I don't see a need for a slope gauge either. Here is a photo of me cutting a steep section of my lawn. I have no idea what the angle of the slope is, but the Steiner 430 Max diesel cuts it going up hill with a 72" mower deck. I have dual's all around and that helps. To climb I go to full throttle and go slow. If it starts to bog down I back off on the forward speed a bit and it gets to the top no problem. I have never felt unsafe, but I only cut this section straight up and down, I would not attempt to cut sideways. With my old John Deere I could only cut going down and had to circle to less steep areas to get back up. And that mower had a hard time holding the hill going down. Not too safe. A mower dealer once told me he did not know of any mower that could cut this slope while climbing. I guess he had not heard of Steiner. <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/files/ventrac/426969-my-slope-guage-lies-cuttinghill-jpg"/>