Operating on hilly ground. You level land guys are wimps!!
- Thread starter sweep
- Start date
- Views: 23235
brin
Super Member
Looks like 30 deg slope to me....I mow one that is similar up and down in semi circles..
trueblue1963
New member
- Joined
- May 8, 2009
- Messages
- 10
I have a farm in West Virginia, Ive been brush hogging for the two weeks and I still have alot left to do. Some of the hills I'm on all day, are so steep you have to pick where your going to land as you come slideing off of them. Also you have to remember where all the rocks, groundhog holes and tree stumps were the year before. By the end of the day you're exhausted from trying not to slide out of your seat or rolling the tractor. Oh and I forgot to mention the yellow jacket and bumblebee nest you hit while your on the steepest part of the hill.You have no choice but to take the stings:confused2: till you can get on level ground.
Short Game
Veteran Member
Where I live, nearly all of the coniferous tree species will grow straight up, whether close packed or individually. Our tall red alders, a species of birch, often lean downslope. They grow up in thickets and self thin as they grow up. They outrace the fir, hemlock, cedar, and spruce up to the 80 to 100 foot range. The conifers grow slow and steady under them. It is not unusual to walk through the woods and come upon a grove of alders, now below the firs and hemlocks, and the whole grove is leaning downslope unlike the conifers. Any alder that is left to grow alone in the open will be as straight up as any fir. It looks like it's mainly gravity that guides the conifers, and mainly light that guides the single trunk deciduous trees. That's the way it is around here, anyway.
Yes^^^^
I travel through W.va just about every day. Steep. The farmer whose round bales roll down the hill after coming out of the baler I mentioned lives there.
Guys move their tires out through adapters where the inner part of the tire is 1 foot past the outer edge of the fender. Looks funky but get's the job done.
Bison
Platinum Member
I would not want to farm them slopes if they gave them to me.
I got a few short slopes on my place and they are allready a MAYOR PITA .It takes to much HP to climb up hill,and one needs to ride the brakes going down.
Making bales i also a nuicance cause on the down hill stretch you can't eject one without it following the baler, and on the uphill the bale usually rolls kinda sideways and ends up coming appart or stop on a swath that needs baling yet.
It has nothing to do with being wimpy,farming hilly ground is a PITA,you're just jealous
M2 c
I got a few short slopes on my place and they are allready a MAYOR PITA .It takes to much HP to climb up hill,and one needs to ride the brakes going down.
Making bales i also a nuicance cause on the down hill stretch you can't eject one without it following the baler, and on the uphill the bale usually rolls kinda sideways and ends up coming appart or stop on a swath that needs baling yet.
It has nothing to do with being wimpy,farming hilly ground is a PITA,you're just jealous
M2 c
flusher
Super Member
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2005
- Messages
- 7,555
- Location
- Sacramento
- Tractor
- Getting old. Sold the ranch. Sold the tractors. Moved back to the city.
If you're puckered up because of the need to mow steep slopes, then you can make simple modifications to your tractor to help stabilize it. For example, my 1964 MF135 diesel has been modified to squat low for work in the olive orchards around here. The 28" dia rear rims have been replaced by 16" dia rims that are fitted with Goodrich 18.4-16A 6-ply rears that lower the rear axle to 20" above grade. Shortened front axle spindles are added to keep the tractor level. With this arrangement, the squat ratio (wheel track measured to the outside of the tire divided by height above grade of the centerline of the axle) is 4.15 (83" track, 20" axle height). By comparison, my 2008 Mahindra 5525 is set up like a typical field tractor and has 28" rear rims and a 2.84 squat ratio (71" track, 25" axle height).
If you have an older tractor like my 1945 Oliver 60 Row Crop, you have extra long rear axles and can widen the track quite a bit by moving the rear wheels to the ends of the axles. I've seen Ollies with axles at least a foot longer than the ones on mine.
Of course, another way to stabilize is rear duallies.
If you have an older tractor like my 1945 Oliver 60 Row Crop, you have extra long rear axles and can widen the track quite a bit by moving the rear wheels to the ends of the axles. I've seen Ollies with axles at least a foot longer than the ones on mine.
Of course, another way to stabilize is rear duallies.
mainegoatman
Member
I don't doubt you at all.
No one has mentioned (unless I missed it) that the optical lens of a camera makes objects on the edge of the frame appear to lean toward the center of the photo. That's why the fence posts are plumb. it looks to me like the trees on the left side are leaning slightly to the right as well.
Take a look at the edge of photos of these buildings to illistrate my point
RoyJackson
Rest in Peace
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2001
- Messages
- 23,144
- Location
- Bethel, Vermont
- Tractor
- John Deere 4052R Cab,, Deere 855D UTV, Z920A Zero Turn Mower and assorted implements
Yeah, it is too high for being on that slope. I keep mine about 6"-8" off the ground unless there's a specific need to raise it higher. Ballast boxes are a great way to get weight close in (relatively speaking) on the rear.