1450 Rolled down the Hil, thru the fence and into woodpile!

[cledford]

I was out mowing this evening and had to stop for a few minutes. I parked on a modest incline and went inside. (tractor was turned off) About 5 minutes later I came out just in time to to see the 1450 rolling away, crash through the fence and pick up real steam heading down the steep incline through the back yard. It flew down the hill (i'd say easily doing 20mph or better at top speed...), until it crashed into the wood pile - about 150 yards away.

The crash (into the wood pile) bent the front of the frame but the tractor fired right up and climbed back up the hill to the house.

I was lucky more damage didn't occur to tractor, me or the fence. The wood pile was in just the right place. Honestly, for something as crappy as this to happen - it couldn't have gone better. Missed the truck, went through fence rails perfectly between the posts and missed everything in yard, excluding wood pile, which stopped it from punching another hole in the fence.

Anyone know what happened? I was under the impression that the tractor wouldn't budge when it wasn't running (ever try pushing one - even with the lever lifted?). It was basically free-wheeling. It is like the hydro just completely lost pressure or something. Is this normal? I did not have the parking brake set. Again, it started out on a modest incline and was actually mostly level when it started to roll. One thing is for sure - I won't ever be doing that again. I'm just wondering if it indicates an issue (before - or since rolling all that way...) with the hydro...

Thanks,

Calvin

[westofb]

I am guessing 2 things happened, one you did not set the parking brake (the little piece that swivels on the brake pedal) or the brakes are not properly adjusted, and either you have bad manual hyrdo valves, but most likely you have auto unloading hydro valves. They work to allow hydrualic pressure to bleed off once the tractor is shut off, so in the case of a break down, it can be rolled to a place to repair it.

OOPS....I see you mentioned the parking brake was not set!

[CC1650Dave]

Yep, as I understand it, you probably have self-unloading check valves. Their function is to set the rear end to roll freely when the hydro pump is no longer running, to assure that you can roll the tractor.

[jpackard56]

I'm glad nobody was hurt.
O.K. Lets be honest...How many of us have not set the parking brake "every single" time ?

[ACecil]

Glad you, or the tractor weren't hurt.

[CC1650Dave]

...and since we know that no one was hurt...

Where's the pictures? lol

[mmzullo]

The hydro released the pressure which is common with hydros. Always set the brake. I did that with my loader once. Went through a flower bed.

[jsoluna]

That's terrible man, sorry to hear bout your luck.

Sounds like you have the same luck on your side as I do. A few years ago I owned a 76 F150 (my fav Fords) and it had a real quiet inline six engine. I forgot to set the parking brake after starting it one morning. Came back outside and my truck - it was gone! Huge bronze SuperCab Ford - not the kinda thing that just dissapears. After freakin out for a second I realized that I could hear a faint humming. I followed the noise to find my truck buried deep in the woods, nose up, facing me. Still purring like nothing happened. Even took out 5 trees on it's journey backwards.

Ever since then I set my brake in my truck no matter what. And I try to do the same with the Cub, especially when it's runnning. But nobody's perfect. Glad there's not worse damage to your house or property. Although a bent frame on your Cub is a real bummer

[mrcubcadet]

Sorry to hear that, but glad no one got hurt.


I did that a couple years ago with my 105, rolled about 20 feet down the hill before it hit a small utility shed. Didn't hurt the tractor at all, but did leave a mark on the corner of the shed.