Your cleanup looks nice. Yes. In 4 wheel drive low with the bucket staying close to the ground.
FH, yes. Definitely in 4 low. I have beat juice in the rears, but not the smaller front tires. I do keep the bucket low. I don’t think there’s any chance of actually tipping backwards, but there is a chance to get stuck. Then it would be very difficult to get pulled out. Plus, I’d be the talk of the county. (As I was the last time a neighbor had to pull my tractor out of a mud hole). Ha
Originally Posted by FishinRod
SetterGuy,
Evaluating slopes from a picture is NOT the same as being there in person. Does the slope in the picture match the slope in your brain when you are standing there?
If so, then yes, I would back a tractor down the backside of your dam slope.
Do you have ROP? Are you going in with a bush hog?
When the ground is DRY, I have mowed steeper slopes than that. I have only gotten a booty pucker factor (BPF) on the tractor when going sideways along slopes. I think my BPF is decently calibrated since I have had it go beyond the redline when going down much steeper slopes on a min-excavator. I have tipped the excavator over (forward) several times, and caught myself on the front bucket because I knew I was right at the tip point.
It also appears to my eye that your dam slope gets LESS steep as you encounter the thick cover. I think(?) your worst case scenario would be sliding backwards and slowly bumping your bush hog against a tree. Not dangerous, but not great for the mower deck or your 3-point arms.
I would try it with my wife watching. If it triggers your BPF, or your wife's, then I would cancel the job and go back to clearing by hand.
I hope that makes sense, it is kind of hard to explain just typing on the internet.
P.S. I do like the grass cover on the part you have cleared in the foreground of your picture. It looks like some of your undesirable plants are starting to sneak back into the cleared ground. THAT is the exact stage to spray them. Some of the herbicides (for woody plants) will not harm your grass at all. Some of the broad spectrum herbicides will do minimal damage to the grass if you apply exactly according to the label instructions.
FR, the pic isn’t as accurate as I’d like. In the middle of the dam, about half way down, it gets very steep. We actually ran into the property line, and the dozer guy made that section very steep. The rest is fairly easy. Minimal BPF. Ha! I have the ROP up, and a seatbelt fastened. The brush hog should help. I may run out of HP coming back up. Hopefully not. 90% of the time I’m up there, I’m alone. But I like the idea of having my wife observe. Thx!
12 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep. RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (decreasing), SMB, and HSB (only two have been seen in 5 yrs) I think that's about all I should put in my little pond. Otter attack in 2023.
