Dam! I have to mow a dam

[roadhawk]

Definitely 4WD so that you still have some breaking if your rear comes up for any reason (front goes down into hole, rear hits rock you didn't see and didn't hit on front, etc). Like some of the rest I'll go up and down as well, but I'll go down hill going frontwards to use the FEL or speed up if in an emergency, and then I'll just move over and back up the hill still leaving my FEL in a useful emergency position if all heck starts happening and I start going back down (hit a wet spot or sink-hole or?). Never has happened but I feel more comfortable doing it that way since that's how my brother taught me to do it.

 

[moored4]

Good luck,


Eddie

Eddie; I see you made Oscer the head of the family! I like your "avatar" picture!:thumbsup:

 

[schmism]

you didnt mention how steep the dam was or how large it is.

 

[schmism]

A Big YES :
4WD gives you 4 WHEEL braking .

To be clear, 4wd does not add more brakes.... it adds more traction. Put another way, if your brakes are out of adjustment and or worn and cant stop the tractor on a nice high traction surface.... then 4wd is NOT going to help you stop.

Generally speaking you run out of traction before you run out of braking power and thus 4wd helps as it adds additional traction.

 

[MarkV]

You mentioned keeping the RPM's low but you really need to keep them at the proper PTO speed to get a decent cut.

MarkV

 

[TripleR]

To be clear, 4wd does not add more brakes.... it adds more traction. Put another way, if your brakes are out of adjustment and or worn and cant stop the tractor on a nice high traction surface.... then 4wd is NOT going to help you stop.

Generally speaking you run out of traction before you run out of braking power and thus 4wd helps as it adds additional traction.

I am not sure I understand your point, I did not see where anyone claimed you get more brakes, just more braking. I am referring to braking effect as I believe as are others. This can be engine braking or braking effect from brakes.

 

[DwightD123]

Really good stuff fellers...A couple of responses and couple more questions.
The length of the dam is about 130 Yds. The grade, I don't know..I know I wouldn't mow it sideways..no way no how. I know the previous owner cut it with a Ford 8n and a bushhog.
So now my questions. Top Link. It has been mentioned to keep it loose so the cutter would work better over the crest of the top and the dip of the bottom. Does that mean completely off? I don't see how else it could solve both push up and down of the toplink connection.
Secondly I assume a morning cut should be avoided to dry the grass completely and not have a dew factor turn into a DOODOO factor. Third by going in 1st Gear (I have the 16 gears) am I adding more resistance and thereby increasing the chance of slippage on the terrain if I hit a wet spot?
I do see the value of the 4x4 with more chance of engine braking if all 4 wheels are engaged.

 

[xtn]

Third by going in 1st Gear (I have the 16 gears) am I adding more resistance and thereby increasing the chance of slippage on the terrain if I hit a wet spot?

Technically speaking, on paper, yes.

In the real world:
1. if you're going to start sliding, you might as well begin your slide from the slowest speed possible.
2. do you really want to hit some unseen bump going faster than necessary when you're already leaned so far forward?
3. going down a steep hill it is very difficult to loose speed once you've got it... better to not get any speed in the first place.
4. a higher gear means less engine breaking too, and I don't think you should be giving up engine breaking.

Conclusion: Creep as slowly as you possibly can! At least the first time. If you find out later that it's not as big of a deal as you first imagined, then you could go a bit faster.

xtn

 

[TripleR]

Really good stuff fellers...A couple of responses and couple more questions.
The length of the dam is about 130 Yds. The grade, I don't know..I know I wouldn't mow it sideways..no way no how. I know the previous owner cut it with a Ford 8n and a bushhog.
So now my questions. Top Link. It has been mentioned to keep it loose so the cutter would work better over the crest of the top and the dip of the bottom. Does that mean completely off? I don't see how else it could solve both push up and down of the toplink connection.
Secondly I assume a morning cut should be avoided to dry the grass completely and not have a dew factor turn into a DOODOO factor. Third by going in 1st Gear (I have the 16 gears) am I adding more resistance and thereby increasing the chance of slippage on the terrain if I hit a wet spot?
I do see the value of the 4x4 with more chance of engine braking if all 4 wheels are engaged.

The only way to do both that I have found is with my hydraulic top link.

Some people use chains on their cutters to allow the back of the cutter to come up unimpeded at the bottom of a hill going down or backing up, but this does nothing for you at the top coming down.

I actually find that going down works fairly well to get the cutter to do a good job as by the time the cutter would be cutting, you tractor has essentially leveled out. When driving up the levy, your tractor will level out at the top before your cutter cuts all the way and you will have a strip towards the top that does not get cut very low.

You "can" unhook your top link and operate as a "semi-mount", but I have never done this and can't recommend it, maybe someone else has.

We use a pull type cutter on a lot of our levies and this works really well both going up and going down as you can vary your height with the hydraulics.

 

[deereman75]

I think if you could do it with a farmall cub, it will be easy with a new kubota.