Boxblading Vegetation

[Sub_Dude]

Hey there!

I'd like to ask about folks' experience with box blading dirt piles that have lots of weeds growing in them. Not just turf, but 6 foot tall bull grass, elephant grass, Johnson grass, whatever.

Last April, my neighbor dug out a canal on one border of my property with a dragline and put the diggings (about a yard at a time, all in a row over a hundred yards long) on my side of the canal. I couldn't bushhog the piles, and the weeds took over while I was busy doing other things.

I need to smooth out the piles of dirt, but I was wondering if boxblading the tall grass and roots would be more trouble than cutting them out of the way. Pulling them doesn't sound feasible, and cutting them by hand, with a string trimmer, or with a DR mower would be quite a task.

So what say ye? Will it hurt to leave the vegetation standing as I pull the dirt out into the pasture and smooth it? Or will it turn into a mess worse than what I have now?

I've attached a flick, showing the berm (hidden under the grass) and the grass. I recruited my 5' 5" daughter to show scale. (You can tell she's quite the helper./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif) In the background are Brazilian pepper trees, which I need to get my tractor to so I can eradicate them from my land. But first I have to get my tractor over the canal. But that's another project, which can't happen until I can get near the canal. It's scary to think my own Honey-do list is longer than my wife's. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

Any help appreciated; any further questions gladly answered. Thanks in advance.

The Sub Dude

I'm gonna live forever....So far, so good....

 

[Sub_Dude]

Just thought I'd attached a flick. The beauty of computers is that after 25 years, I can still be a newbie. Amazing!

I'm gonna live forever....So far, so good....

 

[TerryinMD]

Sub Dude,

Sorry my friend, but it's time to use the rotary cutter. I would venture to say that the jungle you have pictured would foul the use of the boxblade. You'd spend more time cursing and pulling weeds than bushhogging. Get a MChalkey cup, fill it up with some cold beverage, and have fun bushhogging.

Terry

 

[Harv]

Sub Dude -

Since my own experience is barely measurable, my two cents may be overvalued, but ...

I've made several attacks on uneven, highly grassed areas around my property. Like you, I was hesitant to use my rotary cutter due to the contours of the ground. Just box blading was unsuccessful, since the blade wound up simply gliding over the thick grass. Using the rippers did better, but a couple months later, the weeds came back with a vengeance. Guess they liked the nice, soft, turned-up soil. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

The best and most long-lasting combination was when I nailed the weeds with Roundup, waited for them to shrivel up nice and brown, and then took the box blade to them. The blade was then able to take a good cut of soil, and the high spots wound up filling the low spots just like they're supposed to. Kinda wished I had a landscape rake to clear the dead growth first, but after just two seasons, the re-growth is now minimal.

Of course, I had nothing the size of your berm to deal with, but maybe a similar approach would at least get you started. Good luck, and keep us up to date (with pictures, if possible). /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[billboe]

I don't know much about Roundup (I do know it is very popular), but, is it a good idea to use it right next to a canal?

Billboe

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>is it a good idea to use it right next to a canal?</font color=blue>

That's a good question, Billboe. The closest to an answer I could get is from the FAQ page from Roundup's own web site:

Can I use Roundup near a pond, lake or other body of water?
Roundup can be used up to the edge of a body of water, but should not be sprayed in the water because it can be harmful to aquatic organisms. For controlling weeds in water, use an aquatically approved weed killer.

 

[StanInCalif]

Sub Dude-
In situations like this, I kill it with Roundup, then burn it. Those weeds will really mess up your dirt moving.
Billboe, Roundup is fairly benign, except to vegetation- I wouldn't worry about the canal.

<font color=green>stan</font color=green>

 

[njrqs]

Roundup is non-residual, meaning once it has hit the ground and does it's damage, it won't hurt anything.

The instructions say you can graze animals again in something like a day or close to.

Pretty harmless stuff - Just don't drink it !!

Cheers

<font color=blue>Neil from OZ.</font color=blue>

 

[rf33]

Hey Sub Dude, where are you in S. Florida. I grew up on Marco Island, and your picture looks like it is in the same neck of the woods (perhaps Golden Gate?)? If you have a haevy duty brush cutter, I would get in there as best as I could first and cut everything possible. Then if you still have alot of stuff standing, I would go with the roundup. Having been a chemist, I appreciate the need for chemicals, but I think that their use should be as little as possible. Once everything is dead / cut, I would scrape as much of the growth into a burn pile as possible, burn it, and then take your box blade to the remaining dirt. BTW how long did it take for the pile to stop smelling? Some of those canal dredgings can really be nasty for quite a while.

rf33

/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[dmccarty]

Dang but this is a small world. I was going to ask Sub Dude where he was living figuring it was the Naples area but then you mentioned Marco. I spent a bit of time on Marco in the 80s. A friend from school lived there for quite some time and we used to go over there all the time... Great place but over developed like so much of Florida.....

