What kind of a hill can a mini excavator handle.

[Snobdds]

So you're not going to be perpendicular to the hill, but rather have the tracks going with the slope of the hill? It would work, but to move left or right will be interesting. I don't like to rotate the undercarriage on a hill, the momentum on the downhill side is absolute. Gravity always wins.

To traverse a slope, a cut on the uphill side is needed, that requires moving some dirt to the downhill side. Just think out your moves well in advance.

 

[4570Man]

The area to be cleared isn't very wide. I'd planned on making a couple passes down the hill keeping the tracks up and down the hill.

 

[Snobdds]

You should be good then. Blade always on the downhills side of course...

 

[tonyoz]

A mate of mine was doing an urgent job using a 22 ton excavator and mulcher on a steep block. It was fitted with a ROPS FOPS frame over the cab and he was wearing the seatbelt. The machine slid on a buried log. When the machine dropped off the end it rolled onto a stump which went under the ROPS and into the cab. That was Xmas eve 2000 and there has been an empty chair at the table ever since. Lesson for everyone working on hillsides, make sure the machine is working on stable ground with little or no vegetation under the tracks

 

[Code54]

The blade will go down enough to put the machine close to level. Is that not sufficient? It's cost prohibitive get a machine bigger than a JD 50.

If you can get leveled with by just putting the blade down you should be totally fine. We often work on slopes where even with the blade down you are still leaving pretty hard. We normally work up hill in those cases so that you don't pull the machine over.

 

[Code54]

A mate of mine was doing an urgent job using a 22 ton excavator and mulcher on a steep block. It was fitted with a ROPS FOPS frame over the cab and he was wearing the seatbelt. The machine slid on a buried log. When the machine dropped off the end it rolled onto a stump which went under the ROPS and into the cab. That was Xmas eve 2000 and there has been an empty chair at the table ever since. Lesson for everyone working on hillsides, make sure the machine is working on stable ground with little or no vegetation under the tracks

That is a terrible shame and I hate to hear that. Things can happen quickly and have devastating results.

 

[4570Man]

Here's a picture looking up at the hill. It gets worse below where I was standing? But I doubt much work would happen below that.

 

[Industrial Toys]

When I had my drive shed built. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Quite impressed with the little NH mini ex

 

[Code54]

Here is the hill I go up and down all the time. Also cleared a bunch of big trees off of it with the mini. I was dropping a few trees that day and using the mini to move them around.
Hope it gives you a rough idea.

 

[4570Man]

When I had my drive shed built. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Quite impressed with the little NH mini ex

View attachment 529428View attachment 529429

The second picture is probably equivalent to the worst I might have to be on. Most of it is less.