Concerned about the angle

[Mowdyman]

Need some advice. Cleared a few acres of hillside over the last year. Fairly steep on some sections, terraced on others. Most all stumps gone, but with heavy rains and the run of the ground, it's pretty uneven. I want to take a box blade and even the ground out to plant. I have a NH 1520 w/FEL, it's 4 wheel drive. Purchasing a 5' box blade. Now, question is, how do I approach the situation? Do I look to primarily run up and down the hillside, or if the better approach is across the hill, at what type of grade would I be safe in operating and at what grade do I say the heck with it. Any/all advice would be appreciated.

 

[wcampbell47]

And you should be concerned about the angle. Can your rear tractor tires be extended wider? If so how far and can you find any data from NH on the grade the tractor can be operated on safely.

Are you going to terrace the area to be planted? Seems like it would be a never ending story if you did not. I think I would chose a scraper blade that I could angle and set the hill side of the blade lower. Providing you can safely operate the tractor on the slope as you cut into the hill the dirt would roll out to the low side. Cut down the high side, build up the low side.

That is definitely not a "Hold my beer and watch this" operation.

 

[Army grunt]

Sounds scarey to me. Ideal with alot of stuff, but side hill stuff really sucks.How long is the slope? Maybe terracing the entire thing is in order. That way you can keep your tractor level.Will it be back 40 type or is it front yard stuff?
Maybe terracing an retaining wall?Just thinking without knowing more.
Army Grunt

 

[jbrumberg]

"That is definitely not a "Hold my beer and watch this" operation."

I agree. Your hillside sounds a lot like mine. I try to limit mowing and dirtwork there (the steeper areas) to working mostly uphill/downhill while mowing and uphill as much as possible with dirtwork until the area is "level" enough to work across the slope, in effect a wide terrace-like surface. CUT's/SCUT's can be quite tippy with FEL loads, slopes, and surface anomolies.

Whatever you do be careful.

 

[Thomas]

Depending on degree of slope.
I would go up and down,going up darn slow in case stump big rock etc. snags box blade need quick stop before flip over.
Once ground smooth go sideways darn slow,thats if my gut feelings say okay tho.

Photo or two would help.

 

[North Country]

Two quick thoughts:

Not knowing anything else, up & down is safer than side to side. "Fairly steep" to some isn't to others.

Your tractor manufacturer isn't going to give you any data on what slope is suitable for safe operation. A "talented" operator can roll a tractor on nearly level ground.

 

[IndyIan]

Maybe this is a good excuse to load the rear tires and space them out to their maximum. And I guess if you have to do a lot of side hill work, removing the loader helps with stability too. Up and down is the safest though.

 

[9973720wb19]

this may be a slow way of doing it but perhaps it would seem to me that BB down only would be best. drive up the hill and BB down only - 4wd and low

 

[namesray]

sometimes a front loader can be helpful on steep slopes. i brush hog across hills steep enough that the tractor would pretty easily tip over. in these cases i keep the bucket almost tight to the ground and it acts like a stabilizer bar when the tractor starts to tip, the bucket hits the ground and acts like a prop/won't let tractor tip. infact there has been some instance if i didn't have the loader bucket to the ground, the tractor would have tipped over. i curl the bucket back some and let it lightly skid across the ground as i move across the hill. sometimes have to drive the tractor on a slight up angle as too much bucket pressure on the ground the tractor front end likes to slide just a little down hill. i go very slow when i do this and feel my way along. the hydrostat transmission makes this even easier. with what ever you decide becareful and good luck.

 

[Jerry/MT]

Need some advice. Cleared a few acres of hillside over the last year. Fairly steep on some sections, terraced on others. Most all stumps gone, but with heavy rains and the run of the ground, it's pretty uneven. I want to take a box blade and even the ground out to plant. I have a NH 1520 w/FEL, it's 4 wheel drive. Purchasing a 5' box blade. Now, question is, how do I approach the situation? Do I look to primarily run up and down the hillside, or if the better approach is across the hill, at what type of grade would I be safe in operating and at what grade do I say the heck with it. Any/all advice would be appreciated.

If you have steep slopes you really want to rent a small cat and grade them. Most wheeled tractors have too high a cg and you can get into trouble quickly. If you're going to use a wheeled tractor, drive down hill only while grading.

 

[flusher]

Need some advice. Cleared a few acres of hillside over the last year. Fairly steep on some sections, terraced on others. Most all stumps gone, but with heavy rains and the run of the ground, it's pretty uneven. I want to take a box blade and even the ground out to plant. I have a NH 1520 w/FEL, it's 4 wheel drive. Purchasing a 5' box blade. Now, question is, how do I approach the situation? Do I look to primarily run up and down the hillside, or if the better approach is across the hill, at what type of grade would I be safe in operating and at what grade do I say the heck with it. Any/all advice would be appreciated.

Slope angle maximum for safety depends on your tractor's squat ratio---width of the rear wheel track (measured to the outside of the tires) divided by the height of the centerline of the rear axle. For example, here's my 1964 MF135 diesel--a field tractor modified for orchard work. The squat ratio is 4.15



Those rears are BF Goodrich 6-ply 18.4-16A (18" wide, 16" dia rims, 40" tall overall). The rear wheel track is 84". Something like this would work safely on slopes.

According to tractordata.com, your tractor comes with ag tires (24" dia rims), lawn/turf tires (16" dia rims), or industrial tires (19.5" dia rims). Looks like turf tires are what you need for work on your slope if you want a decent squat ratio.

Box blade for grading slopes--never tried this myself. I have enough trouble getting a BB to work OK on essentially level ground. I'd try plowing the slope with a spike harrow, chisel plow, etc and then leveling the loosened soil with a DIY drag (a piece of chain link fence with concrete weights).

Good luck

 

[jbrumberg]

Thanks flusher for the "Squat Ratio Rule". It makes sense. A "Quick and Dirty" calculation for my setup is 3.6- probable rates a not good. I operate real slow and low on my slopes.

 

[Mowdyman]

Thanks fellas for all the advice. I've been going at it up/down rather than across for the most part trying to grade out the really bad ruts and swells. I like the idea of taking a blade and working low to hi. After a couple more rains the ground gives enough to actually hold the tractor for along the slope grading which i've been doing awfully cautiously. Right now I'll be planting rye until I get it to where I need it then I'll change over to something that can be cut.
BTW: I do keep an empty can of the barley/hops mixture on my truck just so I can say, "hold my beer and watch this". I get more stunned looks that way!!