Mowing Mowing on complex hills --- HELP!!!

[mwood]

Mike:
Seeing as I'm looking for my first tractor right now, I have no actual experience in this area. However, I do have a lot of decently steep slopes on my property and when mowing them with a garden tractor, I've actually come very close to flipping... /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

My advice to you is what I told my wife (who won't mow my slopes by the way). If you dont' feel comfortable on them, don't mow them. I know this may not leave you any room for a learning curve here, but my theory is this... as you use your tractor around your house on routine home maintenance tasks, you'll gain an understanding of how everything works and just like driving a car, stopping, starting and steering will become second nature (as well as using the loader, etc..) I think you'll find that as you become more familiar with your machine, you'll start gaining confidence.

But please! If you don't feel safe YOU SHOULDN'T BE THERE . Better to be considered a wimp than be considered a dead hero... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Bob_Skurka]

mwood . . . since you are still in the looking stages, I would strongly suggest you consider Steiner or Ventrac. Given you have 13 acres, the Steiner 430Max or the Ventrac 4200 would be the machines to look at, they are their larger tractors, but still physically about the size of a larger sub-cut. But they are amazingly capable, can be oufitted with loaders, etc. These are not good machines for real farming, but excellent for all sorts of landscaping and gardening and will handle most slopes with ease. They are also very turf friendly, I've not been able to tear my turf on wet days when doing tight circles!

You JD is slighly smaller than my Cub Cadet, and I had 75# wheel weights and chains on the rear tires to gain traction, the front tires have foam for weight. What I can tell you is that my Cub would go places I won't take a taller CUT, but the Ventrac not only goes where the Cub went, it goes there with TOTAL confidence, absolute ease, and it does circles, u-turns and figure 8's on slopes that would have rolled over the Cub.

Another good choice is the Power Trac line of tractors. Not as good on slopes as the Steiners or Ventracs, but far more stable than any CUT on the planet. PT machines are more versitile than Steiners and Ventracs, being more of a Swiss Army Knife type of machine. They do everything, and much of it is done very well. I would say the mowers of the Steiners & Ventracs are better than anything else out there, the PT mowers are H.D. but seemingly not being in the same league as the Steiners or Ventracs for quality of cut.

 

[mwood]

Bob:
Not to steal the thread from the original poster, but I seriously considered those machines. I have since ruled them out for the following reasons:

Many parts of my land is muddy. And since I don't plan on going on the lawn with the new tractor, I think AG tires and more weight might be better.

I'll be looking to box blade / plow a lot of my pastures to replant. I know that a 1 bottom plow on a 30 hp machine will work, but I don't think any of the machines you mentioned will plow.

In an ideal world, i'd get a Ventrac for mowing and a CUT for field work, but I can't afford that. So... the wife and I compromised. The hard parts of the lawn to mow are going to be converted to tier gardens and we will continue to use the JD 216 to mow the flats. The rest of the land is going to be pasture for animals we will be getting next spring (lambs, pigs, small cow... who knows?)

Thanks for the helpful advise!

And now... back to our regularly scheduled thread...

 

[Bob_Skurka]

mwood, supposedly you can box blade with those brands, but personally it seems backwards to me. I can understand why you would rule them out based on what you wrote, I think the excercise of considering them probably opened your eyes other possibilities. One of the problems I think we get ourselves into is brand blindness or if not brand, then type of tractor. The fact that you considered them means you are considering all the choices out there.

Be VERY careful with the MORE WEIGHT is better arguement. On slopes that is far from true. Weight is good ONLY if it is in the right places! On a slope, I would want as much weight as possible UNDER the frame to keep it low. That means front filled tires or front wheel weights. That could mean rear filled tires. That could mean weights under the frame (there is cast iron attached to the underside of frame of the B2910 + filled tires). Wider track is better, taller is not. So be careful with the weight issue, in fact, on any slope, I'd probably opt for a lighter tractor over a heavier one and then add weight to where it is more beneficial.

 

[slowrev]

Bob,
You are absolutely right on the "more weight is better" attidude not being right on hills, excess weight uses gravity to pull you down the hill and can make you topheavy too for increased rollover risk.
My tractor climbs the hills much better when I remove the FEL and Weight bracket from the rear. About 3,500 lbs lighter and climbs better /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[MikeFromVA]

My rear tires are loaded. I try to keep the FEL just above the ground to help keep the COG a little lower. It also makes me feel better when I'm going up a steep hill, more weight on the front. Guess it would take a heck of a hill to roll one front to back - but still feels like it could happen...

I will remove the FEL if it helps. I guess the COG is actually not improved when I lower it because the pivot point still bears all the weight...

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Mike, I mowed on Saturday with the FEL off, and then Sunday with it on. Feels like 2 different tractors. You might want to consider loading your front tires or adding EZ weights to the front wheels.

Just out of curiosity, are you using a MMM or a mower on the 3pt? A 3pt mower would lighten up the front end on your hills. A MMM will help with stability my giving you a lot of weight down very low.

 

[MikeFromVA]

I've got the 60" MMM - maybe I should weld some weights to it /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Well it would justify the purchase of a welder!!!

But seriously, try mowing with the loader off. Then tell us what you think.

 

[MikeFromVA]

Would switching to Industrial tires help (I have turfs now)?