Mowing Ditch Banks

[s219]

I usually buy their stuff at the factory store so other than dropping it off, wouldn't be a biggie. I think that's their second redesign, looks like they'll need a third. But it is still the lowest cost option I've seen: I've been doing both sides of a 700 foot driveway by hand and it ain't fun.

Same for me -- I can use my riding mower to get the first 2', and even that is borderline dangerous. The rest has to be done by hand with weed whacker, and it's a chore. I am using a tri-tip brush cutting blade for easy cutting, but just the act of crawling around in a ditch on a slope is a challenge.

 

[AaronS]

I'm sure it is area dependent, but I see 3 pt sickle mowers on Craigslist all the time for under $1000.

 

[Got2BTru]

This thread intrigues me...we *should* be on our 32 acres next year and I'll have a 1300' driveway along with 240' of road frontage...with a ditch!

 

[AaronS]

I don't know if this has been posted yet, and it's over the stated budget, but it would be the cats meow.

48? Ditch Bank Flail Mower Cat I 3pt 30HP 65HP AGL125 | eBay

 

[mx1alex]

Plant the whole area to a wildflower mix or some other eye appealing plants that don't need mowed.

 

[rbtjr]

Plant the whole area to a wildflower mix or some other eye appealing plants that don't need mowed.

Agreed! If you could do it. We planted Jasmine on a bank near an office building. It is not a flowering plant, but it did very well in terms of providing ground cover on a bank and the Jasmine doesn't require mowing. However, based on our experience, it requires watering to do well, and it did well only where the sprinkler system got it watered.

We have a pond bank that we mow. That is similar to mowing a ditch. We sold some timber from the land where the pond is, and I splurged and bought a BEFCO 7' 3ph sickle mower. It mows anywhere from 90 degrees up to about 50 degrees down, which is a steep bank. Of course, you have to be very careful about getting the tractor over the edge of the down slope. This sickle mower is an admittedly expensive potential solution that we would not have bought but for the timber money. And it doesn't work on all areas around the pond because in some areas the slope on the bank down to the water is too steep for comfort or safety. I mow about half of the pond edge by backing a bush hog down the bank of the pond, which works well but is pretty tedious--and could be dangerous if you don't pay very close attention to what you are doing. Not advised for a novice operator.

 

[frogpond]

I get good service out of my Stihl fs130, which is a fairly powerful brush cutter. Most of the time I run a 3-pointed blade on it. You can even put a circular blade on it for small trees. The key to being able to use it for a while comfortably is that it hangs on a nice shoulder harness, and has the bike handles. If you adjust it to get the balance point right, it's not overly tiring. However, the angle of the cutting head to the shaft is wrong for cutting downslope if it's at all steep. I suppose you could stand at or near the bottom, and cut up the other side; but I would propose getting a used machine like this, then modifying it to change the angle of the head.

 

[Mendonsy]

How about THIS ??

 

[PHPaul]

I think I've found the solution to my ditch mowing conundrum. It's a K model Jari. Believe it's their "Chief" model.

Picked it up at a church rummage sale for $100. Fixed a couple of minor issues with the engine and it runs very well.

The keyway on the main driveshaft is pretty much trashed so the pulley won't stay on (which I imagine is why it ended up in a yard sale) but I have a cutter coming and I'll weld it up and re-cut the keyway.

I got the pulley to stay on long enough to test drive it and it works great, whacking through hardtack brush and multiflora rose with ease.

 

[Baby Grand]

Score! Well done.
Reminds me of the Gravely L model I used on a farm in Winthrop, Maine, one summer.
It had a sickle bar cutter, very much like your Jari.