bash scripting..simple question

[urgrue <urgrue@tumsan.fi>]

is there a way, in a bash script, to do something like:
execute "this_command these_params" 
--if-its-not-done-in-600-seconds-then-kill-it-and-return-an-error-code

situation is, i have a simple script that logs into remote boxes, and 
does some checks.
it first pings each box to see if the route is up, if that fails it 
wont even try to log in.
but sometimes, a box can be pinged but not logged into, for various 
reasons.
in these cases, the ssh login attempt seems to just sit there and 
doesnt timeout, and the whole script hangs, waiting until ssh exits. 
which i have observed to take at times HOURS, at times it _never_ exits.

any suggestions?