# Haying hillsides



## bja105 (Jun 20, 2016)

My fields are flat, which is rare in Pennsylvania. Three neighbors have offered me their fields, and two are hilly.

I have never rolled a tractor, and never plan to. I have mowed some steep side hills with a brush hog, and I have turned downhill when I didn't like the way ot feels. No problems, i can mow up and down, or just skip it.
Haying is different. I want long straight stretches, and I have different implements.
How do haying implements affect stability on side hills?
I have an offset mower, its a rotary scythe. Its low to the ground,and I think it could only push me by the drawbar, and maybe make me slide downhill.

I also have a round baler, a Vermeer 605c. That thing looks tall enough to roll. Do round balers ever slide sideways downhill, or do they have enough traction to track straight?

Has anybody ever rolled while haying?

Any tips to keep me upright?

These hills are not as steep as some that I see folks haying, but they are steep to me. The good thing is they level out as you go down hill, so I can turn downhill and not hit anything.


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## MFSuper90 (Jun 26, 2015)

Not familiar with a round baler as I have never run one but I can tell you a neighbor round bales the back side of a dam on a lake. Mile long rows at a 45 degree slant if not more. He round bales it. Most of the bales wind up in the creek at the bottom but the tractor is still on its wheels...somehow


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## bja105 (Jun 20, 2016)

I am also worried about my bales rolling away when I bale this weekend, but I have a level spot to dump them.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

I hay some very steep hills for myself and a neighbor. When on a hill side go slow. Dont get bouncing. A lot of tractors will slide side ways before rolling. But than again I have my wheels set as wide as they can be. Yes everything will slide down hill to an extent. I never go on the steepest side hills with more than half a bale in the chamber. Round balers are top heavy. Than on the even steeper hills I go up and down. But up and down straigh, not where the tractor is going down at a small angle. Sometimes if you want to hay the steep hills you cant worry about long straigh rows. Have to work with the contour of the land or not at all. Dont know how steep or long your hills are but some of the hills I hay make guys who think they have hills say WOW.

Also dont make any fast turns on a hill with the baler. Its not best to turn sharp on a hill side anyways but even worse with the weight of the baler pushing the tractor around.

Good luck and be safe.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Here's a few things I've learned over the years about haying on hills (and I will repeat some of the suggestions above):

GO SLOW! Things like ruts and groundhog holes can appear real fast. Going too fast will cause your tractor to maybe bounce in the wrong direction.

Go up and down, not across.

Use 4 wheel drive. Having the extra traction can keep you from sliding out or jackknifing.

Do not shift gears going up or down. Pick a lower gear, stay there. The few seconds where the engine is disengaged can get you rolling faster than you think.

Instead of turning downhill when things feel shaky, turn uphill if there is flatter ground uphill to turn on. Turning downhill can sometimes put your center of gravity further downhill thereby making it easier to get on 3 wheels.

Plan your baling so that you drop you round bales at the top or the bottom. If you have to drop a bale on the hillside, back your baler up about 20-30 feet and angle it so that the bale will drop square to the hillside. Also, the angle will allow you to see the bale come out. Also, I start rolling forward slowly as the bale is coming out when I am pointed uphill so that the bale has a little forward momentum to compensate for the backward momentum from dropping.

On steeper hills, mow, rake and bale going straight up and down the hill, not across.

Round bales will not slide sideways, but they can turn downhill once they start rolling.

Most importantly, trust your pucker hole! If it starts to get tight, get out of the situation before it turns bad!

I probably have a dozen more suggestions, but I can't think of them right now.

Hope this helps.

Ralph


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## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

We hay some pretty good hills. We have rolled silage wagons and bale wagons. Mainly due to hitting a ground hog hole on the lower side. We work across the side of the hill, but run duals on our haying tractors. Always try to turn uphill. I don't like working up and down hill unless you have four wheel drive. To easy to get pushed down hill. Biggest tip is to wait till the dew is off before working on steep hillsides. Experience has taught me that wet grass is really slick.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Great suggestions. Also, if you have a loader, bring it down to 1-2 feet off the ground to lower your center of gravity. Having the bucket on the loader down low helps even more. 
Filling rear tires 50-75% puts a lot of weight down low on the back tires where you need it. 
Walk the hillside if it's practical to look for GH holes/dirt mounds. I have found them to be a real PITA.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

My mowing and baling tractors are set as wide as possible, tedding and raking tractor will still do 30" corn rows.

I've seen the uphill tire of the pickup on the roundballer a good 6-8" off the ground on a good hillside, haven't lost one yet. Make sure you don't have any squishy tires on the tractor or baler.

I back up and point the round baler downhill before discharging a bale. With a little practice you can get a good pile of bales all in one spot, reduces driving when picking them up.

Do yourself a favor, start at the bottom of the hill and work your way up so you don't have any bales on rows to be baled yet.


