Landscape flower bed edger?

[patclem]

Folks, I'm new to having a "real" tractor (B1550D). I'm trying to figure out how to use my tractor to groom the edges of the landscape beds, you know, the ones that don't have a border other than a shallow ditch that captures the mulch from creeping into the grass? I'm imagining a disc mounted off to the side that slices the edge and rolls the dirt over into the bed? I hope this makes sense.

I do have welding and fabrication equipment and some skill in it. I'm just not sure the 3pt hitch has enough lateral stability to do this effectively. I'd hate to go through the fabrication to find out it just won't work.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[patclem]

I'm thinking my solution could involve a furrow wheel to cut the edge, then a disc harrow wheel to roll the edge? Still, it would have an offset force on the 3pt hitch as it digs. The tractor wheels need to stay on the grass side of the cut....

 

[MattN03]

I've only seen these, and might get one eventually for my Stihl 130r Kombi. I've never seen an attachment for use with a tractor for this purpose.

https://www.stihlusa.com/products/multi-task-tools/kombisystem-attachments/fbdkm/

 

[sheepfarmer]

Be careful about making the furrow type edge on a bed that has a tree in it. Good chance the feeder roots, which are very shallow, extend out under the lawn and if you cut them when you make the edge the tree gets very unhappy, and may die. I didn't know this and found out the hard way. Still cutting dead and dying branches off the tree.

 

[patclem]

Thanks for the advice. The beds only have shrubs, and eventually flowers in them. I'm just trying to save the work of digging the edge periodically. Furrowing the edge.... hmmm... More google

 

[patclem]

Hmmm... I didn't think about a powered wheel / trencher on the end of an arm, driven by the PTO. That might be an option, though more complex to fabricate. It's turning the 90 degree turn, but I do have an old finish mower with a good gear box...

Here's one for a Walker, whatever that is.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Walker-Bed-...er-Tractors-/391545316546?hash=item5b29eb64c2

 

[clay45]

Thanks for the advice. The beds only have shrubs, and eventually flowers in them. I'm just trying to save the work of digging the edge periodically. Furrowing the edge.... hmmm... More google

I love my Mantis tiller for stuff like that. I wouldn't waste time with their edger either; just use the tiller. Once you get past its light weight its a heck of a tiller. Use your tractor to establish the bed and the tiller to refine & maintain it. Its not for breaking new ground.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Thinking about this, a gearbox as mentioned. Running a cone shaped drum with studs. Would need to be reversible to run on left or right side of tractor. Would also need to adjust distance to keep edges straight.

A disc or special shaped cutter mounted on loader or bucket would be far more practical.

 

[eng1886trk]

I used an Echo Bed Redefiner attachment for my PAS system. Works like a charm. I complete this 2 times a year and it takes me about 15 mins to do 2 passes around my whole house and garage.

Also works well for creating new beds or making them bigger. A tractor mounted one would seem clumsy and expensive.

 

[patclem]

Thanks for the replies yall. I may be overkilling it, or it might be impractical like yall said. My new shop is being built. If I can cobble some discs together, I might experiment with it. For that matter, I might build some sort of experiment frame for attaching and detaching various "things" to drag through the dirt. I'm a month or so out....

 

[William1]

After years of battling that windmill, I found a simple solution, I can edge as fast as I can walk. I use a weed wacker turned on the side. I typically angle it slightly to the debris is blown into the bed. I do all the beds about 2-3 times a year. My wife used to do it with a shovel, one bed taking her all morning. I can do all the beds in under an hour.