Can I descend a 40 degree hill on my 4700?

[Barely Smokin']

Here ya go.

Natural spill angle for a pile of dirt is 1.5:1, or 37 degrees (generally).

For your reference, a dozer will start to slide sideways at that angle. For your further reference, a dozer will climb up a 1:1 slope...perhaps slightly steeper....without a load. Less able to back up same slope.

Generally, it's really hard to gauge your slope accurately without measuring it. Unless you have an inclinometer/declinometer on your compass, I'm sure you can rig something up fairly easily to figure it out....a 4' level and the chart below would seem to be all you'd need. Use the 4' level to get the chart plumb (perhaps mounted to a board), then use the 4' as a straight edge and sight along it to a landmark at the top or bottom of the slope. Mark the position of the level on the chart. Voila.

Report back---we're dying to know!

 

[eepete]

Want to measure your tilt? If you've got an iPhone, there's an app for that. (Stanley Bostitch Level)

Pete

 

[Dirtball]

Start at bottom, back up with loader on, work the lower portion til you see what kind of traction you'll have. Wait for a dry day. Better to be in a 4 wheel slide 50 ft from the bottom then from the top. Careful with rear cutter deck height, as it bottoms out on uneven terrain it lifts the rear tires off the ground reducing traction/braking. Loader hand ready at all times to drop the teeth into the ground during a skid. Watch for groundhog holes swallowing up a front tire. Work with a spotter/rescue person. These tractors kill people. I brushog a similiar hill off camber at times with groundhog holes that has electric wire fence at the bottom, I did it last week after 3 yrs. of neglecting it. I did not enjoy the job , but as the years have passed I have become more aware of safety. I took a spotter for the first time. He attacked some of the more challenging saplings with hand tools. I have witnessed 2 dead people in the ER from tractor rollovers, it is real.

 

[jenkinsph]

Drawing on some roofing experience I would have to agree, a 6/12 pitch roof (27.5 degrees)is about all one can do w/o roof jacks. After all physics is physics. I will say one thing though, when you are on your tractor with a load, that 30 degrees FEELS like 40!! Here are my pics, the crest of the hill has a steeper pitch than the rest of the slope and that is where I would normally have problems. Included one of the destination also.

I would think a 6/12 pitch is 22.5 degrees, a 12/12 pitch is 45 degrees.


pclausen
Both are difficult to work and can be very dangerous. Alot depends on the ground you are traversing and the real value of what you are attempting to do. Sometimes we have to get off the tractors and work on foot.

 

[magicheater]

I would think a 6/12 pitch is 22.5 degrees, a 12/12 pitch is 45 degrees.pclausen.

A 5/12 pitch is 22.5 degrees, a 6/12 pitch is 26.5 degrees, sorry looked at my framing square w/o my glasses.

In any event while in the woods this AM I took my inclinometer w/me. Took readings up and down the hill in question with the instrument on the base of the roll bar which gave me a zero reading on level ground. Hill measured 20 degrees, but on the steeper portion measured 25 degrees. This is where I would experience problems with the front end coming off the ground with a real heavy log on the back. The grapple acts as a lever hence the heavier log giving me problems. Anything over 25 degrees I believe, at least for me, would raise the "pucker factor" exponentially. So, can you descend a 40 degree hill? Probably but it would not be for me. Ascend, with tractor? I would have my doubts. This has been a fun thread!

 

[Champy]

For me (personally) I would be more concerned about getting back up the hill than going down. Is there another way out or around in case you cannot make it back up the hill? Do you have a winch? I've tried some pretty steep and loose hills through the woods...backing down after losing traction half way up is way worse than driving straight down the first time. And God help you if you get sideways and hung up on a downhill tree.

 

[pclausen]

I'll get my 4' level and something to measure the angle with when I get home.

Good idea about starting at the bottom just to see what kind of traction I have. Much better than finding out the hard way 75' feet up. :shocked:

 

[pclausen]

For me (personally) I would be more concerned about getting back up the hill than going down. Is there another way out or around in case you cannot make it back up the hill? Do you have a winch? I've tried some pretty steep and loose hills through the woods...backing down after losing traction half way up is way worse than driving straight down the first time. And God help you if you get sideways and hung up on a downhill tree.

I do have another way up via an old logging trail. I got about a 8 acre field (100 year flood plane) that I maintain with the RM990 mower. We have pig roasts and such there in the summer time. I'm trying to create a view to that field from the back deck of my house.

Here's a shot showing the path I have cleared so far down towards the lower field:

And a zoomed out shot showing the entire view as it is today:

So I have a lot more trees to cut down! I will of course leave all the majestic trees in place. My concern is that with a lot of the smaller trees cleared, I'll need to maintain the rest of the ~12 acre wooded area with my bush hog. I only plan to clear out a "cheese slice" worth of trees to create the view I'm looking for. I'm by no means going to clear cut the entire property.

 

[pclausen]

So I used these 3 instruments to meassure the inclination:

The angle where the 4700 was parked in those inital pics was 22 degrees.

I took about 10 meassurements from that position to the bottom of the hill, and they were all in the range of 30 - 36 degrees, generally getting steeper the further down I went.

So not quite the 40 degrees I guesstimated, but pretty darn close!

 

[pclausen]

Barely Smokin',

You must be just down the street from me. I'm in Nelson Co too! I'm on Ennis Mountain overlooking the Blue Ridge, right near the Blue Ridge Brewery, right off 151.