Walkbehinds and side hills?

[whistlepig]

A walk behind is heavy in the front. On a side hill it's a fight to keep the front going straight as the front want's to point down hill. A walk behind on a steep side hill doesn't work out very well. Even an old Gravely with steering brakes is more than a handful on a steep side hill.

 

[Rebeldad1]

Our orchard has a hillside we mow. I ran the excavator up it and my level showed 20 degrees at worst.
My wife mows it with a John Deere LX mower 38" cut. Mows straight up, turn around and straight down. Hurts the mower? The Lx was left for us when we moved in. Was bought new in 1988 and still runs and functions like new. Just dont try to mow yours when wet.

 

[Egon]

There are places were walk behinds are used on steep slopes.

Careful on doing work to a septic mound. They usually have a specific design and may not function properly if altered.

 

[stuckmotor]

There are places were walk behinds are used on steep slopes.

Careful on doing work to a septic mound. They usually have a specific design and may not function properly if altered.

View attachment 669592

If the young lady really mowed everything shown in the picture, she's good wife material.

 

[Tomtint]

We maintain one of our commercial properties with a Walker GHS mower as well as a Scag Hydro 36" mower. The Scag does the slopes and it really handles them very well. The Kawi motor has a oil pump and is not splash lubricated, so the angles are not a issue.

 

[Egon]

If the young lady really mowed everything shown in the picture, she's good wife material.

Here is Husband material.

 

[ArlyA]

Orec makes a flail and rotary type walk-behind mowers that I'd use. I tested and loved them which are made for professional type jobbers..

 

[Supraman0614]

I used a 52" Scag belt-drive walk behind for years around my property, with plenty of hills, up and down, and side to side. You have to use the hand brakes a bit when side-hilling, but it is easy enough to control. If the hill is too steep, you you will get the rear end to slide sideways, similar to side-hilling with a ZTR, but it's not too bad.

 

[RalphVa]

The most easily managed walkbehind self-propelled we've had is the new Ryobi 40v 21 inch "crosscut" one from Home Depot. It is lighter and easier to reverse than previous (heavy) ones we've had.

 

[RalphVa]

A walk behind is heavy in the front. On a side hill it's a fight to keep the front going straight as the front want's to point down hill. A walk behind on a steep side hill doesn't work out very well. Even an old Gravely with steering brakes is more than a handful on a steep side hill.

I could not manage our old Gravely 5665 until I got steering brakes. With the steering brake and its single handle, I could run it around on slopes, etc. with a couple fingers of one hand on the steering bar.