Brazilian Pepper bushes! Hate em. The state used a mixture of diesel fuel and I think Round Up to kill the Pepper bushes and the Maluccas. We would scrape the bark away from the tree/bush and then spray. The plant would suck the mix into the roots and the limbs. About the only way to kill them things.....

Later....
Dan McCarty

 

[rf33]

Yeah, you gotta love those foriegn plants brought in by the developers because they are so much "better" than the native plants. Certainly mother nature does not know as much as sme stupid land developer. (I know, I know, get off the soap box) I lived on Marco from about 1978 until about 1989, and saw it grow tremendously during that time. The real estate prices are going absolutely crazy there, and it just keeps getting worse. I moved to TX in about 1995, and just love the wide open spaces.

rf33

/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[njrqs]

Just curious...

How do you take your box blade to a huge pile like that??

Do you climb on top and scrape it down or something??

I was lucky enough to get 6 BIG truck loads of soil from the council yesterday. They are now in huge piles and I have to spread them with my rear blade. I was just going to keep taking bites out of the bottom of each pile.

How would you do this with a box blade - You can only for Fordwards correct ??

<font color=blue>Neil from OZ.</font color=blue>

 

[Sub_Dude]

Hey there!

FWIW, I live on the other (East) coast of Florida. We have more people but less mosquitoes. How's that for a tradeoff? /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

I'm a third generation Floridiot born and raised in West Palm Beach. Back when I was a boy, there was exactly one concrete structure on Singer Island. Now it looks like Miami Beach, which was also darn near a village back in the day. The reason I'm out here in the sticks (14 miles from the ocean) is because I can't stand what they've done to my homeland. But I can't leave Florida. Just today I saw a cloud in the sky, and was reminded of how terrible it must be to live where you see those things all the time. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Going by recent values of land sales in my area, the good news is that my property has about tripled in value in the 17 years I've owned it. The bad news is that I can't imagine a finer place to live than right here. But if I ever give up on Florida, I'll be looking long and hard at Texas. /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif

I have no idea how bad the piles smelled when they were still festering, because I was out of town when the work was done. S'matter of fact, I've been out of town since then. That's why this situation got so out of hand. I came home a few times, but I was only here long enough to keep the tigers from hiding in the pastures.

The advice to use Roundup doesn't surprise me. Of course I have two sprayers full of it on hand at all times. A small one for detail work and a large one for shotgunning such things as berms that have gotten out of control. Looks like it's time for chemical warfare. I was hoping to hear that this wasn't necessary, but I guess there's no way around it. I have next week off and was hoping to finish this phase of the project. But from my experience it takes Roundup at least a week to do its thing, so I guess I'll have to find something else to keep busy on. Besides eating turkey. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

The advice to cut the grass was no doubt well meant, but if I could do that, it wouldn't look like it does now. Last weekend I did run my 'hog between the piles and the canal (a 12-15' wide strip of the stuff that's on top of the berm) and it didn't even slow down, let alone choke. As for burning, don't I wish. It's just too much grass to burn where it stands. The fire wouldn't last long, but it would be a conflagration. None for me, thanks.

So I'll shoot the juice to the grass, let it croak, and pull the dirt while I'm off over the Holidays between Christmas and New Years, when I'm usually at home.

Finally, Harv, I've got flicks of my jihad against the pepper trees. I sent them along with text via email to my sister, the English teacher, and she said I should make a web page of it and share it with the rest of the family that can't come see the before and after in person. Maybe that's what I'll do next week while the Roundup does its thing. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for all the input. Too bad I won't be able to get that ugly mess out of my face next week, but think of all I'll save on sunscreen and bug spray by staying off the tractor! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

TTYL.

The Sub Dude

I'm gonna live forever....So far, so good....

 

[bgott]

Just keep playing with it until you wittle the pile down enough to go over the top. Don't take too big of a bite, I damn near rolled my 8N a few times getting in a hurry. You can try backing into the pile from opposite sides and build ramps until you can go over the top. Once you can go over the top you can fill the box without any problem. It can be pretty steep, the blade will act like a wheelie bar if you lower it while climbing. As far as using the blade in reverse, the only problem I had was it unloaded the rear wheels and lost traction once the blade got a good bite.

 

[Turfman]

Stan has the right idea. Round-up 41% mixed at 2 oz/Gallon, with a little surfactant. Needs to be mixed fresh each time and applied when the vegatation is still green and actively growing.

After it dies off, and be patient, it takes a while, burn it down. Spread the dirt and, unless you are growing crops or allowing animals on to graze, apply a pre-emergant such as treflan or surflan to prevent new weeds growing from seed.

Kev

 

[theboman]

I agree with the rotary cutter. If you live where you can burn the grass off while obeying all burning laws and not catching the world on fire that is another suggestion.

Bo McCarty
Bluegrass, Pick It Up!