The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die is starting to show rust holes in the
deck! Yay! We can ditch it! (we've had this thing for 18 years; for
about 16 of that it's been too hard to start for SWMBO, so I've been
doing a lot of the mowing).

Now we live on a place that has a significant amount of grass on a 20-30
degree slope. It's too steep for our narrow-tread tractor (at least _I_
don't have the balls to go driving on it!), and the area is pretty
sizable. I'm assuming that we want to get a self-propelled mower instead
of a riding, because of the slope.

Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able to
take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

Tim Wescott wrote:

The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die is starting to show rust holes in the
deck! Yay! We can ditch it! (we've had this thing for 18 years; for
about 16 of that it's been too hard to start for SWMBO, so I've been
doing a lot of the mowing).

Now we live on a place that has a significant amount of grass on a 20-30
degree slope. It's too steep for our narrow-tread tractor (at least _I_
don't have the balls to go driving on it!), and the area is pretty
sizable. I'm assuming that we want to get a self-propelled mower instead
of a riding, because of the slope.

Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able to
take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

Did y'all post to the wrong group? This is rec.crafts.metalworking, here
we just weld or pop rivet patches on the holes in our mower decks and
keep on going...

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:54:21 -0500, Pete C. wrote:

Tim Wescott wrote:

The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die is starting to show rust holes in the
deck! Yay! We can ditch it! (we've had this thing for 18 years; for
about 16 of that it's been too hard to start for SWMBO, so I've been
doing a lot of the mowing).

Now we live on a place that has a significant amount of grass on a
20-30 degree slope. It's too steep for our narrow-tread tractor (at
least _I_ don't have the balls to go driving on it!), and the area is
pretty sizable. I'm assuming that we want to get a self-propelled
mower instead of a riding, because of the slope.

Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able
to take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

Did y'all post to the wrong group? This is rec.crafts.metalworking, here
we just weld or pop rivet patches on the holes in our mower decks and
keep on going...

Well, after I toss the rest of the mower I'm going to keep the engine for
aluminum casting stock -- does that count?

Besides, y'all are a smart group, and likely to select a mower for it's
ability to manfully cling to side hill, not 'cause it's a pretty shade of
green, or because you liked the sales guy's long lashes as he explained
the self-start feature.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

"Tim Wescott" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:54:21 -0500, Pete C. wrote:

Tim Wescott wrote:

The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die is starting to show rust holes in the
deck! Yay! We can ditch it! (we've had this thing for 18 years; for
about 16 of that it's been too hard to start for SWMBO, so I've been
doing a lot of the mowing).

Now we live on a place that has a significant amount of grass on a
20-30 degree slope. It's too steep for our narrow-tread tractor (at
least _I_ don't have the balls to go driving on it!), and the area is
pretty sizable. I'm assuming that we want to get a self-propelled
mower instead of a riding, because of the slope.

Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able
to take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

Did y'all post to the wrong group? This is rec.crafts.metalworking, here
we just weld or pop rivet patches on the holes in our mower decks and
keep on going...

Well, after I toss the rest of the mower I'm going to keep the engine for
aluminum casting stock -- does that count?

Besides, y'all are a smart group, and likely to select a mower for it's
ability to manfully cling to side hill, not 'cause it's a pretty shade of
green, or because you liked the sales guy's long lashes as he explained
the self-start feature.

Well, I aint got no stinking lawn, but I got a mower. 33 HP John Deere
Diesel with a King Kutter stump jumper. I reckon it ain't gonna pretty-efiy
yer lawn, but it will cut just about anything. Even a contractor grade
rubber water hose somebody left out front before the brush got to thick to
find it. I gotta admit it did bog down a little when it found the garden
hose for me. But it kept going. The next pass for the rest of the hose
also found a 6" fallen branch laying over it, and now I know what real world
use there is for field grade bolts. They use a grade 2 field bolt as a
shear pin at the input portion of the drive assembly on the stump jumper.

After I put in s stock of field grade bolts I experiemented a little. It
would chop up that log or the hose just fine, but sucking up both at once
was just too much for it.

So, yeah some of us select our mowers for toughness and longevity... AND
there is even some metal content in my post. So there.

Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com

On Aug 18, 12:08*am, Tim Wescott wrote:

Now we live on a place that has a significant amount of grass on a
20-30 degree slope. *It's too steep for our narrow-tread tractor (at
least _I_ don't have the balls to go driving on it!), and the area is
pretty sizable. *I

Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? *I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able
to take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

--
www.wescottdesign.com


Besides, y'all are a smart group, and likely to select a mower for it's
ability to manfully cling to side hill, not 'cause it's a pretty shade of
green, or because you liked the sales guy's long lashes as he explained
the self-start feature.

--www.wescottdesign.com


Kind of depends on what you consider a significant amount of grass.
My neighbor lent me a zero turn walk behind mower with a 60 inch deck
and a 18 hp engine. I don't have much in the way of hills, but I
think it would do as well as anything on slopes. I would not want to
cut more than four or five acres with it. More than that and I want to
ride. Look on Craigslist and Ebay for zero turn mowers. I believe the
one he lent me was an Exmark. But no bag. Not too many of the
commercial mowers have bags, but there are some.

Dan

On Aug 18, 2:15*am, " wrote:

Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? *I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able
to take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

--
www.wescottdesign.com


I forgot to mention that I saw a commercial mower today with a mower
deck that was in two parts and hinged so each half followed the
ground. I did not notice if it was a walk behind or a rider.

Dan

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:54:21 -0500, "Pete C."
wrote:


Tim Wescott wrote:

The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die is starting to show rust holes in the
deck! Yay! We can ditch it! (we've had this thing for 18 years; for
about 16 of that it's been too hard to start for SWMBO, so I've been
doing a lot of the mowing).

Now we live on a place that has a significant amount of grass on a 20-30
degree slope. It's too steep for our narrow-tread tractor (at least _I_
don't have the balls to go driving on it!), and the area is pretty
sizable. I'm assuming that we want to get a self-propelled mower instead
of a riding, because of the slope.

Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able to
take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

Did y'all post to the wrong group? This is rec.crafts.metalworking, here
we just weld or pop rivet patches on the holes in our mower decks and
keep on going...
Or make new stainless steel decks to keep40 year old mowers going for
another 25 or so.

Don't know if you can find one, but Gravely makes a line of commercial
mowers. Quality like you used to expect. I have three commercial 12s, one
with a 52" deck. I've never paid more than $1200 for a unit and normally got
a lot of other attachments.

Karl

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:48:12 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die is starting to show rust holes in the
deck! Yay! We can ditch it! (we've had this thing for 18 years; for
about 16 of that it's been too hard to start for SWMBO, so I've been
doing a lot of the mowing).

Now we live on a place that has a significant amount of grass on a 20-30
degree slope. It's too steep for our narrow-tread tractor (at least _I_
don't have the balls to go driving on it!), and the area is pretty
sizable. I'm assuming that we want to get a self-propelled mower instead
of a riding, because of the slope.

Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able to
take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

I have a HR215 HXA Honda. It has a hydrostatic transmission. You start
it and then engage the blade. About 20 years old. I'll bet anyone who
shows up with a hundred dollar bill that it will start on the first
pull. Cost about $900 then. Now about $1200.

Like Pete says, this one has a patch riveted over the hole worn
through by scrubbing the flowerbed curb.

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:53:51 -0500, aasberry wrote:

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:48:12 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die is starting to show rust holes in the
deck! Yay! We can ditch it! (we've had this thing for 18 years; for
about 16 of that it's been too hard to start for SWMBO, so I've been
doing a lot of the mowing).

Now we live on a place that has a significant amount of grass on a 20-30
degree slope. It's too steep for our narrow-tread tractor (at least _I_
don't have the balls to go driving on it!), and the area is pretty
sizable. I'm assuming that we want to get a self-propelled mower
instead of a riding, because of the slope.

Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able
to take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

I have a HR215 HXA Honda. It has a hydrostatic transmission. You start
it and then engage the blade. About 20 years old. I'll bet anyone who
shows up with a hundred dollar bill that it will start on the first
pull. Cost about $900 then. Now about $1200.

Like Pete says, this one has a patch riveted over the hole worn through
by scrubbing the flowerbed curb.

If I _liked_ the existing mower I'd do that. We bought it 18 years ago
when we had a dead flat suburban back yard to mow; now I have a hillside
that's (a) bigger and (b, snivel, whine) steep.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

"Tim Wescott" wrote in message
...
If I _liked_ the existing mower I'd do that. We bought it 18 years ago
when we had a dead flat suburban back yard to mow; now I have a hillside
that's (a) bigger and (b, snivel, whine) steep.


