Road Side Mowing with a Sickle Bar

[Gordon Gould]

I spent the last couple afternoons doing my annual road side mowing. I do it late because of the large number of migrating birds that feed and rest in the high vegetation along the road and small fields during September and October. I use a 30 hp L3010 and a 7' sickle bar with a hydraulic lift cylinder

It reaches under trees nicely

It is good for up banks

down banks

Small field we keep rough

Not just weeds, great migrating bird habitat

gg

 

[diesel85]

Very nice! I like that road you got there.

I remember when I was a kid, that's all municipalities really used to tame the ditches and roadsides.

Now they use these 100+ hp huge tractors with boom flail mowers.

I thought the sickle bars did a fine job on a fuel-mizing 30 hp tractor.

I can't imagine how much a 100 hp tractor guzzles fuel with 48" boom flail mower.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have two sickle mowers. One is on an IH140 that the state of NY bought new to cut roadsides, it's a "belly" sickle mower. My buddy bought it from the state, and I got it from him.

The second one is a NH451 3-point mower, and I use it to cut around my ponds ect...

SR

 

[TerryR]

Nice post. Thanks.

 

[Smokeydog]

Nice job!

 

[Gordon Gould]

You don't see many sickle bars on here. It used to be anybody with mowing to do had one. Mine is 25 years old now and I'm still happy with it. Thanks for for the comments.

gg

 

[SmallChange]

Beautiful!

How do you keep the small field rough, and not reverting to forest? Occasional high mowing? It's always been a daydream of mine to have a few fields kept rough, with different kinds of plants, which I would mow yearly at different seasons.

 

[npalen]

I recall our neighbor mowing the roadsides back in the '50's with a sickle mower. It was a 2.0 horsepower.
I also recall mowing them myself with an 8N Ford and a New Idea PTO driven mower. My dad frowned a bit saying something like I didn't need to be mowing the whole township.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Beautiful!

How do you keep the small field rough, and not reverting to forest? Occasional high mowing? It's always been a daydream of mine to have a few fields kept rough, with different kinds of plants, which I would mow yearly at different seasons.

Maybe rough was the wrong term. It has a grass base and would be all grass if I mowed it several times a summer but it grows up with milkweed, golden rod, black berries, goats beard, and all kinds of other stuff if I only mow once in the fall.

gg

 

[Gordon Gould]

I recall our neighbor mowing the roadsides back in the '50's with a sickle mower. It was a 2.0 horsepower.
I also recall myself mowing them with an 8N Ford and a New Idea PTO driven mower. My dad frowned a bit saying something like I didn't need to be mowing the whole township.

For us it is good to have a clear place to cast the snow when plowing. And the snow settles a lot better if there isn't a bunch of brushy vegetation holding it up.

gg