Export thread

So I have a new Raptor SD 54" and it does a great job. I know the manual says 15 degree hills but so did my Craftsman lawn tractor manual.

Issue I'm having is I have about a 30-45 degree hill which it goes up fine. Coming down it goes out of control. I end up with left lever full back, right lever forward just to try to stay straight. I go a slowly as possible at the top of the hill to try to maintain control but just doesn't seem to be able to. 1/2 to 3/4 of the way down the hill I push both bars forward and then pull back and control is back. Any kind of method on this?

Mowing patterns?
Tires with more trackor style tread? A friend has a JD tractor with tires that seem to grip great almost like a ribbed style tread.

I bought the best mover I could afford and they have a good rap for hills. Just need to figure it out. I would try to post a pic but need to figure out how to resize on iPad.

Do the heavier commercial models have these concerns?

TIA

Not trying to ruin your day but zero turns are not designed for hills that steep. If possible try to mow sideways (horizontally ) on the hills and turn up the hill. Maybe a more aggressive tire will help but it also could tear up your lawn. I have some steeper than recommended hills on my property but I can aproach them from an area with less grade and then turn and mow up the steepest parts.

I'm a big guy..280lbs. It wows me w/all the wt over the rear tires how ez mine slides around too. I think there are better tire choices out there. Maybe someone will chime in. Only good thing about the stock tires is it also helps reduce tearing in corners and pivots. I wouldn't hesitate to mow in front of our cabin w/my jd lawn tractor.....but I think if I even thought about trying my sd54 I might as well have a wash mit along so i could get to work once its in the water.

jaredfink said:

Not trying to ruin your day but zero turns are not designed for hills that steep. If possible try to mow sideways (horizontally ) on the hills and turn up the hill. Maybe a more aggressive tire will help but it also could tear up your lawn. I have some steeper than recommended hills on my property but I can aproach them from an area with less grade and then turn and mow up the steepest parts.

Click to expand...

I lowered the tire pressure and topped off the hydros before mowing today and it seemed better. Maybe just because it's a dry day with a lot of sun to burn off the dew. I also mowed at a slight angle. Seemed to help. No problem going up but, going down was still "loose" at times.

kraky said:

I'm a big guy..280lbs. It wows me w/all the wt over the rear tires how ez mine slides around too. I think there are better tire choices out there. Maybe someone will chime in. Only good thing about the stock tires is it also helps reduce tearing in corners and pivots. I wouldn't hesitate to mow in front of our cabin w/my jd lawn tractor.....but I think if I even thought about trying my sd54 I might as well have a wash mit along so i could get to work once its in the water.

Click to expand...

I'm a big guy too. 6" 280 and I thought the weight would help but doesn't seem so. Seems to be when I start going to fast and pull back on a lever the tire either locks up or just starts to spin in reverse. I have found that by starting very, very slowly down the hill that I can keep contols much better and about mid way can start mowing at normal speed. I took some pics when I was done and will try to post them in a bit.

I hope someone chimes in on the tires. I like the tires on the machine but I bet there's a better tire for more hilly terrain.

Rick

Same thing going on with me, little moisture and hill = slip and slide city. The thing with a ZTR is you have all the drive and steering forces on the same axle, and it takes a lot of opposite torque to get the front end moving one way or the other. Lots of traction is needed to operate the machine. The turf tires are good, but are made to be as kind as possible to the grass. For near ultimate traction try ag (agricultural) tires, available with varying amounts of tread depth.

Im definitely a rookie! I've only used my Raptor 3 times so far. The first time I was ready to trade it in. I have some hills at about 20 degrees and I lost it a couple of times. I've learned to tackle the hills straight up or straight down. I've also noticed that you can go too slow. Areas around trees on hills I've actually maintained control by speeding up. It seems that if you keep the tire moving down hill it won't lock up and you maintain control. Am I on the right track veteran zero turners?

Go down backwards with the sticks just off neutral

I just traded up to the 2014 Fastrak SD and it sticks to the hills much better. The machine weighs about 230lbs more so I think that helps. Also the hydros are ZTR-3100's which is an upgrade and may play a role in it also.

On the steepest hills I'll try backing down. If I need to at some point I can try some ag tires but have enough other purchases with equipment to think about with leaf season coming. Have to make some $$ to pay for the upgrade. The wife said she's goi got make a sign that says, "stupid drives this" LOL. The first time I've asked for forgiveness and not permission. LOL.


The Hustlermower is capable of operating horizontally (traverse) on moderately steep slopes. When operating on slopes up to 15 degrees, be aware of any conditions that may cause the mower drive tires to lose traction resulting in a possible loss of control of the mower. An operator should not operate on a slope until he is thoroughly familiar with the equipment.
Do not operate on slopes greater than 15 degrees.Refer to the Slope Guide, when determining the degree of slope to be mowed.It is strongly recommended that the operator drive the mower off of the slope, using extreme caution, if any sign of loss of traction is detected. Wait until the condition that caused the problem is resolved before attempting to operate on the slope again.

