Anti-tractor flipover switch

[Anonymous-0]

Okay, maybe you guys have already seen something like this, I'd be surprised if someone hasn't already come up with something by now.

It seems to ne that one of the most frightening tractor accidents if where you are pulling something that stop moving and you end up flipping the tractor over on its back ("climbing the ring gear" if you will).

How would it be if you had a small electronic box in the primary ignition circuit with a mercury switch? If the machine's nose got more than x degrees off the ground (more than going up a reasonable hill) the mercury switch would kill the power to the coil. It could also have a latching relay that would unlatch to prevent the machine from restarting once the nose came back down (so it wouldn't start bucking up and down). The unit would mount to the tractor frame or sheet metal and would be adjustable so the owner could determine how steep a slope he needed to climb before the kill switch shut it all down.

I'd be willing to try and prototype such a device if you fellows think it is a good idea and is not already available somewhere. Seems like a way to save lives.

Whadya think?

 

[buickanddeere]

Good idea but it would rarely work.
Roll overs into ditches,off loading ramps, dropping wheels into holes or too high speed turns with the loader raised would still occur.
Interia(stored energy) and the time delay for engine shutdown also render the device "too little too late".
Plus it's another electrical or electronic gadget that tractor owners/operators will be terrified of.
A mercury switch would also "slosh" and be a source of never ending false shutdowns.
Sad to say but most "accidents", tractor related or not are just Mother Natures way of eliminating the weak from the gene pool.

 

[Bob]

With the engine revved up, in many cases, the tractor would probably finish flipping over on the intertia of the spinning engine and drivetrain, even after the switch cut the ignition.

 

[dbear]

Sounds like something worthwhile, but I don't think a simple mercury switch would work. If you're already working going up a hill, the mercury switch may already be made.

You'd need a sensor that could judge the front end's angle in relation to the entire tractor, or possibly some system that could constantly calculate the COG and make a decision based upon how much it shifts to the rear.

 

[rrlund]

Your "new idea" is over 50 years old. I have a 1953 Farm Journal here with an ad for just such a mercury switch.

 

[Mike M]

CAN'T USE MERCURY !!!!! EPA shut it down along with alot of other good stuff.

 

[Wilsonfire]

Retired Firefighter here. Must agree. A great idea but the inertia happens so fast the victim is always trapped and doesn't have time to cuss. If I remember correctly all Tractor incidents I've been to of this nature have been pulling post or stump, loading or unloading from trailer. Tie your chain at or below axle level and keep your cell phone in your breast pocket.

 

[Anonymous-0]

This was an option on early Fordsons along with extended "wheelie bar" fenders, in the 20s and 30s. Hell of an idea though, of course the idea didn't work then either, once several thousands pounds starts moving in a direction physics takes over (force, energy, mass). Most effort changed to protecting you from the rollover (ROPS, seatbelts and Cabs).

 

[randallinMo]

In theory it's an idea. I'm not sure it's a good idea. That same switch would shut down the tractor when going "down hill" also. Many tractors loose all braking ability when the motor shuts down. Think about this one long and hard.

 

[RobMD]

You can try any type of switch you can possibly imagine but unfortunately, gravitational and momentum physics always takes over.

Even if such a switch was possible, the tractor would be over and gone before the engine even shut off. Happens in a blink of an eye.

Bottom line, if you"re not feeling comfortable with something involving a tractor"s movement- DON"T DO IT.

 

[Anonymous-0]

On the front page of our local newspaper yesterday, Monday Oct. !5, 2007 "Man killed in farming accident". A 56 year old Paulding Co., Ohio farmer driving an International 1066 with a 3 point hitch furrow opener on the road turning into his drive turned too fast, the implement dug into the ground and caused the tractor to roll over crushing him in the cab. That was along state highway 127, he was probably driving faster than normal to get off the major highway and avoid traffic.

 

[rustyfarmall]

Most tractors any more use diesel engines. How ya gonna make it work on them?

 

[Dan-IA]

Some cars and motorcycles already have such a gadget. I know the Honda GoldWing motorcycles do. I think the Ford Taurus we have has one in the trunk too.

 

[Walt Davies]

Tie rope to the ground underneath the tractor and to the coil if you get to high off the ground it will ear the coil out of the tractor. Or you could just push the clutch in.
Walt

 

[IH2444]

go slooooow.

 

[Anonymous-0]

the switch on ford cars and trucks is called Inertia switch , it shuts off fuel pump in event of IMPACT only .

 

[Anonymous-0]

And loose all steering.

Gerald J.

