How steep is too steep?

[RzrbkFarmer58]

Made a post a while back about a property that I am in the process of purchasing. There is one face of the property that is steeper than the rest, and steeper than anything I have ever hogged personally. To be honest, the attached pictures don't quite do this hill justice. No doubt, I wouldn't ever try to hog across this incline, but I am curious if there are any tips/tricks on determining whether an incline is at all worth the risk that comes with getting it manicured... Subject machinery would be a ~55hp kubota tractor/loader with a 10' woods batwing cutter.

I'll add - Spent the weekend walking perimeter fencelines and it's safe to say I have some work in front of me

ow

 

[Mark Reynolds]

You can tackle steeper slopes by going straight up and straight down than across, but don't decide to turn mid slope, and make sure there is nothing right in front of you (obstacles, and HOLES!) Depends on the strength of your "Nerves of Steel" are!

 

[Travlr]

If you're asking... it's too steep. If you can't go across, then up and down? You just need to be sure you have room at top and bottom to turn on levelish ground.

 

[Ouachita]

I got a couple hills like that. I use a Kubota 7060 4wd. When I'm doing the steep hills, I use a 8' trailing hog. Mow up and down, not across, and as Mark says above, don't turn on the hillside. I always walk it to be sure my friendly resident armadillos haven't made new holes.

 

[RzrbkFarmer58]

You can tackle steeper slopes by going straight up and straight down than across, but don't decide to turn mid slope, and make sure there is nothing right in front of you (obstacles, and HOLES!) Depends on the strength of your "Nerves of Steel" are!

That, in all honesty is my biggest concern. I am convinced I can do something until proven otherwise. Did lose an older family friend when I was young from a rolled tractor on a hill that I had always envisioned looking just like this one. I'd say I will try a couple passes on this one, then decide from there... you can tell that it has been done before, but who knows what the equipment setup was that got it done.

 

[kenny thomas]

With a 55hp tractor get a 6ft bush hog. I have a 6ft lift type and a 10ft trail type. If tractor will go i will clear it. But as said go up and down.

 

[cowman82]

i'd bale that

 

[Silver]

Taking into account that pictures tend to flatten out hills, I would guess that hill might be over 20%? In the right conditions a tractor could take to sliding down a hill like that. That would spell trouble.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

As someone who has flopped 2 pieces of logging equipment down hill my advice is if you get an uneasy feeling about what your doing then quit asap. Both of my flops my stomach and brain said "this feels bad" shortly before the accident. Your subconscious is typically smarter than you are. Haha

 

[Dave]

This portion of my place is too steep. But you will notice that the cows manage to get around up there just fine. The upper left corner of the picture is too steep for the cows. The Bighorn Sheep avoid those spots if they can.

 

[Dave]

Cows will manicure the steep ground just fine. I wouldn't take the risk just to "manicure" the place.

 

[greybeard]

no matter how steep it actually is in degrees, once you get on it with a tractor, it's going to seem a LOT steeper.
Make sure you have good brakes.

 

[Dave]

no matter how steep it actually is in degrees, once you get on it with a tractor, it's going to seem a LOT steeper.
Make sure you have good brakes.

And a low gear with compression. I went down a hill real fast with an old Minneapolis Moline which didn't have compression in high or low. Don't remember which gear it was but I do remember a very fast ride.

 

[Mrcopier]

I have backed down many hills like that just drive straight back up and then realigned and back back down. Rinse and repeat. I have rolled 2 tractors and don’t think I have a 3rd one in me so…..

 

[Mark Reynolds]

This portion of my place is too steep. But you will notice that the cows manage to get around up there just fine. The upper left corner of the picture is too steep for the cows. The Bighorn Sheep avoid those spots if they can.

View attachment 54145

Notice that ALL the cows are headed ACROSS the slope, NOT up and down. This is because cow hoofs are close together (right and left) and essentially they are on 'level' ground that way. Virtually the same thing as if you were on a dirt bike or bicycle. Now consider if they went straight up or straight down a hill. A different story. Well, almost. I worked with someone one time who 'grew up' with cows that I worked with him on one grazing plan. After that, he "Knew EVERYTHING". The next plan for him to write had a hill with about 24-26% slope. I told him the cows might go up it, but would NEVER come down the cattle trail/path he created/planned that went straight up/down the hill constrained by fences 18-20 feet apart. He wouldn't listen. The DC basically told me I was full of sh*t and that the plan was fine and to let the district employee do the planning as they "know what they are doing" and he is a cattle person. $25,000.00 later, after the plan is implemented, the producer thinks the office is incompetent and he and the cows don't use the pathway. I've never said a word to them, but the Area Conservationist knows.

If you forced a cow to go down this, you would invent a 'new' form of cattle preparation for food that I would affectionately refer to as a "beef 'roll'" as I'm positive the animal would be headed for the slaughter house after that. It was only a 1,200 foot length of trail compared to the 3,000 foot path length I proposed. So, the cattle would transverse it faster and it would cost less with the 1,200 foot path, right?

 

[Mark Reynolds]

That, in all honesty is my biggest concern. I am convinced I can do something until proven otherwise. Did lose an older family friend when I was young from a rolled tractor on a hill that I had always envisioned looking just like this one. I'd say I will try a couple passes on this one, then decide from there... you can tell that it has been done before, but who knows what the equipment setup was that got it done.

go slow and put weight in the loader to go up hill and keep the bucket low, both uphill and downhill. Be ready to 'dump' the load headed downhill and use the bucket as a brace.

 

[bird dog]

Life is to short for that problem but then again I never shred anything just for looks.

 

[wbvs58]

I'd get your wheels/rims set up for maximum width. My Kubota was set up like that by the fellow I bought it from who used to mow steep hills and I left it like that, it looks a little ungainly but there have been times when I appreciated the setup. As Mark said keep your bucket low though my preference is to take the bucket off when mowing like that just don't get caught in "Angel gear".

Ken

 

[Logan52]

We have slopes like that around here. During the 1970s I mowed them with a team of mules and a five foot McCormick sickle bar mower.
Today, if they get mowed at all, it is a custom hire 4WD tractor with dual wheels on the back and a 15 foot wide bush hog while I just sit and watch.
Not much of a problem if they are smooth, but many have slipped and slid over the years, creating two and three foot vertical banks that are a problem. These slips also expose large rounded silt-stone rocks that are also a problem. Some of these hillsides are better off going out of production, despite the very fertile soil. They are growing up in briars, sumac, honeysuckle vines and goldenrod and provide very little grazing.
From my house I can see hillsides grown up in woods that I once watched being mowed with an a small Massey tractor and seven foot Ford mower.
During the 1930s and early 40's these hillsides were all in corn, turned over with a team and hillside plow and cultivated with a Rastus plow. They threw the harvested corn onto a sled. I still have these old implements in my barn.
Those days are long gone.
Those in your picture look smooth and mowable, but I would much prefer something more level. Cattle will graze them if you can keep something palatable growing there.