How steep is too steep?

How do I know when the hill is to steep for my tractor to go on safely? The rear tires are loaded. Their is a pond at.the bottom of this hill so mowing up and down is not possible. Their are steeper places that I am afraid to mow, am I being chicken? Is their a rule of thumb for this or do you just have to go by feel?
Thanks
Dave

If you are not comfortable, it is too steep.

(quoted from post at 15:01:05 08/18/21) How do I know when the hill is to steep for my tractor to go on safely? The rear tires are loaded. Their is a pond at.the bottom of this hill so mowing up and down is not possible. Their are steeper places that I am afraid to mow, am I being chicken? Is their a rule of thumb for this or do you just have to go by feel?
Thanks
Dave

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I don't see a hill. Picture please.

x2, nothing i can see either. you will know when you are wanting to slide out of the seat sideways.

Ones like yours are especially less tolerant of slopes compared to less modern conventional designs. I could compare one we had, a challenger MT 265 (compact/narrower at rear axle) against my old ford 850, no comparison. I've run side slopes since I was a kid, so the terrain is familiar, and still just as much a concern today. A low center of gravity model is best for this terrain, aside from loaded rears which does make a big difference.

Some years back, during spring planting, I was following the JD 7420 MFWD and grain drill, with a JD 3150 MFWD & loader picking rocks, also pulling a 12' double roller Brillion cultipacker and at first I was hesitant to follow in this one field. This farmer I knew all my life and he knew these fields quite well after 50+ years of farming them. So I started in on that section. Not exactly comfortable but within capability of the tractor. Now if conditions were soft, slick or there was an unseen depression, unusally large 'chuck hole on the down hill side, things could go wrong quickly. We also ran his JD 4440 with standard front axle on this slope.

Currently I run a NH/Ford 4630 with MFWD with a rotary cutter and with its wide stance, rear loaded tires, rops and seat with a belt that I use every time I operate it, it is very comfortable on side slopes, some of which are significant. The front tires alone make a huge difference compared to other front axle options. One of these slopes I also ran a JD 2010 narrow front, same concern today and although with that tractor there is the pucker factor, it was within tolerance even with the higher center of gravity, which just made it feel worse than it was. No ROPS on that one though. I will not run these slopes anymore without ROPS and a seat with a belt. It starts to go, I am ready to turn the key off and stand a chance of not getting killed or seriously injured.

In regards to the question, you are best served by looking up the technical information of that model and what it is rated for, has to be something on it for that tractor. Going by feel, still has risk, and do not forget unseen holes or soft areas etc.

When I was a stupid teenager mowing county roadsides I rolled two tractors, an Allis B, and a JD40U. I bailed out on the downside of the tractor. I can still hear it clanking as it rolled down after me.

You can be careful several times a day - you can only get killed once.

If you have the owners manual on the tractor it should give the safe angle you can mow. The problem I had is an animal dug a hole I couldn't see because of the grass and the front wheel dropped lower turning the tractor over. If you are apprehensive in mowing a hill, back the mower down the hill and go back straight up the hill. That's what I started doing after turning one over.

Havent found out yet

I routinely bale hay on ground much steeper than that,but I'm not using one of those either.Have to add weights to the front of the mowing tractor on one piece of ground to keep the front end down.Big difference in tractors how easily they will turn over plus factor in speed,holes,bumps etc.Bottom line if it scares you stay off of it,being panicked is the worst thing you can do.

How steep is too steep?
I go by the pucker factor.
Too steep is when you pucker up and rip the seat cover.
Use a seat belt.

Sometime when you run over something or a wheel falls in a hole, that really raises the pucker factor.

Just my opinion. A tire half full of ballast will lower center of gravity way more than a full tire.

Out of curiosity, what task are you performing, is it mowing sage brush or similar to turn that ground into something you'll plant, graze and or harvest something from ? I cannot imagine what kinds of critters lurk in there, sure is green and different, but we have lots of hills similar on ground here. Further east, it's mountainous, (eastern woodland type with lots of boulders), to the west not so much, some nice ground in places but many with the more gentle rolling type hills. Our spray applicator use to call some of our fields goat country.

The photos you show don't look like much of a slope, but I know photos can be deceiving. Anything to lower the center of gravity helps, such as loaded tires or front end weights. Use your seat belts, and keep your mower or whatever three point implement you are using on the ground.
I grew up in WV and spent a lot of time mowing fields so steep that I had to hang on to the uphill fender to keep from sliding out of the seat. Like anything else, you learn over time what your tractor can do. But you always have to watch out for animal burrows, rocks, grass that is slick from dew, etc.

Spraying brush otherwise it takes over and the grass wont grow . 32 foot century sprayer 300 gallon on my 3020

Makes quite a difference if grass is real dry or wet.
I mow some steep stuff.

You can set your wheels out a lot from where you have them. It is explained in your owners manual.

X2
Just don't get over confident

Usually only one pass that is the steepest. For that pass no fwa., no differential lock and go real slow so if it gets light the top rear wheel will start to spin.

