Is 1(V) on 3(H) Slope too Steep for Brushhog??

[8N_John]

I am building a pond and will be brushhogging the downstream slope of a 20' high dam. Want to construct it to a safe brushhogging slope. I'll be pulling a 5' brushhog with an 8N. Was thinking about going with 1on3 slope but wasn't sure if that would be too steep. If needed I'd rather go a little flatter just to feel comfortable mowing. Any slope suggestions/experiences would be helpful.

 

[Egon]

Many highways use a one in four side - backslope. These areas are mowed with no problems.

Egon

 

[JerryT]

I had an 18 ft dam built in SE Texas. It was designed (free) by the Federal Soil conservation group. They required a 3/1 on the front and 4/1 on the back. I think thats pretty standard for earthen dams and makes sense. When I more the back my tilt meter is usually at 15-20 degrees. Do to imperfections, settling, and depressions, here and there, it sometimes dips up to 30 degress. Anything over 20 is puckersville, and 20 is pretty scary. I wouldn't even consider less than 4/1 for the backside.

 

[TMcD_in_MI]

This doesn't exactly answer your question, but it may help. In a perfect world, a 1 in 3 slope would be 18 degrees and a 1 in 4 would give you 14 degrees. As JerryT said though, an uneven surface could give you some surprises.

Tom

 

[WVBartMan]

8N John: Living in the mountains of West Virginia, we have little to no flat ground and operating a tractor on a slope can become hazardous. When the slope gets to steep, we operate in a strickly straight up and straight down direction.

With a 4-wheel drive tractor and a rotary cutter properly sized in order to limit your front end coming off the ground in case you need to picked up the cutter to apply weight to the rear tires, you can cut a 2:1 slope. The problem you will have is, your 2-wheel drive will have problems going down the hill (braking) and going back up the hill.

The main item to consider is what we call a landing zone at the bottom of the slope. This is critical, in case you cannot make it up the slope, cannot slow it down coming down and last but not least a turning area.

I agree with the rest of the post on here, if you can make it a 4:1, this will allow for easy operation and it will help support the toe of the slope and decrease your chances of slope failure/slip.

 

[Soundguy]

Make sure you adjust those brakes.. and do use an ORC!

Non live pto coupled with a high inertial force, and poor brakes will make for a wild ride.

Soundguy