You have the wrong solution to the problem.

Rather than replacing the lawn mower, replace the lawn with something like
ice plant. It takes very little water, it chokes out all the weeds and you
can spend your time doing something other than yard work!

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.

http://www.lawnbotts.com/lawnbott_manual/index.html

As the young folks say, w00t!

--Winston

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:34:22 -0700, the infamous Winston
scrawled the following:

http://www.lawnbotts.com/lawnbott_manual/index.html

As the young folks say, w00t!

FOUR GRAND for a Jewish lawnmower? Pass. g

--
If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the
thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power
to revoke at any moment. -- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Larry Jaques wrote:
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:34:22 -0700, the infamous Winston
scrawled the following:

http://www.lawnbotts.com/lawnbott_manual/index.html

As the young folks say, w00t!

FOUR GRAND for a Jewish lawnmower? Pass. g

Look at it this way,
My little robot vaccuum cleaner keeps the floor
nice and shiny. I don't have to do anything but
push the button and lift extension cords out of
its way. (OK and empty the bin when finished.)

It doesn't steal stuff and so far, it costs me 82c
a day (and falling).

I could enlist the help of an onboard supervisor
and through the magic of camouflage, barely tell
when he is doing his job:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ-jv8g1YVI

(OK, not really my cat.)

--Winston

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:10:50 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:53:51 -0500, aasberry wrote:

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:48:12 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die is starting to show rust holes in the
deck! Yay! We can ditch it! (we've had this thing for 18 years; for
about 16 of that it's been too hard to start for SWMBO, so I've been
doing a lot of the mowing).

Now we live on a place that has a significant amount of grass on a 20-30
degree slope. It's too steep for our narrow-tread tractor (at least _I_
don't have the balls to go driving on it!), and the area is pretty
sizable. I'm assuming that we want to get a self-propelled mower
instead of a riding, because of the slope.

Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able
to take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

I have a HR215 HXA Honda. It has a hydrostatic transmission. You start
it and then engage the blade. About 20 years old. I'll bet anyone who
shows up with a hundred dollar bill that it will start on the first
pull. Cost about $900 then. Now about $1200.

Like Pete says, this one has a patch riveted over the hole worn through
by scrubbing the flowerbed curb.

If I _liked_ the existing mower I'd do that. We bought it 18 years ago
when we had a dead flat suburban back yard to mow; now I have a hillside
that's (a) bigger and (b, snivel, whine) steep.

For steep lawns nothing beats an old 2 stroke commercial Lawn Boy.
They stink, but lubrication is not an issue. I know guys that tie
ropes on them and pull them up and down banks you can hardly
stand/walk on.

Well, your could take your "narrow-tread tractor" and add wheels to the
rear, making it a dually. Just have to make some spacers -- good metal
project.

"Tim Wescott" wrote in message
...
The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die is starting to show rust holes in the
deck! Yay! We can ditch it! (we've had this thing for 18 years; for
about 16 of that it's been too hard to start for SWMBO, so I've been
doing a lot of the mowing).

Now we live on a place that has a significant amount of grass on a 20-30
degree slope. It's too steep for our narrow-tread tractor (at least _I_
don't have the balls to go driving on it!), and the area is pretty
sizable. I'm assuming that we want to get a self-propelled mower instead
of a riding, because of the slope.

Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able to
take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

On Aug 18, 6:48*am, Tim Wescott wrote:
The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die

Get a pair of sheep - low maintenance, automatic height adjustment,
auto steering, recycles grass to motive fuel, conversational ability
on par with most wingers, and you can eat them if they start plotting
against you....

Andrew VK3BFA.

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:16:19 -0700 (PDT), Andrew VK3BFA
wrote:

On Aug 18, 6:48*am, Tim Wescott wrote:
The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die

Get a pair of sheep - low maintenance, automatic height adjustment,
auto steering, recycles grass to motive fuel, conversational ability
on par with most left wingers, and you can eat them if they start plotting
against you....

Andrew VK3BFA.


True enough.



Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
something damned nasty to all three of them.

On Aug 18, 1:18 pm, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:16:19 -0700 (PDT), Andrew VK3BFA

wrote:
On Aug 18, 6:48 am, Tim Wescott wrote:
The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die

Get a pair of sheep - low maintenance, automatic height adjustment,
auto steering, recycles grass to motive fuel, conversational ability
on par with most left wingers, and you can eat them if they start plotting
against you....

