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

[boggen]

Well, here's what I did and learned today:

- Reduced tire pressure front and back to 18 psi all around
- Found out that my front tires are not ballasted with water or anything at all; another lie the previous owner told me, why am I not surprised
- Put two 30 gallon barrels in the FEL and filled them +90% with water, should be around +430-450 lbs in the FEL
- Mowed heavy going down, mowed light (areas I previously BH'd) going up
- Kept it at gear #5 both down and up, except for some exceptionally heavy areas going down.

Only slipped once. Backed up a couple feet, hit it again and powered on. The downside: I was doing the less steepest part today.

I don't think I can do chains: I have +750 feet of concrete driveway and it and chains don't work well together.

I'm going to look into ballasting the front tires: where can I get Rimguard? The last time I looked, it wasn't available in my area (south central TN). I'm also going to see if I can get some weights for the front end and the front wheels as well.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

double check operators manual for tractor, some models regardless of brand, do not suggest filling front tires with fluid. along with do not suggest front wheel weights. its more about the bearings / axle and extra abuse that could happen from understanding.

if you have a FEL (front end loader) on... you may not be able to add weights to front, due to clearance of the bucket. double check when you CURL the bucket all the way back. and lower arms up and down you might be missing the front by only a couple inches.

rimguard, rv antifreeze, windshield washer fluid,
the RFV antifreeze most likely pickup at some farmstore or RV / motor home store.
rimguard you might find at a farmstore (farmking, farm and fleet, tractorsupply)
windshield washer fluid pretty much any place the question is can ya get enough on sale?

calc (salt water basicly) = needing a tube (suggested) due to possibly rusting rim out.

 

[k0ua]

Contact rimguard for the nearest dealer, below is their contact information.

Rim Guard - Liquid Tire Ballast Contact Information

 

[jenkinsph]

Read through the whole thread and would first say that is a pretty property.:thumbsup:

Have to say that if it were me I would first lower the tire pressure to 12 psi (might need tubes but that is what I run tubeless) to get better traction. I would consider a mmm for a lighter weight and better weight placement, don't know if you can put a mmm on your tractor? I would drop the fel with the mmm too.

Long term use of a heavy brush hog dragging it up the hills is going to cause places where erosion will start and be hard to fix. A lighter mowing tractor with the right tires is what I use for steep slopes and would be a better bet long term. I would venture to say that a 4x4 garden tractor such as my x749 can mow on these slopes without the grief and slipping you are experiencing.

Mow more often and don't let it get out of hand. If you need to mow the entire 18 acres and want it to look good you need a much better set up that works for your terrain.

 

[Gary Fowler]

With FEL on, 20 PSI in front tires is about the minimum pressure to keep the small front tires on. I would reduce the rear tires till I had full contact on the tread bars. In your snow photo, only about have the tread was touching the ground, so the rears are over inflated by a lot. 12PSI will hold them on the rim and give you good traction also. I think if you reduce the rear pressure, use the weight of the bush hog for ballast (carry it a bit rather than setting the tail wheel to do all the work), weight in the FEL will certainly help also.

I see you got good results with reducing the pressure to 18 PSI. Go on down to 12 PSI on the rears, leave the fronts as is. You really don't need additional ballast weight in the front tire (water, rimguard etc) as the FEL will give plenty of front ballast. Putting rimguard in the rears vs water would help some, but reducing the pressure to get full tread on the ground will make you think you have a different tractor.

 

[FTG-05]

double check operators manual for tractor, some models regardless of brand, do not suggest filling front tires with fluid. along with do not suggest front wheel weights. its more about the bearings / axle and extra abuse that could happen from understanding.

if you have a FEL (front end loader) on... you may not be able to add weights to front, due to clearance of the bucket. double check when you CURL the bucket all the way back. and lower arms up and down you might be missing the front by only a couple inches.

rimguard, rv antifreeze, windshield washer fluid,
the RFV antifreeze most likely pickup at some farmstore or RV / motor home store.
rimguard you might find at a farmstore (farmking, farm and fleet, tractorsupply)
windshield washer fluid pretty much any place the question is can ya get enough on sale?

calc (salt water basicly) = needing a tube (suggested) due to possibly rusting rim out.

