Well, I got the lawn rolling done yesterday evening.
Darn near scared the heck out of myself. I have a decent size hill near the house. It's pretty steep and probably 15-20' high. I was rolling the yard and setup my pattern so I'd go up the hill since I recall from previous years that the roller had a tendency to want to push the ATV down the hill.. The equipment is a 250cc ATV pulling a 36"w x 24"h roller filled to the top with water (I think the roller weighs more than the ATV...).
OK, I'm approaching the hill. Downshift into 1st gear, super low range, 4 wheel-drive, differential lock engaged. I start climbing... and climbing... and about 3/4 of the way up, I feel slipping at the tires... and about 7/8 of the way up, my forward progress has stopped. I lock up the brakes on both axles. The first thing running through my mind was that I'd stop there and then wrap the winch cable to a tree off the front. Well, after that went through my head (in about 1 second), I knew that wasn't going to work as I'm now skidding/sliding back down the hill. Oh crap! I look behind me and we're aiming straight towards the house. Oh crap again! OK, don't jack-knife it as it'll flip everything and I'll probably get crushed (been there, done that - Have about a dozen broken bones and 4 weeks in Critical Care from the last time a quad landed on me). OK, I need to keep it relatively straight. Oh Crap! Time to decide which part of the house I'm going to hit. Avoid the house and hit the heat-pump? Nope. I just put that in there and replacing a 5-ton unit would be pricey. How about just to the right of the heat pump? Nope, main service area for phone, cable and power. I don't want to hit that power wire in particular. OK, all that's left is the exact corner of the house. That's where I'm aiming. I'm now thinking, how fast will I be going? Will the brick take the impact? Is it going to be strong in the corner or is it such a small area to take the 1/2 ton load heading its way?
Now, that entire slide and all those thoughts occurred in a matter of 4 or 5 seconds.
I'm now sliding straight toward the corner. I'm working the front end to keep it from jack-knifing. The roller has a very short tongue so I have to make small, fast steering changes. All while looking backwards and aiming the roller towards that corner.
OK, it's time! We're coming off the hill onto the 5-6' of flat land before impact. Cool, I got it lined up straight into the corner. Well, it's my lucky day! We came sliding to a stop about 10" from the house.
A big smile, a phew and shake of the head, then back at it. I did do that hill from a different angle...
Darn near scared the heck out of myself. I have a decent size hill near the house. It's pretty steep and probably 15-20' high. I was rolling the yard and setup my pattern so I'd go up the hill since I recall from previous years that the roller had a tendency to want to push the ATV down the hill.. The equipment is a 250cc ATV pulling a 36"w x 24"h roller filled to the top with water (I think the roller weighs more than the ATV...).
OK, I'm approaching the hill. Downshift into 1st gear, super low range, 4 wheel-drive, differential lock engaged. I start climbing... and climbing... and about 3/4 of the way up, I feel slipping at the tires... and about 7/8 of the way up, my forward progress has stopped. I lock up the brakes on both axles. The first thing running through my mind was that I'd stop there and then wrap the winch cable to a tree off the front. Well, after that went through my head (in about 1 second), I knew that wasn't going to work as I'm now skidding/sliding back down the hill. Oh crap! I look behind me and we're aiming straight towards the house. Oh crap again! OK, don't jack-knife it as it'll flip everything and I'll probably get crushed (been there, done that - Have about a dozen broken bones and 4 weeks in Critical Care from the last time a quad landed on me). OK, I need to keep it relatively straight. Oh Crap! Time to decide which part of the house I'm going to hit. Avoid the house and hit the heat-pump? Nope. I just put that in there and replacing a 5-ton unit would be pricey. How about just to the right of the heat pump? Nope, main service area for phone, cable and power. I don't want to hit that power wire in particular. OK, all that's left is the exact corner of the house. That's where I'm aiming. I'm now thinking, how fast will I be going? Will the brick take the impact? Is it going to be strong in the corner or is it such a small area to take the 1/2 ton load heading its way?
Now, that entire slide and all those thoughts occurred in a matter of 4 or 5 seconds.
I'm now sliding straight toward the corner. I'm working the front end to keep it from jack-knifing. The roller has a very short tongue so I have to make small, fast steering changes. All while looking backwards and aiming the roller towards that corner.
OK, it's time! We're coming off the hill onto the 5-6' of flat land before impact. Cool, I got it lined up straight into the corner. Well, it's my lucky day! We came sliding to a stop about 10" from the house.
A big smile, a phew and shake of the head, then back at it. I did do that hill from a different angle...