sickle bar

[woody]

so my job canceled some overtime and I got to work in the shop and on the sickle mower found some things put together wrong and then tried it out down the driveway and then a ditch that has not been cut this year. my neighbour has a bank that they do not cut because of how steep it is so I cut it while I was in the area, the mower worked good on my L45 and I think it will do what I was hoping.

 

[VroomVroom]

You guys probably don't have what we call alder up here. Grows near a lot of standing water, or ditches. Probably doesn't get over 15 or 20 feet in height or 3 inches round at the butt. When it dries its very light as it holds a lot of water. It grows in on the sides of the road by about 2 feet a year. Grows very fast. 2 feet a summer I'd say. I was wondering if the sickle bar would cut them on the roadsides, mostly the limbs and smaller ones growing up, maybe 1 .5", 5 feet tall along the ditches well?

 

[VroomVroom]

Their soft tree, and no strength to them so I'm thinking a sickle bar would work. I'm thinking a flail mower would work but I have no experience with those either. Most of what you would get would be the very tiny leaved branches. The stumps woud then be cut off if they weren't cleaned already from the machine. Left along the bushes would grow 2 feet by end of next summer. What would the difference in size of bushes that a sickle bar would cut off compared to a flail? My father mowed a lot with a sickle bar before my time but he passed away.

 

[keegs]

You guys probably don't have what we call alder up here. Grows near a lot of standing water, or ditches. Probably doesn't get over 15 or 20 feet in height or 3 inches round at the butt. When it dries its very light as it holds a lot of water. It grows in on the sides of the road by about 2 feet a year. Grows very fast. 2 feet a summer I'd say. I was wondering if the sickle bar would cut them on the roadsides, mostly the limbs and smaller ones growing up, maybe 1 .5", 5 feet tall along the ditches well?

I have two 7' sickle bar mowers (an MF and a NH) and I use them both for cutting back small (nothing > 2") alder and aspen. I go slow. I recently broke a weld and bent the bracket that holds the cutter head on on one of the mowers that may have been due to how I've been using it. The guy who repaired it told me they're for cutting grass.

 

[woody]

I don't have ant experience with Alder but from what I cut the other day I think it will work, my Dad uses his to cut around his pond and it works good.