Traction Using a Tractor on Mountain Property

[SpringHollow]

I was not paying enough attention to your post and was reading it as 20 - 25° - and thinking that would be like much of my property if you avoided the steeper areas and no way was I able to work the property well with a CUT or a SCUT. But you are talking more like 10 - 15° around your ponds. Your driveway at 10% (roughly 5 or 6°) we would call flat here. So if those are your worse areas that you actually need to regularly use the tractor, you should be ok as long as you are careful.

Ken

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Thought I would keep the discussion about tractor operation on hills going on a bit longer.

There's an iPhone App that's a clinometer, used to measure % and degrees of slope--it yells at you too Turns out a couple places on the woods trail/road are around 20 degrees, which is almost a 39% slope. When I graded these I made sure at least there is no "tilt" side-to-side, but it's a tad steep. I may be able to improve this a bit with the new tractor.

Was reading today and some Ag safety guy said always drive the tractor DOWN a steep slope and then go backwards UP the hill. Is that right? Tractor Mike says always keep more weight behind you when going down, then travel in reverse when going up. Any thoughts on that?

In this thread it also says not to fill the rears more than around halfway to keep the center of gravity low. Dealer says they fill them 90%. Thoughts?

For box-blading on steep, better to remove the FEL and put on suitcase weights?

So I did go one size bigger.

Specs that may relate to stability on hills:

Max26XL HST 4WD 25.6 HP
Bare Tractor Weight: 1863 (before filling tires)
Length: 109
Width: 54.3
Tires: R4, Front: 12 x 16.5, Rear: 23 x 8.5 - 12

 

[Jstpssng]

Thought I would keep the discussion about tractor operation on hills going on a bit longer.

There's an iPhone App that's a clinometer, used to measure % and degrees of slope--it yells at you too Turns out a couple places on the woods trail/road are around 20 degrees, which is almost a 39% slope. When I graded these I made sure at least there is no "tilt" side-to-side, but it's a tad steep. I may be able to improve this a bit with the new tractor.

Was reading today and some Ag safety guy said always drive the tractor DOWN a steep slope and then go backwards UP the hill. Is that right? Tractor Mike says always keep more weight behind you when going down, then travel in reverse when going up. Any thoughts on that?

In this thread it also says not to fill the rears more than around halfway to keep the center of gravity low. Dealer says they fill them 90%. Thoughts?

For box-blading on steep, better to remove the FEL and put on suitcase weights?

So I did go one size bigger.

Specs that may relate to stability on hills:

Max26XL HST 4WD 25.6 HP
Bare Tractor Weight: 1863 (before filling tires)
Length: 109
Width: 54.3
Tires: R4, Front: 12 x 16.5, Rear: 23 x 8.5 - 12

Did I miss something? You show a Mahindra on your avatar. (or whatever it's called.)
Congratulations, you finally got one!

 

[Fuddy1952]

You'll get better replies than me hopefully but I've always gone by "feel", even my JD dealer says that. When I got mine new from them last Fall they filled tires fully.
When I Bush hog, grapple, etc. I take hills as straight down as I can...never down then turn wheel. My place has really hilly areas. I just take it slow and easy. No one ever told me this (hopefully I may learn something here!) but I don't wear seat belt. I want to be able to jump from the high side if it ever tips! For really hilly spots I cut with a Cub Cadet zero turn mower. It does a great job, like ridding a toboggan. Low center of gravity, hard to flip. All the rough areas, sinkholes I filled in.
My other little tractor I use weights.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Did I miss something? You show a Mahindra on your avatar. (or whatever it's called.)
Congratulations, you finally got one!

Thank you!

Yes, I ended up with the Mahindra 26XL SCUT or CUT (whichever it is); not the Power Trac. Reasons: Cash sale; no service (and I'm not mechanical); but mostly, just wanted to be able to pull a box blade and scraper blade. A big part of my work. With PT these implements are in front of the tractor. I believe if the PT could have pulled a BB, I might well have gone that way in spite of the other things; would be a great trail-crawler for sure.

 

[ericm979]

There's a lot of argument about how to go up and down steep hills. I go backwards uphill and forwards downhill. Going forwards up hill it's possible to flip the tractor over backwards. If you do the 3pt won't help- it does not provide down pressure. Instead the implement will be forced towards the driver area as the tractor rolls over it. If you back up the hill you can keep the loader low. If the tractor starts to flip the loader can help prevent it. Ideally you'd have something heavy and low on the 3pt as well.

Downhill the loader again can help out if the tractor wants to flip. If the wheels start sliding you can drop the bucket and maybe slow the tractor down. Don't forget to put it in 4wd before going down a steep hill. I did once. It was exciting and not in a good way.

I leave the loader and bucket on and keep it low.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

You'll get better replies than me hopefully but I've always gone by "feel", even my JD dealer says that. When I got mine new from them last Fall they filled tires fully.
When I Bush hog, grapple, etc. I take hills as straight down as I can...never down then turn wheel. My place has really hilly areas. I just take it slow and easy. No one ever told me this (hopefully I may learn something here!) but I don't wear seat belt. I want to be able to jump from the high side if it ever tips! For really hilly spots I cut with a Cub Cadet zero turn mower. It does a great job, like ridding a toboggan. Low center of gravity, hard to flip. All the rough areas, sinkholes I filled in.
My other little tractor I use weights.

ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT as long as the ROPS is up. With ROPS down, then no seat belt. ALMOST every death from a roll over is from jumping off. The ROPS is designed to save the operator with his seat belt on. All you have to do is see or know of someone that tried to jump and died and you will change your mind REAL QUICK about jumping off. SEAT BELTS SAVE LIVES.

 

[Fuddy1952]

ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT as long as the ROPS is up. With ROPS down, then no seat belt. ALMOST every death from a roll over is from jumping off. The ROPS is designed to save the operator with his seat belt on. All you have to do is see or know of someone that tried to jump and died and you will change your mind REAL QUICK about jumping off. SEAT BELTS SAVE LIVES.

OK...thank you! I always assumed (bad word!) that I would jump from the high side as it started to roll, so I wouldn't get crushed. Also I have woods, and thought rolling over into limbs would be really bad.
As a kid I almost flipped our Farmall backwards going uphill. I was lucky. I wasn't sure how much pressure the ROPS would take either. Thanks again!

 

[dadster4]

Easiest way to safely travel hills is to keep the heaviest end of the tractor uphill. It will depend on what implement you are using or what load you are carrying on either end.
And keep your seatbelt on with a ROPS...you will NOT be able to get off before you flip or roll!

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

You'll get better replies than me hopefully but I've always gone by "feel", even my JD dealer says that. When I got mine new from them last Fall they filled tires fully.
When I Bush hog, grapple, etc. I take hills as straight down as I can...never down then turn wheel. My place has really hilly areas. I just take it slow and easy. No one ever told me this (hopefully I may learn something here!) but I don't wear seat belt. I want to be able to jump from the high side if it ever tips! For really hilly spots I cut with a Cub Cadet zero turn mower. It does a great job, like ridding a toboggan. Low center of gravity, hard to flip. All the rough areas, sinkholes I filled in.
My other little tractor I use weights.

No, I think you're right. I've scraped and crawled over most of this land with two Husqv's and have a pretty good "feel" for what's doable, which will help. But will have to figure out what this tractor can/can't do.

+1 on the z-turn. Wish list....

You're not too far from me.