Safely Mowing Hills

Anonymous Poster · Mar 8, 2002

The property I recently purchased has some hills and I'm amazed when I look at them and see that somehow the previous owner mowed them. I may plant trees on steeper parts or hire out an annual cutting to a professional but I'm wondering how steep I should be able to go with a TC33D, 6' rotary cutter and FEL or front weights. I saw a post that said 15 degrees is a good limit. Is this a limit for going sideways on the hill or up and down? The tilt meter mountings look more concerned with roll than pitch. Also the way the fence line runs there is no way to turn the tractor around at the top of some hills. Is it safe to back the tractor up then come down nose first or go up nose first then back down to avoid going sideways? According to the topo map the worst hill is 30 degrees that the previous owner mowed! Most of the property is 5 to 20 degrees according to the map. Also I'm interested in any good threads for safely mowing hills.

Thanks,
Newland

Thomas · Mar 9, 2002

Mowing a steep slope..first of all if you don't feel comfortable don't try it.

If you have 4wd engage it and if you have fel keep the bucket close to the ground,and use the lowest gear or setting.
Backing up the steep slope than lower the mower and slowly start down,for its a lot safer than going up.

You can always take a good trimmer and wack down those tight areas for the mower..its safer and easier than trying to jocky the equipment around.

If the slopes are wet I would wait until they dry out or have good AG or chains on the rear.

Just take your time.

RoyJackson · Mar 9, 2002

Definitely keep the FEL low!! Better yet, take it off if you can (if you have front weights).

Due to the nature of my property, I have to back down the hill (I cut both going down and up). There is a tree line that precludes driving down and backing up.
The area I cut is a pretty short distance (50'-60'), but using a slow speed (1st gear Low), I've never felt unsafe.

One thing that does amaze me, since I bought the tractor, is the side hills I see the farmers mow, harvest, what have you (this is in southern Pennsylvania). You can see the pattern of cutting quite easily...going across the slopes.

Anonymous Poster · Mar 9, 2002

Re: Safely Mowing and Trigonometry

The degrees are incorrect in my intial post. I can't believe I messed up my highschool trig that bad. Using the topo map it should be the Arc Tangent of rise/run to get degrees. Any way doing it correctly the steep "scarry" hill is 20 degress and the bulk of the property is 3 to 14 degrees. /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

Newland

Von · Mar 9, 2002

Re: Safely Mowing and Trigonometry

Newland, I have some pretty steep slopes to cut at my Antique shop property. (see attached photo) I just go up and down them and cut about once every 6 weeks. I take the loader off and find it much better, and more stable.

GlueGuy · Mar 9, 2002

Re: Safely Mowing and Trigonometry

Newland,

The accepted limit for general purposes is 15 degrees side slope (roll), and 30 degrees going up/down.

The 15 degrees is only an advisory, as the tippyness of a tractor varies quite a lot, depending on evenness of the terrain, the load you're carrying, and where you're carrying the load (front, back, high, low). It is also affected by wheel weights, suitcase weights, your weight, and whether the tires are filled, and so on.

As for going up/down, it's considered safer to back up, and go down, as a tractors rear wheels are large, and at nearly the end of the platform, so can easily create a situation to rotate the tractor when going up a very steep slope. The smaller front wheels would spin before they would have the leverage to do that.

rancar · Mar 10, 2002

Newland,

With the degree slopes you're talking about, you would want to go up/down. Unless you know your tractor's stability and its center of gravity, you're risking a tip over and possible severe injury or worse if you're thinking of going across. Hope this helps.

Regards,
Bob Ancar
Cambridge, NY

KYFARMER · Mar 12, 2002

Newland, some of the advice you are getting scares me. I have a farm in northern Kentucky. Some of it is very steep and rough.
Some rules: Always go up and down unless you are sure you can safely go across the hill. if you have it, use 4 wheel drive. test out a hill where you have an area at the bottom to run out if the tractor get away from you. I always prefer to mow the bad areas going up hill. You are being told to back up hills and drive down. unless you have 4 wheel drive the tractor will not back up a steep hill. never push in the clutch on a hill unless you know you can stop tractor from sliding.
The 6' mower on you tractor scares me to death.
I stongly suggest you talk to some local farmers and learn from them. Our county coroner gets at least 1 call a year for a death caused by a tractor on a hillside. Good luck.

RoyJackson · Mar 12, 2002

You are being told to back up hills and drive down. unless you have 4 wheel drive the tractor will not back up a steep hill. never push in the clutch on a hill unless you know you can stop tractor from sliding.
KYFARMER

Why is that, KYFARMER? Backing up a hill seems less likely to do a rear roll over (Note: As I said in my post above, I drive up and back down due to my situation. I've not felt unsafe and the tractor was very stable...guesstimate is ~25°).

The only thing I see could be a concern is the tractor weight transfer to the front (hence, off the main driver wheels). But the implement weight, a rear mower in the case being discussed, should offset the weight transfer. But, is a rear roll over more or less likely then a loss of control backing the tractor up a hill?

I'm not sure where another poster got his info about backing up a hill, but I'm curious why you're vehemently against it.

Newland, I have some pretty steep slopes to cut at my Antique shop property. (see attached photo) I just go up and down them and cut about once every 6 weeks. I take the loader off and find it much better, and more stable.
Von

Von, do you drive up and down the slopes shown in your picture? Or, do you back up and drive down?

Also, as I mentioned in my earlier post, I'm amazed at some of the hills (in south-central PA) that the locals mow across!

KYFARMER · Mar 12, 2002

If the hill is steep a 2 wheel drive tractor will spin out if you try backing up the hill. This is due in part to the tread direction on the tires. also the weight transfer as has been mentioned. I was mowing this summer with a jd 6410 (around 95hp) pulling a 15' batwing. Going down a hill I hit some loose rocks and it was just like locking your car brakes at high speed. I almost lost it. I went back up the same spot with no trouble. we have the same tractor in 4 wheel drive and i can back the batwing up hill just about anywhere.
When you are going down hill you should always plan an escape route incase you lose traction and the tractor takes off.