Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

My yard is not that big ,but I do have a steep hill. Every year I sweat cutting it, for my reg mower wants to flip over. I tried a front drive unit. They just dont have traction on hills. Most of the time I just weed wack at it. If I do it looks terrible, but at least it is cut. I was thinking of getting a rear drive unit and put long studs in the tires. Does anyone have a better idea?

Buy a goat.

bus708 wrote:
Welcome back!  We lost more than half the threads you started.

I like Borat's idea.  Get a goat.  Reduces carbon footprint, the goat also fertilize the lawn.  Its just a natural sustainable cycle.  Goat eats, goats poop, goats feed the lawn, the lawn grows, goat eats lawn.  Not sure how big your lawn is, maybe two goats.  One boy, one girl, to keep occupied.  :)

Seriously, you can contract it out to someone else.  Or keep wacking it as you have done, just try to go slower so it looks nice.  Or try to get those lightweight 2-cycle lawnboys.  They have low center of gravity to prevent tipping over and light enough to push around without using self propel.

There's also the option of artificial turf, stays green all year round.  Never have to mow or wear out any machines.

At my former house I had a slope like that in the back that led down to a stream. I weedwhacked it for a few years but that was a real PITA because I had to stand in the water to do the bottom half. I ended up using Roundup on the whole thing then planted ivy (hedera helix). Worked great, it was thick enough after two years to prevent any weeds from growing.

I just bought a used Ariens 6hp weed whacker that rides on two over-sized wheels.   It might be useful for your slope.  At least the cut would be even at the same height.  Having said that...I'd go with the ground cover suggestion.

the old aluminum deck 2 stroke lawnboys are the right idea - i used to mow the grass at a hospital in the summer and they had this hill that was almost impossible to cut -  a 50' rope tied to the brackets where the handle met the deck of the old aluminum deck 2 stroke lawnboy did the trick in record time.  tie a separate rope to each bracket and the 2' difference is actually enough to aim the mower on the way down and up so you cut pretty quickly. 

x3 on the ground cover - junipers also work.  Another option is to terrace the hillside so you have several flat shelves instead of a slope.

Maybe those robot mowers would work good on the slope - I've seen a video somewhere of one mowing the slopes on a highway overpass.

Another possible option is to get one of those hovering mowers, tie a rope to it, then walk it back and forth while you stay at the top of the slope, just let out a little more rope after each pass.

Bigger is better. JD X series 4X4! Seriously if its in a place where the ground cover would work that would be the best route. That isn't always the case though. I mow a large yard and bought a Deere X575 4X4 mostly to push snow but there is an area at the edge of the yard where it drops off to a creek and the 4X4 works great there.

Hills/slopes are a major issue at my place. I remove the collector-bag from my mower, to reduce weight and the possibility of roll-over, and I tend to cut diagonally across the slope, rather than try to push the mower straight up the slopes. I also wear golf shoes, for better traction.

This year, I may buy a low-profile/lightweight electric mower, just for those slopes. Mind you, I don't relish the thought of working with 100+ feet of extension-cord.

Having a goat would be great, if the municipality allowed it,,,,, and buying a flame-thrower has crossed my mind as well. 

No slope is too steep for them:

a href="http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l65/caltey/?action=view&amp;current=goats.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l65/caltey/goats.jpg" border="0" alt="goats"></a>

Hopefully the pic is here:

I have found out that a rear wheel drive works much better than a front wheel drive on slopes and hills.