DK40se on hills ?

whatsgnu · Jan 25, 2008

I'm thinking about a Dk40 and was wondering if anyone has used them much on hilly terrain ? I've got about 50 acres on woodlot that is pretty hilly and was just wondering if the center of gravity feels good on this machine while working on the hills ?

ToadHill · Jan 25, 2008

No experience with the DK40 but I have a DK35 that I use on very hilly country. and it works great. The attached is a shot from one of my higher firlds and shows the kind of hill country I'm in.

KiotiDave · Jan 25, 2008

Hi,
You will do fine with a DK40 on the hills. The tractor has a nice low center of gravity and you can always set the tire out to the widest point. This will give you about 3 inches wider stance on each side. Just make sure to keep your load low when moving material.
Good Luck,
KiotiDave

PA hayseed · Jan 26, 2008

You will have to down shift going up hills, My 45 almost died going up the big hill. With the HST it is kinda hard to shift it travelling up the hill on the road. Had to put it in Low range to make it to the top.

I don't know much about sideways on the hills, seems ok for the little slope I have been on. My land is relatively flat.

bluechip · Jan 27, 2008

You probably already know this, but for the benefit of others that may read this thread, always remember when driving HST that lifting your foot off the pedal increases power (and reduces speed) just like downshifting. It is natural to want to push harder on the "go" pedal when the tractor starts to bog down a bit and that is exactly the opposite of what needs to happen. Of course the gear ranges are there to match the work at hand, and be careful changing ranges on a hill, an unintended stop in the netural position can have a less than desirable effect. Since the brake pedals are often where you dont expect htem to be, and on HST tractors not used as often, a freely rolling tractor (probably backward) can get a little intersting and a quick turn of the steering wheel can get even more fun resulting in unscheduled ROPS and seatbelt testing.

as for the OP question, I feel the DK40SE has a realatively low center of gravety (for a tractor, lousy as a sports car). filling the tires with ballast will lower the CG even more.

ToadHill · Jan 27, 2008

I don't know about HSD but the only time I ever had to downshift going uphill was on one steep grade on the side road with a full bucket of gravel and I went from 3rd gear high range to 2nd gear high range.

IslandTractor · Jan 29, 2008

There are a couple of 15-17 degree hilly bits on the land that I work with my DK40se. I don't have the tires loaded (yet). I can say that it feels much more stable than my CK20 which did have loaded tires. I go slow and watch for bumps/troughs but overall it seems to handle the slopes very well.

MotorSeven · Feb 2, 2008

Hills? Sheese, i wish i had hills. I have ridges, it's either flat or steep as....
My CK30 HST has to be in low gear to climb up an old logging road which is going to be my driveway. It will NOT climb it in high or mid range. With that being said, it crawls up there in low range with no problems. I cannot drag a box blade up that incline, only down. My schpink-ter meter keeps me off any side angle greater than 15 drgrees....i am sure the tractor is capable of more.
Here is a pic where pasture meets ridge: