Second, I'll say that I know absolutely nothin' about you personally, but add that I don't know anybody that could get away from the type tractor you describe when things fall to pot. You're tucked in there like a cockpit and just can't get past the wheel and above the fenders to make a quick getaway. And the odds ain't much better on a tall rowcrop where you might think the raised seat platform would improve your chances of bailin' out. Cold hard fact is that, whether she's goin' over the side or the rear, it'll be over in less than a heartbeat.
My one experience of a fatal accident on a tractor like you describe is no happier for it being second-hand. A neighbor took a Ford xN back into the woods to cut out the windfalls and drop some trees for the next winter's firewood. Nobody knew anything was wrong until his dog came home without him. Near as anybody could figure, since we found the motor off the bar of his chainsaw, he got his bar bound up in a standin' tree, and when all else failed gettin' the bar out, he tried to spring the cut open by pushing on the tree with the bucket, and the tree snapped and fell back on him. A tree falling gives you more time to bail than a rollover, and he still didn't have time to get out of the way. When they found him, he was crushed in the seat behind a bent steering wheel and the tractor had run so long pushing the front up against that all that was left of the tires were the rags of the sidewalls.
Somebody in this thread said the the most important safety over-ride sits between the ears of the person ridin' in the seat, and I can't think of a better way to express that point.
Tragedies of this type stem from two very different kinds of ignorance in my book. One is borne of lack of experience, where the operator just did not recognize the potential perils of what he was doing. On the flip side, there are well-known hazards that people choose to ignore "just this once" that end up maiming or killing them.
The case I cite might be seen as a fluke but is offered as a testament to how badly and how unepectedly things can go wrong. More to your question about rollovers, it simnply happens too fast.
The only time I ever rolled one it was a lawn tractor. I was mowing out an old lane between two nice rows of maples going up the steep hill that had been the old carriage road to the house before the driveway was cut. In the tall grass, the right front wheel caught a root that I never saw. The front of the tractor climbed the tree. Only because it was a garden tractor was I able to jump uphill and get away from it. The ugly snarl and the gray blur of those blades as the machine tumbled a turn-and-a-half down the hill are quite firmly embedded in my memory. I made a few calls afterwards and asked some family to add their prayers of thanks to mine that night.
Best advice is that if it doesn't feel right, STOP. Throw it out of gear and stay on the brake while you look it over. Back out of it if you can. If that only makes it worse, shut her down right where she is. I can't think of a thing we do with tractors, whether as a hobby or for a livin' that's worth dyin' for.
YT isn't letting me post a couple of videos I have that illstrate how quickly it can happen. I'll contact them and see if I can get them into the thread.
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