Navigating Slopes !!

[Anonymous Poster]

New to tractors, new to this site and have a new B7500, so I'm taking baby steps. Seems like the info around here is pretty good and objective. Wondering how much slope angle is prudent for this unit, it sits a little high, but seems to have a good wide stance.
Those angle meters, read in degrees, but is there a general yardstick (degrees) for safe handling ?? Trial and error method seems too risky. Thks for any help..

 

[RobS]

Kubby, get a tiltmeter. It'll take all the guesswork out. I'm OK at 15 degrees and will do short stretches of 20 with a lot of caution. No more though. Lots of other things to watch besides the tiltmeter. If you're on a 15 degree slope and hit a rut with your downhill tire you could be in trouble. Same with a rock or log on the uphill side. Spinning tires are bad too. Seat belt is good! Learn your land, learn your tractor but don't get too comfortable on those slopes /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Boondox]

I bought a tiltmeter and used it constantly...for about a week. Found myself watching it on questionable slopes instead of where I was going, and hit several bumps and rocks I otherwise would have avoided. Also, after that first week I had pretty much memorized the slope of my 150 acres.

I know the current thinking is a tiltmeter adds a much needed safety factor, but I personally got little in return. I moved it to the FEL pedastal under the joystick to be less in my face, and would have given it away but now the adhesive is really stuck! So it's there. It gets glanced at now and then, but mostly out of curiousity at this point. Pucker factor works better for me.

Pete

 

[njrqs]

"Pucker factor works better for me."

I have had mine in some (unintentionally) scary positions and so far so good.

The positions and angles have scared the *(^&*^ out of me, so I'd say "Fly by the seat of your pants".

Cheers

 

[Will]

You can gain some stability by putting your rear wheels as far apart as they go. This isn't quite as obvious as it sounds - depending on your initial setup, it might involve reversing your rear wheels and putting them on the opposite side of the tractor. I think with R4 tires you can get a total spread, from outer tread to outer tread, of 53 inches.