Cutting grass around pond

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I have the same situation around my pond, it takes a good $10.00 per hour man 8 hours to cut pond **** and twice a year. I ended up making this.
I have about $ 400.00 in it and more hours than I want to count. It also trims trees and bushes up to 20 feet. I have a video off it in action on my phone but it will not transfer says file is to large. It is by far the best attachment I own.
View attachment 380033

ingenious!

I use a Deere 350 9' sickle bar. I have 3200 feet of waterline with various slope angles. I wish I could afford a Deere 450 sickle bar.

 

[lowfish]

I think the only difference in roundup and rodeo is the price. They price rodeo higher because it has water application, if you look at the label they are the same. I have used it directly around water spraying from bank with no fish kill. but I'm no expert either.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I have used roundup on pond weeds over the years. Haven't used it in a few years but I sure need to again this year if they grow like last year. I remember reading to only spray about 1/3 of the weeds at any one time so that the decaying vegetation doesn't consume all the oxygen. Lack of oxygen is what will kill your fish. Just like a pond "turn-over".

I've never had any fish die after spraying roundup.

 

[square1]

This may be over simplified, but why not a 20" push mower on a rope? Stand on the level ground, let out rope as the mower rolls down the grade, pull it bck up, move it over 20" and repeat 149 times I actually knew some that did a back yard slope this way.

 

[Thomabear]

Man if I was 30 years younger I would be all over that idea. LOL.... Great idea though...

Actually the mower did come to mind but I started thinking about the benefit of having the grass lay down right where it's cut. I'm thinking the sickle bar would have some good advantages like keeping cut grass out of the pond and helping with erosion. A 22" swipe should also be quick and easy. When this thing arrives I'll be sure to let everyone know the good and the bad of how it went. I'm pretty confident but you never know...

 

[lowfish]

Yes I agree with not spraying more than one third. Also you can use copper sulfate crystals in a tow sack and dip it in the water around weedy area to kill growth in the water. Same is true with this method of not treating more than 1/3, so as not to deplete O2 level from decaying vegetation.

 

[PhysAssist]

Man if I was 30 years younger I would be all over that idea. LOL.... Great idea though...

Actually the mower did come to mind but I started thinking about the benefit of having the grass lay down right where it's cut. I'm thinking the sickle bar would have some good advantages like keeping cut grass out of the pond and helping with erosion. A 22" swipe should also be quick and easy. When this thing arrives I'll be sure to let everyone know the good and the bad of how it went. I'm pretty confident but you never know...

We bought a Swisher string trimmer on wheels, from TSC about 7 or 8 years ago and use that, long handled grass shears, and our old-style DR Brush mower to keep the grass and weeds down, but in 2012, we ended up regrading our bank to allow a more gentle slope than the just sub-90 degrees we inherited when we bought the place, and that makes the trimmer even more useable.

This is a similar, though much more expensive model: CountyLine® Briggs & Stratton 190cc, 4-Cycle Wheeled String Trimmer, CARB Compliant - Tractor Supply Co.

We have used an electric hedge clipper mounted on a pvc pipe using a hinge (to get some ability to angle it ) to reach out and cut weeds in the water near the bank, but for obvious reasons, you need to be careful about the cord- my wife has shortened one of our outdoor cords a few feet at a time over the past few years. Also not submerging it is helpfyl, though you can (carefully) cut a little below the surface if you are really careful.

Thomas

 

[J_J]

Some roundup data.

It is the concentration that is important. The surfactant in Roundup will kill fish and other aquatic animals but not under normal conditions.

Excerpts:

The formulations of AquamasterÒ and RodeoÒ differ from RoundupÒ
herbicide in that they have a higher concentration of the active ingredient, glyphosate, but
contain no surfactant.

While Roundup is not registered for aquatic use,
Giesy et al. (2000) concluded that the use of Roundupâ for aquatic habitat restoration can
be safely carried out, but requires consideration of items such as application rate, depth of
water and percent vegetation coverage.

 

[bullockcm]

Late to the party but I think you made a good choice. I use a similiar Stihl unit to do my pond and it works great. Took a 2 hour weed wacker job down to a 30 minute job. You are also correct that it is nice to have the grass lay down in place instead of the week wacker throwing it into the pond.

 

[Shenandoah]

This may be over simplified, but why not a 20" push mower on a rope? Stand on the level ground, let out rope as the mower rolls down the grade, pull it bck up, move it over 20" and repeat 149 times I actually knew some that did a back yard slope this way.

This how we did it when I was a kid. We had a 45 degree 85 foot long embankment that was 6 feet wide on the narrow end and 10 foot wide on the long end. I let the mower down with the rope and then pulled it back up and repositioned it for the next cut. I started doing that when I was about 9 years old. I did it for years until I got a little older, a little wiser, and a little brother...