Andrew VK3BFA.

True enough.

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
something damned nasty to all three of them.

Blast - got that address wrong. Thank God it wasn't the launch code
for a nuclear weapon. You can work it out Gunner .
Here in Oz, lawn mowing sheep are usually called Victor, after a well
know local lawn mower manufacturer.

Andrew VK3BFA.

On Aug 18, 12:16 pm, Andrew VK3BFA wrote:
On Aug 18, 6:48 am, Tim Wescott wrote:

The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die

Get a pair of sheep - low maintenance, automatic height adjustment,
auto steering, recycles grass to motive fuel, conversational ability
on par with most wingers, and you can eat them if they start plotting
against you....

Andrew VK3BFA.

Well, you didn't need to modify the post Gunner - I didn't specify
right or left. (Not being paranoid, are you?) Extremists of both
persuasions are a danger to us all......ignorance, prejudice,stupidity
- neither side has a monopoly on them.
Andrew VK3BFA.

On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:20:40 -0700 (PDT), Andrew VK3BFA
wrote:

On Aug 18, 12:16 pm, Andrew VK3BFA wrote:
On Aug 18, 6:48 am, Tim Wescott wrote:

The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die

Get a pair of sheep - low maintenance, automatic height adjustment,
auto steering, recycles grass to motive fuel, conversational ability
on par with most wingers, and you can eat them if they start plotting
against you....

Andrew VK3BFA.

Well, you didn't need to modify the post Gunner - I didn't specify
right or left. (Not being paranoid, are you?) Extremists of both
persuasions are a danger to us all......ignorance, prejudice,stupidity
- neither side has a monopoly on them.
Andrew VK3BFA.


But we still like you extremists.

And where did I modify the post? You are one of the anal types who
simply has to remove everything in some vain hope of saving bandwidth?

Gunner



Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
something damned nasty to all three of them.

On Aug 21, 9:10 pm, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:20:40 -0700 (PDT), Andrew VK3BFA



wrote:
On Aug 18, 12:16 pm, Andrew VK3BFA wrote:
On Aug 18, 6:48 am, Tim Wescott wrote:

The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die

Get a pair of sheep - low maintenance, automatic height adjustment,
auto steering, recycles grass to motive fuel, conversational ability
on par with most wingers, and you can eat them if they start plotting
against you....

Andrew VK3BFA.

Well, you didn't need to modify the post Gunner - I didn't specify
right or left. (Not being paranoid, are you?) Extremists of both
persuasions are a danger to us all......ignorance, prejudice,stupidity
- neither side has a monopoly on them.
Andrew VK3BFA.

But we still like you extremists.

And where did I modify the post? You are one of the anal types who
simply has to remove everything in some vain hope of saving bandwidth?

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
something damned nasty to all three of them.

You know where you modified it Gunner, unless early dementia is
kicking in. And for the benefit of anyone interested (not many, I
know) if you all read Gunners reply to my original reply to the post,
you will see he has inserted the word "left" in fron of wingers......
Gunner, if thats the best you can do, the populace of America must be
sleeping peacefully at night, knowing people like you are eternally
vigilant...

Andrew VK3BFA.

On Aug 21, 10:04*am, Andrew VK3BFA wrote:
On Aug 21, 9:10 pm, Gunner Asch wrote:



On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:20:40 -0700 (PDT), Andrew VK3BFA

wrote:
On Aug 18, 12:16 pm, Andrew VK3BFA wrote:
On Aug 18, 6:48 am, Tim Wescott wrote:

The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die

Get a pair of sheep - low maintenance, automatic height adjustment,
auto steering, recycles grass to motive fuel, *conversational ability
on par with most wingers, and you can eat them if they start plotting
against you....

Andrew VK3BFA.

Well, you didn't need to modify the post Gunner - I didn't specify
right or left. (Not being paranoid, are you?) Extremists of both
persuasions are a danger to us all......ignorance, prejudice,stupidity
- neither side has a monopoly on them.
Andrew VK3BFA.

But we still like you extremists.

And where did I modify the post? *You are one of the anal types who
simply has to remove everything in some vain hope of saving bandwidth?

