Cutting steep banks question

[Henro]

Hi,

I have some steep (for me) Banks that I mow. Not that large, 15 or 20 feet max. They measure at 25 or 30 degrees (50 to 60 percent) slope.

I have always had an issue when mowing straight up and backing down, with scalping at the top, at the transition from slop to flat at the top.

Would prefer to mow crosswise but not comfort trying that.

Last year I got a brainstorm and tried cutting on an upward angle between 30 and 45 degrees. This works really well and I avoid scalping at the top, and also avoid the wheel ruts I used to make when going straight up and down.

Is this another example of being the last to know how to do something?

My guess, probably so...

Edit: I am using a MMM, might be different with a RFM, do not know.

 

[Henro]

Oh well, I thought it was a fair question...

Guess you guys either think I am an idiot for doing it, or it is so obvious that everybody does it, and I just never noticed it being mentioned...

Works for me either way.

 

[Digger Dager]

Henro,

Not at all a stupid question, and you're not an idiot for asking. Everybody has questions about things they don't know about, or have not experienced before.

We have a slope similar in angle to what you have, only about 600 ft in length. We use our ZD326 mowers and can go vertically, horizontally, and at angles as we change mowing directions in the yard.

With your taller tractors, it would be safest to avoid the horizontal direction. You might try adjusting the anti-scalp wheels/rollers to help with the scalping.

Other solutions 1) cut the crown back for a larger radius, 2) try planting something on the slope so you don't have to mow it.

Digger

 

[troverman]

I've been in that same situation - I mow steep banks and tend to go up and down. Mowing uphill at an angle is too dangerous on some of my jobs. With a MMM (my machine was a B2920) I would raise the deck just as I crested the top. In some cases even raising the deck all the way wasn't enough to not scalp. In this case I would mow uphill as far to the top as I could, and keep doing this method all the way across the bank. Finally, I would flat mow the top sideways, getting as close to the edge as I could. The rest would be cut with a trimmer.

Now I mow everything with a flail mower and just back up the slope...I can get everything.

 

[dochsml]

Tractor Mike has some pretty good videos on his Youtube channel covering this as well.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Before you mow crosswise be sure your life insurance is paid up. Guy up the road said 'I can do it', got lucky for awhile, then , grass was wet ( mid morning,fall).. his luck ran out....
I've never understood taking chances like that...in my youth had CJ-5 JEEPs and did a LOT of real off roading, straight up and down hills, NEVER sideways.
Replant the hillside with some low growing ground cover, neghbour has buckwheat.... bees like that.....
Bottom line ..
eliminate the problem, before it eliminates you !

 

[GeoHorn]

My wife and I had only JUST joined a classic airplane group and met a man and his wife named “Melendy” who had large-farmed rice on the Texas coastal region all his life.
He operated a half-dozen large tractors and other equipment from the time he was 18 until he retired at 70. We met this sweet couple at the group’s Christmas Party.

Just after New Years a couple weeks later we learned that Mr. Melendy was moving the tractors out by the highway with “For Sale” signs on them since he’d retired and selling out.
Mrs. Melendy went out to see why he was being so slow to come in for his lunch... and found him in a ditch under one of the upturned tractors he’d operated for many years... dead.

Heck of a way to find your loved-one.

 

[In Utopia]

Talk about mowing on slopes, ever see the tractor tire prints on the concrete around overpasses?
Makes me nervous just looking at them.

 

[miketrock]

Just yesterday I emailed Kubota to see if they would consider making either smaller Low Profile Tractors (smaller than the M5, like a "B" or "LX" size) or their compact tractors with an option to be strong enough to accept dual rear wheels. They probably won't but I tried.

 

[troverman]

Just yesterday I emailed Kubota to see if they would consider making either smaller Low Profile Tractors (smaller than the M5, like a "B" or "LX" size) or their compact tractors with an option to be strong enough to accept dual rear wheels. They probably won't but I tried.

If you're looking for a B-series sized machine for slope mowing, why not just get a Ventrac?

 

[miketrock]

I don't have slopes but it seems like its such a common topic that why doesn't a manufacturer at least offer some kind of option in smaller sizes. I just put the thought in their mind. Maybe some day they will. I wouldn't mind a more stable tractor though than a B2601. I realize that they make them so they will fit in tight spaces but they could offer one wide option. None of kubota's competitors do.

 

[GeoHorn]

Just yesterday I emailed Kubota to see if they would consider making either smaller Low Profile Tractors (smaller than the M5, like a "B" or "LX" size) or their compact tractors with an option to be strong enough to accept dual rear wheels. They probably won't but I tried.

On a lightweight tractor dual wheels will reduce the footprint-pressure sufficiently that traction may be REDUCED on turf rather than increased as one might imagine.

 

[gkk2001]

I mow with a Kubota F3680 which may not equal a Ventrac but it is still operates well on steep slopes. But I never travel sideways. It's all up and down. And never with a hint of moisture as turf tires slip and slide.
Not much help with the original question.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

When the Dept of Highways up here DID mow the highway ditches, they used Allis-Chalmers B tractors with belly mounted sickle bars. Some were 'modified' with smaller tires on the uphill side( right), so tractor was more or less level when cutting sideways on the hill. Safe as CofG was low.
Of course back then, they made the ditches all same grade,angle, design... so easy to cut the grasses....

bottom line...
If you're uneasy about ANY tractor operation STOP, shutdown, RETHINK what you're trying to do....

 

[msmcknight]

I have a similar bank I have to deal with. I mow up/down the slope vertically, and then I mow the level part at the top.

When I mow the level part horizontally, I let the tires ride just below the crest where it goes from hill-to-level. Not enough to tilt the tractor much, but enough that the mower deck tilts over the edge and trims the angle pretty well.

 

[In Utopia]

Here's one way.
https://houston.craigslist.org/grd/d/new-caney-dew-eze-slope-mower/7115301116.html