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 | Toller
Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 27 Alabama 
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2004-05-02 84957
I have a small area that is relatively steep that I need to mow with a 970 and LX5. In the past I've mowed it with a string trimmer and 3 hours. The chap that was contract mowing our place mowed this with his rotary cutter but I never saw him do it.
Is it better to mow down the hill rather than up? It strikes me that mowin g uphill would have the rear wheels of the tractor as a fulcrum with a possibility of a flip. MOwing down the hill would make the front wheels the fulcrum and the whole weight of the tractor and mower would work against a flip. Right or wrong?
Thanks.
Eric
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 | harvey
Join Date: Sep 2000 Posts: 1550 Moravia, NY 
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2004-05-02 84977
Mowing down the hill, if it's steep, 4wd is mandatory. I regularly mow a road bank up and down it is steep enough that if I got sideways it would probably roll over in a couple of places.
I'd rather mow up hill and weight the front end if necessary. ....
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 | BillMullens
Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 649 Central West Virginia 
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2004-05-02 84980
For the really steep places, I prefer to mow uphill, backwards.
Bill ....
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 | Billy
Join Date: Oct 1999 Posts: 975 Southeast Oklahoma 
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2004-05-02 84982
Yep, I agree with Bill. Mowing backing up a steep hill will give you more control. ....
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 | beagle
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1333 Michigan
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2004-05-02 85011
Going up steep grades forward is never recommended since the shift in center of gravity to the rear of the tractor can contribute to a torque over. Always back up steep slopes. I believe you will find the same recommendation in your owners manual.
Front weights can help couteract the shift in the center of gravity. ....
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| Toller
Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 27 Alabama
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2004-05-03 85080
I generally try to follow the advice of those who have gone before me so backing up the hill is what we'll do for starters.
However, I also have to wonder why backing up is better than starting at the top and mowing down. The tractor is a 950 4WD with a 430 FEL pulling a LX5 cutter. I realize I'd have to move the FEL as we go down the hill to both keep it low most of the way and yet to keep it from digging in at the bottom.
The tires are filled.
So, why is backing up safer than heading down?
Thanks.
Eric ....
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| BillBass
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 190 North Texas
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2004-05-03 85083
I also have a 950 4wd. The ditches along the road have some areas where there is quite a slope. I mow across the slope watching my tilt meter until it approaches 20 degrees. Some areas are around 25 degrees, those I mow up or down depending on which is more convenient. Mowing downward, if the slope were great and the grass were wet and you hit the brakes, the downward momentum could cause you to go into an uncontrolled slide. Backing upward, the momentum would be up the slope, so a slide would be less likely. My slope is only about 15' to 20' top to bottom so I don't worry to much about it. Experience will teach what you can do. Pucker factor will teach you what you feel comfortable doing. ....
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| beagle
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1333 Michigan
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2004-05-03 85095
As the tractor is pointed up a hill, the horizontal projection of the tractor is shorter, moving the center of gravity closer to the back axle. As the torque of the rear wheels attempts to move the tractor forward, the couteracting moment has been reduced by the shortened distance between the rear axles and the center of gravity. In other words, you can more readily bring the front axle off the ground from the torque of the rear axle. This accelerates a "torque over", or the front of the machine backflipping the back. ....
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| BillMullens
Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 649 Central West Virginia
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2004-05-03 85130
I'm not exactly sure the "why" of it, but have experienced short four wheel slides going down slopes; never had any problems backing up them. Some of the steep places I've bush-hogged I didn't have a choice; the only place to start was at the bottom.
Be careful; sometimes you have to account for things that you can't see or didn't think about beforehand. Better to keep a built-in safety factor than to push the limits.
Bill ....
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| Billy
Join Date: Oct 1999 Posts: 975 Southeast Oklahoma
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2004-05-04 85166
The reason you want to mow steep places backing up is...
If you get in trouble, it's easier to ease back down. If you start at the top and get in trouble going down, you could be in for a wild ride. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley 
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2004-05-05 85245
I suspect that traction works differently going up and downhill. Going downhill the soil immediately ahead of the tires has to support the weight and that soil hasn't been driven over. Going uphill the tires are pulling the tractor and the soil that supports the weight has been driven over.
Going downhill forward does reduce overall traction since there's a weight transfer forward away from the large rear tires. Other things being equal there'd be less traction overall but the same would be true backing uphill. There are reasons other than traction for the conventional practice of driving down and backing up. For myself, if the tractor is nose heavy and I'm not working an implement I prefer backing down a risky hill. The idea is to shift weight to the higher traction rear wheels and perhaps prevent a slide but I suppose I can't recommend the practice--it just feels more comfortable to me.
I don't worry much about sliding down backwards since I think that almost always it's going to be a wild ride clear to the bottom or a side roll, which ever comes first and there's little that can be done to control the tractor anyway. I figure it wouldn't do me much good to see where I'm going anyway, so I go for what I think gives the best traction is least likely to result in a slide. ....
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| kadorken
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 67 Canada
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2004-05-06 85396
When the grass is slippery, it is better to start slipping trying to climb the hill near the bottom than it is to start down the hill and discover it is slippery and slide all the way to bottom (hopefully in a straight line, but sometimes not - I rolled a lawn tractor down the hill once doing this very maneuver (I got off at the top of the hill and luckily only watched it roll as the lawnmower blades were turning :)) ....
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 | Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2004-05-07 85455
Weight distribution on all mowers are a bit different and they all need to be taken on a one to one trial. I've driven just about every make and every model that is built and some work better on hills then others. Some are heavy on the rear and some are more evenly balanced. ....
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