Slopes and tractor tilt

[RoyJackson]

Guys, I had to post this.....
I ordered and installed an "inclinenometer" on my Kubota last week. The slopes that had initally concerned me are only 15%. (I had gotten used to them) The ones that made me pucker are 25% and MUST be taken in "turtle and 1st gear". A few times I would sink in a hole and it would go to 30% where I would immediately do the down hill steer manuever. I'm using % because I have no DEGREE key. Now that it is installed I will recommend it to everyone.....it's definately an asset and a tool.:thumbsup:

Good post...

 

[JWR]

Guys, I had to post this.....
I ordered and installed an "inclinenometer" on my Kubota last week. The slopes that had initally concerned me are only 15%. (I had gotten used to them) The ones that made me pucker are 25% and MUST be taken in "turtle and 1st gear". A few times I would sink in a hole and it would go to 30% where I would immediately do the down hill steer manuever. I'm using % because I have no DEGREE key. Now that it is installed I will recommend it to everyone.....it's definately an asset and a tool.:thumbsup:

A 25% slope is really very mild. It is not bravado but factual that farmers in hill country (including WV and a lot of VA) including myself operate routinely on 40% slopes and a little steeper. I have farm renters who bailed hay on several 40% slope areas which I would not try but they did. (New Holland 75 hp , wheels set very wide.)

I considered 3 brands of tractors in buying a new one (70-90hp class) this spring and Kubota was one of the 3 along with JD and MF. I love the Kubotas in most ways. I've heard it said that the John Deere is the Cadillac of tractors ... but the Kubota is the Mercedes ! There were a few obscure tech reasons why I did not buy the Kubota but one of the big and obvious ones is that the Japanese have not figured out that we have steep land over here. The rear wheels on most Kubotas cannot be set out enough for safe handling on steep ground. Looking at the picture of yours that seems to be the case. I own 2 smaller Kubotas that are great machines -- just not on steep ground.

 

[TripleR]

A 25% slope is really very mild. It is not bravado but factual that farmers in hill country (including WV and a lot of VA) including myself operate routinely on 40% slopes and a little steeper. I have farm renters who bailed hay on several 40% slope areas which I would not try but they did. (New Holland 75 hp , wheels set very wide.)

I considered 3 brands of tractors in buying a new one (70-90hp class) this spring and Kubota was one of the 3 along with JD and MF. I love the Kubotas in most ways. I've heard it said that the John Deere is the Cadillac of tractors ... but the Kubota is the Mercedes ! There were a few obscure tech reasons why I did not buy the Kubota but one of the big and obvious ones is that the Japanese have not figured out that we have steep land over here. The rear wheels on most Kubotas cannot be set out enough for safe handling on steep ground. Looking at the picture of yours that seems to be the case. I own 2 smaller Kubotas that are great machines -- just not on steep ground.

Our M8540 is great on steep ground.

 

[RoyJackson]

A 25% slope is really very mild...

That's about a 10-11 degree slope...not too bad (in dry conditions!!). But still intimidating, at least initially and still dangerous if not traveled with caution (so continue to use extreme caution, Boeing!!).
So, let's not make the mistake of confusing a 25% slope with a 25 degree slope.

 

[North Country]

That's about a 10-11 degree slope...not too bad (in dry conditions!!). But still intimidating, at least initially and still dangerous if not traveled with caution (so continue to use extreme caution, Boeing!!).
So, let's not make the mistake of confusing a 25% slope with a 25 degree slope.

He did say " I'm using % because I have no DEGREE key" so I got the impression that he was, in fact talking about a 25 DEGREE slope - and turning on 30 degree slopes!

 

[RoyJackson]

He did say " I'm using % because I have no DEGREE key" so I got the impression that he was, in fact talking about a 25 DEGREE slope - and turning on 30 degree slopes!

So did I, initially...and I don't know about you, but I think a 25 degree slope is very intimidating!!

If JWR's comment:

A 25% slope is really very mild. It is not bravado but factual that farmers in hill country

is actually refering to degrees rather then percent of slope...well, that "mild" description is borderline irresponsible.

 

[TripleR]

So did I, initially...and I don't know about you, but I think a 25 degree slope is very intimidating!!

If JWR's comment:
is actually refering to degrees rather then percent of slope...well, that "mild" description is borderline irresponsible.

We have two "hill farms" and I don't have an inclinometer, so I use the technical terms, "steep" and "too damned steep". I am constantly amazed at what some of the farmers in my area operate equipment on, but most use tractors better suited to it than what most of us own.

 

[eastexan]

We have two "hill farms" and I don't have an inclinometer, so I use the technical terms, "steep" and "too damned steep". I am constantly amazed at what some of the farmers in my area operate equipment on, but most use tractors better suited to it than what most of us own.

Do you live in one of the areas where the Ozarks meets the low Mississippi delta area? You mention steep hill farms, but also from your pics there is flat land.

I was on vacation about 45 years ago, and was going W to E thru the Missouri Ozarks. Somewhere, I think it was around Poplar Bluff, I crossed a river (Black River?), and the hills suddenly ended and it dropped down into flat cotton fields as far as I could see with drainage canals criscrossing the land.
We also crossed the Mississippi on a ferry over into Tennessee then on to Memphis. Had a real good vacation that year.

 

[TripleR]

Do you live in one of the areas where the Ozarks meets the low Mississippi delta area? You mention steep hill farms, but also from your pics there is flat land.

I was on vacation about 45 years ago, and was going W to E thru the Missouri Ozarks. Somewhere, I think it was around Poplar Bluff, I crossed a river (Black River?), and the hills suddenly ended and it dropped down into flat cotton fields as far as I could see with drainage canals criscrossing the land.
We also crossed the Mississippi on a ferry over into Tennessee then on to Memphis. Had a real good vacation that year.

We have four "farms", 331, 130, 89, and 20 acres. This part of the state is commonly referred to as "Swamp East Missouri", because prior to the formation of the "Little River Drainage District", much of the land was under water.
The Little River Drainage District (1907-1989 history) - Chaffee Historical Society

We have a combination of "hill ground" and "flat land farms". The farm on which I live has 150 acres of fairly flat land and the rest in woods. We took 40 acres of the hill ground out of production about twenty years ago and reforested it.

I lived in Poplar Bluff for a while and then worked New Madrid County where we joked we didn't declare a probationer or parolee an absconder for two days because you could still see him running between the cotton rows.:laughing:

Our "hills" are nothing compared to the SW part of the state though.

 

[JWR]

So did I, initially...and I don't know about you, but I think a 25 degree slope is very intimidating!!

If JWR's comment:
is actually refering to degrees rather then percent of slope...well, that "mild" description is borderline irresponsible.

I repeat: A 25% (I said percent) slope is mild by most standards. A 25% slope is around 15 degrees. Most farmers have been over slopes of that steepness and never even thought about it. I never mentioned degrees in my previous comments.

I readily agree that a 25 degree slope (somewhere between 40 and 50%) would be intimidating and probably inadvisable if you were going across it as opposed to up and down. Slopes that steep are usually handled up and down, not across, as I'm sure you know.