Driveway weed clearing

[Slowpoke Slim]

I only tried a weed burner once, many years ago in AZ. I had a serious influx of "goat's head" weed (don't know the "proper" name, we always called it goat's head) in my back yard. I decided to use a weed torch, thinking it would burn off the thorns on the seeds. It resulted in an explosion of weed growth in the yard that took forever to get rid of. I think the heat from the torch instantly germinated every weed seed in the yard simultaneously.

I never tried it again, lol.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I tried a weed torch last year. Not worth messing with for me. The few it did kill came back prettier almost immediately.

 

[oosik]

My mile long gravel driveway has weeds - both sides and middle - for the first 150 feet. I cut them down with my riding lawn mower. I do it twice a year. Because it's so very dry here - they don't grow back after the second cutting.

 

[bkenobi]

I tried burning when the cottonwood came down. That's really just for fun though. I don't think its particularly effective.

I used crossbow one year on advice how well it kills weeds (not knowing what it was). It did a fine job on those but half of the growth is grass so had to spray again with roundup.

 

[5030]

I use a small 16g Northern Star weed sprayer. 1 nozzle covers 8-10 ft. I have fit on a Craftsman mower. It currently goes in a golf cart cargo box and connects with alligator clips when needed.

I recently switched to Roundup Ultra Max 3. quicker knock down.

 

[nyone]

How big is your driveway? I have a 400ft driveway not including parking for 6 vehicles, a circle at the end and a RV pad. My 2gal pump sprayer does nearly the whole driveway.

Maybe you need to rough up the driving surface, wait a week then spray?

 

[Panik]

I'll check other sources too. It looks like my local Lowes may have a similar 15 gallon unit for $75 so that may be a better option. Neither have a boom off the back, but I'm thinking a bit of hose, a couple sprinkler heads, and a splitter would get me pretty much the same thing once mounted to some kind of dowel.

I know you mentioned that you're not a huge fan of herbicides.... but I gotta say getting a small wand/boom sprayer was one of the best investments I ever made for maintaining my property. I purchased something similar this model a couple of years ago for my bx2360. I'm pretty sure I bought in winter when there was some discounting going on with prices.

I already had a 3pt carryall so I built a slip on deck out of scrap wood for the sprayer and when I need to spray I pick it up with the carryall and strap it down with ratchet straps. The wand is super handy for spot spraying beds and the side of the road. The boom makes spraying the 600' gravel road to my shop so ridiculously easy that it feels like I'm cheating. A nice plus for me with having a jerry-rigged 3pt sprayer is that I can vary the height of the spray boom and account for wind drift.

 

[Panik]

Anyone use a weed torch?
I was thinking about picking one up instead of continuing to spray Herbicides.

I've got one and use it, but for pretty limited areas.... pretty much the couple places where I've used river rock to create drainage leading away from my house. They work, and they're fun to use in cooler weather... because, well fire. However, if I was looking do something beyond just spot treating, and I had the money, I'd be looking into some type of multi-head unit mounted on a hand dolly, or something I could tow behind an atv/utv.

 

[jyoutz]

The worst thing you can do with gravel driveway weeds is to do any disturbance to the road surface. That just loosens the road bed and encourages more weed germination. Cut the weeds first, then spray roundup. Then consider adding gravel to deepen the road bed.

 

[ultrarunner]

A also give it a few pumps to close the little diaphragm vent otherwise it leaks when tipped...

If you have a truck, place the backpack sprayer on the tailgate and slip your arms through the straps. I never spill weedkiller down my back that way. I also wear rubber gloves.