what was clear a few seconds ago may not remain clear for long.
Rule 2: “Don’t cross a slope; climb it.”
Driving across a grade instead of trav- eling straight up or down it is one of the fastest ways to roll a skid steer. At its core, it is a center-of-gravity issue. Angling across a hill shifts the ma- chine’s center of gravity outward and quickly eats into the safety margin available for travel. Add a load to the equation, and that margin can shrink even further. The safest route is generally the one that keeps the machine aligned with the slope rather than allowing the load and machine to lean sideways across it. On a residential property, however, that is not always the easiest route. Tight ac- cess, landscaping, driveways and other obstacles can make the terrain difficult to navigate, which is why understand- ing how the machine responds to the grade matters so much.
Traveling straight up or down a grade helps keep the machines' center of gravity within a safe margin.
to do with the machine tipping over. It has everything to do with what is be- hind it. On a tree removal job, you are driving backward much of the time. Skid steer work involves considerably more re- verse travel than forward travel, which means operators have to maintain con- stant awareness of what is happening behind the machine. That awareness extends beyond simply watching for people. The operator also must account for obstacles, changes in grade, debris, and the changing posi- tion of other equipment and crew mem- bers. In a busy residential work zone,
During a residential tree removal, Evan Englehart, general foreman for Seacoast Tree Care in Stratham, New Hampshire, took time to explain the work as the crew operated a skid steer and grapple truck. Throughout the day, he informally shared the rules he fol- lows when operating both machines. “What emerges are two different stabil- ity problems,” he noted. “A low, tippy machine versus a heavy one with a small footprint.” Despite the difference between the two, Englehart said there is one shared re- sponse when something starts to go sideways: Drop the load the moment it feels wrong. SKID STEER/MINI LOADER: THREE RULES FOR STAYING UPRIGHT Let’s begin with the skid steer, or mini loader. Three rules came up during the conversation, and each one addresses a different way these machines can hurt someone. Rule 1: “Eyes in the back of your head.” This is not a throwaway line. It is the practical response to one of the most common ways someone can get hurt around a skid steer, and it has nothing
Rule 3: “If it’s too heavy, put it down.”
When a load exceeds what the machine can safely lift and begins to cause a tip-over, the order of operations is straightforward: Make sure everyone is clear, then shut down the engine so the machine is not also damaged in the process. But the real lesson happens before any of that. New operators may panic and freeze when a machine begins to feel unsta- ble rather than simply setting the load back down. That hesitation can be what turns an unstable situation into an ac- tual tip-over or equipment damage. The rule exists to short-circuit that pause. If the load feels wrong, put it down. It is a simple response, but it requires an operator to recognize the machine’s warning signs before the situation be- comes unrecoverable.
Situational awareness on the jobsite includes what's going on in the canopy above as well as watching out for the machinery on the ground.
42 | Fall 2026 ArborTIMES ™
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