Gunner

*Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
*wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
*something damned nasty to all three of them.

You know where you modified it Gunner, unless early dementia is
kicking in. And for the benefit of anyone interested (not many, I
know) if you all read Gunners reply to my original reply to the post,
you will see he has inserted the word "left" in fron of wingers......
Gunner, if thats the best you can do, the populace of America must be
sleeping peacefully at night, knowing people like you are eternally
vigilant...

Andrew VK3BFA.

Actually, we sleep well at night knowing that people like him are
completely impotent.

On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:04:04 -0700 (PDT), Andrew VK3BFA
wrote:

On Aug 21, 9:10 pm, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:20:40 -0700 (PDT), Andrew VK3BFA



wrote:
On Aug 18, 12:16 pm, Andrew VK3BFA wrote:
On Aug 18, 6:48 am, Tim Wescott wrote:

The Lawnmower That Refuses To Die

Get a pair of sheep - low maintenance, automatic height adjustment,
auto steering, recycles grass to motive fuel, conversational ability
on par with most wingers, and you can eat them if they start plotting
against you....

Andrew VK3BFA.

Well, you didn't need to modify the post Gunner - I didn't specify
right or left. (Not being paranoid, are you?) Extremists of both
persuasions are a danger to us all......ignorance, prejudice,stupidity
- neither side has a monopoly on them.
Andrew VK3BFA.

But we still like you extremists.

And where did I modify the post? You are one of the anal types who
simply has to remove everything in some vain hope of saving bandwidth?

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
something damned nasty to all three of them.

You know where you modified it Gunner, unless early dementia is
kicking in. And for the benefit of anyone interested (not many, I
know) if you all read Gunners reply to my original reply to the post,
you will see he has inserted the word "left" in fron of wingers......
Gunner, if thats the best you can do, the populace of America must be
sleeping peacefully at night, knowing people like you are eternally
vigilant...

Andrew VK3BFA.


So please provide the original post. Ive been working in LA since
Monday. It was Thursday night when I read your post and commented.

Addition of the word Left made the posting far more correct than the
original version.

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
something damned nasty to all three of them.

Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able to
take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

Like one of the other guys (was it Karl?) said, an old 12 HP Gravely
walk behind would work. I used to mow some pretty steep slopes with
one of those. I had dual wheels on each side and a 40" deck. If the
steering brake isn't worn out, it works ok. The newer solution
probably would be a walk behind zero turn mower. The old Gravelys
were all gear driven with a differential between the two big drive
wheels. Once you had the dual wheels and anything wider than the 30"
mower on them, you really needed the steering brake attachment to make
them easier to use. Actually the old original 8 HP Gravelys with the
30" deck may do the job for you without dual wheels and they're very
maneuverable without a steering brake. Now I use a Grasshopper zero
turn for my 4A. The Gravely's been retired to winter snow blowing.

RWL

On Aug 17, 10:29*pm, GeoLane at PTD dot NET GeoLane at PTD dot NET
wrote:
Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? *I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able to
take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

Like one of the other guys (was it Karl?) said, an old 12 HP Gravely
walk behind would work. *I used to mow some pretty steep slopes with
one of those. *I had dual wheels on each side and a 40" deck. *If the
steering brake isn't worn out, it works ok. *The newer solution
probably would be a walk behind zero turn mower. *The old Gravelys
were all gear driven with a differential between the two big drive
wheels. *Once you had the dual wheels and anything wider than the 30"
mower on them, you really needed the steering brake attachment to make
them easier to use. * Actually the old original 8 HP Gravelys with the
30" deck may do the job for you without dual wheels and they're very
maneuverable without a steering brake. *Now *I use a Grasshopper zero
turn for my 4A. *The Gravely's been retired to winter snow blowing.

RWL

Actually, the ones back in the 40s were 5 HP. Then to 6.6 HP, then to
7.6 HP in the late 60s. No changes in displacement though - just cams
and carburetors and compression - with a good dose of marketing hype -
so the torque was all about the same and most people notice little if
any difference in power. These were the Gravely T head engines, with
pressure oiling - good on hills.

Dual or even triple wheels, or axle extensions, would be a real plus
on steep slopes.

The 30" decks are the heavy bush hogs which aren't the greatest for
finish mowing, but there are larger decks with multiple spindles which
give great cuts. Or reel mowers, single or gang.

