Tractor work on steep ground

20silkcut

I was driving recently on the Nenagh side of borrisoleigh in county Tipperary and noticed some incredibly steep fields on the road side that were clearly being topped and had the tracks of fertilizer spreading. The best way I could describe the steepness of these fields is if you can picture the upper decks of the stands in croke Park. I kid you not they are that steep. I have a field or two at home with rolling hills and hollows and would consider myself an experienced tractor driver but these small hills catch me out the odd time. I have the instinct of clutching first from driving the car and that immediately causes loss of control and off you go like a rocket.
On the hills I described at the beginning such a habit would cause probable death.
I can understand with modern tractors and they probably use creep gears and travel up and down in straight lines but how do they turn at the bottom like the angles are crazy. I dread the day that circumstances may cause me to have to do tractor work in such fields or even fields less than half as steep. It does take incredible skill and nerve.
How do the drive up almost vertical fields with a full hopper of fertilizer on the back. Surely the slightest bump could send you head over heels. Any one here farm such ground? Any one here know the fields I’m talking about on the borrisoleigh to Nenagh road.

patsy_mccabe

I was working in a fairly steep field yesterday. I just leaned to one side as I travelled back and forth.

Who2

Drive with caution and a bit of common sense. I’ve a couple of fields with deceiving slopes but I know where and what direction to travel. I learnt on a 4000 so everything got easier since. A wet cow dung on a soft day is where you’ll loose a tractor.

patsy_mccabe

Lads yesterday were picking up silage with wagons on the steep hill I mentioned. They started all loads on the steep part and then filled the rest on the more level parts.

JustJoe7240

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Lads yesterday were picking up silage with wagons on the steep hill I mentioned. They started all loads on the steep part and then filled the rest on the more level parts.

We lifted a lot of silage of ground this year, that hadnt been lifted before, but as a result of the fodder crisis, was harvested. Some ground would have you afraid to look back at the trailer behind you. But if you just take your time and don't suddenly turn sharp, give it the boot or hit the brakes all of a sudden.

mayota

20silkcut wrote: »

I was driving recently on the Nenagh side of borrisoleigh in county Tipperary and noticed some incredibly steep fields on the road side that were clearly being topped and had the tracks of fertilizer spreading. The best way I could describe the steepness of these fields is if you can picture the upper decks of the stands in croke Park. I kid you not they are that steep. I have a field or two at home with rolling hills and hollows and would consider myself an experienced tractor driver but these small hills catch me out the odd time. I have the instinct of clutching first from driving the car and that immediately causes loss of control and off you go like a rocket.
On the hills I described at the beginning such a habit would cause probable death.
I can understand with modern tractors and they probably use creep gears and travel up and down in straight lines but how do they turn at the bottom like the angles are crazy. I dread the day that circumstances may cause me to have to do tractor work in such fields or even fields less than half as steep. It does take incredible skill and nerve.
How do the drive up almost vertical fields with a full hopper of fertilizer on the back. Surely the slightest bump could send you head over heels. Any one here farm such ground? Any one here know the fields I’m talking about on the borrisoleigh to Nenagh road.

Kevthegaff is farming very hilly ground, could be near there.

kay 9

Saying around here is, if you can't go up a hill, don't try come down the same hill.
In some circumstances this won't work though as entrance may be at the top of the hill lol. Then it's down to judgement.
Tractors with snooped bonnets are deceiving climbing steep ground.
Valtra are great on hills

satstheway

kay 9 wrote: »

Saying around here is, if you can't go up a hill, don't try come down the same hill.
In some circumstances this won't work though as entrance may be at the top of the hill lol. Then it's down to judgement.
Tractors with snooped bonnets are deceiving climbing steep ground.
Valtra are great on hills

Some hills around here are down hill only. You will go up but not loaded.

blue5000

I know the area alright, half fill the spreader and a low centre of gravity help.

kevthegaff

A former captain of tipp owns that land, alot of high ground was bulldozed in the past and have a turning area at the top and bottom. I still get edgy every time in spring I face some hills..I don't use the clutch, pick your gear and stay, tap brake also on downhill, different sometimes also. Make of tractor low centre of gravity like the fiats and valor a help and lots of power. You have to think every time your working as in sets and spreading slurry(only 1/4 load left on r high ground) we used to have one bigger tyre on the slurry tank going across the hill. You would be surprised how steep you can drive across once u don't hit a bump. Good Tyres are a necessity also and weather conditions. A few years back I was short on money and didn't change the tyres, anyway during the summer I was topping and it rained a bit (I find the most treacherous) I said I'd do a steep bit with a nice few thistles before I'd go home. Tractor took off, absolute no control and gaining speed, I jumped out the door doing a somersault, tractor in the ditch with windows broken and seat cushions in the ditch. I had a sore neck for a few weeks after

