Hills and slopes around back field and pond. Help

[BloomingtonMike]

I am a new hobby farm owner. I purchased 6.05 acres in Febuary and mow about 3.5 of them. I am looking at buying a 3320 or 3720 or 3430HSCT (I like the cab). My question is how do these tractors do on hills. I have a field in the back of my property and it is kind of on a hill that is about 25 degrees on angle and about 30' - 40' in height. The hill is also very bumpy because of soil erosion and darn ground squirrels. I also have many ditches surrounding the property to mow as well. I mow around the alfalfa field - around the edge currently with a Simplicity 4041 (about the size of a 2210). I have to lean on the fender a bit to stay in the seat. It is pretty bumpy - could a BB or rake take care of this?? I also have a pond with deep sides - doubt I will mow these with the new tractor.

What do you suggest I mow with ina new mid chassis tractor. Is a cab out of the question at these angles? Will the 3320/3720 perform OK on these hills?

I really need to get one on my land and test it.

I am thinking 72" MMM. I also have the front yard that I will also mow.

Anyone else mowing some hills? Ditches.

 

[beenthere]

Sounds like the first order of business is to get the erosion under control and the surface 'mowable'. I wouldn't mow a slope that isn't comfortable to mow.

But keep your seatbelt fastened. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[prosperity]

The best thing you can do is get a "test drive" of a tractor you are thinking about.
I know my dealer is more than happy to drop a machine off for a couple days for you to try out. He might not want you to actually mow with it, but you will be able to test how it feels on your hills.
Of course, you will have to be a serious potential buyer for them to do this in most cases.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Mowing slopes, if they are the scary kind that makes your rear end pucker up and cheek muscles tighten up so that they squeeze your tractor's seat into something that resembles floss between them so they can get you a better grip on the machine require a slope capable mower. Now I'm not sure if your banks are such that you need one of those, but if they do, then consider the following brands:

Ventrac Tractors

Steiner tractors

Power Trac tractors

 

[BloomingtonMike]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Sounds like the first order of business is to get the erosion under control and the surface 'mowable'. I wouldn't mow a slope that isn't comfortable to mow.

But keep your seatbelt fastened. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif )</font>

It is mowable - Just a bit bumpy in a few spots. Doubt this is any different than some fields.

How do you get the erosion under control the easiest. The slopes do have grass already except around the pond in some spots. I guess how do I smooth it out.

Not sure why I put this in JD buying/pricing - guess because I will be buying a tractor and the 3X20 series is where I am leaning to - literally in some cases /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="red">
How do you get the erosion under control the easiest. The slopes do have grass already except around the pond in some spots. I guess how do I smooth it out. </font>

I suppose it depends on how big of an area the bald spots are but you can get fiber erosion control mats, or mesh mats with straw woven into them and use those to help you get grass growing. Basically you start by smoothing the area, without seeing it, you might be able to get by with a landscape rake to smooth it out, maybe rent/borrow a tiller and then rake after tilling, I've had good luck doing that. If its bad, you may be best with a box blade. But once its relatively smooth, you put down your grass seed and cover with the mats. The mats need to be held down with earth staples; then just keep it watered until the grass is established. The erosion control mats are thicker and heavier, the straw mats are very thin, but if its mowable, they may be all you need. I've used both in differnet places. I just used 3 of the straw mats earlier this year with pretty good success, they were 7' wide by 120' long and cost about $55 each. I used the erosion control mats several years ago, can't remember the size/price for those.