# Riding mowers going to kill me.?



## RebStew (Aug 23, 2013)

Admin if this is in the wrong spot please move it. 

I have a problem with where I'm at. A huge hill. I sit at the very top. I have an old Furgie I use to bushhog but I'd like the grass around the house to be a little nicer kept. Here's my issue. The riding mowers I have won't work on the hills. I have a newer one and old K-mart style one. The newer one won't go up the hill without smoking the belt and going down it takes off super fast and I almost wipe it out. The old K mart mower works better but will jump out of gear on the hill and away it goes. I have almost killed myself on these things more than I care to admit.

I don't have a ton of cash but I need something that will cut on this hill and will last. What do you guys recommend? Anyone live on a hill and have good luck with theirs? I know there are 4X4 small Kubotas that will do the job but the sticker shock is beyond me.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Sounds like you need a better transmission.
You could get a SnapperPro, new $5000.00 to $11000.00, but I got mine used to cut 10 acres with a slope.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

You need a much better quality mower than the junk sold now-a-days.

A Cub Cadet 122 or similar, or a Deere 318... or any older Case-Ingersoll, Simplicity or Allis-Chalmers should do well. 

Stay away from the "light-weight, stamped sheet metal" junk. 

If you want a machine that works, you will have to pay for one that is up to the job. Accept no substitutes. Sorry, I do not have a "cheap" answer.


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

We have a hill that gets steeper as I go up it and one time I told my wife I was getting tired of weed whacking it and I was going to try the Craftsman mower on it. Well she said "Don't do it.", but I thought that because I have already done fairly steep side hill mowing that I could get away with it, nope. I got up as far as I wanted to go forward but I made the mistake of turning around to mow downhill and the mower took off like a rocket. I could see death coming if I didn't do something so I made a sharp left turn just in front of an old rotting pine log which turned the mower on its side and slightly trapped my right leg. Scared the snot out of me but I lived to tell this. Had to bang out the hood and clear the fuel pump pulse hose from the crankcase, other than that the tractor fared better than I did. As to some of the side hill mowing that I do, I sit on the seat edge on the high side to keep traction and reduce the possibility of tipping. I have a slight concern that the oil pump may starve with that kind of angle but I've been doing this for over five years and the engine oil shows no sign of metal particles and it starts and runs like a champ. I have considered getting a drive wheel powered rig like a Goat that has a axle lock to drive both wheels, but so far I just use my reliable Snapper weed whacker using good traction boots.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

With the basic homeowner type units hydrostatic CAN make a big difference, they TEND to be a better put together drive system IME.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

We have a couple of old roper Garden tractors with belly mowers, they have a good solid transmission with a belt tensioner clutch, good tough old machines, they made machines for sears, (garden tractors, not lawn tractors) I think the parent company is American yard machines ??


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## backlash (Nov 11, 2008)

A guy I worked with was late getting to work.
Boss went to check on him and found him dead under his tractor.
He was mowing on a hill side and it rolled over on him.
Spent the night trapped under it, no idea when he died.
Sad situation for everyone.


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## HELIXX (Jan 2, 2011)

Get some sheep.


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## Coastal (Jun 27, 2013)

Fly-mow on a rope!


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## HELIXX (Jan 2, 2011)

https://www.google.com/search?q=gra...NBJbZoATb-4LIDQ&ved=0CD0QsAQ&biw=1536&bih=716


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## helicopter5472 (Feb 25, 2013)

HELIXX said:


> https://www.google.com/search?q=gra...NBJbZoATb-4LIDQ&ved=0CD0QsAQ&biw=1536&bih=716


Well the only thing on the White House Lawn now is BoBo's leftovers, Obama's mutt... :laugh:


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## oldasrocks (Jun 30, 2012)

I mow the side hill with a MTD. Mow sideways and park your butt offset to counterbalance the mower. This only works with a manual transmission.


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

Our property is very hilly. Cant use much of anything on it. just too steep. so Thumper took our ole mower and tied a rope to the handle. when it got to the bottom he pulled it up and moved it over for the next swipe.


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

oldasrocks said:


> I mow the side hill with a MTD. Mow sideways and park your butt offset to counterbalance the mower. This only works with a manual transmission.


I liken it to sitting on the side rails of a sailboat, done it for years and mine is a Craftsman with a mid 50" deck and it's a hand lever hydro-stat.


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

I have a ZTR that does well on hills. (Most don't).

The best tractors on hills are Ventrac and Steiner. They're like mountain goats.


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## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

Do any of your neighbors have goats? Maybe you could rent a couple ever so often and let them take care of that for you.

http://werentgoats.com/weeds/


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

Ezmerelda said:


> Do any of your neighbors have goats? Maybe you could rent a couple ever so often and let them take care of that for you.
> 
> http://werentgoats.com/weeds/


Goats and sheep are frequently used for taking care of weed and grass problem areas, however, goats need very good fences, we know that very well as we raise goats and when they have done their job and ran out of things to eat they could jump a four foot fence with ease. Our neighbor has sheep and they tend to be more contained in fenced areas, however when the fed gets scarce they like to get their head stuck in the fences going for the stuff outside of the fences. In other words they need to be watched fairly frequently or you could end up with dead animals. We know about that as well sad to say.


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