Doctors room ghost

And god forbid but if she does roll don’t be tempted to jump ship.hold the steering wheel or the seat and wait for the inevitable crunch but don’t jump ship.thats where most lads get crushed

charolais0153

Ya was going down to thurles for a match one time and theyd put the fear into ya.if i ever have yo go up a hill like that,i grip the steering wheel and lean forward

mengele

Have plenty of oil in the back axle anyway. Contractors lose breaks if all the oil goes to the wrong side

Mooooo

As kev said above, good tyres and as much as possible avoid it when conditions are slippy.

kevthegaff

charolais0153 wrote:

Ya was going down to thurles for a match one time and theyd put the fear into ya.if i ever have yo go up a hill like that,i grip the steering wheel and lean forward

Their bad hills but their short, I have a lot longer and steeper. I'm thinking of going with 2 bags to acre on certain fields from now on to avoid travelling every rotation

SuperTortoise

I have hilly ground myself and have had a few close calls, spreading slurry in January requires several spare pairs of underpants to be kept in the cab.

Sometimes though it the least expected that would catch you out, for example i was spreading slurry on hilly ground a couple of days after silage was made, weather was good and land was as dry as it is now, but a bit of dew on the ground early in the morning turned it into a ice rink, you've got to be on the ball in all conditions.

whelan2

blue5000 wrote: »

I know the area alright, half fill the spreader and a low centre of gravity help.

We reverse up the hill in our steepest paddock and spread down the hill

20silkcut

kevthegaff wrote: »

A former captain of tipp owns that land, alot of high ground was bulldozed in the past and have a turning area at the top and bottom. I still get edgy every time in spring I face some hills..I don't use the clutch, pick your gear and stay, tap brake also on downhill, different sometimes also. Make of tractor low centre of gravity like the fiats and valor a help and lots of power. You have to think every time your working as in sets and spreading slurry(only 1/4 load left on r high ground) we used to have one bigger tyre on the slurry tank going across the hill. You would be surprised how steep you can drive across once u don't hit a bump. Good Tyres are a necessity also and weather conditions. A few years back I was short on money and didn't change the tyres, anyway during the summer I was topping and it rained a bit (I find the most treacherous) I said I'd do a steep bit with a nice few thistles before I'd go home. Tractor took off, absolute no control and gaining speed, I jumped out the door doing a somersault, tractor in the ditch with windows broken and seat cushions in the ditch. I had a sore neck for a few weeks after

The fields that slope down to the road don’t seem to have any turning area it’s a sheer slope right down to the ditch and then the road is right there. But clearly the tractor goes right down to the bottom looking at the tracks. As I said it’s like the upper deck of the hogan stand.
If your driving down those slopes you can’t put your foot on anything.
If you clutch you will take off. If you brake you will slide and accelerator is out of the question. All you can do is low gear and steer??
You can learn all the theory and practice of driving but in my opinion nothing could prepare you for such conditions only perhaps to have a very good tractor.
I’d say it would take a certain type of person to tackle them slopes. What happens if you get stuck going up the slopes I shudder to think.
I drew silage on hilly ground ( nothing like borrisoleigh) one time with a an old zetor 8011 crystal with dodgy brakes and my heart was in my mouth. Ended up losing a trailer in a ditch just slid out of control right down a slope and turned over had to fork out the trailer with a sprong. Tortourous nightmare stuff.

Track9

"Low gear & steer sounds good " Silk Cut. Its the only way I do such hills. Some years back after we had runaway Round Bales we built earthen banks at bottom of the slopes. Might stop the tractor if there was a slide.

lab man

Back here in west clare there are big enough hills leading to the river Shannon with the tide in ,you'd want to know what's what

K.G.

Real steep bits are back down only around here.the thing about is to avoid slipping so its not the angle its the ground conditions.was spreading a place two weeks before moisture but it had got drizzle the night before but the ground was too hard and the smallest miisture made it very slippy.the other thing is to read the gground as within hills there is usually not so steep tracks maybe at forty five degrees across it

patsy_mccabe

Spreading dung here with the side spreader on steep ground and it jackknifed on me. Spotted it on time and turned the other way. Ended up doing a full 180deg . Those large low pressure tyres make the problem worst as they don't bite into the ground.

