How do highway departments do this?

[Midniteoyl]

ok i might have looked pretty silly to passerbys but i stopped and measured one incline that was shocking to see them mow. Now i dont have an angle finder and i havent looked this up as far as the degrees, but using a 2 foot level and a tape measure to find the pitch, the level is set on the ground one one end, its raised up to achieve a level status, measuring the distance from the end to the ground is an exact 18" drop, which translates into roofing terms as an 9/12 pitch. Thats pretty darn step, i had probs just standing on it but they mowed this back and forth, not up and down. Amazing if you ask me, no way i would do that, so the operators must have mighty big golf balls or something.

9/12 is just shy of 37*, so pretty steep, but not 60*. Definately some puckering going on though I wonder how wide the tires need to be set to do 37*?

 

[Midniteoyl]

Between 30 degrees and 35 degrees from the horizontal would be my estimate

26.5*.. See how the eye lies? I would've thought it was steeper too..

 

[Kenneth in Texas]

Yeah its very steep, if someone says its a 37 degree slope i can live with that but my god how they get guys to do that angle is shocking, they must tie themselves in ), aint no way i would even consider that angle in anything with wheels and yes to who asked if they mowed sideways, yes they did, from the road i counted 22 rows back and forth so the incline isnt just steep its high too. I cant imagine the view from the top at that angle :-0

 

[Birdhunter1]

I use to mow for the county here the summer out of high school. Hill comfort grows on you, like anything you get use to it and push the envelope more. Low slung tractors are the key, we had an old ford that I only got scared on once and another guy said 'we never mowed that before.' I also used a Deere 5200 ( I think) and it scared the snot out of me on hills where that old Ford 3400 would crawl across with ease. Loaded tires with low enough PSI to not roll off the rim and set out wide is key with just enough front weight to not allow the front to slide sideways. 30 degrees sounds about right and is likely what you saw, I can say some hills look worse driving down the road than what they really are, it always seemed to me like the grass was taller towards the bottom that made it look steeper.
Like I said I only got scared once and it was a situation I had planned to mow just far enough along this guardrail then back out before it got too steep. WRONG... once you realize it is too steep DO NOT try to back out as you only slide down the hill further. I ended up almost perpendicular to the guardrail with the front tires turned parallel and rode it out the length of the guardrail, the hill was too steep to climb but as it tried to climb the wheels were cut to go along the guardrail which made the whole machine traverse along the guardrail. Imagine 'drifting' the length of it and that is what I did. The most scared I have ever been on a tractor.

 

[Renze]

Here in Holland they are more and more switching to Aebi and Reform power units for mowing ROW slopes (we dont have any natural slopes anyways): Both are manufacturers from Austria and/or switzerland which specialise in building power units with ultra low center of gravity, and crab steering to counter the effect of continuous sliding downhill when driving.

Reform Mounty and Metrac Hillside/Steep Slopes Tractors - YouTube

AEBI - SWISS QUALITY - Landtechnik - YouTube

Not just those 4x4x4 things but also the ordinary walk-behind 2 wheel tractors on spike wheels.

 

[sparc]

I agree....very hard to judge slopes unless you have a reference to work from.

True, we were at Daytona for a race a few years back and before hand we were able to walk out on the track since we had pit passes. Those 28 degree banks look and feel a lot more like 45 when you are standing on them.

 

[RoyJackson]

Here in Holland they are more and more switching to Aebi and Reform power units for mowing ROW slopes (we dont have any natural slopes anyways): Both are manufacturers from Austria and/or switzerland which specialise in building power units with ultra low center of gravity, and crab steering to counter the effect of continuous sliding downhill when driving.

Reform Mounty and Metrac Hillside/Steep Slopes Tractors - YouTube

AEBI - SWISS QUALITY - Landtechnik - YouTube

Not just those 4x4x4 things but also the ordinary walk-behind 2 wheel tractors on spike wheels.

Interesting videos...
I wonder if they use a pressurized oil lubrication system rather then splash lubrication...or even a dry sump. Looks like those slopes could be steep enough to starve the engine of oil.

 

[paulharvey]

True, we were at Daytona for a race a few years back and before hand we were able to walk out on the track since we had pit passes. Those 28 degree banks look and feel a lot more like 45 when you are standing on them.

When they paved the track a few years ago, they had 2 dozers holding the paver from sliding down the track. I know a few guys that worked on it

 

[Redbug]

Interesting videos...
I wonder if they use a pressurized oil lubrication system rather then splash lubrication...or even a dry sump. Looks like those slopes could be steep enough to starve the engine of oil.

Good point!

 

[Renze]

Interesting videos...
I wonder if they use a pressurized oil lubrication system rather then splash lubrication...or even a dry sump. Looks like those slopes could be steep enough to starve the engine of oil.

Most manufacturers have a slope pan as option for OEM engines. Cummins and JD both offered 45 degree pans, which is quite near the safety limit when working on damp grass stubble...