A matter of balance ?

Somehow I have came close to tipping over a crawler and have stood one up on end and also on a skidloader have tipped forward while loading a truck to have machine leaning against the box , but this ? afraid I might get a little more than scared.

Edited by Coke-in-MN - 12 Sep 2012 at 7:26pm

 Sometimes you need a delicate hand on the controls, on a big machine, and a modicum of common sense.  Here is a picture of a guy who was not so lucky.  If you hurl easily, do not click on the link. http://www.hondahookup.com/forums/showthread.php?123376-How-NOT-to-unload-a-new-cat-dozer-*Graphic-Death*

that picture of that dozer remindes me of my dad hauling his  6g in the bed of a dump truck.

Eric B wrote: What kind of ramps did he use? I'd like to do the same thing sometimes, a ramp trailer towed by the truck works good but I don't have one. Individual ramps are heavy to handle for a machine the size of a 6G.

Used to watch contractors load backhoes into dump trucks, scary if you had never seen before, also saw a 955 Cat slide into a foundation hole when a side wall collapsed ut it stayed upright, just had to have a separate crawler for aid to get back out(first pours were done), can be a pretty dangerous place to operate heavy equipment.

CTuckerNWIL wrote: In that first picture, if the operator were to lower the bucket an dump it, he would be back on 4 wheels. Maybe a little too fast if he didn't know how to "snitch" the controls.

That would've been my first impression, but on second thought, NO...

...because the situation that GOT him to that position, was having the bucket heavy...  and if you look at it now... it's EMPTY.  Attempting to lower it without having something to support the counterweight end, will result in the tail end coming down really, really fast, and really hard.

There's probably a couple of other things at play here...  notice the machine is steered hard to the left.  it MAY be that the machine steered AFTER being lifted clear, but I kinda doubt it.  I suspect the bucket was heavy, the load was high, and he turned the wheel hard and hit the brakes.

One particularly challenging detail about a wheel loader, is that when the machine is straight-on, the value of the counterweight is very predictable- you can measure the distance between load and fulcrum, and fulcrum to counterweight, and balance the machine nicely... but when you crank the steering over hard, the counterweight's distance to the fulcrum point changes... it gets CLOSER to the fulcrum, hence, your capacity goes DOWN!!!  Rather dangerous side-effect of the articulating loader's design.

I think the last note I have here... is that many wheel loaders I've operated, did NOT have hydraulic down... they were gravity down... the only hydraulic downforce available, was uncurling the bucket... beyond that, it was sheer mass of the bucket doing the lowering.  From a design perspective, this has some benefits- the hydraulic cylinders consist of rams whose rods can be essentially the full diameter of the piston, which results in a more rigid, stronger hydraulic ram design, simpler assembly, better seals, and a whole lot more strength in a lighter package.  The real catch though, is that being the case, there's not only nothing to allow him to force the bucket down, there's nothing, aside from a little bit of suction in the piston seals... that prevents the arms from being raised.  So he's in a world of hurt here.

Considering the machine's age, I'd be surprised if it doesn't have kill switches for tipover safety... if so, that engine's shut down, and he's got no chance of restarting it... about all he DOES have... is either patience to sit and wait for help, or carefully climb out, and hope he gets far away before it changes attitude.