Mowing Steep yard! Mmm or finish mower?

[dieselscout80]

I mow double that or more on my ZTR. A commercial ZTR with bar tires and an experienced operator is a pretty capable slope mower. Get a light duty ZTR with turf tires and an inexperienced operator and it痴 easy to see why they have a bad rap. This hill is pushing the limits of what I値l do with a hazard at the bottom. If the bottom transitioned into level area I壇 go steeper.View attachment 572454

I have a similar slope with a measured angle between 20 and 25 degrees (not % of slope) that I have to mow, but it has a pond at the bottom of the slope.

Would you mow that with slope your zero-turn with a pond at the bottom rather than a road?

 

[4570Man]

I have a similar slope with a measured angle between 20 and 25 degrees (not % of slope) that I have to mow, but it has a pond at the bottom of the slope.

Would you mow that with slope your zero-turn with a pond at the bottom rather than a road?

The bottom of the hill towards the road is a lot steeper and has a curb on it. As long as you could access the hill without having to drive down it and the pond wasn’t really deep right at the start I’d probably do it.

 

[dodge man]

I also had a steep hill and bought a Kubota BX for mowing it. As long as the grass is dry its amazing what it will climb. I kept my old riding mower thinking I would use it to cut the flat area but I never used it and sold it. It had a pretty good sized deck also, a 54 inch. If all I did was mow, I'd probably look at a dedicated mowing machine but I remove snow, move dirt, move gravel, grade things, move mulch, so I've gotten used to having the ability to mow also. I also hardly ever remove the mowing deck during the summer, and just take it off in the winter. That's one thing nice about some of the Deeres is the auto connect deck.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I hear goats will mow anything that grows, grade not a factor - if it will grow there, they will find it.

Goats don't eat grass if they can find anything else. They prefer weeds or something with stickers on it.

 

[dieselscout80]

The bottom of the hill towards the road is a lot steeper and has a curb on it. As long as you could access the hill without having to drive down it and the pond wasn’t really deep right at the start I’d probably do it.

Well I can access it from the side, but its about 7' deep right at the edge.

 

[4570Man]

4570Man - do you know the % grade of that slope (or degrees of grade if that is easier)?

BTW - if anyone is interested, there are a couple of good smartphone apps to measure % grade, Degrees, or roof pitch (rise:run). I used both the Clinometer and the Theodolite apps when I was doing solar installations. Clinometer is available on Apple's App store and on Google Play. I know Theodolite is in the App Store, but not sure if it's out for Android OS at this time.

I got a chance to measure it today. The steepest part I mowed is 23 degrease. The bottom towards the road is 28 degrees. 20 degrease is well within rollover range. Most people are terrible at guessing the slope of a hill. Anyone claiming to operate sideways on more than a 20-25 degrease hill is probably wrong about the angle or made substantial modifications for better stability.

 

[Diggin It]

Over what distance? My steepest climb is about a 70' travel from bottom to top. My lesser hill is closer to 200' driving distance.

 

[4570Man]

Over what distance? My steepest climb is about a 70' travel from bottom to top. My lesser hill is closer to 200' driving distance.

It’s the hill pictured in post 24. The narrow way which is the up/down the hill part is wide enough to make 2 passes with my 72” mower and not hit it all and the other measurement is probably 150 feet.

 

[John_Mc]

I got a chance to measure it today. The steepest part I mowed is 23 degrease. The bottom towards the road is 28 degrees. 20 degrease is well within rollover range. Most people are terrible at guessing the slope of a hill. Anyone claiming to operate sideways on more than a 20-25 degrease hill is probably wrong about the angle or made substantial modifications for better stability.

Part of that depends on what equipment you are using. You are right, most people do stink at estimating slopes - including me. I was sure the one slope I mow was at least 25 degrees, and possibly about 30˚. Just fired up the Theodolite app on my phone and measured: It's 22˚ (which is about 36% grade). On my Craftsman garden tractor, that's about all I want to mow for a side-hill. I'd mow this one up and down, except turning at the bottom is a pain in the butt. I've driven on steeper side-hills in my tractor, but the pucker factor on those is high. On my mower, the only thing steeper I do is only a few degrees steeper, and that one is only one mower-strip wide.

For those without a smartphone or other way to measure this slope, here's a quick way to measure 22.5˚ : fold a piece of paper in half diagonally, making a 45˚ corner. Fold is in half again, on the same corner. You now have a 22.5˚ angle. It doesn't look like much just holding it in your hand, does it? Now take it out and compare it with the steepest side-hill you mow (you may need a level to get the bottom edge level). I can tell you, it's a lot more intimidating when riding on your mower in the middle of that slope than when just looking at a piece of paper. Now as you are mowing along, imagine your downhill wheel drops in a dip, or your uphill wheel runs over a rock or other bump.

 

[dieselscout80]

I got a chance to measure it today. The steepest part I mowed is 23 degrease. The bottom towards the road is 28 degrees. 20 degrease is well within rollover range. Most people are terrible at guessing the slope of a hill. Anyone claiming to operate sideways on more than a 20-25 degrease hill is probably wrong about the angle or made substantial modifications for better stability.

I measured mine with a angle gauge set on a 8' chunk of angle iron laid on the slope and it measured between 20 and 25 degrees. I don't know that its a perfect measurement, but its not just a guess.