Re: CUB vs BN

Posted by ScottyHOMEy on November 14, 2008 at 10:30:42 from (71.241.193.150):

In Reply to: Re: CUB vs BN posted by old on November 14, 2008 at 09:04:08:

I get your point, but I think you've missed mine, and suffice to say we disagree on this one.

There have been many discussions around here of whether a wide front is any more stable than a narrow front, and for most tractors with a center of gravity along the center line, the WFE vs. NFE debate is usually worthwhle, if only because folks on both sides usually agree before they're done that the biggest safety factor lies between the ears of the operator, and go back to their corners without changing their minds.

My point is that any advantage to stability, if there is one, in a wide front is significantly compromised by the offset center of gravity of the Cubs and As. That's part of the reason for them having wide fronts--it provides a wider stance, thereby reducing the chance that the center of gravity (which is still left of center, even with the WFE) will move outside the vertical plane between the corners of the base(an imaginary line between the front and rear wheels on a given side), which is the point beyond which the tractor will tip over on its side under its own weight.

As for turns, yes, anybody, newbie or not, can get into trouble making too fast a turn with a narrow front end. But it can be done just as easily, and perhaps even more so, with a tractor whose center of gravity is offset to one side as in the As an Cubs, even with their WFEs. I know of an experienced Cub owner who got banged up pretty badly doing just that last summer with one of his Cubs, on level ground.

As far as operation on uneven ground, the same thing applies, and IH knew it. A LOT of those machines (As) were used for mowing roads, ditches and banks. It was apparent on tractors with steel wheels on both sides and no added weights, that the tractors were being operated on slopes leaning low enough to the left that the combined weight and torque of the longer right side, the operator on the right side, and the the mower on the right side, did not move the center of gravity sufficiently to the right to keep the tractors from becoming unstable or tipping to the left in those situations, even with the wider stance afforded by the WFE. I go back to the number of As delivered with steel wheels on the left and cast on the right, and will qualify my earlier assertion by saying that if IH didn't know it, the folks operating them certainly did, and ordered their As with the extra weight of the cast wheel on the right, which moved the COG both lower and to the right. That's just for the As. I don't have a sense that it's terribly common to add wheel weights to one side of a Cub to achieve the same effect.

99-44/100% of drivers' experience is in cars, trucks and motorcycles, all of which have a COG pretty much along the center line of the vehicle, so that COG never even enters their minds, unless they are driving something that is obviously top-heavy (and I've seen folks on the road who seem oblivious even to that).

My point is that I believe the offset COG of the As and Cubs presents a unique hazard that is outside the experience of and would not be recognized by most drivers, is inherently trickier to handle, and can get a newbie (or anybody else) into trouble quicker than any tractor (NFE or WFE) with the COG along the center line.

I'm up to a dime now! ;8^)

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