Help! Skidding while mowing downhill

[Hurstmuscle 0]

have a Toro Wheelhorse 416XT with a hydrostatic transmission and upgraded to Deestone 405 ag/bar 6 ply tires in the factory size 23x10-12.

5psi and I am 350+ lbs.

My hill is 22 degree (40% grade).
If I go past creeping the rear tires lock up and skid.

thinking a softer compound tire and maybe filling them would help?

I’ve spent hours and hours searching all the forums I can find.

I am leaning towards Carlisle Field Trax, or an ATV tire. I could fit up to 25x12x12.

I don’t want to drop $150 per tire for them to not fix my problem. I already bought the ags but will sell them if I can find a better tire.

[pfrederi 20,923]

Ags are directional tires  the provide good traction pulling forward.  They are worthless in reverse and not very good at braking (since that is somewhat the equivalent of trying to go backward)

 

 

My Farmall M with 600lbs of fluid in each tire and 300 lbs of weights willl slide on gravel road if I try to stop too hard or going down hill.

Edited 13 hours ago by pfrederi

[Handy Don 17,021]

A 22º slope of grass? No tire that I know of will eliminate potentially dangerous slippage--there just isn’t going to be enough friction regardless of weight. 

I’d say your options are chains on turfs or a tracked vehicle.  

Edited 12 hours ago by Handy Don

[Lee1977 7,717]

Sounds to me like you are trying to mow too fast.  Hydros speed up going down hill.  A Wheel Horse tractor brake only locks one wheel, the other free wheels.

I mow some banks that are steeper.  I have to slow up before starting down with a hydro. they can get a lot faster even in a short distance.

[Sparky-(Admin) 25,988]

  Less ply tires offer better grip. Maybe add chains and weights..but no offense at 350#you shouldn’t need additional wheel weights. 
   Not a fan of ag tires. The Carlisle All-trails (Carlstar their called now I think) are my favorites and I run them on a couple of my machines. They are not a directional tire. 
  The ones in this pic are 23 x8.00 x 12’s .

 

[rmaynard 17,449]

My rule of thumb is don't mow grades. But if you do, don't exceed a grade of 15°.

[8ntruck 9,092]

 the maximum recommended operating angle for Kohler engines is 15 deg.  I expect other engine manufacturers use about the same recommendations.

Edited 5 hours ago by 8ntruck

[c-series don 12,153]

1 hour ago, Sparky said:

Not a fan of ag tires

Here we go again Mike, this is why you should let me come get those 23x10.50-12’s that you should never use 🤣🤣🤣

[John2189 596]

9 hours ago, pfrederi said:

Ags are directional tires  the provide good traction pulling forward.  They are worthless in reverse and not very good at braking (since that is somewhat the equivalent of trying to go backward)

 

 

My Farmall M with 600lbs of fluid in each tire and 300 lbs of weights willl slide on gravel road if I try to stop too hard or going down hill.

Why don’t you try swapping the ag tires? Put the right on the left and left on the right. 
maybe they will grab better. But, they might not be that good going uphill.
It would be worth a try.🤷🏻‍♂️

Edited 4 hours ago by John2189

[953 nut 67,578]

Gear jammer or Hydro, you can mow up a hill much better than down,   Simple physics, going up hill the weight of the tractor is being applied to the rear axle, going down a hill the weight is being transferred toward the front axle. I have used tire chains while mowing a steep grade, if you don't spin the tires they won't harm the grass.

[kpinnc 18,765]

4 hours ago, rmaynard said:

My rule of thumb is don't mow grades. But if you do, don't exceed a grade of 15°.

 

Another rule of thumb comes from zero turns: if you can't back up the entire hill without wheelspin you should not mow it with said machine. If it's steep enough to slide it's well past steep enough to flip. 

 

One thing to note: your ag tires might grip better running backwards initially, but when they finally slip they will slide like an ice rink because the chevron shape running correctly should "shed" whatever it pulls up. Running backwards will compact any debris and hold it making the tread useless. 

Edited 1 hour ago by kpinnc