Witnessed A Tractor Roll Over This Morning

Thankfully no serious injuries. Was driving to work, came over a little hill and 1/2 mile ahead on the opposite side of the road saw a County tractor & disc mower mowing near a large culvert embankment, my first thought was man he's steep and just that fast over it went. Pulled over, stopped & ran across the road, as I approached it took a few seconds to see any movement in the cab which was unsettling, then I saw the operator was struggling to get to the high side door, I shouted to ask if he was ok & then asked if he needed help with the door. I had to try and climb on the tractor from the high side get some footing to hold open the door as the tractor was more than 90 degrees over due to the steep incline. The operator was then able to climb out and we were able to climb back to the top of the embankment, he had some blood on his forehead and I asked again if he was ok, he seemed more mad at himself than anything, I know the guy a little and he's an older experienced operator who maybe just got caught pushing it a little too far, thankfully this life lesson didn't end as bad as it could have.

Please be safe everyone, so much can change in an instant!

That kinda stuff can happen in an instant. And it dont matter how good you are or think you are. Just thank god the man was ok and nothing was hurt but a little of his pride. And it was great you stopped to help . good job

wow, stuff does happen fast. My property is pretty flat but has some areas around my pond that slope down to it. It's not very steep but when I'm crossing this area and the tractor tilts at ALL to the side, I get nervous. I watch the guys mow the freeway embankments and shake my head. One of them rolled a mower last week here in the Detroit area. Glad the operator was ok.

Glad he wasn't hurt bad. I've watched them mow the high bridge embankments, and it takes nerves of steel just to watch. When you pull onto a steep slope with a guardrail at the top and a concrete paved ditch at the bottom, it's a serious commitment.

PJH I think you stated that about perfect.

All too common. Maybe worse for experienced guys, new operators get scared easier. Seem we lose one or two here in MI every year. I ;lost a friend mowing a road ditch with his Allis C about five years ago.

Had a similar experience many moons ago. Following the grader (30 yr. operator on the same road). STEEP side hill to the right. Not sure what happened, but over the unit went. Rolled completely over once and ended up on it's side about 100' down. Scrambled down and found the operator climbing out, a few dings but nothing serious - had his seatbelt ON ! Most guys don't and get damaged. Took him the 30 mi. back to his station. Took 2 days to get the machine back up the hill, and they drove it away ! Scary. As an aside, they weren't authorized to grade the road up to my property line (operator said they used to for years) steep windy road. Well, he did it the next time he was back !

I've slid them down some pretty good embankments. Wet grass is a killer on highway overpasses that are so steep you have to steer uphill and put your foot on the door to set straight. Nice when you have to get on the freeway itself to go around a guardrail, and people will still pass other cars while staying in your lane. I had one last year mowing with a tiger sidemount that puckered a little. Was mowing roadside on a narrow gravel road and had to slide over farther than usual for a semi and the bank gave out, it was swamp, and I and up at the bottom of the ditch/swamp with the tires opposite the mower 4' up. Only thing that kept it from going over was a tree that wedged between the mower deck and frame mounting underneath. It is slightly unsettling mowing on those kind of slopes. Good thing he didn't get hurt, theres plenty of other risky things he has to worry about (drivers).

Ross

An old chum of mine in his 80's bought an 8N for firewood , so I welded a roll bar on it in fear we would flip it over . So, his first trip to the bush was his last, when he hit a big hole and scared himself --by by 8N, hello delivered firewood .

Larry --ont

When I was 16 I helped pull a man out from underneath an overturned tractor and then helped carry the stretcher up a steep road ditch. My knees were so weak I had to sit down. He passed away that evening. It was a big wake up call for me.

We lost a 26 year old man here Sunday to a rollover. He rolled a large 4x4 tractor off of a bridge about a mile south. They aren't sure whether he met a car and tried to get over too far or what. There were some tire marks on the cement guard rail and that was it.

I had to pull over and stop at a highway interchange here in NH when I saw two kids on Kubotas mowing slopes. They were about to start down one that was too steep. After they got a little way down I could see from the speed and tire rotation and tracks that they were sliding. They kept them straight and upright though.