Melodeon

There's a whole sector of the farm machinery industry on continental Europe that's dedicated to working on steep ground, this sort of thing:
http://www.riko-uk.com/category/alpine-tractors
https://www.antoniocarraro.it/en/catalogue
https://agromehanika.eu/en/katalog/tractors-agt
https://www.goldoni.it/en/products/
http://www.ferrariagri.it/en/product/tractors-53fae2b9a2387c362f7b23c7


Probably too specialised and not enough demand here for the Irish market, but interesting all the same.

MF290

Was spreading slurry for a friend for a few days down the country. I would half empty the 2600 gallon tanker and then chance going on the steepest bits, you know it’s steep when it’s putting gas out the back going down hill, you turn around at the bottom and the tractor won’t pull the tanker uphill. There were patches on the tanker from when the “contractors best driver” rolled it.
I don’t think any land around this part that’s that steep has silage cut off it or slurry spread on it. Any bad hills don’t go on for a km

lakill Farm

picked silage on steep hills. always fill the front of the trailer and keep the weight on the back wheels of the tractor.

Tedded fields for a lad over the weekend was fine. went to rake same area today there before dinner time and the tractor and rake took off on me.

Probable 150ft drop onto a small level bit before a lake. delighted to be back to the day job now

blackbox

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

And god forbid but if she does roll don’t be tempted to jump ship.hold the steering wheel or the seat and wait for the inevitable crunch but don’t jump ship.thats where most lads get crushed

Seat belt should keep you inside the safety frame to prevent crushing.

lakill Farm

blackbox wrote: »

Seat belt should keep you inside the safety frame to prevent crushing.

I would never wear it in the tractor

kowtow

The boy had a close call a couple of months back on our own ground - went out to dump some parlour washings from the top of the tank, with me standing in the field above him. Ground was slippy and there was a wire in his way coming out so- with the tank empty - he backed the tank slightly and slowly on to the brow of a steep bit to turn out across flatter ground. At no point was he travelling more than 1 or 2 km/h.

The tank took him 500m down the hill, spinning twice, and he landed four wheels square in the river, albeit with the tank jackknifed behind him. Cracked a hitch on the tank and knocked an oil sensor in the tractor but apart from that he was fine. Furious with his own mistake, but fine TG.

His tracks are still there, was picking up silage on a steep bank the other side of the valley the other day and neither he nor the other lads drawing could take their eyes off them....

longgonesilver

20silkcut wrote: »

If your driving down those slopes you can’t put your foot on anything.
If you clutch you will take off. If you brake you will slide and accelerator is out of the question. All you can do is low gear and steer??
You can learn all the theory and practice of driving but in my opinion nothing could prepare you for such conditions only perhaps to have a very good tractor.
I’d say it would take a certain type of person to tackle them slopes. What happens if you get stuck going up the slopes I shudder to think.

Low gear even then tractor engine will over rev. I regularly spread fertilizer here with PTO doing far in excess of 540 going down hill. Like others have said steer intelligently, straight up and down if possible, avoid cow dungs but above anything else is picking the right day and time of day.

What has not been mentioned is that the driver should depress the differential lock going up and down the slope this helps minimise the potential to start sliding, i.e. if one wheel starts slipping the other wheel will help hold you if the lock is down. Same going uphill, if one wheel starts spinning you are starting to get into trouble and the lock can rescue you.

The differential in the back axel allows the two back wheels to rotate independently of each other. The advantage is less ground damage when turning and less tyre wear. Wheels can slip independently of each other under load without the tractor wanting to turn to compensate. When it comes to the extreme, like coming down a very steep hill one wheel can actually turn backwards while the other is going forwards, this is the most dangerous situation as you can no longer predict the movements of the tractor. This happened to me once at low speed going straight downhill, no differential lock on, with a full slurry tank, things went hairy relatively slowly and I ended up stopped on the hill with the tank still straight and tractor at 90 degrees.

When the tyres start squeaking on the grass you are getting very close to the limits.

