A man, believed to be in his 40s, has escaped with his life after throwing himself off the tractor he was driving moments before it rolled down a steep hill in south-east Queensland.

He was taken to Toowoomba Hospital in a stable condition with suspected chest and other injuries on Saturday afternoon.

An RACQ LifeFlight Rescue spokesman said the man managed to jump clear of the out-of-control machine on a property in the Scenic Rim.

In December last year, a similar incident happened, involving a German backpacker who died after being pinned underneath a ride-on mower on Tamborine Mountain in the Scenic Rim.

In that instance, police said the tractor, towing a trailer, was being driven along the side of a hill by another person when it rolled and pinned the woman to the ground.