hydros on steep hills

[Rufur]

today I was mowing an extremely steep hill up and down..to avoid rutting... Im curios how hydro operators handle this Im usinf belts going down and when the wheels begin to slip I pump the brakes kinda like abs works pretty good how do hydros handle in such a situation since thenre is no belt brake? does it shift into neutral and run?

[Duncan IN]

I have a scag turf tiger. They use hydros and the way I stop on the downside of the hill is you normally pull the handels back slighty into reverse and it will slow the mower down. If you need to slow down immediately you can pull all the way back putting it into reverse but this will normally tear up the grass. All in all the hydros do a really good job at stoping on hills. You couldn't go wrong with one.

Levi Duncan
Lone Tree Lawn Care

Scag Rules

[steveair]

hello,

Hydros make a world of difference on steep hills. If you have a lot of hilly accounts, you are making yourself miserable not having one.

I've tried a exmark 52" hydro on a steep hill I mow at work with a 36" belt bobcat, and say that for most of the hill, the hydro is the only way to go when it comes to speed, not ripping up the turf, and handling. However, I do find that I feel more at home using the 36" belt. Though it tends to spin out easier, it is much lighter, which means I can 'man handle' it a lot easier, which is something you cannot do with the bigger set up. I would love to try a 36" hydro drive on the hill if I had one.

steveair

[Mowman]

I HAVE ONE PROPETRY THAT HAS A VERY STEEP HILL ALL THE WAY AROUND THE HOUSE. IT TOOK SEVERAL TIMES MOWING AND TRIAL AND ERROR TO FIND THE BEST WAY TO CUT IT. I NOW HIT IT STRAIGHT ON. I CUT IT STRAIGHT UP, THEN BACK DOWN AND MOVE OVER ONE WIDTH AND THEN START BACK UP AGAIN. HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR SEVERAL MONTHS AND THIS APPROCH HAS WORKED OUT VERY WELL FOR ME. I'M USING A WALKER MOWER. HOPE THIS HELPS YOU.
Mowman

[little green guy]

hyrdos don't runaway like belts do, like sometimes on belts the mower will start to go faster down a hill, on a hydro the wheels don't move anyfaster than normal and if they do it's not to much faster. The only way a hyrdo will gian speed down a hill if by gravity pulling the whole machine down, if it does that, just like Duncan siad you just pull it into reverse.

I hate to cut hills with belt drives, I have both belts and hyrdo and I only use hydros on hills. I also never cut a hill up and down only side to side or on an angle. Some of the hills I cut are so steep there hard to stand on.

[Duncan IN]

It seems that there is no really good way to mow a hill while still trying to stripe it. I have found that if you mow it sideways your fine until you hit spots that will make you loose total traction and you slide down a few feet. Up and down on a steep hill is hard to keep it from getting away from me on the way down and angles forget it on the way down with hydros it's almost impossible to keep it straight. Now I am not talking about hills that are not very steep I am talking about the steep ones. Just thought I would share my experience with mowing inclines. I use a scag turf tiger 61"

Levi Duncan
Lone Tree Lawn Care

[little green guy]

I always use walkbehindes on hills so it's easier to go sideways and on an angle but it's just to dangerous to go up an down.

[Duncan IN]

I have a Snapper Hydro Walkbehind that I have used a couple of times on hills. Seems like once it gets into motion on the downside of a hill you might as well forget it because there is no stopping it. I haven't tried it at an angle I will have to give it a try. Also seems like with Hydros going up the hill they are so slow. Maybe it's just my mower.


Levi Duncan
Lone Tree Lawn Care

[Premo Services]

Originally posted by Duncan IN
I have a Snapper Hydro Walkbehind that I have used a couple of times on hills. Seems like once it gets into motion on the downside of a hill you might as well forget it because there is no stopping it.

Levi Duncan
Lone Tree Lawn Care

Do you have a sulky on your snapper, if so you need to get off sulky when going down hills because your weight plus machine = unability to stop going downhill. I have a toro WB and it has t-bar steering, it is the same way as yours going down hills, but with exmark turf tracers the problem is somewhat reduced, mabey it is in the way that they have for you steer the unit.

[Duncan IN]

I have a sulky on my hydro but don't use it on hills, to dangerous

Levi Duncan
Lone Tree Lawn Care

[chrisbolte]

I use a gravely zero turn and alway mow up and down. The mower stops itself when you put it into neutral.

[TLS]

On hills going down, the weight of the mower transferrs forward, and 90% of the mower weight is on the front casters. It will loose tire to ground traction, and when this happens, you are in for a ride (or walk) of your life. Reverse just tears up more ground and makes you go even faster! Grasshoppers, Walkers, Front runners, etc will be better going down, but unless they are 4wd, they are handicapped going up. If you are on hills that you cannot stand on, beware, your engine is not rated for this steep of an incline. It will starve for oil. We need to educate builders into building houses with less hills. Homeowners like those house on the hill looks, but it will cost them more $$$ from us.