Driving on side slopes

[bones1]

Good point ovrszd.Have to ponder this some more.

 

[HillbillyFarmer]

15°? That's not a slope.
Always stay buckled into your seat if you have a roll bar. Around here, everyone has a roll bar. It's better to be hanging upsidedown saying "what the f!@#?!" Than lying there dying alone gurgling blood with a tractor crushing your chest cavity.
When you get on a slope, it should scare you. That fear will keep you from doing anything stupid if you're not stupid to begin with.
We have a mantra around here: "It's not worth dying over."
That means, you let that little patch of brush go or you make a big long turn down around the end of the field to come back and get it if you have to.
Working hillside is not like mowing the grass where you're trying to get it done as quickly and efficiently as possible. You've got to take your time and sometimes, you make a big long run and only mow/cultivate/etc/ a little tiny bit of land.
You can go "up and down" on some really, really streep slopes.
4WD is better than 2WD.
Be properly ballasted.
Too many people have died around here from tractors rolling over on them. We stay cautious and patient.

 

[tinsnip]

Good stuff here. Like lots of others, I installed the tilt meter just so I can have some way to measure other than "whoa!". I was surprised at how little it takes to get to 15 degrees. So I take it wicked slow. On the steeper slopes, I do back down and mow up rather than risk it. And mowing around some areas often reveals the ground beneath better than trying to remember what it looked like before the grass/weeds got knee-high. I never mow when it's wet.

But let me ask you this, assuming you're going pretty slow, ballasted and with rotary cutter down and FEL lowered, are there tell-tales that give you time to react? After reading one of the posts in the safety forum about how quickly you can rotate a tractor over backwards on itself, I've wondered if the rollover happens as quickly, as in no warning and suddenly you're inverted.

 

[patrick_g]

I have had my Kubota Grand L 4610HSTC on every two wheel combination there is. Most were NOT fun. Pucker factor should not be relied on. Hauling a FEL bucket of dirt sideways on a slope is at best dangerous. I have a seriously HD brush hog which makes good ballast/counterwieght for FEL work. I can climb hills so steep that the hydrostat loses fluid and stops me if I am getting sufficient traction. I can go down steep slopes but am wary of going down something very long if it is too steep to let me stop.

Going on a steep slope sideways can be too dangerous. I approach such very slowly so a lump or hole won't bounce me too much and initiate a rollover if I go slowly enough. When I mow my highway right of way I have to drive with a little uphill "crab angle" to counter the slight sideways slipage. As I know there are no holes or big bumps I freight along pretty well. Could be interesting if some aniumal, say an armadilo, digs a big hole or someone pulls of and makes a big hole after a rain (yes, I remain optimistic that we will get another rain... some day.)

So far the most extreme hillside manuver has been turning around a '43 miltary Jeep. I had two passengers standing on the uphill side of the Jeep holding on to the rollbar with instructions to let go (and not push off) if the Jeep started to roll over. I had a roll bar and was belted securely. We made it. Actually we didn't so much turn around as just get it headed downhill instead of crosswise.

Pat

 

[zipp669]

I would never consider a slope just because someone else did it. My tractor might not be set up like theirs. Look how far out he has his wheels set. My Bota won't go that wide.

I had a 3710 kubota and the only way I would ever take it on a slope like the picture would be with duals.

The NH wheels are set way out but no fluid or rear weight.

 

[3RRL]

This a dozer, not a tractor but I thought it pretty interesting to see how steep they can work. This was while cutting a road into my property.

 

[Egon]

Dozers may work the steep but only staight on. Crosswise they have their limitations too.

 

[slowrev]

Slowrev, I understand what you are saying about more weight = less traction when in the braking mode in some side slope conditions, but do you think more weight, such as filled tires, would be an advantage when only using the tractors low gears for acceleration and braking on slopes?
Bob

Just filled tires alone should not be a problem and should lower the center of gravity a bit. but too much weight is not a good thing. I have a heavy loader, filled tires and 3/4 ton of steel hanging on the rear. Stopping going down a fairly steep slope is impossible, tires just lock and skid. However my friend has the same tractor with same tires minus loader and rear weight and it will stop fine. It is not a brake issue, it is a brake vs gravity issue

 

[daTeacha]

Actually in that case it's a traction, or more correctly, soil shear strength issue. Since the tires are locked, your brakes are working just fine. Unless you're sliding along on the surface and not leaving grooves, your tires are locked into the soil and all that weight is overwhelming the ability of the soil to hold itself together under those particular conditions. Tire type is a big factor in these kinds of situations. Ags will dig in better, R4s will have a bigger footprint, and turfs will do less damage.