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## Uphayman (Oct 31, 2014)

My experiences regarding hills, 1 field in particular: when your 15 years old catching small squares on the hay wagon and pop says "1 more round" .......get the hell off the wagon. Survived a roll over with just bruised heals. After sitting out a shower under a chopper wagon (open 4020), then attempting to green chop and jack knifing , turning up the hill to keep from getting killed, rolling chopper wagon.....I'm 18 years old at the time.........stay the hell off the field after a rain. When your pulling a near full 20 ' chopper wagon with a 1915 NH self propelled, blow the propulsion units main hydraulic line, going straight up the beast........now going backwards at increasingly dangerous speeds and the brakes are pushed to the floor with no effect,........I was saying prayers in warp speed. You get the idea.

Ralph is right. Trust the pucker hole. As I get older, it gets listened to a lot sooner.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Uphayman said:


> My experiences regarding hills, 1 field in particular: when your 15 years old catching small squares on the hay wagon and pop says "1 more round" .......get the hell off the wagon. Survived a roll over with just bruised heals. After sitting out a shower under a chopper wagon (open 4020), then attempting to green chop and jack knifing , turning up the hill to keep from getting killed, rolling chopper wagon.....I'm 18 years old at the time.........stay the hell off the field after a rain. When your pulling a near full 20 ' chopper wagon with a 1915 NH self propelled, blow the propulsion units main hydraulic line, going straight up the beast........now going backwards at increasingly dangerous speeds and the brakes are pushed to the floor with no effect,........I was saying prayers in warp speed. You get the idea.
> 
> Ralph is right. Trust the pucker hole. As I get older, it gets listened to a lot sooner.
> 
> ...


My goodness! Around here, we'd call that flat ground!















Ralph


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Now these are some slopes...










Later! OL J R


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

OL J R


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

luke strawwalker said:


> Now these are some slopes...
> 
> Later! OL J R


 Not just no, but hell no. Once you start rolling you would not stop until you hit bottom. I would say that makes the pucker factor times 10.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Theres some days when I wouldnt mind owning one of those terratracs

The Aebi truck collects the hay, then what do they do? Bale it on a flat spot? Or just feed it as it comes off truck?


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

CowboyRam said:


> Not just no, but hell no. Once you start rolling you would not stop until you hit bottom. I would say that makes the pucker factor times 10.


The hills are alive, with the sound of (perklump) OH! OW! SUNOFA! OOPS! OUCH! DANGIT!
(bang) WOW! (thump) OUCH! (pow)...

LOL OL J R


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

JD3430 said:


> Theres some days when I wouldnt mind owning one of those terratracs
> 
> The Aebi truck collects the hay, then what do they do? Bale it on a flat spot? Or just feed it as it comes off truck?


Think they unload it as loose hay into the barn... or haystacks... something like that.

Did see a video of some of those folks feeding a tiny little round baler making maybe 3x3 bales with a pitchfork...

Later! OL J R


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## Bruce Hopf (Jun 29, 2016)

X 2, on the Hell NO. LOL. Don't think, I could handle the pucker factor. LOL.


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## Redbaler (Jun 10, 2011)

My favorite thing to do when baling on big hills is dumping 5 or 6 rounds close together at the bottom then play round bale bowling from higher up. I don't do it near the creek though.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

Years ago I was on a loaded hay wagon going down a small grade behind a baler and tractor. We went for a ride. The driver did a GREAT job of managing it.

Be careful of hills. We have some that we are preparing for hay fields and are most mindful of the potential dangers.

I tell my boys, there are many things you will learn by mistakes. One mistake on a hill with a tractor and rather than a lesson learned, you may find yourself dead. Don't push the limits on a hill.


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## Coondle (Aug 28, 2013)

Isaac Newton (gravity) and Mother Nature have no friends, they are not malevolent nor emotional in any way.

But they are always waiting for the careless , unwary and unsafe.

They have no compassion for the old the young, the strong or the weak.

Make one mistake, do one overstep, take one chance too many and they will take a toll.

Hillsides are the playground of Isaac and one rollover or downhill rush is too many. Disaster can be the outcome.

Note that all the vehicles on the steep slopes videoed are all wheel drive and low-profile.

4wd on a tractor is great for hills helping with traction but an added bonus is the 4 wheel braking with it in 4WD. R1 tread pattern tractor tyres are useless for downhill braking on a 2wd tractor. The tread action is the wrong way around, but with even little front wheels with r1 treads amplify the braking effort on a 4wd tractor. I could not use my Bandit hooked to a baler on some of my hills but on a 4wd 60 hp tractor I can manoeuvre the bandit on all but one slope. One steep slope I can only go down, the tractor cannot pull it up despite ballasting the tractor and water in the tyres, there is simply not enough traction. Another slope I will not again tackle with the bandit at all, hand pickup only. Not even my 150 hp Case 2290 could drag it up the slope because of loss of traction not engine power.


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## bja105 (Jun 20, 2016)

I survived!


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## Coondle (Aug 28, 2013)

bja105 said:


> I survived!


Glad to hear that.

Did any bales roll away downhill?


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