Steep Mowing

[inyati13]

Tenn Tux, you saw this hill. Why does it not look as steep in pictures from the cab? I took you along the ridge at the top of this picture in the Utility Vehicle. If you remember, I told you to look over. I decided to mow this one steep area but I am still waiting on the seed heads to cure before I make a hard push.

Folks this is steep. I would not be able to do it without 4 WD. 9 out of 10 people who see this hill reply that they would not put a tractor on it. I have gone through my head what actions I will take if I ever get into trouble. Like dropping the rotary mower as a drag, etc. I have broken traction a couple of times and I can tell you there were a couple times you could not have driven a toothpick up my azz with a 5 pound hammer!

Deepsouth: If I ever start going down one of these out of control, I will have time to seek salvation, get saved and become a Christian before I get to take on my robe and Jesus Creepers.

 

[Banjo]

You should be wearing your seat belt :stop: if not already in most unfavorable conditions.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

The pictures do not do it justice. That is one steep hillside folks.

Make sure to top off your brake fluid Ron.

 

[dun]

I'vw hayed that kind of stuff. The good part is all the hay is accumulated at the bottom. The bad part is if you used to have fences at the bottom when you hayed it.

 

[Craig Miller]

Ron i got a hil i need bush hogged. Bring your tractor over when you get done there. It may not even be that steep. I agree thats a seatbelt situation right there.

 

[chippie]

I will be honest, steep areas scare me. I had an experience when I was young while working on a ranch ( I was a day worker). I was near the edge of a man made creek bank and the tractor started sliding down sideways towards the creek. I stopped. Put the brake on and hopped off as far as I could from the tractor on the high side.
All I could think of was how made the boss would be if the tractor ended up in the creek.

Please be careful. I hope that your tractor has a ROPES and please do wear your seatbelt.

 

[dun]

I will be honest, steep areas scare me. I had an experience when I was young while working on a ranch ( I was a day worker). I was near the edge of a man made creek bank and the tractor started sliding down sideways towards the creek. I stopped. Put the brake on and hopped off as far as I could from the tractor on the high side.
All I could think of was how made the boss would be if the tractor ended up in the creek.

Please be careful. I hope that your tractor has a ROPES and please do wear your seatbelt.

Every year around here there's a news story about domone brush hogging across the slope and it rolling over on them.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I will be honest, steep areas scare me. I had an experience when I was young while working on a ranch ( I was a day worker). I was near the edge of a man made creek bank and the tractor started sliding down sideways towards the creek. I stopped. Put the brake on and hopped off as far as I could from the tractor on the high side.
All I could think of was how made the boss would be if the tractor ended up in the creek.

Please be careful. I hope that your tractor has a ROPES and please do wear your seatbelt.

Every year around here there's a news story about domone brush hogging across the slope and it rolling over on them.

Ron mows up and down his slopes. Biggest problem would be a total brake failure going down the hill.

One reason I don't like our old Polaris 4-wheeler is the fact you can't gear down on a hillside, you have nothing to use but the brakes.

 

[Lucky_P]

I'm originally a flat-lander; grew up at the intersection of the Gulf coastal plain and the piedmont; barely ever ventured more than 60 miles from where I was born 'til I was well into my 20s. Was always hearing about how many folks were killed every year in tractor rollovers, and could not fathom that - until we moved to middle TN and I saw some of the hillsides folks mowed there. No way in lleh would you get me on a tractor on some hills I've seen folks mow there - and up in central/eastern KY.

 

[inyati13]

TT: The guys on here who know tractors way better than I will back me up when I say, "brakes are not much help". When you are geared down and due to steepness you break traction, the brakes will simply exchange being a downhill rolling object to being a downhill sliding object. The end result is the same: A sudden stop somewhere downhill.

What I do is remain vigilant, keep my speed down, keep in my mind to drop the mower so it acts as a drag, and watch the terrain for a place to maneuver to with what controls I have so I can stop.

I do wear my seat belt, have a Roll Over Protective Structure, and my PTO can be cut off with a button you push down.

Craig: Bama is a might fur to bring my tractor.

Lucky: On US 62 out of Maysville is a hillside an old farmer mows every year about August. My brother and I have always talked about it. Well, I finally saw him in the act last summer. He goes up and down the hill which I already knew by the signs but what I didn't know until I saw him was that he never turns around. He backs down and drives up. Backs down and drives up. When I drove by him on US 62, I would have had him in my lap if he had lost his power!!!

 

[dun]

He goes up and down the hill which I already knew by the signs but what I didn't know until I saw him was that he never turns around. He backs down and drives up. Backs down and drives up.

That's what I do when BHing the steep stuff, but I don;t put it in reverse, I use the clutch to slow down rolling backwards.

 

[inyati13]

He goes up and down the hill which I already knew by the signs but what I didn't know until I saw him was that he never turns around. He backs down and drives up. Backs down and drives up.

That's what I do when BHing the steep stuff, but I don;t put it in reverse, I use the clutch to slow down rolling backwards.

I am fortunate. Everywhere I have has a flat place at the top and bottom to turn around. In fact, at the bottoms of the hills it seems almost level compared to up on the steep sides.

 

[Nesikep]

I have one field that's a little hairy to cut hay on, and I will have to cut it this year.

I think every hill is different and you have to approach it different as well... if you have a good traction, I think going downhill is better, because if you pull hard uphill the tractor can roll backward.. if you don't have traction, you have better steering capabilities if you're going forward... That being said, tractor tires are designed for pulling, not braking!

I've been attacking some steep hill on the dirt bike, I'm surprised at what that thing will climb, coming down is always interesting though! There's a lot of riders out there with much bigger cahones than I do, and I always find it amazing at what they can do... My cows would be mighty upset with me if I got myself hurt though, the lack of pettings would be horrid!

 

[kenny thomas]

I have been bush hogging today on a hill that was so steep I would back down as far as I thought the tractor would come back up and then all 4 wheels would spin coming back up. I got to thinking, here I am with a 100HP 4X4 cab tractor and a 10 ft bush hog together worth $70,000 trying to keep a $500 1/2 acre clean that should be in trees to start with. :dunce:

 

[pdfangus]

i NEVER HAD A TRACTOR break traction on a hill but did know of a young man who rolled one down a hill...paralyzed from the neck down....I let the cows clean that hill...I would not evn ride the horse on it....

had a horse break traction on a hill one time and I thought we were all dead...wrote a story about it...on my blog somewhere...

 

[inyati13]

I have been bush hogging today on a hill that was so steep I would back down as far as I thought the tractor would come back up and then all 4 wheels would spin coming back up. I got to thinking, here I am with a 100HP 4X4 cab tractor and a 10 ft bush hog together worth $70,000 trying to keep a $500 1/2 acre clean that should be in trees to start with. :dunce:

Kenny, I have had the same thoughts!
BTW: I had a neighbor come by Sunday evening as I was sitting here with Blue enjoying the close of the day. We were talking bushhogging. He is a guy of means as he recently sold his trucking company for about 3 million. He owns a few hundred acres next to me and recently bought a couple hundred acres of grain land over near Flemingsburg where you get out of these steep hills. But the point: He has a 130 HP McCormick tractor with dual wheels and the front tires are solid rubber. He says with the bucket up front as a guard, he will take it almost anywhere he can take his track loader. He said it can take it side hill on places you thought would have to be mowed up and down!

 

[pdfangus]

GOATS....MOTHER NATURES ORIGINAL BUSH HOG....LOL

 

[skyhightree1]

inyati if you get good snows I bet you can sled down it and hit darn near 50mph lol I remember haying on steep hills and bushhogging and will never forget trying to go up a hill at 16 with a MF 50 and 5' bushhog up in the air and the front tires came up and I had to drop the bushhog to the ground to keep from flipping over and even then the tires barely were touching the ground to steer correctly be safe get more cattle let them clear those dangerous areas or goats as pdf says KT good point you made there

 

[TN Cattle Man]

I will chime in on this post... We have some pretty steep hills on the farm here in TN as well. In my younger days, I would take a tractor just about anywhere! You actually get to a point where you think that you know everything that could happen and you think that you might even know how to respond when and if something bad actually happens.

As a "Survivor" of a tractor roll-over, let me tell you this... You Don't!

You can have the best equipment and even the best of intentions but that still doesn't guarantee you the best of results! I am reminded of a quote that my dad used to tell me all the time... "Machines do not feel pain, only you do"!

 

[hillbilly beef man]

He goes up and down the hill which I already knew by the signs but what I didn't know until I saw him was that he never turns around. He backs down and drives up. Backs down and drives up.

That's what I do when BHing the steep stuff, but I don;t put it in reverse, I use the clutch to slow down rolling backwards.

I have a couple of hills that I have to do this on. The 4wd 5510 will scoot if I try to go off it forward. Yes, it does get the pucker factor going every year, but I am always buckled in and going very s l o w. Any one ever use a tracked skid steer with a bush hog on it? There is a place here that rents these and I am thinking about giving one a try.