hill side mowing

[rudyman]

What mowers do INGO use to mow hills with. My wife bought a property last fall that has a fairly steep hill on the back side . 10 or 12 degrees I believe. Looking for input . I wanted to get several goats and length of chain and do it 'green' mow and fertilize at the same time in a carbon footprint friendly way. She found no humor in my suggestion. Any real world experience ?

 

[1911ly]

What mowers do INGO use to mow hills with. My wife bought a property last fall that has a fairly steep hill on the back side . 10 or 12 degrees I believe. Looking for input . I wanted to get several goats and length of chain and do it 'green' mow and fertilize at the same time in a carbon footprint friendly way. She found no humor in my suggestion. Any real world experience ?

A bit of googling came up with this: The 4 Best Lawn Mowers for Steep Hills ? Reviews 2019

 

[deo62]

I have an extremely steep hill, at least 15 degrees . Been using a Deere x590 for awhile now. Good set of tires is a must.

 

[nra4ever]

I mow the side of a hill with a hustler fastrack 54”. It’s low to the ground. Every now and the it begins to slide and you have to drive it to the bottom. I have an exmark lazer z 60” and would never attempt it with that mower.

 

[BR8818]

I have ditch that's about 25 degrees I use too cut it with a 46" craftsman rider it wasn't bad I'd just throw my weight to the high side. I now have a John Deere 430 garden tractor that weighs 1,700lbs and you sit a lot higher up then the craftsman at first it was scary but now it seems like nothing. So I think you could use any lawn mower without a problem just takes getting use to and a good set of tires. I'm forced to mow my ditch side to side, but if you can it's much safer to mow up and down.

 

[patience0830]

Look up Steiner AWD mowers.

https://www.steinerturf.com/tractors/440-tractor/

Deck sticks out in front. 14" turning radius. Center articulation.

 

[amboy49]

OP,

I don’t think you mentioned how much grass you had to mow. I knew a commercial lawn company once that had some side hill mowing to do. They used something called a “batwing” mower (?).

 

[bwframe]

I lived in a place with a terraced yard for six years. It was hard on equipment and hard on me. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't.

 

[Spear Dane]

Don't do it. It's a plot to 'accidentally' get you out of the way.

 

[femurphy77]

Don't do it. It's a plot to 'accidentally' get you out of the way.

My thoughts as well. Whatever mower you get, if she says the ROPS is in the way and needs to be removed I'd be very careful. You definitely don't want to turn your back on her or close your eyes at night.

 

[AtTheMurph]

What mowers do INGO use to mow hills with. My wife bought a property last fall that has a fairly steep hill on the back side . 10 or 12 degrees I believe. Looking for input . I wanted to get several goats and length of chain and do it 'green' mow and fertilize at the same time in a carbon footprint friendly way. She found no humor in my suggestion. Any real world experience ?

I have a similar situation. Can't use a rider on my hills in back. They stay relatively moist due to shade. I had used a walk behind self-propelled until my wife decided that she was going to mow the lawn one day. She got on the hill and lost control. Let the mower take off by itself and smashed into a large landscaping rock at the bottom.

Ripped the crap out of the machine.

So in my search for a new machine I settled on a Toro 4x4 walk behind. Still a push type mower but the four wheel drive works better than just two wheels. And most walk behinds now use front wheel drive which isn't good going up and down. Plus the Toro is 22" which is larger than most. One draw back is added weight so she is not allowed to cut the hills.

Had it for a couple years. Not one problem, cuts pretty well and saves me about 5% time.

 

[diver dan]

Spray crossbow on the grass/weeds on side of hill,spray and done.

 

[rudyman]

The Steiner suggestion is an expensive ,but effective way to do this. I talked to 'the guy' at the local mower shop. He said whatever you get make sure the engine has oil pump to lubricate not a slinger . Lack of oil is hard on the inside of an engine. Who would have guessed that? He also suggested a Kubota bx series 18 to 20 horse four wheel drive. Older tractors ,built like tank. Doesn't get much repair on them. Gotta google-fu these to see what they are. The wife watched me slide the scag zero turn six feet sideways near a tree last fall, says that is unacceptable. She needs me to paint the kitchen ,remodel bathroom before I bust my *as mowing the yard.

 

[Cpt Caveman]

What ridyman said. Pressurized oil system. DR field and brush mowers are great.

 

[Ark]

I was driving through Brownstown once and I saw a guy who had to be 80 years old mowing a small, steeply sloped part of his yard.

The guy had an old push mower with the handle assembly removed and the throttle wired open. In place of the handle, he had rigged up a system of ropes very similar to the reins of a horse. He would walk backwards, pulling the mower up the hill at a slight angle, then he would straighten it out and walk forward, allowing the mower to roll down the hill. He was repeating that with overlaps to do this little section of the yard, before switching back to the regular mower.