Mowing pond edge

[dj1701]

Hi all,

Do you guys mow your pond edge to the water, and if so with what?

Thanks
Dave

 

[bdhsfz6]

I use this offset flail from Maschio:

https://www.maschio.com/en/web/international/giraffa-s

I bought it shortly after a friend drowned when he flipped his tractor into a pond while using a 3pt finish mower.

 

[Doughknob]

I back the 3-point brush hog over the edge all around.

 

[seville009]

I get the tall grass (easily 8’+) and cattails growing around the edges.

At the end if the summer, i use a battery powered hedge trimmer to cut them down to about waist height.

Later, I use the brush hog to cut the “stumps” lower (I back the mower into the pond edge)


I have to do it that way; if I try to brush hog the 8’ tall growth , the mower just pushes it over and it won’t get cut.

 

[LouNY]

I luckily have a few options for that,
I can back in with the brush hog, repeatedly.
Or use the boom arm mower,
Or the ditch bank flail mower.
Then if all else fails I still have an old sickle bar mower.

Easiest, but limited offset and with the mower on the low side of the tractor stability rears it's ugly head rapidly

definitely usable,

very handy but a bit of a pain getting all hooked up,

No pictures of the old sickle bar in use.

Backing in with the brush hog is easy to do and keeps the tractor in a good location till the banks get steep or slippery.

The boom arm is the most versatile, also the slowest to use as it requires constant adjustment for offset, tilt angle and the height a one inch difference in the tire height as your driving along makes a several inch change in the height of the mowing head.

The hydraulic offset ditch bank mower is handier then the brush hog and faster then the boom arm mower.

A sickle bar has decent reach to the side, will mow good when sharp and the vegetation is tall enough to fall over and your ground speed is fast enough for the material to tip back and fall off of the sickle bar, going slow and mowing around obstacles the cut material especially when short will fall on the sickle bar and not slide off causing you to need to stop raise the sickle back up abit to get the material to fall free then start mowing again.

 

[seville009]

I luckily have a few options for that,
I can back in with the brush hog, repeatedly.
Or use the boom arm mower,
Or the ditch bank flail mower.
Then if all else fails I still have an old sickle bar mower.

Easiest, but limited offset and with the mower on the low side of the tractor stability rears it's ugly head rapidly
View attachment 761393
View attachment 761398

definitely usable,
View attachment 761395

very handy but a bit of a pain getting all hooked up,
View attachment 761396
View attachment 761397

No pictures of the old sickle bar in use.

Backing in with the brush hog is easy to do and keeps the tractor in a good location till the banks get steep or slippery.

The boom arm is the most versatile, also the slowest to use as it requires constant adjustment for offset, tilt angle and the height a one inch difference in the tire height as your driving along makes a several inch change in the height of the mowing head.

The hydraulic offset ditch bank mower is handier then the brush hog and faster then the boom arm mower.

A sickle bar has decent reach to the side, will mow good when sharp and the vegetation is tall enough to fall over and your ground speed is fast enough for the material to tip back and fall off of the sickle bar, going slow and mowing around obstacles the cut material especially when short will fall on the sickle bar and not slide off causing you to need to stop raise the sickle back up abit to get the material to fall free then start mowing again.

I’m jealous of that boom arm (the yellow one)…..if you ever want to give it away, feel free to contact me (ha ha).

I had a used sickle bar mower that I bought in 2018 that I used around the pond; worked well, but unfortunately the bearings burned up and it wasn’t worth fixing (the nearings would slways get hot and start smoking after about 45 minutes of use; grease never solved the issue)

 

[LD1]

Depends on how wide and how steep the pond bank is.

I re-worked the banks of my ~70 year old farm pond several years ago and now I can get pretty close with the zero turn. I only leave about a ~1' strip of unmowed grass.

I used to use the tractor and back the bushhog over the edge.....but the tractor is a bit heavy and didnt like the damage I was doing to the yard. And for only a 1' swath.....didnt really warrant the purchase of a sickle or arm mower. And I dont own a weedeater.

So I decided to make an attachment for my mower with scraps I had.

My mower is a commercial scag (wildcat) and the scag spindles have the ability to stack a second pulley on top (like for a bagger attachment).

I had a couple of pulleys and the old spindles. (I changed spindles a few years ago and rebuilt the old ones to have as spares)

Heres some pics.....I simply slide it in and use a little pry-bar to tension the belt and then tighten the bolts. The belt is also the same as the hydro-drives....so I had an old one on the shelf.

 

[Doughknob]

 

[Xfaxman]

I use the Toolcat and crab steer to brush hog the edge of the pond:

That lets the 7' brush hog extend out over the edge: