Caring about a lawn on a steep hill may be a problem. The fact is that an ordinary lawnmower, which can easily cope with grass that grows on a flat surface, is usually not designed for working on steep slopes. So, it is more safe to look for the best mowers for hills that are able to cope with steep surfaces. When the curvature of the hill exceeds 10°, it already becomes inconvenient to manipulate the lawn mower, and in the case with a strong height difference, it becomes even unsafe. Of course, there are specialized equipment for cutting grass on difficult kinds of surfaces.
Types of Mowers for Steep Hills
So, what type of mower it’s better to use for mowing grass on the hill, the steepness of which exceeds the recommended rate of the one that you have at home? It all depends on the size of a target area and on the degree of a slope. For work on steep (35-45°) and very steep (45-55°) hills, it’s more convenient to use a special steep hill mower:
Push Mowers
The main advantage of the push mower is that the cutting unit itself can be mounted on a special “hand”, so the tilt angle of both the main boom and the cutting unit itself changes. The steepness of the hill is almost irrelevant in this case. The main disadvantage of the push mowers is the limited working area, which depends on the length of the boom of the mower and the steepness of the slope (the higher the steepness of the hill, the smaller is the working area).
Riding Mowers
The problem with limited working area can be avoided by using riding lawn mowers, designed primarily for mowing steep hills. Structurally, they remind tractors and have steering, so the work with them has no analogues in terms of convenience. It runs on gasoline and designed for work on very large areas.
Security Measures Before Mowing a Steep Hill
When mowing the lawn on a steep hill, it is especially important to take precautionary measures. Namely, in order not to slip and not to be injured, you should choose shoes on a stable sole, which is non-slip on the grass and holds the ankle tightly. Move with a mowing machine in short steps, use your hands only to move the tool to the side, while keeping your shoulders and hips parallel to each other.
A Traditional Way of Mowing A Steep Hill
Start from the bottom, mowing the lawn strip across the slope. Then, you need to go back to the already mowed grass, climb a little higher, and mow parallel to the previous one. This way, just a mowed grass lays down on the already mowed, without covering a grass that has yet to be cut. This way makes it easy and safe to mow the lawn than if you were mowing, not across but along the hill.
Mowing A Steep Hill With An Ordinary Mower
There is an alternative option on how to mow a steep hill, using an ordinary lawn mower. Tie the cable to the lawn mower. It will go down from the top edge of the hill, mowing a strip of grass behind itself, and then with the help of the same cable, it will pull up, cutting the strip of grass parallel to the previous one. Of course, there should be another person at the bottom and guide the lawnmower along the desired path. However, this method is quite risky.