Thinking about under fence weed control

[Shawnba67]

Curious if anyone has thoughts. I have 20ac in field fence about a third of it has a severe honeysuckle infestation. I VERY MUCH DONT WANT TO SPRAY POISON.
I had a M59 (60hp 4wd 9k lbs) with ssqa and front hydro. Ive had an idea or two on mechanical ways to weed. Is there a toothed rig i could bolt onto my bucket or a ssqa blank plate that maybe could be shoved under the fence to cut the stems a few inches underground. In my head if this helps explain Imagine running pallet forks into the dirt only 7ft wide and wouldn't need to be more than a foot past the fence and couple inches deep.
Or make suggestions on easier ways!
Unless its spray them, no need to type that out.

 

[old and tired]

If spraying is out, Pull up the fence, dig a trench a few feet deep, line with 57 stone (washed gravel) then reinstall fence.

 

[OntheRidge]

Goats?

Problem plant of the month: Honeysuckle — Goats On The Go®

It’s hardy, fragrant, and produces pretty flowers and berries. So what’s the problem with honeysuckle? There are many species of honeysuckle, some of which are native to parts of North America. But, at least four varieties are non-native and invasive , meaning they tend to spread unabated and domi

www.goatsonthego.com

 

[imnukensc]

30% vinegar, salt, and some Dawn make an excellent weed killer. Yeah, ya gotta spray it and I don't know how well it would work on honeysuckle, but it's not poison.

 

[old and tired]

...but it's not poison.

So you can drink it? Because it's natural doesn't mean it not poison... apples have arsenic... just saying...

 

[JohnDB]

...
Imagine running pallet forks into the dirt only 7ft wide and wouldn't need to be more than a foot past the fence and couple inches deep.
Or make suggestions on easier ways!
...

The distance between posts and how high off the ground the bottom wire (or rail or whatever) is could have a bearing on the solution. Can you describe those and provide a photo of that and mature honeysuckle stems (several varieties I understand). I prefer to avoid spraying too, and found that simply depriving the weed of the opportunity to regrow and sprout leaves has killed it. Takes a couple of years of persistence, but in my mind worth it. Your idea about the pallet forks may do that. Also mowing with something that can cut the stems low down under the bottom rail/wire, and avoiding the posts

 

[Shawn T. W]

I had honeysuckle and multi-flora roses take over my five wire fences prior to me buying my place, best I came up with was the next to biggest trimmer Stihl makes with a metal blade, gloves and a lot of sweat! Did about a mile of this!

Had to chainsaw out some of the cedars ...

With a woven wire field fence, it would be worse! Even if you "cut it off" at the ground, it's still gonna be all through the fence, especially the honeysuckle twists around and through it, depending on your budget, might be better to bulldoze it all into a few piles, once dead, burn it all, take wire and posts to metal recycling yard, build new fence!

 

[PoTreeBoy]

Curious if anyone has thoughts. I have 20ac in field fence about a third of it has a severe honeysuckle infestation. I VERY MUCH DONT WANT TO SPRAY POISON.
I had a M59 (60hp 4wd 9k lbs) with ssqa and front hydro. Ive had an idea or two on mechanical ways to weed. Is there a toothed rig i could bolt onto my bucket or a ssqa blank plate that maybe could be shoved under the fence to cut the stems a few inches underground. In my head if this helps explain Imagine running pallet forks into the dirt only 7ft wide and wouldn't need to be more than a foot past the fence and couple inches deep.
Or make suggestions on easier ways!
Unless its spray them, no need to type that out.

By field fence, I assume you mean mesh of some sort. I've seen weedeater-type trimmers that attach to your mower that can trim under a fence and deflect around the posts, but I don't think it would work very well around your kind of fence.

I understand your aversion to chemicals. You could minimize the usage by cutting the stems and applying 2-4d or similar to the cut stems. You could probably come up with a tool to do what you've described, but that honeysuckle would be back up in no time. Could you grab the stems and pull it up by the roots?

 

[Russell King]

Look at stump buckets or tooth bars like Piranha or EA Wicked

they may be able to help do the job.

 

[imnukensc]

So you can drink it? Because it's natural doesn't mean it not poison... apples have arsenic... just saying...

It's not "poison" in the sense I took the OP's statement. That is, it's not glyphosate, 2-4d, triclopyr, etc., etc., etc. Gimme a break. You know what I meant and what the OP meant. I'm going to have an apple.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

old time farmer here.

how about a propane weed burner?

the vinegar mix thingy is an interesting one. Its very common talk in our coffee shop with a lot of garden women claim its fantastic at killing the weeds. Vinager et all will / may kill what it contact with by speeding up dehydration/dry down by stripping off protective covering but will not kill what it doesn't touch (like roots) (its a contact thing) but some salts have beneficial benefits to plants (think fertilizer value), and some soaps contain potassium which again is a fertilizer.

So the women wonder why the plant looks dead but comes back to life with a vengeance.

I would vote an ag. propane weed burner if the generally accepted tried and true methods are not acceptable

 

[SAR Tracker]

"Wilson Forest Lands" attachment for a weedeater

 

[Shawn T. W]

Just cutting it off at the ground will still leave all that mess woven up in the fence, and the roots are still in the ground, ready to spring back up ... Fire will burn off the galvanized coating of the fence and it will rust even faster ...

My plan for around my vegetable garden I'm working on putting in, is to put down a double layer of weed barrier, then mulch, then put the fence on top of that ... The other mile of fence gets sprayed with weed killer or old oil drizzled on it ...