Today's disaster - rethinking HST

[My Hoe]

Bet there were skid marks in his underwear. That's a scary situation no matter what the cause.

I had a similar situation going in a different direction when hauling an overloaded wagon of wood. 2 wheel drive tractor, steep slope, and the drive wheels broke traction almost at the top of the hill. Wagon pulled everything down hill, wheels spinning, and jackknifed about 3/4ers of the way down. Trailer went over on it's side and stopped the tractor without flipping it; but I was shaking like a leaf for an hour afterward.

OMG! I just lived that with you--twice. Early evening, right? The setting sun, a golden orb going down over the hill behind you, as you head down the golden slope, into the shadow of the coming eventide.

Then, suddenly, -well, I think you said it best.

You just scared the Bejeezus out of me!

Thanks--I think? LOL

My Hoe

 

[TonyF]

I appreciate all the feedback. As I said earlier, I think I ended up in a situation caused by an old lawn mower with a weak HST. I am sure an HST on my upcoming HST purchase shouldn't be an issue. I suppose the instance of HST failure on a slope is more or less a non-issue actually. From the sound of things, everyone has had good experiences on slopes. That was the info I was looking for. Thanks for all of your responses!

If I had any doubts about the HST being suitable for my needs, I would rent or borrow one and test it on the area in question. Many dealers have test areas as well. Our local kubota dealer has a small "playground" in back.

 

[RTII]

I have the HST lever all the way down but as soon as I hit the steep part of the slope it takes off...clutch/brake does nothing. Long story short, machine starts to skid, pitches me off, fortunately doesn't roll on me, engine shuts down as soon as I make my less than graceful dismount, and I am left on the ground, skinned, bruised and royally pi$$ed off.

...and yes, the rear started coming around I felt it begin to tip...but it did not roll over...engine kill switch stopped it as soon as I left the seat.

Glad you're OK. "Any landing you can walk away from is a good one!"

I agreee with most of the other posts that scut/cut hst and 4wd will be fine for your situation - works well for me and I have a few steep slopes as well.

I'm not clear though - how the kill switch stopped the slide and/or rollover. Indicates to me that the wheels were being driven by the hst and when the power was cut the wheels stopped the tractor. Also no skid marks leads to the same conclusion?

 

[SandburRanch]

When going down steep slopes we seem to naturally want to put the tractor in first gear or in the case of a hydro back off on the pedal to go as slow as possible. Then if it still seems too fast for the conditions, for self preservation, we tend to apply the brake. As strange as it may seem, those choices are exactly the opposite of what should be done. High gear and full steam ahead will prevent what happened to the OP. If that doesn't sound reasonable to you in your situation the hill is probably too steep, too long and steep or possibly has a pond or river near the bottom.

 

[tillboy2001]

I only read through the first page and a half, but it sounds like a simple case of sliding to me. I've slide down my hill on a riding mower once before and it was a wild ride (in wet grass). My wild ride sounded just about like yours except I didn't get thrown. I rode it straight down and fortunately avoided the trees. That was before I put the chevron/lug type tires on it and wheel weights. I'll never again use a mower on my hills without good tires and enough weight. I've since moved away from the traditional rider and went to a large commercial zero turn, but again with chevron type tires (Carlisle AT101 chevron).

Other than the mower, I use a John Deere 4120 on our hills and using the 4 wheel drive is a must. It's even more scary when that huge thing slides down a hill. It won't slide at all though even in wet grass when it's in 4WD (R4 Industrial style tires). I love it

 

[bironacad]

That I am sure of. I was just wondering if there are instances of HST fail on significant slopes. Keep in mind I am not planning on trying to be mountain goat, just that there are lots of hills on the property and I wonder if HST might be an issue on the steeper slopes.

I have a CUB CADET LT1046 with HST and found out very quickly that going down hill could be an adventure. After some runs to figure this out I had to take it out of the cruze and slow down before heading down hill, go figure, it still speeds up but does not scare the @#$ out of ya. My old belt drive Murray never did this, the motor speed would hold the tractor speed for the most part.
The HST takes some getting use to but I like the fuel pedal speed approach.

 

[NH-Rob]

One thing I have not seen mentioned here is what woud happen if the engine stalled on a HST tractor. I know on a gear tractor the engine will help hold the tractor back but I think a hydro will not. You are more than welcome to correct me if I am wrong.
Rob

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

It seemed there was no engine breaking at all, that's when i hit the foot pedal....

also, there were no skid marks except when the rear began to skid.

My Craftsman GS6500 works exactly the same way - no engine braking going forward downhill and foot brake is also useless.

Fortunately, if one drives UP the hill and then backs down the HST hold fine and foot brake is not even needed.

 

[Redneck in training]

Did you happen to check to see if soon as you hit the slope you started to slide? The ONLY time I have ever had HST "take off" was in 2 wheel drive going down a slope and it slid. That also would explain why the brakes did nothing to help you. I would guess it started in a straight slide.. Does the HST work now?

I second this one. The accident had nothing to do with HST but loss of traction. The same thing happened to me while ago. Now I engage 4WD anytime I am on soft ground.

 

[Deere Dude]

I had problems sliding down hills some time ago, but I fixed that by throwing on chains and wheel weights. Sometimes fluid in also to make the rear as heavy as possible. I ran with weights and chains on my 420, 455, 495, 470 and even some tractors in between for 25-30 years. I moved from a hilly place but kept chains and weights on. It doesn't hurt the lawn at all, unless possibly if you are a perfectionist and want a manicured lawn. I can't see any tears or ruts that won't grow out in a couple weeks. It keeps from skidding on 35-45 deg. sloped and gives traction all the time. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

I went through one set of chains about 15 years ago, which were in rough shape when I got them anyway. The set I have now are 15 years old and are still in great shape, and I'm not afraid to drive on blacktop either.