What is the steepest slope a ride-on mower is safe to use?

M

minkyung

Well-Known Member
Friends, what is the maximum steepness (incline) that a ride-on mower can operate safely? The area that we're thinking of is big. There are small beautiful hills with grass on them.
 
I think difficulty/safety on slopes is one reason that large walk-behind mowers are the choice of most professionals in my area.

Fifteen degrees is actually pretty steep.

Most of the manufacturers of riding mowers probably rate their mowers for the maximum safe grade on which the mower can operate.
 
The owners manuals all say 15 degree slope is the steepest they recomend. My neighbor down the street has a steeper slope than that and the landscapers mow his lawn up & down and side to side. They pay no attention to saftey.
 
You can ballast a mower and make other changes to improve it's stability.
you will get a feel for for how safe it is... and at times you may even push it right to it's limit, just keep in mind that no matter how stable you make something, you can have a failure of some mechanical component that could contribute to a roll over... MOW SAFE... :smile:KennyV
 
Gosh the thought of mowing on a 15 degree slope makes my stomach flip. Then again I'm not very good with feeling unstable on or in vehicles. Hubby just chimed in to say 'make sure you don't attempt inclines with a zero turn mower'.
 
Thank you for the replies, friends. They are very quick and helpful replies. I am humbled.

It looks like we need to choose between ride-on mower and walk-behind mower. For inclines I see the wisdom of walk-behind mowers. Theyæ±*e also cheaper to operate, correct?
 
BKBrown said:
Check out the VENTRAC View attachment 776

With the Dual wheels I do the back side of our pond bank (up and down) :thumbsup:

Ventrac Compact Tractors & Attachments
Click to expand...

I checked out the link and am very curious. Ventrac says:

The outstanding agility and maneuverability of Ventrac for mowing slopes and hills comes from the oscillating center frame which keeps all four wheels in constant contact with the ground even on the roughest terrain.
Click to expand...

Question: what's an "oscillating center frame" and exactly how does that aid stability?
 
BKBrown said:
Check out the VENTRAC View attachment 776

With the Dual wheels I do the back side of our pond bank (up and down) :thumbsup:

Ventrac Compact Tractors & Attachments
Click to expand...

slope_test.jpg


The 30-degree incline is amazing. But the mower and small tractor are connected like a train. That I understand. I will need to check if it is available in Korea. We also check the price :)
 
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