Tilling on slopes?

[Bowhunter]

I have areas of my yard that need to be tilled and reseeded, and there's not a flat spot to be found. Most areas aren't bad, but the one that concerns me most is the banks around my pond. My question is, if I can safely mow the spot across the slope with a MMM, can I safely till across the slope? Or does a rear mounted attachment cause stability problems vs. the MMM?

Tilling up and down the slope isn't an option, unless I buy my BX scuba gear. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif On one bank, the pond is at the bottom, and a woods is at top, so it would be difficult to make it work.

 

[DJLX]

I did some tilling on my short slopes but in the up/ down way. I don't feel comfortable mowing these transverse so no way tilling. I did do some transverse tilling on a different slope (not as steep) and noticed that I had to constantly correct as tractor and all slowly slid downhill.

 

[OkieG]

Bowhunter,
I think everyone's pucker factor is different and may or may not correlate well with actual tipping danger. Caution, of course, is important. Obviously, better to err on the safe side.

The center of gravity of your tiller is lower than your tractor's. Other than the side slip mentioned by DJLX, I think even if the tiller didn't add to stability on a slope, it shouldn't detract from it.

Finally, if you are already able to successfully MMM across the slope, but still have stability concerns re: tilling,....why not leave the MMM mounted to help lower your center of gravity while tilling

OkieG

 

[JohnSr]

If you hit a root it might "hop" and that is definitely not something you need on a slope. I had to do this before also and I used my box blade w/ rippers at full depth to identify & remove roots first so it would be smooth sailing. I also had a little dirt in the bucket and kept it as low to the ground as possible to help w/ stability.

Good luck,

JP

 

[ZJ_HR]

Keep your tractor in 4WD mode, and tiller will not push it forward.
When I setup slip clutch on my tiller, it pushed tractor in 2wd mode forward when it hit a stump.
Tiller is 93", 1300lbs, and tractor is about 6000lbs heavy.

 

[OkieG]

One more thought is this: If you have more than one tiller width to till on your slope, till the uppermost track first, then till the next lower track on the next pass, and so on. That way the downhill tires won't be sinking into newly tilled soil which might increase the tractor's tilt and possibility of tipping.

OkieG

 

[Bowhunter]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( One more thought is this: If you have more than one tiller width to till on your slope, till the uppermost track first, then till the next lower track on the next pass, and so on. That way the downhill tires won't be sinking into newly tilled soil which might increase the tractor's tilt and possibility of tipping.

OkieG )</font>

That's a great tip that I probably wouldn't have thought of. Thanks.