Mooooo

Travelling in the right conditions is key. We had a bad accident here essentially what happened is the loader was travelling across the top of the field. The field had been sprayed off with roundup. However the sprayer missed a bit at the top. When the loader drove over this there was still a slight dew, the loader slid on this and then when it reached the burnt dry ground the tyre had grip but the momentum of the slide turned it over and it rolled down the hill 5 times. Experience, right conditions, good tyres and knowing when to stay off it. No field is worth risking life or serious injury over

whelan2

Oh would be very experienced driving. He took a shortcut with the slurry tanker a few years ago and it over turned going up a hill. Even the most experienced get caught out

kevthegaff

whelan2 wrote:

Oh would be very experienced driving. He took a shortcut with the slurry tanker a few years ago and it over turned going up a hill. Even the most experienced get caught out

Have to agree, I like the squeaky tyres anecdote(very true) too.

patsy_mccabe

I really thik it's the low ground pressure tyres that's causing most of these accidents. No grip on the ground.
I wonder could you fit something like a ship anchor you could drop in an emergency to get grip.

Dinzee Conlee

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

I really thik it's the low ground pressure tyres that's causing most of these accidents. No grip on the ground.
I wonder could you fit something like a ship anchor you could drop in an emergency to get grip.

Was told neighbouring farmers years ago used to cut corn with a tractor and plough chained to the combine...
Going down the hill, if the combine ran - drop the plough, and that would hold you...

I suspect this was the era of small tractors tho, 35 and the like...

9935452

We used to do silage for a lad who had a field affectionately known as the wall of death.
The last year we were there was a wet year . We had to pull out, the trailed harvestor and trailers were sliding sideways on the slope.

He used to feed cattle at the top of the field during the winter.
He was going up the field with the loader when she lost grip , started sliding backwards, spun twice before it came to a stop at the bottom.
He started the machine up again and drove straight back up the field
No fear

Same lad when the ground conditions were wet used to give us a helping hand . He had an old 4wd crystal with a very strong grill guard .
He would follow the trailer round the field and when we would hit wet ground, he would push the trailer

lakill Farm

whelan2 wrote: »

Oh would be very experienced driving. He took a shortcut with the slurry tanker a few years ago and it over turned going up a hill. Even the most experienced get caught out

all picture no sound for a few days

whelan2

lakill Farm wrote: »

all picture no sound for a few days

Tm125 with 2600 gallon tanker on the back. €150 to get pulling fixed on tanker. Oh Hurt his back in the process

lakill Farm

whelan2 wrote: »

Tm125 with 2600 gallon tanker on the back. €150 to get pulling fixed on tanker. Oh Hurt his back in the process

so you had to wait a few days to throttle him instead :rolleyes:

vincenzolorenzo

20silkcut wrote: »

I was driving recently on the Nenagh side of borrisoleigh in county Tipperary and noticed some incredibly steep fields on the road side that were clearly being topped and had the tracks of fertilizer spreading. The best way I could describe the steepness of these fields is if you can picture the upper decks of the stands in croke Park. I kid you not they are that steep. I have a field or two at home with rolling hills and hollows and would consider myself an experienced tractor driver but these small hills catch me out the odd time. I have the instinct of clutching first from driving the car and that immediately causes loss of control and off you go like a rocket.
On the hills I described at the beginning such a habit would cause probable death.
I can understand with modern tractors and they probably use creep gears and travel up and down in straight lines but how do they turn at the bottom like the angles are crazy. I dread the day that circumstances may cause me to have to do tractor work in such fields or even fields less than half as steep. It does take incredible skill and nerve.
How do the drive up almost vertical fields with a full hopper of fertilizer on the back. Surely the slightest bump could send you head over heels. Any one here farm such ground? Any one here know the fields I’m talking about on the borrisoleigh to Nenagh road.

Give us a link to Google maps to see them

blue5000

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

Give us a link to Google maps to see them

Try this

https://www.google.ie/maps/place/Borrisland+North,+Borrisoleigh,+Co.+Tipperary/@52.7546927,-8.0089139,3824m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x485cc1bbed12dc55:0xa00c7a99731e270!8m2!3d52.7525257!4d-7.9578875

I think the contour lines on the below link are 20m apart

https://www.google.ie/maps/place/Borrisland+North,+Borrisoleigh,+Co.+Tipperary/@52.7584205,-7.9949462,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x485cc1bbed12dc55:0xa00c7a99731e270!8m2!3d52.7525257!4d-7.9578875!5m1!1e4

vincenzolorenzo

That is seriously steep ground alright :eek: