Help! My front yard is kicking my butt! Bushhogging uphill

[TripleR]

While that is a nice photo, it is not nearly as interesting as the tractor hanging upside down off of the hillside of the original.

Both scare me going sideways.

 

[jenkinsph]

I have a question. It doesn't really address the issue at hand since the OP is going to stick with his current rig, which is what I would do also. Would his L with a mid mount mower and no end loader climb the hill easier? My gut reaction is yes but I don't know. This would make a great solution but then he is stuck finish mowing it which would end up taking a lot more mowings.

I think the mmm would be a better choice and safer to use. I was under the impression that the OP was cutting the tall stuff down and was planning on keeping it cut lower in the future. Really depends on how he wants this to look a few years down the line. Looking at the pics he posted on the first page I don't see a bushhog as the right tool for this job. I suspect that if the slope is mowed frequently with a brush hog it will become scarred and tracked up, if mowed infrequently it will wind up with more weeds.

 

[dodge man]

I think the problem is finish mowing 16 acres, even with a 7 foot mid mount, would take a lot of time, plus you would have to do it at least every other week.

 

[Ford850]

Maybe I missed it, since I started skimming the last couple pages. But are you still using gear 5 out of 12? That would equate to nearly as fast as I BH heavy growth on flat ground, and entirely too fast IMO. Did you try it in 3rd or 4th?
Also, I would agree your tire pressure is too high by looking at the pictures. I inflate mine to the point that the full tread with is contacting the ground. I keep the fronts inflated a little more to handle the FEL and turning loads.

 

[FTG-05]

Sorry, no new pics, but did spend quite a bit of time bushhogging this afternoon!

Changes since last time: Reduced rear tire pressure to 10 psi. The latest pics still show unused tread, so based on the comments, suggestions and discussion here, said the heck with it, I'm gonna go for 10 psi.

Did a lot of no-nothing going up since I didn't have any light stuff to BH while going up, all of it was heavy. Even going up the just-BH'd vegetation, you could tell it was slippery as heck! I think this is the biggest part of my problem - it's so heavy even cut down, it's slippery trying to go up it. But I persevered and got a decent chunk of done today, along with a re mowing of the bottom part, which is flat-er and real easy.

Tomorrow, I'll start on the steepest part, here I'll be cutting down stuff that's easily 6'-8' feet tall, most of it that purple bush type plant, don't know what it's called.

I'll take some more pics tomorrow to keep this thread interesting.

Thanks for all the help and comments!

Thanks,

 

[k0ua]

Are you talking about Polk plants?

 

[pmsmechanic]

I have a question. It doesn't really address the issue at hand since the OP is going to stick with his current rig, which is what I would do also. Would his L with a mid mount mower and no end loader climb the hill easier? My gut reaction is yes but I don't know. This would make a great solution but then he is stuck finish mowing it which would end up taking a lot more mowings.

From what I've read on tractorbynet I think the OP's largest improvement would come from using R3 tires. Yes R4 look tougher and they are, but for all around traction I think they offer about the best compromise. It would be interesting to try a set of R3's pulling FTG-05's mower and see if there is a difference.

 

[mikehaugen]

From what I've read on tractorbynet I think the OP's largest improvement would come from using R3 tires. Yes R4 look tougher and they are, but for all around traction I think they offer about the best compromise. It would be interesting to try a set of R3's pulling FTG-05's mower and see if there is a difference.

I think you mean r-1, right?

 

[pmsmechanic]

No I don't mean R1. Granted I believe they have ultimate traction in snotty conditions but I can regularly reach the limits of 35hp with my R3's. I have more than adequate traction with no added ballast. For pushing snow and to keep the back end down with a fel full of dirt I have a 600 lb weight that I hang on the three point hitch. I had a thousand lbs at one point but couldn't get the fel to dig anything.

By "all around traction" I mean not tearing up the lawn while mowing. Being able to fill the bucket to overflowing on a 4 inch cut. Being able to move around in mud though I believe that R1's would have a definite advantage there. Pushing snow I have all the traction I need without chains and without worrying about the tractor sliding sideways on slopes.

Part of the OP's problem too is that the 6-8 foot grass is lifting his tractor up as he is pushing it down to mow over it. I have the same problem mowing larger willows. Also if the grass is wet that's not helping traction either.

 

[DHD]

Saw some road side mowing being done yesterday on Route 93 in New Hampshire and Route 91 in Vermont.
I saw three tractors two with wide bush hog type mowers had dually wheels on the rear of the tractor.
One tractor with a flail mower had just the single rear wheel set up .
Tires on all tractors looked like R1s.
These guys mow some pretty steep banks and they mow them sideways not up and down.
Didn't actually witness any mowing on these steep banks, but you could tell they were all mowed sideways on the slope.