John Martin

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:48:12 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

snip
Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able to
take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

Here is one example:

http://www.remotemower.com/commercial-models.php

"Professional lawn care providers are using the SRX22T
remote control commercial lawn mower on slopes up to 70
degrees. One man, equipped with a remote control commercial
lawn mower, is in control of the slopes and ditches, instead
of 6 or 8 men with weed eaters..."

This isn't the one I was thinking of, obviously there are
more out there...

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:28:58 -0400, Leon Fisk wrote:

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:48:12 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

snip
Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able
to take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

Here is one example:

http://www.remotemower.com/commercial-models.php

"Professional lawn care providers are using the SRX22T remote control
commercial lawn mower on slopes up to 70 degrees. One man, equipped
with a remote control commercial lawn mower, is in control of the slopes
and ditches, instead of 6 or 8 men with weed eaters..."

This isn't the one I was thinking of, obviously there are more out
there...

You _*******_!

Now I'm either going to have to stop doing paying work until I get one
built, or I'm going to have to pine away 'cause I can't find time to
build one!

@#$%!

(Did you notice the price? $10K!!! Maybe I should build some myself --
although I bet that's $3000 for the mower and $7000 for liability
insurance).

--
www.wescottdesign.com

On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:54:15 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

snip
(Did you notice the price? $10K!!! Maybe I should build some myself --
although I bet that's $3000 for the mower and $7000 for liability
insurance).

OH Ya! I noticed the price Still would be fun to run one
a few times.

This is the one I was thinking of:

"The Spider IDL02:

Based around the capability of remote operation, the Spider
Slope Mower offers a safer alternative to the maintenance of
sloped terrain.

The patent-protected design of this machines travel ensures
excellent properties and stability even when changing
driving directions on a steep slope. In areas with rapidly
changing slopes and in places where other machines can
hardly move, the slope mower SPIDER and its original "dance
step" are absolutely unsurpassable." See:

http://www.slopecare.com/spiderslopemower.html

If I remember right, it wasn't any less expensive...

Maybe something like this would work:

"The SSM38-72D SuperSlopeMaster„¢ from Kut Kwick is in a
class all its own when it comes to extra heavy-duty
commercial steep slope mowing. In fact, it is the only mower
manufactured in the U.S. that is engineered and tested to
perform on slopes up to 40°.

The SuperSlopeMaster„¢ is designed to cut rough terrain,
including heavy grass and weeds. It has a powerful 38 HP
Yanmar diesel engine and 1/4€� steel deck, with three 3/8€�
flat cutting blades. And, the SuperSlopeMaster„¢s skid
steering mechanism, through its twin, closed loop hydraulic
systems, offers the great maneuverability and power that is
required to mow steep slopes. Machines with steering wheels
are not as maneuverable and cannot operate on steep slopes."
See:

http://www.kutkwick.com/superslopemaster.htm

There is another commercial unit that I have seen that uses
two wheels and you ride like a motorcycle. A mowing deck to
your right and left. The "cycle" trys to stay straight up
and down, the decks can move like wings. I'll see if I can
find info if you are truly interested. I'm sure it is $$$
though. Marketed towards municipalities for mowing slopes.

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

Tim Wescott wrote:

On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:28:58 -0400, Leon Fisk wrote:

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:48:12 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

snip
Anyone have any mileage with a largish self-propelled mower that works
good on slopes? I'm looking for something that'll bag, but being able
to take off the bag and just fling the grass when I'm opening up new
territory would be nice.

Here is one example:

http://www.remotemower.com/commercial-models.php

"Professional lawn care providers are using the SRX22T remote control
commercial lawn mower on slopes up to 70 degrees. One man, equipped
with a remote control commercial lawn mower, is in control of the slopes
and ditches, instead of 6 or 8 men with weed eaters..."

This isn't the one I was thinking of, obviously there are more out
there...

You _*******_!

Now I'm either going to have to stop doing paying work until I get one
built, or I'm going to have to pine away 'cause I can't find time to
build one!

@#$%!

(Did you notice the price? $10K!!! Maybe I should build some myself --
although I bet that's $3000 for the mower and $7000 for liability
insurance).

I've not looked at this particular unit, however if you think $10k is
out of line for a commercial grade mower, I'd suggest you look at what
the commercial grade ZT mowers like the Ferris, SCAG, and the like go
for.