I Finally Found the Holy Grail of Slope Mowers!

[Hay Dude]

Could be pretty exciting to let a round bale out on that slope ! Could take out a house !

I bale some really steep ground. It takes much longer and is much less profitable because all the bales have to be take to a flat spot to be dumped. Have to own MFWD tractors.
I have lost 3 or 4 bales on steep ground and once they get going, WOW its a 900lb wrecking ball.
Had one break off a 4 tree limb like a toothpick before it settled into a stream.

 

[cqaigy2]

Productivity is measured by liters of milk produced and this number tweaked by percent of fat per liter.

I have no independent documentation but regional dairy coop members repeatedly claim Austrian alpine Dairy farms are the most productive per hectare of grassland.

I've visited farms when foreign farmers and universities were onsite doing research...

The family farm has been Dairy since the 1700's and have meticulous breeding and yield logs for every cow...

On a side note farmers are getting push back for their organic method... college friends from UC Berkeley happened to arrive the day after liquid manure was sprayed on the fields and some became ill saying it was no different than breathing cow flatulence ad nausam... the old time farmer asked me what all the fuss was about and then said it smells like money to him...

On a side/side note most locals drink fresh unpasteurized... even in the local public schools until a new prohibition against schools buying unpasteurized... I suggested the local school buy the cow and the farmer charge for boarding and milking so no sale of milk... locals thought it a brilliant work around...

Lots of studies on Austria Dairy and Permaculture... 40 acre family farms are typical with most in the mountains

Austria background info on case farms

I'm not commenting about the smell of sprayed manure, but there is some indication, that aerosolized manure could have a detrimental effect on people and animals in the area. I didn't read in depth, just skimmed, but thought i remember seeing something about spreading bacteria and virus being more efficient when compared to spreading using other methods.

 

[ultrarunner]

Could be... age old practice and the smell is very strong especially in warm weather!

Only anecdotal... the old dairy families are the hardiest of stock... up before the sun, then in the fields and early to bed... also lots of self grown produce, goods baked from scratch and of course plenty of fresh unpasteurized milk... milk is one thing they had in abundance as was pork and beef and chickens.

I found in my visits that if I drank unpasteurized milk I would get very sick... then it would pass and I could drink it just like the rest with no issue... I got tired of getting sick each visit so the work around was boiling the milk and adding hot cocoa to make it palatable with the skin/fat on the top or store bought... which was odd in the land of dairy...

Injuries is what took out farmers... tractor related or animals, forest work, falls, etc... grandparents had never been to a doctor... 10 kids born at home... but it was the same for all their neighbors.

Grandpa was in his mid 90's still working and walking walking everywhere, hand mowing the slopes with scythe and also the town historian... a wood splitter accident at 91 resulted in his first trip to the hospital... Doc said he could use a pacemaker otherwise totally healthy... he refused saying when it is his time it is his time...

Who knows... maybe the bacteria around farms have beneficial attributes?

Up until the 40's the out house and stables all shared the same tank...

 

[D2Cat]

Mowing my commercial properties is why I had children. Mowing steep slopes on my commercial property is why I had more than one.(JK!, JK!, JK!, JK JK!)

I'm curious, why would mowing commercial properties cause children?

 

[ultrarunner]

My dad felt that way about a number of things as to why we didn't need a dishwashing machine, gardner, painter and general labor... LOL

 

[joecoin]

BCS ??

BCS is a two wheeled tractor similar to the ones in your first post.

Rated to operate at 20 degrees of slope continuously and 25 degrees non-continuously. According to one of the largest dealers/servicers in the USA, they can run 30 and 35 degrees respectively if you keep the engine oil completely full.

I have a similar machine made by Grillo and I run it on steep slopes quite a bit. I will take it down a slope that it can't get back up (have to mow in a circle to get to a lesser longer slope to get back to the top). I love it.

Of course, if your slope is acres of grass, it would take a while to get it done.

 

[ptsg]

BCS also makes isodiametric tractors like the Antonio Carraro ones. The Pasquali and Ferrari variants are just rebadged BCS tractors.

This is what isodiametric tractors can do. It's in Brazilian but you get the idea. Close to 50 degrees.

 

[Agvg]

When you hear the entire story, you will go nuts,,
I have read that the reason those machines exist is to make the area attractice to tourists,,

AND

The machines are operated by people collecting welfare,,

So, they are not harvesting hay, they are beautifying the area for the tourists,,,,,,,,,,,,

If you stretch the definition of welfare to cover government support to keep farming alive they are on welfare, like almost all farmers I Europe.

And yes some farmers get paid to keep fields open to keep the cultural landscape open.

Some countries as mine doesn't want a industrial and corporate agricultural so all farms are personally owned by the farmer. Allso rules that keeps farmsize relatively small.

 

[Agvg]

Making hay the old way

 

[DanielDD]

BCS also makes isodiametric tractors like the Antonio Carraro ones. The Pasquali and Ferrari variants are just rebadged BCS tractors.

This is what isodiametric tractors can do. It's in Brazilian but you get the idea. Close to 50 degrees.

Interesting video. I did notice that the tractor was positioned such that the right side of the tractor wheels were up against the side guard of the angle table. Whether they did that intentionally or not is anyone's guess. Neat tractor, though...