On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:37:17 -0400, J Burns
wrote:

Elmo wrote:
What's the trick for mowing a half-football field sized steep slope with a
gas push mower?

I need to mow the steep hill at the side of my house which is overgrown
with tall grasses and weeds. It looks like half a football field on its
side, with the shorter distance being the fall line.

I don't know the degrees but it's hard to walk along the slope, mostly due
to the unconsolidated soil and the slope; but it's possible to walk it; but
with a mower, things get harder fast.

When I tried to mow down the fall line, it was way too hard as I
accelerated down and couldn't pull the mower up (and kept falling down,
which doesn't seem safe).

When I tried to mow across the fall line, I could barely hold the line to
cut a swath but it was always a steep diagnal. Gravity pulled the mower so
that it actually moved at a 45 degree angle to my sidewise motion, which
itself was something less than straight across the fall line due to the
slope.

I thought of tying a rope to the handle and letting gravity mow straight
down the fall line; but it might be difficult to pull the running mower
back up.

Before I try something stupid, I figured I'd ask you guys if you've solved
the problem of trying to mow with a gas push mower (it's all I have) on a
steep slope.

At the farm, a string trimmer with a shoulder strap and 30" handlebars
was an easy way to mow creek banks. The strap was adjusted so the head
would float level at the desired height.

But is level good for a steep hill? And say it's put at the angle for
the hill, when one turns to either side, it won't be at the right
angle anymore. Still, it might still work if he doesn't do much
turning. I hate to be a pain, but I can't seem to help it.


Then the handlebars were
adjusted for best control. I could cut a 5' swath, so it was fairly quick.

For neater cutting almost like a mower, I could use a disk head with 3
pivoting nylon blades about 5" long.