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

[mwood]

I'm not sure switching tires would really help unless it came with different wheels which allowed spacing to be further apart. The weight down low idea may be a better one. You could try to fill front and rear tires. SInce you have the turfs, the floatation should be enough to not rut your lawn too much /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I think you'd get a bit more grip out of the R4 tires on your lawn, but before I did that my question would be do you get tire slippage when you are in 4wd with the turfs on a dry lawn? If the lawn is wet, stay off the slopes!

If you are sliding down the hill with turf tires and the lawn is dry, then I think at very least you need to consider your tire choice, but more likely you need to seriously consider your tractor choice and go drive a Ventrac or Steiner.

 

[hazmat]

The industrials are likely a little taller & narrower than your turfs. Check in the "specs" section of your owners manual.

Are you having traction issues?

 

[MikeFromVA]

The rears are filled. Would filling the fronts help much?

The grass was damp in some areas (under the trees). I will be more careful about that.

I didn't detect any slippage, just felt like tipping was a possibility. Like I said, could be a newbie problem only. Will have the tilt meter by the end of the week hopefully. Doubt I will push it past 15 degrees though - not sure I have the nerve.

 

[MicroPilot]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ... Doubt I will push it past 15 degrees though - not sure I have the nerve. )</font>

You'd be surprised at how shallow this angle really is. I have a few areas of my "lawn" that get the tilt meter past 20* !!

It depends a lot on how comfortable you are on your machine. My neighbor has an area that would exceed 25* that he regularly mows ACROSS /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I start pulling the seat up into my butt way before that and would never go across this hill.

 

[EastTexFrank]

It's not just the slope, it's how fast you are going and and what you are doing. Just after I got my CUT I almost rolled it on a 10 degree slope by being a hurry and turning too fast. Those uphill wheels came off the ground and scared the hell out of me. Just after that I got my tilt meter and I was surpried how closely my butt and the meter were calibrated. At 15 degrees I was getting uneasy and at 20 I was looking for a way out. Having said that, I occasionally get a guy to cut my pasture and he runs across slopes that would terrify me.

Having looked at the photos and I know they can be deceptive, I think I would be comfortable mowing them straight up and down but you'll get a better idea when the tilt meter arrives. Just remember, if you feel uneasy, don't do it. There are a couple of small places on my yard that I still "trim" with a walk-behind.

 

[PineRidge]

I don't make it a regular practice but I have a couple of areas on my property that I mow that cause me concern. On one occasion the grass was wet and the tires lost traction allowing the rear of the tractor to slide at a 90 degree angle to were I was originally mowing. Needless to say I don't mow that section any longer unless it is extremely dry.

 

[rcmike]

I had something similar to that happen to me once. I was mowing across a hill just as it started to rain. I was in a hurry to get done and going a little faster than I should. I slid sideways down the hill for about 5 feet. Scared the crap out of me! At least there wasn't any bumps or things to catch my tires or I would have probably flipped it when it stopped.

 

[Cottonhawk]

I have very steep slopes on my property. The steepest one has been named by previous owner "Cardiac Hill". I use a two way tilt meter and it helps a lot. Some of my slopes are quite a bit over 30 degrees. Low speed and 4 wheel drive my TC40DA has no problem negotiating the slopes when it's dry and going up and down. I always try to mow and try to go into or back up the slope perpendicularly. Side ways I try not to go over 20 degrees. I always mow with my FEL on and keep it low most of the time. I slipped once on a wet slope and had to "walk out" with the help of my FEL!

 

[MikeFromVA]

Just measured one of the spots I was worried about using a 4' carpenter's level. The slope goes down 14" over the 48" run - how do I determine my slope? Rise over Run = about .29 but I'm not sure what to do with that number...

 

[Henro]

Rise over run (or drop over run) gives the tangent of the angle if my memory is still good... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

A while back I made a little spread sheet to calculate the angle...I think it works right...

Plugging your numbers in gives an slope of 14.7 degrees...I think I got it right, and that seems like a reasonable angle...maybe someone can confirm it.

If you have a calculator with math functions all you do is take the arc tan of the rise over run, and the calculator should display the angle. (unless it is set up to work with radians,that is...in which case you need to do a further conversion from radians to angle).

 

[MikeFromVA]

I think you're close Henro - thanks - here's a page I found that tells me my slope is 16.26 degrees based on the measurements I had...

 

[Cottonhawk]

I'd start to watch the tilt meter carefully once it's over 15 degrees. You can get in trouble if you hit a rut or something. If you go slow in 4 wheel drive, 16 degrees should not be a problem.

 

[Boondox]

I agree with Cotton and routinely mow traversely on 18 degrees. Plenty of pucker and I go slow as can be watching for rocks or ruts that might increase the angle...but in five years I've never had an issue. On the other hand, one of the previous posters mentioned sideways slippage. Not an issue with my aggies, but slipping at an acute angle could be a heart stopper! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Pete

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Mike: Bear in mind, most tractors are NOT rated for crossing a 20 degree slope. Many do, and you have to take each circumstance as an individual circumstance that may or may not relate to your situation because of actual ground conditions, tractor configuration, tires, ruts, etc etc etc.

My recommendation is to be very mindful of pucker factor.

I respect my slopes because they scare the bejezzuz out of me. But the closest I ever came to flipping a tractor was when I was using the Kubota B2910 on SMOOTH ASPHALT that was NEARLY FLAT. I had large rocks in the loader shift and the left side of the tractor came off the ground while I was turning the tractor. I got lucky, the tractor came back down as I slammed against the loader to drop the bucket while turning the wheel and depressing the clutch. And that is the day I learned to wear my seatbelt ALL the time, because up until then I often did not.

If you are worried, then you are paying attention. If you are confident, then you probably should begin to worry!!!

 

[beenthere]

Bob
Where do you find information about tractors rated for slopes?

I'd be curious what those numbers are.
Thanks

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Ventrac provides the information as does Steiner. I asked my Kubota/Cub Cadet dealer and he dug up information for me. My Cub was not rated as a tractor, but the engine was "rated" to 20 degrees. I asked about the B2910 when we got that, he told me it was 15 to 20 degrees, but I don't know if that is his judgement or a rated factory judgement. I never bothered to ask about the NH because I knew I wasn't taking that on the slopes!!!

I would suggest you go to your dealer and have him look it up. I know with the Cub, he opened the book and showed me. He didn't do that with the B2910 and it was the same dealer.

 

[MikeFromVA]

I removed the FEL and mowed yesterday afternoon (ie - after the dew was gone). I felt much more at ease (not too comfortable though). The tiltmeter has not arrived yet, but measuring one of the steeper spots at 16.25 degrees made me feel better. I don't have the guts to try to be sideways at that part of the slope, but knowing that it should be doable makes me feel better about the places I do have to traverse sideways.

I will still feel better when the tiltmeter arrives. And I'm sure my pucker factor will decrease with more seat time. I will be sure to always have a healthy respect for those slopes though.

 

[Henro]

Mike,

One thing I have noticed is that when I start to feel uncomfortable on my tractor, for some reason looking down at the floor seems to give me a better idea of what the actual angle is. The operator's platform always seems to tilt a lot less than I feel like the tractor is tilting from the perspective of my seat.

I think it has something to do with sitting high on the tractor, as compared to say how you would sit in a car. When I first got my tractor I remember feeling tipsy on an almost flat place...5 degrees slope max, and probably less. When turning things just felt wrong. Probably because I was not used to sitting up that high, with respect to tire width.

Next time you are on a side slope crosswise and feel worried, take a look down at the operator's platform if yours is flat, and see what you think. This could just be me...be curious if you or anyone else feels/has noticed the same thing...

 

[MikeFromVA]

I think that you are probably right henro. I'm sure that some of my discomfort is from the fact that I am new to this. That is why I am really looking forward to getting my tiltmeter - I think that it will help me to know the actual tilt. I'm pretty sure that I still won't feel very good about being sideways on a 15 degree slope though /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif