best way to cut around pond

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Sheep don't tend to jump fences and do just as good a job...do I have a deal for you

Please ship a couple over, I have plenty for them to eat, and Vixen (the Wolf) could use the company, I think she wants to play sheep dog, she did a great on the Little Red Riding Hood job!

 

[sheepfarmer]

NIW, she looks so sweet as Little Red Riding Hood, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, as the saying goes, but are you sure her interests might not be more culinary than herding? I don't think UPS takes sheep, would be quite the road trip to deliver!

 

[ShaunBlake]

NIW, she looks so sweet as Little Red Riding Hood, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, as the saying goes, but are you sure her interests might not be more culinary than herding? I don't think UPS takes sheep, would be quite the road trip to deliver!

Aw, go for it! Your JD would be a gas-guzzler but your L3560 "just sips" diesel. However, you might want to make a "Sunday visitor" outfit out of chain mail for your darlin' ... "just in case"...

 

[ShaunRH]

If it's a large pond, a nice weed whacker and a day of work would do. A smaller pond, less time.

If the pond sides are smooth enough, you can rig up a boom with several inexpensive reel push mowers and go to town, but it has to have smooth sides and the mowers need to 'float' in relation to the boom. The longer the boom, the more mowers it can support and the further down you can mow.

 

[plumcrazy704406]

found a couple of photos from a past summer. Hopefully you can all get a better idea of the slopes

 

[D2Cat]

Yep, your "plumcrazy". Get goats, sheep, horses, geese, or just leave it as it is.

 

[ShaunBlake]

found a couple of photos from a past summer. Hopefully you can all get a better idea of the slopes

Please forgive me for stating the obvious: the slope is too wide for a side-mounted rig to mow; the terrain is too rough for a side-mounted rig to properly mow -- but you would accept, I'm sure, skinned places and straggly patches, if you could safely mow it from the bank... I think you've given up on that idea.

Regarding the idea of backing down with a brush-/bush-hog and back up: that would be a very difficult job. If all your slopes are the same as in the pics, you could do some of it, but some parts are so steep that you'd go in. (Or perhaps over, if you misjudged some of those "humps"!) A 5-acre lake? Twisting around in the seat to judge distance and location, while maintaining full control, and never making a mistake?

I can see only three options for this challenge: a) live with it, it's Nature; b) get some animals to periodically graze it; and c) plant it in low-profile ground cover.

Don't you folk have resources like our County Extension Agent, who advise us on all kinds of matters from what to plant; when and with what to fertilize; to what animals to raise and what to feed them; and everything in between? Surely you have someone who can recommend some plants that would be low-maintenance and thrive in your zone, eh?

 

[plumcrazy704406]

Please forgive me for stating the obvious: the slope is too wide for a side-mounted rig to mow; the terrain is too rough for a side-mounted rig to properly mow -- but you would accept, I'm sure, skinned places and straggly patches, if you could safely mow it from the bank... I think you've given up on that idea.

No worries, It's why I asked the question. I agree it's a wide area. I'm not looking for a clear cut, just to keep some of the wild under some control. I know mother nature can't be controlled. I could wipe it all out with pesticide, but it's a balance that is needed, without wiping everything out. I do cut trails across the top. I guess I'm after some water access (yes, I could weed whack some spots) but don't have the time. We spend the week being city slickers and the weekends being citiots

Regarding the idea of backing down with a brush-/bush-hog and back up: that would be a very difficult job. If all your slopes are the same as in the pics, you could do some of it, but some parts are so steep that you'd go in. (Or perhaps over, if you misjudged some of those "humps"!) A 5-acre lake? Twisting around in the seat to judge distance and location, while maintaining full control, and never making a mistake?

Don't think I would try this. I smell a tractor in the water

I can see only three options for this challenge: a) live with it, it's Nature; b) get some animals to periodically graze it; and c) plant it in low-profile ground cover.

Kind of liking the animal solution. It's something I have to look into more.

Don't you folk have resources like our County Extension Agent, who advise us on all kinds of matters from what to plant; when and with what to fertilize; to what animals to raise and what to feed them; and everything in between? Surely you have someone who can recommend some plants that would be low-maintenance and thrive in your zone, eh?

We do. Going to a meeting at the end of the month. The issue seems to be they would prefer you do nothing with your land.

We don't need a golf course, but I do like certain areas to be somewhat maintained (6-8 inches) so we can enjoy those areas. We have 95 acres, under forest management, lots of meadows ect.

The pond is one of the areas that I would like anyone to be able to walk down to at any point to enjoy.

thx for your input shaunblake, it's much appreciated.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Plumcrazy it is a lovely spot! If youcan't be up there all the time, I hope you can spend as much time enjoying and as little time battling with the flora and fauna as possible. For my last screwball idea, how about a couple of boardwalks to give close access to the water at your favorite spots? String trim a narrow trail, maybe different every year, and let the rest be only accessible by canoe?

The argument in favor of some kind of mowing or grazing is the bugs. Assuming you have the same ones as we do, they are worse in high grass and brush, so you can't even be out in that region. I'm thinking ticks, deer flies, and mosquitoes. The sheep got rid of a lot of brush I had in my pastures and it helped. But they're a fair amount of work too.

 

[Russell King]

If you go the animal route you may want to consider "renting" them.

There may be someone in your area that rents out their animals (here it is usually goats) to forage/clear property. They usually have some type of fencing (t-posts and cattle panels) to contain them if the area is small and unfenced, will transport them to your property, let them stay for a while to eat your plants (saves them from having to feed) and then pick them up when area is cleared.

Sounds crazy but it is a business that works.

 

[Bulldog]

found a couple of photos from a past summer. Hopefully you can all get a better idea of the slopes

I'm glad you put the pics, it really helped to actually see what you have to work with. I'll go ahead and say that I would not even think of trying that with my boom mower. It doesn't like that much of a slope on the low side. Even with my rear tires filled I still wouldn't do it. I've never been on a B series like yours but I can't imagine it's any better than my L 3000. I would really think it would be even more top heavy since it's a cab model.

I can't say for sure just from the pics but I have had my M9000 on some pretty steep slopes before. From what I see it looks like it could be done without any trouble with a bigger tractor that has a wider foot print. I've pulled my batwing on some banks that were steep enough that it would slide sideways and it just kept on cutting. Do you have a neighbor with a big tractor and a batwing?

Unless the pics are making it seem worse than it is I wouldn't even think of putting a small tractor on there going sideways. Of course that's just my opinion.

 

[skeets]

for my money it looks like weed whacker time where you want to use it of a herd of sheep

 

[plumcrazy704406]

a couple of better pics.

 

[philztoy]

Roundup comes to mind. Or a roll cage on the tractor with an air supply. That is a steep little slope!

 

[Benhameen]

Personally, I like the renting goats idea. I'm not a big fan of chemicals but that's just me.

 

[coachgeo]

Personally, I like the renting goats idea. I'm not a big fan of chemicals but that's just me.

Plus One. Way to gorgeous of area to poison. Too many potential bad unintended consequences from that.

 

[Bulldog]

Plumcrazy, first let me say that's a beautiful place. The 2 winter pics really show how steep the banks are and I wouldn't mow those banks with my boom mower (not down to the water anyway). From what it appears though as long as the ground is solid I don't see a problem cutting it with a larger tractor like a M series. The flat side like what's in the 3rd pic doesn't look bad at all though.

Your idea of using a sickle mower may be the best option. When I was a kid we cut around our ponds with one all the time. Now when I have my disc mower hooked up during hay season I'll use it.

Do you have a neighbor with a batwing?
I use mine around my ponds all the time and will hang the wing over the water. But let me warn you, the ground better be solid or you'll end up like this.

 

[plumcrazy704406]

We've had the property going on 4 years now and we've only met a couple of the neigb's and they do not have any equipment that could help me out.

My wife is a heavy duty garden girl, so no pesticides allowed. I will explore the animal route for now and keep an eye out for a sickle mower I think.

We don't have a large tractor, an old mf135 (2 wheel drive) is as large as we have. It does have loaded rear tires, but I don't think I would make any attempt with the old girl.

Was that you getting in the mud Bulldog? I'm pretty solid around the pond as far as I can tell. How often do you mow around the pond?

I keep an area where we have docks in during the summer well maintained, but we are still learning the balance aspect of mother nature and the human race.

 

[Bulldog]

Yeah, I found a muddy spot. Bad thing is it hadn't been but a few weeks since I had been in that exact same spot almost track for track with my disc mower. Everything was fine then but the day in pic I pulled up and stopped, when I started to back up the rear tire set down. I hit 4wd and tried to pull forward, I mean it had only set down about 6 inches or so. As I pulled up it never spun but it went deeper. I tried to back up again and it went even deeper so I stopped. it was only down about a foot but by the time my buddy got there to rescue me over half the tire was under the mud. The high side step was almost out of my reach and when I did get the door open I had to brace myself on the lower side just where I could stay in the seat.

I had got to the point I wouldn't have cared if it was a girl driving a pink John Deere, I needed some help. Since that day the end of the pond has been so wet I can't even walk my trackhoe out there. And in the past I have walked up to the end and jumped across the little ditch that fed it. Now, no way even in muck boots.

Mowing, I try to mow around mine as close as I can with my finish mower every time I mow the yard. Course I only mowed the yard 4 or 5 times last year so actually I probably mowed around the pond more than I did the yard. I try to mow over the edge every time I have my disc mower on or when I'm clipping pastures I'll run around the ponds with my batwing. I guess cutting out to the water gets done 5 or 6 times a year. I didn't have time to use my boom mower like I would have liked to. I had it on once last year so the ponds only got one real good cut and that was last fall when I was cutting fence rows for the year.

I've went back and looked at your pics several times. Have you ever tried to cut yours with a bushhog (rotary cutter) before? Some of it may be to steep to run sideways on but from what the pictures show most of it does look that bad. I know it won't cut all the way to the water but if the ground it solid enough you could get close. As long as you could drive on it you could cut it with a bushhog, it's behind you and not hanging off the side.

If you don't have you tires loaded that would also make a world of difference when stability is in question. My only regret with loaded tires is that I waited so long to fill mine. Should have done it when I bought it new.

 

[Tooljunkie]

A couple options as i look at your situation
One is a self powered mower, like a swisher but made for rough stuff. We had a 72" rough cut with a 23 horsepower briggs and pressurized oiling system (ones with oil filters. All it would need is a radical offset tow bar, can be positioned forward of machine with little effort.

Thought about other option,went away as i thought more about the
Kunz Rough Cut 72.

Could power a sickle mower with a gas engine and hang it off front of tractor.
I did cut some small brush with my sicke mower,cleaned up scrub brush under my spruce trees.