4WD or 2WD on a slope?

[jstreet]

TBN has had lots of posts on slope safety, but I haven't seen (or may have missed) discussion of whether 4WD or 2WD is best for going DOWN a slope.
I have a B3030 HST with 4WD, and mow with a 60-inch Bush Hog. We have one pretty good slope (haven't measured the degrees) that the kids use for sledding. I have mowed it for years with my former tractor (an 8N) with no problems. I always mow straight down hill. The HST should now allow me to go even more slowly, which is good.
My concern about mowing downhill is the possibility of starting to slide, especially if the slide starts me going sideways.
Specifically, I am wondering if 2WD might be a better choice for mowing downhill, on the theory that the rear wheels in 2WD have some braking effect -- especially when I let off on the HST pedal -- and that the drag effect on the rear would tend to keep the tractor going straight. This rear-drag effect would seem to be lost in 4WD.
Any thoughts?

 

[Theowegian]

Well, here is my take. I have slopes on my place...and a Hydrostatic transmission on my compact tractor.

I always use 4wd when mowing slopes, especially going DOWN.

Here's why. In 4wd, the front wheels have a braking effect due to the transmission locked in all four wheels.

When decending a slope, the center of gravity moves forward and takes some weight off the rear of the tractor, even with a brush cutter on the back. This effect makes the rear wheels have less traction. So you depend on the fronts to provide braking. If you have a front end loader installed, this makes the situation really, really bad.

Ask me how I know....the pucker factor... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

dwight

 

[JoeL4330]

Absolutely right, on steep slopes 4wd is a must, especially with a bucket on the front. I've posted on this before. You can fool yourself with a big mower on the back to counterbalance the bucket (I also have loaded rears) but when you drop the mower to cut, you lose the counterweight ...in a flash and off you go if you are in 2wd. On my (very steep slope) my L4330 pivots around the front wheels as a fulcrum, lifts the rears just enough, so no, repeat no, braking in 2wd.

 

[jstreet]

Thanks for the above comments, and yes, I should have mentioned that my B3030 does have a front-end loader attached. So I can understand how its weight could lessen the traction on the rear wheels.

 

[BrianW]

The tires with the least traction always go to the front! A locked set of rear wheels on a car or tractor will usually win the race to the bottom of the hill or in the case of a car, to the accident site /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Trucky]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ...on steep slopes 4wd is a must, especially with a bucket on the front. )</font>

So then... would the suggestion be that I leave the loader at home when I go out to rotary cut any steep grades? I've tended to leave it on to kind of lay over any big things out front but would gladly give up that convenience if it meant a safer journey up and down the slopes. So far my pucker factor lets me back down the steeper spots until my heart thumps big and then hope the little bx will pull me back up. This is my first year doing this myself since I used to hire in the "big guys" until I got my own tractor.

Ken
Marshall, NC