 

[Anonymous-0]

A better idea would be marketing a video or such on the safe way to drive tractors. And what kind of accidents that can happen. But most tractor owners think they allready know how to drive so no-one would buy it. New first owners would be a place to start to train for safety. Unfortunately what people have said about such a switch and diesel engines is true. Any switch would be too slow to do any good. Tractors have a lot of mometum. Nice idea but won't work, and you would be liable to law suits if just one person got hurt relying on your switch.

 

[Iowa_tire_guy]

This sounds like one of my great ideas that seems to fall apart under closer examination. I think it might do more good to rig such a switch that would send electric shock to the drivers seat to be activated well before there is danger. This way the driver would be corrected and change their habits and stay out of bad situations. In other words we don't need more gadgets trying save the world from those who take too many risks. As the old Hee Haw joke goes, "Doc I broke my arm in two places. Well stay out of those places."

 

[Jerry Coulter]

I have a NOS Model 7 Durakool tipover switch made by the Tipover Switch Division of Durakool Inc, Elkhart, IN. It contains unbreakable metal mercury tubes. It has likely been around here for 50 years. Suppose there would be any interest in this on ebay?

 

[Anonymous-0]

This thread reminds me of other safety aids that have been tried.
Back in the days before plows with automatic reset bottoms, hooking a big rock would bend/break the plow. The first attempt at a fix was the latch type plow hitches that would unhook when a obstruction (big rock) stopped the plow. The problem was that with rocky ground, you had to back up and re hook the plow and trip rope/hyd hoses, that got old real fast if it happned 3-4 times per round.
One fairly good working fix was the locally built "Steinman hitch" This was a telescoping plow hitch with huge coil springs in it that would allow the hitch to streach when you hit a rock. There was a cable and pulley affair that connected to the tractor clutch linkage that released the clutch when the plow struck a rock and the hitch telescoped.
This worked pretty well with a few exceptions,one was the two cyl JD tractors with that long "crow bar" clutch lever. You quickly learned to keep your right knee out of the line of travel of the clutch if you had a Steinman automatic declutcher installed. all it took was one time of being whacked in the knee by that big steel lever when the Steinman declutcher jerked it to the release position.

The Steinman automatic declutcher hitches had an extra little latch affair for the foot clutch tractors to hold the clutch in the realeased position after striknig a rock with the plow.

The memory of my BIL trying out his latest proud auction sale find leaves me laughing every time I think of it, even 30 years later.
He hooked his Steinman hitch equipped auction sale plow to his W9 IH tractor and headed out to do a little plowing. He rigged the clutch release cable to the W9 foot clutch pedal,but being the plow used to be pulled by a 2 cyl JD, there was no clutch release lock. BIL did not think he needed that,after all, he would just put his foot on the clutch to hold it released, right?.

Everything went just fine until the plow hooked a big solid rock,the hitch telescoped and released the W9 clutch. From that instant on, things went very badly. BIL had no clue how quickly those big springs in the plow hitch would pull the W9 back once the clutch was released. The tractor/plow went into an about once per second cycle of release the clutch, roll back which reenguaged the clutch,leap forward until the clutch released.
That old W9 would have made the meanest rodeo bull look tame. It was all BIl could do to hang on to the steering wheel while the tractor wildly bucked until the rear wheels dug holes deep enough to high center it.
That setup never ran again until the correct clutch lock was installed. ;-))))

 

[S. Crum]

All the forklifts at work have one of those gizmo boxes that shuts the lift down in the event of too rough of use or a tip over. I don't recall the name of the unit but I do know it's a pain in the a** when I have to drop everything and walk to the other end of the plant and reset one with a key. The best box of this nature is still between the ears of a safe operator.

 

[landlord7012]

the smart a$$ will override it and hurt/kill someone anyway.

the smart man will use his head as the Good Lord intended him to.

anyway, the gubment will just Have to get involved and we don't need that.

ll

 

[Bus Driver]

I did not have time to read any of the other responses. I did flip a tractor backward, no ROPS. By the time the tractor was up enough to operate the switch, the engine flywheel would carry it on over. Ineffective device, in my opinion.

 

[Lanse]

I think yer right, but it is a really nice idea. Uncle flipped a juballie when he was 16. Commin outta field, some hotrodder tore round a corner and he was just about to the road, but he instenctivly yanked the wheel sharp, and it ended up upside down in a roadside ditch. He crawled out without a scratch, but my grandparents were in town when it happened, and the worst part (tractor was insured) was when they came home and saw their little gray ford upside down in a ditch. He remberes the day well, was at home watching TV when they showed up....

 

[Anonymous-0]

I'm interested in knowing more about the steinman hitch. I recently bought a plow with it on and want to know how to hook up to the clutch on my IH 650. Are there any manuels or directions available? Thanks. Tom.