 

[ovrszd]

Just filled tires alone should not be a problem and should lower the center of gravity a bit. but too much weight is not a good thing. I have a heavy loader, filled tires and 3/4 ton of steel hanging on the rear. Stopping going down a fairly steep slope is impossible, tires just lock and skid. However my friend has the same tractor with same tires minus loader and rear weight and it will stop fine. It is not a brake issue, it is a brake vs gravity issue

Yeah I agree. I'll apply some Jeep experience. If you have to descend an extremely steep slope and your tractor is 4wd, engage the 4wd system. Then the braking force you are putting on the rear tires will also be distributed to the front tires which would have a LOT of weight on them and will not brake loose and slide. I can drive my Jeep down some extremely steep grades with no wheel slippage in 4wd, most of the time with only engine braking.

 

[robertk]

Let's say for the sake of argument that the center of gravity is the center of your rear axle. Would it make sense to fill your tires only to the center line of the rear axle if your only concern is tipping when driving on side slopes?
Bob

 

[dirtworksequip]

Your center of gravity would change as the side slope got steeper,because the liquid would go higher on the downhill side of both tires. But thats not physics thats just for arguments sake.

 

[Superduper]

Tracked vehicles are entirely different animals. The tracks will cut their own berm while going sideways (slightly uphill) and the berm keeps the machine from sliding down. The hills (mountains) around here that I've seen them work are insane. To see them go over and down a hill that appears for all practical purpose to be a sheer dropoff is plain incredible. Of course the trick is for them to operate the blade so that you are always pushing a pile while going down... Nevertheless, it still takes nerves of steel (or an insane person) to task this. Obviously, tractors are completely different, as we have digressed...

 

[40_acre_mule]

First, let me start with a dumb question...

Where is the point of reference for the angle of a slope.
Is Zero degrees parallel to the horizon? Or in other words, zero is perfectly level?
If that's the case, I estimate that I regularly mow a slope of around 35 degrees. It is definitely a straight up/straight down operation.
It only works if I have the FEL on and the tractor in 4WD AND in 1st gear.
It just crawls up or down the slope with no trouble.
Any higher gear and the tractor picks up too much speed.
If I leave it in 2WD, the tractor tries to run away. Hitting the brakes just makes me skid down the slope.
Take off the FEL, and the tires slide over the grass.

 

[daTeacha]

Slopes are usually measured with reference to horizontal. Some folks use degrees, but some use percent, which often causes confusion when the two are used in the same conversation. A 100% grade means the rise and run are equal, 12/12 pitch to a carpenter, 45 degrees to a geometrician.

Sometimes in these threads, someone might say percent and someone might think they said degrees, and things get interesting. 35 degrees is about a 9/12 pitch and about a 77% grade. What kind of tires and soil do you have that allows you to move up and down that slope without simply ripping the sod out and sliding down the hill? I have a driveway section that is semi hardpacked gravel, nowhere near that steep, and still an adventure to go down with only rear wheel brakes. On my old Cadet 109 hst, I often find the rears spinning backwards as I slide/steer down that hill. Ditto the neighboring section of lawn.

 

[40_acre_mule]

Slopes are usually measured with reference to horizontal. Some folks use degrees, but some use percent, which often causes confusion when the two are used in the same conversation. A 100% grade means the rise and run are equal, 12/12 pitch to a carpenter, 45 degrees to a geometrician.

What kind of tires and soil do you have that allows you to move up and down that slope without simply ripping the sod out and sliding down the hill?

Thanks, teacha. That clears it up a bit for me. Yes, this is a pretty steep grade I'm mowing. It drops about 8 feet over a 12 foot distance (8/12 pitch?).
It is a hard packed, road-bed grade, red clay, pond dam for a 1.5 acre pond.
It was seeded with bahia grass about six years ago.
I have R-4 industrial (balloon?) tires on the tractor. They grip pretty good going down this slope in 4WD and 1st gear with the FEL sitting as low as possible and the RFM or the RC behind.
I start at the top, go straight down, then drive to the end of the dam to get back on top.
I can mow going up, but I have to keep the differential lock pushed in. Anyway it actually feels a little safer going top to bottom than the other way.

 

[3RRL]

Wow, 8/12 is pretty steep. That one slope I mow across the gulley is that steep up toward the top but not as much on the bottom. I set my rear wheel at about 6"- 8" up and back up...and push the mower up the hill, then back down. I re-adust the mow direction at the bottom and go back up, etc. I have no way to get to the top and mow down it. It's like a drop-off at the top. I could mow the section near the bottom sideways if I wanted and have done so, but not near the top.