How much tilt is too much?

[rpoage]

It's only $9.I do tend to agree with the idea that you know by feel when it's going to be too much but it would be nice to relate it to a number and for $9, this seems to work.

The only problem with that is it only takes some soft ground, a rock in the grass or a high or low spot to change a low pucker moment to a change of underwear moment.

 

[PineRidge]

In our case I originally never exceeded 15 degrees of slope. The backside of our dam is steeper than that so it was always mowed straight up and down.

Then I visited a friend that showed me how he routinely mows the side of a steep hill sideways, without problem, so I tried the backside of our dam.

I do take it slooowww, and only mow when the grass is completely dry so it won't be a slippery, nevertheless at times the back end has a tendency to swing downhill so it's like crabbing the wind with an airplane while mowing. The mowing process is drastically reduced time wise.

DISCLAIMER Folks you need to know your limitations here. I don't recommend traveling on steep slopes but it can be done with extreme caution. Keep your ROPS up and your seat-belt fastened.

 

[daTeacha]

Based on the entries it seems that the tilt angle (pucker angle?) is around 15% for side to side tilt. How about the pucker angle for front to back (incline) when going straight up a hill? Here in the mountains, 15 degrees would be considered a very gentle rise, in fact almost flat . I have seen tractor tire marks on hills here that look to be 30 to 40 degrees, but that doesn't necessarily mean that a sane person would use that as an example. If I did this right, a picture of an example is attached. What do you think; how steep is safe ?

Ken

Slapping a protractor on your picture, PRESUMING the power lines are somewhere near horizontal, shows the slope in the upper right to be around 16 or 17 degrees, a bit over the 4/12 pitch of most of my ground, but not much. For those that measure grades in percents, that's a bit over 30%. The foreground looks steeper but pictures don't show angles very well.

I've seen tractor marks across hills in extreme southeastern Ohio that were hard to walk up without using all fours. Of course there a number of people in the area who used to farm like that and were killed in rollovers, too.

As far as being too cautious, it's far better to be too cautious than dead. There was a boat skipper I knew in upper Lake Michigan who was often called the "chicken of the sea" because he brought his boat in so often when things started to look bad out on the big water. His reply was always a laconic "Maybe, but I'm here, ain't I?"

 

[ovrszd]

Everyone should make their own determinations without doing something dangerous just because someone on here said it is safe. With that said, I've attached some pics of my Kubota B2910 with 60" MMM and loaded rear tires. I mow this bank at full Hydro speed in mid range, I'm guessing 6-7 mph?? I never get the feeling I'm tipping over. I tied the "plumb-bob" to the ROPS to give an idea of how steep this is. I mow another bank that pegs my tiltmeter so far I can't see the ball anymore. My disclaimer is stated above.

 

[beersngars]

Everyone should make their own determinations without doing something dangerous just because someone on here said it is safe. With that said, I've attached some pics of my Kubota B2910 with 60" MMM and loaded rear tires. I mow this bank at full Hydro speed in mid range, I'm guessing 6-7 mph?? I never get the feeling I'm tipping over. I tied the "plumb-bob" to the ROPS to give an idea of how steep this is. I mow another bank that pegs my tiltmeter so far I can't see the ball anymore. My disclaimer is stated above.

WOW. Thats what I would call extreme mowing. It appears though it is nice and smooth with no hidden surprizes. Be carefull.

 

[ovrszd]

WOW. Thats what I would call extreme mowing. It appears though it is nice and smooth with no hidden surprizes. Be carefull.

Always careful!!!

 

[daTeacha]

Everyone should make their own determinations without doing something dangerous just because someone on here said it is safe. With that said, I've attached some pics of my Kubota B2910 with 60" MMM and loaded rear tires. I mow this bank at full Hydro speed in mid range, I'm guessing 6-7 mph?? I never get the feeling I'm tipping over. I tied the "plumb-bob" to the ROPS to give an idea of how steep this is. I mow another bank that pegs my tiltmeter so far I can't see the ball anymore. My disclaimer is stated above.