Ric said:


The Hustlermower is capable of operating horizontally (traverse) on moderately steep slopes. When operating on slopes up to 15 degrees, be aware of any conditions that may cause the mower drive tires to lose traction resulting in a possible loss of control of the mower. An operator should not operate on a slope until he is thoroughly familiar with the equipment.
Do not operate on slopes greater than 15 degrees.Refer to the Slope Guide, when determining the degree of slope to be mowed.It is strongly recommended that the operator drive the mower off of the slope, using extreme caution, if any sign of loss of traction is detected. Wait until the condition that caused the problem is resolved before attempting to operate on the slope again.

Click to expand...

Yep. Read all that and still have hills to mow. My Craftsman DTL 3000 lawn tractor said the same thing and I've used that to mow my property for 10 years, butt half on seat and half over fender. It took me a while to figure out how to do it and feel safe and get a decent result. There's only about 4-5 cuts on the steepest part of the hill so if needed I have a push mower. That is a last resort. The 60" cut makes for less time on the hill also which is nice.

When I can afford it I'll get a ride on like you have and won't worry so much about it.

I can put my SD 54 on at least 30 degree slopes,,as long as its a strait slope its pretty good,if the slope drops off one way or the other the high side tire breaks loose first,then you go for a little ride down the hill hoping nothing is in the way

I have a new Raptor SD 54 and also have some problems with sliding going down a hill. I only mow when it is dry and going up works fine. I was thinking of replacing the stock OTR Grassmaster 20x12-10 with Carlisle AT101 21x11-10 but it appears that they wont clear the fender. The Grassmaster appears to 18 7/8" high x 10.4 wide and this only gives me about 1 3/8" clearance on the fender. Has anyone tried any other tires for traction on the SD 54?
John

I ended up sipping or grooving my tires using an angle grinder and cut off wheel..I grooved them in both directions,helped very much...the machine i such a light machine it will slide down hills and so forth once in a while..thats just the way it is.

577jersey you said "I grooved them in both directions" but I am unclear as to what you mean by both directions. I had previously put 3 circular grooves around the tire toward the outside 1/3 tread of each tire which seemed to have some minimal improvement mowing side ways when it is not real steep but I am chicken so far trying to go sideways on steeper areas.
John

Siping a tire means cutting grooves from one side to the other in a desired pattern for whatever terrain you're wanting to traverse. It is used in Dirt Track Racing to grab the damp clay of the track.



You do not have to have a siping machine. You can use a circle saw by setting the depth to about 1/8" to 3/16" depending upon how much available rubber sitting above the carcass of your tires.

You can grind the grooves in, however, you won't usually get quite as square a sipe wall as a cut sipe.

Good luck,

Max

577jersey said:

I can put my SD 54 on at least 30 degree slopes,,as long as its a strait slope its pretty good,if the slope drops off one way or the other the high side tire breaks loose first,then you go for a little ride down the hill hoping nothing is in the way

Click to expand...

The ole lady with 3 hours of seat time. This was her first encounter with a hill. That ditch is about 6-8 ft deep. Lucky and blessed -only got some bruises. She won't go near the ditch now.... highly suggest that all be trained on hills before use.

Sure glad she wasn't badly hurt.

coxey2 said:

The ole lady with 3 hours of seat time. This was her first encounter with a hill. That ditch is about 6-8 ft deep. Lucky and blessed -only got some bruises. She won't go near the ditch now.... highly suggest that all be trained on hills before use.

Click to expand...

Nice new transmission brace. That sure is one way to inspect it.

Would be a good time to install the muffler heat shield before you resume mowing. lol

Don't forget to pull the plugs and spin it over before you try to start it.

Bummer man
Glad there is not any serious injury

A couple of years ago we had a nice fella get killed on a John Deere zero-turn close by here. His kids bought him a brand new zero-turn for his retirement and the first time he used it he thought he could go down in the ditches like he had been with his lawn tractor.... rolled over and broke his neck.
I don't consider myself to be excessively stupid but I just don't get why a zero turn takes off so badly going downhill but can climb almost anything going forward.... and why the Zero Turns with automotive type steering seem to be able to do most anything much better than a stick unit.

kraky said:

..I just don't get why a zero turn takes off so badly going downhill but can climb almost anything going forward....

Click to expand...

drive wheel location, weight location, and weight transfer.

Facing uphill, going uphill, nearly all the machine weight is trying to push the driven tread into the slope, the front wheels have very little weight on them.
Facing downhill, going downhill, the opposite... machine weight is on the front tires, and they roll freely, trying to drag the rear tires away and down the slope.

kraky said:

...and why the Zero Turns with automotive type steering seem to be able to do most anything much better than a stick unit.

Click to expand...

Most steering wheel machines actually have steered front wheels, rack and pinion and all, mostly like a regular tractor, allowing them to hold angle and keep the machine on your intended path, the hydros are slaved off that steering linkage. on a two-stick machine as we all know they are just castors and cannot help with directional stability.

Datadave said:

Bummer man
Glad there is not any serious injury

Click to expand...

thanks all, she got a big nasty bruise on her leg and now i had to buy a push mower for the area near that ditch. I have noticed the slide on hills as well and it would have been me if I had been the first one of us to use it that day. Otherwise great mowers. We both mowed with a scag that we had on another property but that place has no hills.....would never have thought it...Would highly suggest that everyone be trained prior to using one of these.

I filled the rear tires with fluid on my SD48. Helped a lot.