faster than a person can react
BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 20, 2009 – Virginia’s hilly terrain provides farmers with a difficult challenge: avoiding rear rollovers while towing. Bobby Grisso, Virginia Cooperative Extension engineer at Virginia Tech, has provided some safety information on the subject.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), farmers and others who use improper hitching methods when using tractors to tow or pull implements and other objects are at risk for severe injury and even death. In a safety report, 28 incidents of sudden rear rollover of tractors were documented during a three-month period. Sixteen of the incidents in the study resulted in death. Improper hitching caused the rollovers in 60 percent of the events.
The study verified what engineers and safety specialists already knew: a rollover will occur when a tractor’s center of gravity shifts beyond the rear stability baseline (the line connecting the rear-tire contact points).
For example, when a tractor is used to tow a heavy load, the rear tires may be pressed against the ground with increased force. An excessive load correctly attached to a drawbar will cause the rear wheels to slip or the engine to stall before a rollover happens.
However, when a load is hitched above the drawbar on the tractor or attached directly to the rear axle, less power is required to lift the front end of the tractor than to move the load or slip the wheels, which may cause a rear rollover.
Grisso recommends 12 simple tips to prevent a rear rollover:
- Use farm tractors equipped with rollover prevention systems and wear a seat belt.
- Select the hitching point to a tractor carefully.
- Don’t alter the drawbar by raising or shortening it.
- Don’t attach the load directly to or above the axle.
- Don’t use a two-or three-point hitch as a single-point hitch instead of a drawbar.
- Attach the load only to the drawbar if it attaches by a single point.
- Make sure the tractor operator is familiar with the correct use of the equipment.
- Select a strong tow chain with a length sufficient to allow adequate stopping distance between the towed object and the towing vehicle.
- Make sure the work area is cleared to allow better maneuvering.
- Use a slow, steady pull.
- Drive out in reverse when rear tires are stuck.
- Hitch the vehicles front to front when using a tractor to free an embedded vehicle, and drive towing tractor in reverse to minimize the risk of rollover.
Contact: Robert Grisso
Virginia Cooperative Extension Engineer
Virginia Tech
(540) 231-6538
rgrisso@vt.edu
Contact: Michael Sutphin
Writer
Communications and Marketing
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Virginia Tech
(540) 231-6975
msutphin@vt.edu
Writer: Susan Suddarth
Student Intern
Communications and Marketing
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Virginia Tech