Good point, I'll check the manual. Thanks,

 

[FTG-05]

Read through the whole thread and would first say that is a pretty property.:thumbsup:

Have to say that if it were me I would first lower the tire pressure to 12 psi (might need tubes but that is what I run tubeless) to get better traction. I would consider a mmm for a lighter weight and better weight placement, don't know if you can put a mmm on your tractor? I would drop the fel with the mmm too.

Long term use of a heavy brush hog dragging it up the hills is going to cause places where erosion will start and be hard to fix. A lighter mowing tractor with the right tires is what I use for steep slopes and would be a better bet long term. I would venture to say that a 4x4 garden tractor such as my x749 can mow on these slopes without the grief and slipping you are experiencing.

Mow more often and don't let it get out of hand. If you need to mow the entire 18 acres and want it to look good you need a much better set up that works for your terrain.

mmm?

In some places, this is first time it's been BH'd for +two years or more. I've only had it since Oct. and didn't get my BH until mid-Dec. Got some done before the rains started then I'm able to get started again once the rains stopped. I'll be able to keep at it from here on it.

Thanks,

 

[FTG-05]

With FEL on, 20 PSI in front tires is about the minimum pressure to keep the small front tires on. I would reduce the rear tires till I had full contact on the tread bars. In your snow photo, only about have the tread was touching the ground, so the rears are over inflated by a lot. 12PSI will hold them on the rim and give you good traction also. I think if you reduce the rear pressure, use the weight of the bush hog for ballast (carry it a bit rather than setting the tail wheel to do all the work), weight in the FEL will certainly help also.

I see you got good results with reducing the pressure to 18 PSI. Go on down to 12 PSI on the rears, leave the fronts as is. You really don't need additional ballast weight in the front tire (water, rimguard etc) as the FEL will give plenty of front ballast. Putting rimguard in the rears vs water would help some, but reducing the pressure to get full tread on the ground will make you think you have a different tractor.

I don't understand that comment about snow pic and the tractor tires - the only snow pic I showed didn't have the tractor in it. Which picture tells you the rears are way over pressurized?

You think I can take the rears down to 12 psi and not loose bead lock? If so, I'll try it. I'll keep the fronts at the current 18 psi.

Thanks,

 

[DHD]

You could try tire chains until you get it under control. A lot cheaper than new tires

I agree with Jeff.
Try running chains.
I run chains all year on my rear R4s.
Snow blowing in the winter and mowing my very hilly old hay field in the summer.
Really improves the rear R4's traction.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...d1266231097-2-link-v-4-lin-r4_2linkladder-jpg

Edit....
Sorry.. I did not notice your earlier post about the 750' concrete driveway and you wish not to use chains...

 

[Deere Dude]

You could try tire chains until you get it under control. A lot cheaper than new tires

X2 I would consider 4" of spacers on each rear wheel also.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Well, here's what I did and learned today:

- Reduced tire pressure front and back to 18 psi all around
- Found out that my front tires are not ballasted with water or anything at all; another lie the previous owner told me, why am I not surprised
- Put two 30 gallon barrels in the FEL and filled them +90% with water, should be around +430-450 lbs in the FEL
- Mowed heavy going down, mowed light (areas I previously BH'd) going up
- Kept it at gear #5 both down and up, except for some exceptionally heavy areas going down.

Only slipped once. Backed up a couple feet, hit it again and powered on. The downside: I was doing the less steepest part today.

I don't think I can do chains: I have +750 feet of concrete driveway and it and chains don't work well together.

I'm going to look into ballasting the front tires: where can I get Rimguard? The last time I looked, it wasn't available in my area (south central TN). I'm also going to see if I can get some weights for the front end and the front wheels as well.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

Yes. Lose the barrels and put something dense and low lying in the bucket like dirt as suggested.

,,,Forget loading the fronts - no benefit.
,,,Lower the pressure of the rears and get more weight on them. If they have water you could put more in to increase weight and drain out later
,,,Groove the lugs on your rears to get more gripping edges. Theyre pretty worn and probably worked better when new.