The lower the center of gravity the better. Some of the Nebraska tests include vertical center of gravity, some don't. I used to talk with guys who mowed roadsides. They, in this case, used Ford LCG tractors. They said there was no way one would roll. They would slide sideways, but they wouldn't roll. My advice would be to get the lowest vertical center of gravity tractor you can find.

I think I'd look for a pair of rear wheel spacers and longer lug bolts to widen the rear track of that tractor, looks like 2 inches per side would still let you be able to trim tight up against things. A 4 inch wider rear tread width would make the tractor feel a lot more steady. And the suggestion of half a tire full of liquid ballast would help too.
The pictures really don't look very steep in my opinion. The County mows roadbanks around here with a 6000 series 4WD Deere, ROPS cab with heater and AC, and they are set fairly narrow, and I don't know how they stay on all 4 wheels on some slopes, they have to be close to 45 degrees, I'm pretty sure they have slope meters in the cab so they know when to back off a slope.
The operators manual makes a big deal about not mowing over a 15 degree slope, draw a 45 degree angle, then divide it into thirds, that's 15 degrees, not much. I have about 500 feet of roadbank I mow, I used to mow it with a Cub Cadet garden tractor, I'd slide over and sit half on the uphill fender, the tires would slide sidways off the slope if the grass was the least little bit wet. I mow it with my zero turn with the ROPS folded, it's still higher than my head, and my seat belt on, it's really not that hard to keep on that slope. I imagine the reason for the 15 degree limit is to eliminate the chance of oil starvation in the engine, all the oil flowing away from the oil pump pickup.

Is she four wheel drive? If the slope concerns me, I would find some way to at least extend the rear wheels. It looks like from your rear view picture you can move the wheels out 6 and still not run on the standing grass.

Your slope looks o.k., but are there any low or sunk places in it?

If you are in the seat and look straight down and see the lower wheel tire sidewall, it is time to widen your wheels.

(quoted from post at 13:01:05 08/18/21) How do I know when the hill is to steep for my tractor to go on safely?

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Mount one of these on your ROPS. Stay withing your comfort zone. Keep your nose up so if she wants to go, the back end will slip out and you'll be facing uphill.

https://www.amazon.com/Sun-Company-201-F-gage-Inclinometer/dp/B00042K694

19 percent makes me slide up the seat and only fill the bottom box on the combine.

Thanks guys. It is steeper than it looks and the next pass downhill is even steeper. I was afraid to get off and take pictures on that pass. And yes their are ground hog holes here and there and I watch closely for them. Thanks for the suggestions.
Dave

I don't know if you can find them but years ago I posted pictures of what can/will happen if you try to drive in to steep of a hill. A guy I know did so with an 8N ford and brush hog and slide sideways down a hill till he hit a tree and did a 180. He went to the hospital with a mess up knee and it took me 2 days to get the tractor out of the tree and down the hill with out it rolling over.

(quoted from post at 15:03:05 08/18/21)
If you are not comfortable, it is too steep.

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This pretty much says it all!

If you need to ask it is probably to steep. With those tires I would stay on flat ground nothing to keep it from sliding. Then again maybe it would be better to slide than rollover.

I replied to Grandpa Love's post up above with some pictures of my pond dam I cut. As I said it depends on a lot of things including a person's comfort zone but I'd cut that no problem and have cut much steeper. I just go slow the first few times to get a feel of it and I can tell when it's getting to harry.

Exactly!

(quoted from post at 20:53:57 08/18/21)

(quoted from post at 15:03:05 08/18/21)
If you are not comfortable, it is too steep.

Click to expand...

This pretty much says it all!

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Yep, sell the tractor, stay in bed and hire it done!!

(quoted from post at 17:29:57 08/18/21) I think I'd look for a pair of rear wheel spacers and longer lug bolts to widen the rear track of that tractor, looks like 2 inches per side would still let you be able to trim tight up against things. A 4 inch wider rear tread width would make the tractor feel a lot more steady. And the suggestion of half a tire full of liquid ballast would help too.
The pictures really don't look very steep in my opinion. The County mows roadbanks around here with a 6000 series 4WD Deere, ROPS cab with heater and AC, and they are set fairly narrow, and I don't know how they stay on all 4 wheels on some slopes, they have to be close to 45 degrees, I'm pretty sure they have slope meters in the cab so they know when to back off a slope.
The operators manual makes a big deal about not mowing over a 15 degree slope, draw a 45 degree angle, then divide it into thirds, that's 15 degrees, not much. I have about 500 feet of roadbank I mow, I used to mow it with a Cub Cadet garden tractor, I'd slide over and sit half on the uphill fender, the tires would slide sidways off the slope if the grass was the least little bit wet. I mow it with my zero turn with the ROPS folded, it's still higher than my head, and my seat belt on, it's really not that hard to keep on that slope. I imagine the reason for the 15 degree limit is to eliminate the chance of oil starvation in the engine, all the oil flowing away from the oil pump pickup.

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Dr. Evil, why look for spacers when the tractor came with them built in????