Alternatives for mowing. Other than ZTR and SCUT tractor pulled, what is out there.

[Dadnatron]

I have 85ac of soon to be horsefarm. It is being built from Ag corn/soybean fields, but has some waterways, pond, trees, and will have a hillside orchard and miles of fence rows. Some is on a hill, but nothing too drastic, although there are times when the pucker factor kicks in, while mowing with my 5100e.

So... I have a 5100e JD with a 15' Woods batwing for the bulk of the big mowing.
I also have a 'ditch bank flail mower' which can do up to about 70" outside my wheel base. It can angle up and down, so I have some of those types of things covered as well.

But I am going to need something to do as much of the rest as possible.

ONE of my BIGGEST needs... is fence row trimming. Under a 4 board fence and around the posts. And before you get chemical happy, spraying them, at least at this stage, is a NO GO. It might come into being down the road when my wife recognizes the effort required. But at this stage, we need to find alternatives to a hand held string trimmer.

A ZTR would be useful, but limited and leave me with a lot of string trimmer work.
A Belly mower would be the same and less nimble.

I've thought about Ventrac, and it would do alot of the mowing, but would still leave some significant string trimming.
I've thought about Power Trac, as it would do the mowing and have more utility.
I've REALLY thought about the Avant and Multione... mostly because they can do the mowing and would have MUCH MORE utility than anything else I can think of... however the $$$ is really out there for my primary need.

But, in my mind, something which would mow well and relatively quickly with stability on some 10-20ｰ slope (about 2ac worth) and have a hydraulic option for connection up front. That would be my goal. I've seen several 'road side barrier mower' options and I think that I could modify one to work on my fences, if I had the hydraulic power to run it and the reasonable utility in the machine. Hence, the Avant, Multione, and Power Trac. I think the Ventrac might also have that front end capability, but I'm not sure.

Ease of switch between regular mowing and 'fence row mowing' is a must. Otherwise, I would be better of with different machines for each task. (Which might still be the best option in the end.)

But I wanted to know what you thought. I would suspect there will be about 3-4miles of fence rows when its all said and done. And at least that in areas along the fence which are inaccessible by the batwing. That isn't to mention about a mile of road, ditches, etc etc etc.

 

[prichard]

Have you looked at fence line mowers? Titan 3-Point Hitch Attachment Trimmer Lawn Mower Category Cat 1 Tractor

Some can go on loader/ssqa so mower on the back and fence trimmer on the front.

 

[M5farms]

Good luck , I have no suggestions cause I'm a burn that stuff down with glyphosate kinda guy. liquid weed eating is the best IMO

 

[LouNY]

I agree with the liquid approach as an alternative the style trimmer that Prichard linked too is an alternative, not much else out there.

 

[Egon]

Another fence mower. There are quite a few different types available. some mow and some will till around posts.

 

[Dadnatron]

Have you looked at fence line mowers? Titan 3-Point Hitch Attachment Trimmer Lawn Mower Category Cat 1 Tractor

Some can go on loader/ssqa so mower on the back and fence trimmer on the front.

I've seen those and they, or something like them, might be an alternative. I've just never been impressed with the quality of their cutting. They are certainly better than bulking things out with a string trimmer, no doubt. But I've seem them leave so much around a post, that I'd have to see them working better before I'd head there. At least at this stage.

Again, I'm looking for my 'best' alternative, before I get to the point that I settle.

I've looked at about everything I can find (online/YouTube) and I've seen that one Egon. But it requires both sides of the fence to get anything 'well'. And it still leaves quite a bit around the post. I appreciate the post though.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I got one of these because I have a lot of grass to cut and have better things to do than cut grass. They are rated at something like 80 acres a day. I don't know if that is in an eight hour shift or how they figure that, but it can cut a lot of grass. Makes pretty much anything else seem like horse drawn!

56 HP Kubota, ten foot cut, 4x4. A real pleasure to operate too! Now cutting grass is just something I do, here and there as a side job. Another nice thing is that you can mix and match the decks for narrow places.

 

[Egon]

Try looking at European Equipment. They do have some nice ones.

Swing arm mower.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Interesting product, but notice how they keeping saying "obstacle". I think that gizmo would make short work of your trees by ringing them!

 

[DwayneB]

Put the string trimmer in your wife's hands. After about 4 hours you will be cleared to use glycophosphate, lol.
I only do a total kill around fence post every two or three years. Too much erosion otherwise.
If the horses do not eat enough under the fence get some cows. When I do chemical treatment I don't let my animals eat there for a while and a few good rains.