Posted by AlanA on May 09, 2014 at 12:10:26 from (99.101.114.214):
Bought my first narrow front tractor last month, and I have a few thoughts. Some of you have been driving them longer than I've been alive, so take this with a grain of salt. :D
I've always heard that a NF tractor was less stable/more dangerous than a WF tractor, especially running a drag-type mower.
I have had multiple friends acquaintences get hurt or killed on them, but in NOT ONE of those cases was there a roll-over. 3 different cases where the operator fell and was chopped/crushed.
I want to propose a different theory: It is not the front-end. It is the operator station. If you start to fall, there is NOTHING but the steering wheel to grab. Sitting on my 39 H, I have to hold on to the steering wheel, push in the clutch, reach WAY down backwards behind me to engage the PTO. IF I had the tractor in a drive gear and my foot slips off the clutch while performing these gymnastics, I could easily lose my grip on the wheel and then ...thump thump thump thump.
So rule 0: Never engage PTO with the transmission already in a gear. Start in neutral, engage PTO, then engage tranny.
I "growed up" running an 8N and a Fordson Dexta. One of our mowers was a wide-open drag type, and we rigged up a pipe frame and chain-link screen to protect the operator from sticks, chunks, and rocks thrown forward from that beast. It was worse than most, but pretty much any drag-type bush-hog could benefit from the use of such a screen. This would also help with the "nothing to stop your fall" issue.
There IS an issue: the WF guys have a point. But I don't think it is the NF itself.
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