Comm 10 vs 10A

My advice is to mow downhill on the steepest portions. Transversely mowing is tough no matter what tractor is used. On the 816 I kept sliding out of the seat. Because I was holding onto the steering wheel to keep from sliding completely off the tractor, steering control was severely compromised.

My father partially rolled an SC on the hill with a 30" deck and dual wheels.

The 4 wheel tractor seems to be more stable when mowing transversely but if it does roll, there is a greater risk of injury or worse.

The hill that was at my fathers place was so steep that none of the gravelys could climb it. I tried both the SC and the 816 both equipped with chains. I tried going forward and backward up the hill and neither would climb it. I just could not get enough traction. Even mowing downhill was a bit tricky at the very steepest portion of the hill. About 20% of the time one tire would lose traction and the tractor would go down the hill and could not be stopped until both rear tires gained purchase again. It is weird to look down and see one tire rotating forward and the other rotating backwards.

Now if my father had axle extenders on his SC, then that might have resolved the issue, but in the end, mowing downhill was the safest and least expensive solution.

I think that a 8000/G series could be outfitted with the necessary stuff to mow transversely on a hill safely but that would be a bit expensive and make the tractor a bit ungainly. I would think that a ROPS, duals, wheel weights, filled tires, a seat belt or 3 point harness and that should take care of it.

The next question is what to do if it does roll? If there is no means of uprighting such a tractor in the event of a roll then it is all for naught anyway.

I agree with Richard. Transverse mowing of a steep hill with any of these machines is a bad idea. The late model G is the best suited do to its wider rear track width, but anything steeper than a 20 to 30 dgree slope is simply dangerous.

Steering a walk behind of any model across such a slope seems dangerous to me.

I only have two small but faily steep slopes in my yard. I have always mowed the going up or down, mostly down. And with my three can bagger/vac even that REQUIRES front wheel weights.

The milder of the two can be mowed transversely but it is not fun. It will be interesting to see if the slopes are handled better now that I have rear wheel weights as well. I plan to leave them on and see how/if they effect mowing this summer.

Sheldon

Gravely Model L Guy said:

The Comm10 has a swifty axle like most other comm series tractors. Some of them also had the older style narrow split rims. They are a great lawn mowing and snow plowing machine but for most other work they are to fast.

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My Comm 10 is SN J1018. It is just as described as above: swiftmatic, split rims. I use mine for mowing with a sulky and 30" deck and this season I actually plowed snow. I do have 2 rotary plows but have yet to mount and use. I do not have "lawn" per se but some rough terrain covered in natural grasses for this altitude and rainfall. I cut the grass to minimize the wild fire hazard. I can do most of it while on the sulky and in high/high. I have removed most of the rocks so I can cover most of the area without too much trouble.

I will probably be corrected but it appears that when the modifications were made for the 10A, Gravely went with the internal charging and bendix type starter. Is that correct, guys? It's what the Comm 10 and Comm 10A manuals show. I have both because when my dad acquired this machine 35 years ago, he did not know what he had. :dunno:

I have another thread about a problem I had recently. It may be useful to you.

GravelyNM said:

My Comm 10 is SN J1018. It is just as described as above: swiftmatic, split rims. I use mine for mowing with a sulky and 30" deck and this season I actually plowed snow. I do have 2 rotary plows but have yet to mount and use. I do not have "lawn" per se but some rough terrain covered in natural grasses for this altitude and rainfall. I cut the grass to minimize the wild fire hazard. I can do most of it while on the sulky and in high/high. I have removed most of the rocks so I can cover most of the area without too much trouble.

I will probably be corrected but it appears that when the modifications were made for the 10A, Gravely went with the internal charging and bendix type starter. Is that correct, guys? It's what the Comm 10 and Comm 10A manuals show. I have both because when my dad acquired this machine 35 years ago, he did not know what he had. :dunno:

I have another thread about a problem I had recently. It may be useful to you.

Click to expand...

They also reduced the speed of the machine to. The original gravely engine turned at 2600rpm and the kohler K-241 turned at 3600rpm and on the commercial 10 gravely still used the older planetary gears so it would go very fast and some people call it a "run behind". On the commercial 10A Gravely used planetary gears that reduced the speed back to normal levels.