Age old question; which tractor for steep hills

[jeff9366]

I should talk to the boys at the local dealership. I've walked through and the only thing that looked like it would work was the NH crawler. I'll ask to see if they have any suggestions.

Kubota probably owns the pre-sale inventory in the Kubota dealer's yard. I expect Kubota prohibits modification of the inventory prior to sale. I cannot speak to New Holland.

Inquire at Kubota dealer if they would provide total service on Kubota engine Ventrac.

There is a Mahindra/Branson dealer about 90 minutes away.

Dave's Tractor in Red Bluff, (Branson tractors) California is mentioned here favorably from time-to-time.
This dealer modifies Bransons for hills, with spread, reduced diameter rear wheels.

Dave's Tractor, Inc. |


Tractor for California hills site:tractorbynet.com - Google Search

 

[Diggin It]

Big problem I see with dual wheels is maneuverability. Wider turning radius and can't get through narrow areas. Consider if those are issues for your property.

 

[Grumpycat]

Redman: I like the idea of the dual wheels. Is this something you guys have used before? Is there any downside in terms of stress on the tractor, etc? Is there a reason you don't see this modification done more commonly?

The added stability makes turning harder, may scrub your turf. Helps to have independent left/right rear brakes to brake the inside wheel(s) during a tight turn. Small lawn tractors won't have independent brakes.

Don't know if you are thinking of a belly mower or pull behind. Duals help with the problem of sliding sideways on hillside. Because your rig will try to slide sideways larger tires found on front of 4WD help. With mower behind you can help C.O.G. balance on the dual rear tires. Helps keep the front from trying to slide sideways down the hill.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Most any tractor can go straight up / down 35 degree slopes but never side slope. If you really need to mow (and only mow) then a Ventrac is the vehicle to do it on up to 45 degree slope. I have no experience with the Ventrac or other articulated tractors other than advertisement. I have never seen Ventrac advertised as anything other than a mower but it may have FEL capacity. For me, and FEL would be a requirement for a tractor as they are so handy to have for many tasks.

 

[herm0016]

have you been next to a ventrac? they are a lot larger then they look in a video or ad, at least to me.

 

[Diggin It]

I have never seen Ventrac advertised as anything other than a mower but it may have FEL capacity.

Search term 'ventrac loader' shows all kinds of pictures with FELs as well as a PHD, trencher and a few other attachments.

 

[ericm979]

I can not help a lot but you might get by with a more conventional tractor if you can drive up and down the hills instead of having to go sideways on the hills.

Yep. Also if you don't need to operate on all of the property. Like if some is forest and you're leaving it forest. Then you only need some roads. If you want to pull trees out you can use cables or a forestry winch if you're doing it often enough to justify it.

My 20 acres is very steep- an average of 33% according to some state GIS site. Part is forest where I just go on the roads. It'd be undriveable even if it was flat because the forest is too dense. If you're in the wetter parts of Mendocino your forest may be too dense too. Part of my land is brush turning into forest. I've cleared some of that brush and keep those parts mowed. They're around 15% to 20%. I mow up and down, turning on the flatter parts.

Dave's Tractor in Red Bluff, (Branson tractors) California is mentioned here favorably from time-to-time.
This dealer modifies Bransons especially for hills, with spread, reduced diameter rear wheels.

I have that on my Branson that I got from Dave's (an excellent dealer). I had them put the slightly smaller wheels and tires from the 3520 on my 3725, adding spacers in the rear (the smaller rear wheels are not adjustable). I also had them put in Rimguard in the rears. It's so much more stable than the Kubota B7100 I had before. I've taken it more places than the Kubota and there's not been any sketchy moments, unlike with the Kubota.

I run a PTO chipper, mow, use a grapple, move dirt with the loader and box blade, move totes full of firewood. I looked into the high slope tractors and either they couldn't do all those things, or they were super expensive, or both.

 

[ptsg]

I would suggest going for the Antonio Carraro. You do get a standard cat 1 3 pt hitch, so you can get a wide variety of attachments for much cheaper than the proprietary system of the Ventrac. But I do live in an area on this side of the pond where those are very popular.

Those are very capable machines and the low center of gravity just makes them really nice to use on hills.

I almost ended up with one when I was searching for a new tractor but the dealer wasn't interested on a trade in. I could get the Tigre 4000 for 14,000€ (15,500$).

It's possible to fit loaders on these machines, although I'm not sure if anyone in the US is doing it.

But here are a couple of examples anyway: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/8ae25f84/files/uploaded/bonatti_carraro_yd7s1J9QX2i9zaISfIeu.pdf

 

[redman135]

Hello again Running Spring, yes I do have direct experiance with duals which is why I recommend them for hill country. The tractor they were on was an MF178 and later an MF 375 4x4, both 75hp. The operational width for both was 10ft. I never came close to rolling either tractor, they would slide first. My farm varied from easy rolling to too steep for a bulldozer.

The main disadvantage with duals is cost. Tyres, rims and spacer add up. Have you got the budget? How much is your life worth?
2nd, if you turn tightly then you will tear some turf up with the inside tyre, not much, but for some , a big deal.The solution is to do a lazy(50' instead of 10')turn.
In terms of stress on the tractor, both tractor ran for several thousand hours and never gave dual problems.

Points to ponder:1) Use 45 degree lug pattern,(it sticks to a hillside) NOT 30 degree as it slides sideways easily.

2) A FIST width gap between tyres as when you get mud between the tyre this sized gap gives good self cleaning. I tried a smaller gap and had mud build up(between the wheels) problems when the mud was a certain dryness. The fist width gap proved to be the smallest practical size for self cleaning on my clay soils.

3) Gates, =tractor width + 4ft for clearance, or 12ft, which ever is larger, as this future proofs the property.

4)Front End Loader, keep it LOW. A high loader raises the centre of gravity and you can still roll with dual wheels espesially if you make a sudden turn.

Dual wheel advantages: Stability
Traction
Better comfort. A hole can swollow 1 tyre, it is seldom big enough to swollow 2 tyres.

Comment, look on youtube, you will see ventracs with duals on to.

 

[MossRoad]

Per your 35 degree slope comment, Ventrac is out. Their website says UP TO 30 DEGREES.
Ventrac Slope Mowing

Per your grapple comment, I'm guessing you want a front end loader. Again, Ventrac is out. Their loader is not very capable and does not offer a grapple. They do offer a grapple on their slip bucket, but it has very little lift height, so you can't pile up brush with it.

I don't know about the Antonio Carrera and if they have loaders and grapples.

Something you should look into is not only if a machine will hold a slope, but if it's engine and internal components will remain lubricated on extended slope use. For example, my little Power Trac PT425 is limited to 25 degrees because of the oiling system in the Kohler gas engine. The slope mowers that Power Trac offers are rated at 40 and 45 degrees. The engines will remain lubricated on those slopes.

Your concerns about dealer support with a Power Trac are valid. If you aren't comfortable working on a machine yourself, and don't have a trusted mechanic locally, then it's probably not the brand for you. I will say that Power Trac has excellent factory support over the phone, parts are readily available. As for shipping, it used to be cheap back in 2001. $500 from Virginia to Indiana with 2 more skids of attachments. Ordered on a Friday night and it showed up Monday. Today, YIKES! Shipping prices on anything heavy has gone way up. You'd have to call Power Trac and they'd give you a price for shipping.

Good luck with your decision making process. Take your time and try and operate any machines you are considering in similar environments to what you're going to use them in.