The protractor on the ROPS and "plumb bob" shows that angle to be about 20 degrees, about what most guys here consider the upper limit for safe work on a compact. I think I'd only hit that one with the lawn tractor and it's lower C/G, but your mower and weights are definitely helping you out there.

 

[ovrszd]

I think I'd only hit that one with the lawn tractor and it's lower C/G, but your mower and weights are definitely helping you out there.

Yeah that's what I thought when we purchased the Kubota after having used the JD 455 for a couple years. But surprise, the Kubota will mow slopes the John Deere wants nothing to do with. So now I mow the hard stuff with the Kubota while the wife mows the easy stuff with the JD.

 

[rooftrussman]

Now that I have my pipe bending protractor to guage tilt, I find a get nervous at 10 degrees and 15 feels like it's really too much. But then I'm new at this with an old tractor and no ROPS and as long as I stay nervous, maybe I'll get to be an older tractor person. I can't imagine 20 degrees.

 

[ovrszd]

Now that I have my pipe bending protractor to guage tilt, I find a get nervous at 10 degrees and 15 feels like it's really too much. But then I'm new at this with an old tractor and no ROPS and as long as I stay nervous, maybe I'll get to be an older tractor person. I can't imagine 20 degrees.

I'm a Jeep Nut and regularly have my Jeep at 45 degrees so 20 degrees isn't a big deal. But, as I said at the beginning of this discussion, you should never go on a slope that you don't feel comfortable with just because someone says it's okay. Use your gut feeling.

 

[MossRoad]

I routinely mow stuff like that from the looks of the first picture, but pictures are deceiving. I have pictures of some of my slopes that look to be not very steep, but when you see the slope in person, it is uncomortable to try to hike up it.

I have to ask, as I do not have a tilt meter, but does it read the same if it is mounted vertically or angled back a bit, as it appears to be in the second and third pictures?

 

[ovrszd]

I have to ask, as I do not have a tilt meter, but does it read the same if it is mounted vertically or angled back a bit, as it appears to be in the second and third pictures?

That's a good question, I don't have a technical answer. Technically though, I suppose it would have to alter the accuracy of the meter somewhat. Somone posted that using the picture as a guide along with the plumb bob angle, it appeared that the tractor is only at a 20 degree angle when the gauge is reading considerably higher than that. My gauge is tilted for visibility. The meter was originally installed for my wife while I was in Iraq. I told her to not exceed 15 degrees as a safety net for her. Now that I'm home and used to the tractor, the only time I pay much attention to it is when the ball disappears.

Pictures flatten out slopes. Pictures also distort angles. I've got hundreds of Jeepin pictures where I am on the verge of tipping over but they appear to be no big deal. If this site allowed, I would post a video of my Jeep stepping up on a rock ledge about 30 inches high. When the front wheels go up on the ledge they come off the ground about a foot and slowly drop back down. Not because of the height of the ledge or because of hitting it hard, but simply because of the extreme uphill angle of the approach. In the video it's hard to understand why they lifted in the first place because it appears to be relatively flat terrain.

One more thing I would add. As a Jeeper, I am always looking at the landing zone. If I tip over, how many times am I going to roll? What am I going to land on? Am I going to flop completely over and land on my wheels or am I going to be wedged into a ravine on my top? I do the same thing with my tractor. In my pictures, if I did flop on my side I wouldn't fall very far and would end up laying on my side and could easily be tipped back on my wheels. If that road bank were thirty feet high and tipping would result in a multiple rollover all the way to the bottom I probably would mow vertically up and down.

Again, listen to your personal instincts when doing anything on a slope with any equipment.

 

[schrand]

I have to ask, as I do not have a tilt meter, but does it read the same if it is mounted vertically or angled back a bit, as it appears to be in the second and third pictures?

No, it won't. Just take it to the extreme to see why. If it was tilted all the way down so it was laying flat, then the slightest angle would result in the meter being pegged. For this application though, accuracy isn't that important, just repeatability.

 

[rpoage]

The meter was originally installed for my wife while I was in Iraq.

Saftey tips from a guy who made a living having crazy people shoot at him?
Seriously thanks for your service and I'm sure everyone here is glad your back safe and that calibrating a tilt meter is your most pressing task.