A manner of managing operation of a machine is described for preventing damage/wear to movable machine components arising from operation of the machine/parts at excessive speed while the machine is traveling down a steep incline. The managing of the machine operation includes determining a downhill slope value in a machine direction of travel and then establishing a maximum commanded transmission output speed in accordance with the determined downhill slope value. Thereafter a maximum commanded gear ratio is established, for a transmission having a variable gear ratio, based upon the maximum commanded transmission output speed and a current engine speed. A controller compares the maximum commanded variable gear ratio to an operator requested gear ratio, and a target gear ratio is established for the variable gear ratio of the transmission based upon a minimum of the compared commanded variable gear ratio and the operator requested gear ratio.