Will a Finish mower back up this hill

[leonz]

So spring soon here and need to replace my 1993 Husqvarna lawn tractor for my 3 acres of cutting , that also has been able to get up the attached hill beside my house and just leave me a small amount to cut with gas weed wacker,.
Now I like the idea of being able to use the BX2660 Kubota and buy a 5 feet wide Finish mower, but I want to be pretty sure it will articulate enough at the 3 point hitch to back up that same hill (at least 75% coverage of the hill anyway)
I did not have a great picture of hill but see below the far away shot it is immediately to the right of the house ,and in the other it is behind truck. You can see it probably is 15 degrees or more .

All the rest of my cutting is flat , but that hill is my nemesis and is hard on back with weed wacker. But I get impression that even new garden tractors might not have the cabability to climb that hill like my old Husky does............any thoughts?

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That is nice looking NewFoundland Duck Tolling Retriever in your avatar.
Satchel Pooch from the Get fuzzy comics would be proud-he is half
Duck Tolling Retriever and half Sharpei.

any hill over fifteen degrees in slope is bad hill.

can you hire logger with skidder and a forestry mower to mow it once a year??
It would be simpler and safer that way I think anyway.

 

[zzvyb6]

I mow a lot worse than that hill sideways with a 84" Woods finish mower. Use a chain for the toplink to allow angulation at the bottom of the hillside. You can cut it with circular arcs, too if you have some doubts.

Get a loader and fill it with stones to increase your stability margin.

 

[paulfun9]

I cut a similar hill in front of my place with a 72" finish mower. No problems at all with the tractor pushing it right up there and the tractor is very stable. Don't ram the machine into the hill just go nice and easy and straight up and straight down. I do have to make one sideways pass at the bottom due to the mower lifting too fast to get an even cut just at the base of the hill but that's not a problem at all.

For the record I would rather use the finish mower than the mid mount for that hill any day. I used to hate cutting our hill with the mid mount and with the rear mount I can cut right to the top where the MMM would leave a good bit uncut and that means more to do with the weed whacker or in my case the push mower.

When the summer gets here my hill will actually be getting a bit longer as I am making the small flat at the top into a raised yard within the yard and the hill will become much longer, I do plan to make a smoother transition at the top so I can actually drive up and turn then drive back down as I cut.

 

[jenkinsph]

I could mow that easy enough with my Deere x749 all wheel steer 4x4, low center of gravity. That said I would not do it, I would use my small push mower because it will do a good job without any problems with tearing up the turf. Over time using a small mower on that slope would be the best solution because you would not have erosion problems. Places like that are hard to repair the lawn and a push mower is a good cheap fix for your issue. I use a small 22" mower for this type job as the small deck allows me to trim the contour without scalping.

While the BX would back up the hill I suspect over time the grass on the hill would suffer. If every third or fourth time you mow one of the wheels was to slip your lawn would look blemished by the end of the mowing season. I know everyone on here wants a tractor but dedicated lawn mowers without all the extra weight of fels, ballast and cleated tires do a better job of mowing. In your case mow the slope with the push mower and use the BX with the finish mower on the open flat areas.

Just curious, but why is that hill/mound there anyway? It appears it could have been cut down to a more gentle slope.

 

[wawajake]

I could mow that easy enough with my Deere x749 all wheel steer 4x4, low center of gravity. That said I would not do it, ............ I use a small 22" mower for this type job as the small deck allows me to trim the contour without scalping.

While the BX would back up the hill .................... In your case mow the slope with the push mower and use the BX with the finish mower on the open flat areas.

Just curious, but why is that hill/mound there anyway? It appears it could have been cut down to a more gentle slope.

The house is built into the hill and the hill buries the basement wall , which in winter climates like mine is very important to prevent frost going below basement foundations and floor. As for using a push mower......I sold that so I don't need to PUSH at my age up and down that hill....smile !! I think folks here have convinced me that a finish mower will articulate if I am careful how I install it and can be pushed up in reverse most of the way, I will now look at pricing out Finish mowers, and I can probably still keep the old Husqvarna riding lawn mower going for small jobs if I do some welding on the rusty old deck of it.

 

[Yooper75]

If you're worried about rolling the tractor on it's side fill the rear tires with washer fluid. I've done it on my Deere 312 riding mower the difference is night and day side hilling I'm also going to fill the rear tires on my Deere 2305. I am interested to see how your Kubota does with a finish mower because I'm going to buy one for my 2305 and it looks to be very similar in size to your Kubota.

 

[kebo]

I think a 3pt finish mower will cut it backing up that hill, but you really won't know for sure until you buy it and try it.

As an alternative idea, I would suggest covering most of that hillside with flat rocks (spaced apart) and planting some ground cover in between the rocks. An evergreen ground cover plant (maybe like a juniper?) might survive the cold winters up there, but you would have to research and see what would do best. Do a search on "images of evergreen ground cover plants" and you may get some ideas.

That would eliminate having to mow it altogether.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I would raise the mower while backing up the hill, then mow going down. And I would be careful at the bottom to not let the angle between the tractor and the mower become so severe that it would risk damaging the 3 point hitch or the u-joints.

 

[beckmurph]

If your finish mower is a rear discharge, I would install a chain guard on the discharge.
Your discharge will be aimed at your windows. Just a thought.

 

[cormier]

I would do it at a 45 deg angle.