Mighty tall weeds

[LoneCowboy]

That's not a trick of the camera, that's a 8' tall TN75 going thru those weeds.
Those weren't the tallest weeds, but the easiest place to take the picture
I just did one yesterday just like it, the wife from a hill could only see the blue top of it.
You just go real slow.
Kinda underbid it a bit
But, it all works out.

 

[Soundguy]

I believe you.. I've mowed dogfennel and ragweed just like that.. stuff you look 'up' at that is the same height as your canopy...

Funny enough.. I usually find that tall stemmy stuff mows easier than 3' tall thick grass..

soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Last week I had my guys mowing 155 acres of Canadian Thistle and Bull Thistle that were mostly eye level and taller.(while sitting on the tractor) Thistle draws birds and snakes (after the birds). Snakes keep me away. Funny part is (Well, not really all that funny) we're in the grips of a drought with 100+ degree weather. Grass has all but quit growing. Weeds seem to be thriving.

 

[scott_vt]

Funny enough.. I usually find that tall stemmy stuff mows easier than 3' tall thick grass..

soundguy

Mornin Chris,
I agree , I have found that to be very true !

Although much taller than that and you could harvest it as firewood !

 

[schmism]

ive got to take a pic of the same type of weed on my propety i cut down

there was an area i cleaned this past winter, and it compleatly taken over by that.... So i bushhoged it the other week.... one area i backed in (knowning there was nothing there as i had just cleaned it out 6 months ago) and left myself a little "cave" 5' wide and 15' deep.... the stuff towered WAY above my head.....

 

[Redbug]

With that tall stuff, is there anything extra you do...or tricks of the trade to keep the weed seeds and junk out of your radiator and such? I noticed LoneCowboy did not have a bucket attached to push the weeds over...

 

[LoneCowboy]

You go slow
the radiator gets filled up (so does the air filter) I just cleaned them out, now instead of them being on the tractor, they are on me.
The biggest fear is just not knowing what is there, you just go forward slow and hope you can catch it before you slide into some huge hole.
Fingers crossed.

Oh yeah, went to do a bid today and it was mroe of this huge tall stuff and I told him "look, it's going to be expensive this time, I can't see what is where and it's ridiculously tall, but next time it shoudl be way cheaper"
he had no issues at all with it.

 

[flusher]

Last week I had my guys mowing 155 acres of Canadian Thistle and Bull Thistle that were mostly eye level and taller.(while sitting on the tractor) Thistle draws birds and snakes (after the birds). Snakes keep me away. Funny part is (Well, not really all that funny) we're in the grips of a drought with 100+ degree weather. Grass has all but quit growing. Weeds seem to be thriving.

Just mowed a bunch of yellow star thistle around the garage/shop area. Wasn't able to use Transline herbicide this year and the thistle rebounded.

You're right about the heat and weeds. Can't get my Kentucky 31 tall fescue to germinate in this heat. But the darn wild Bermuda grass (a noxious weed as far as I'm concerned) is doing great. Gonna get the weed burner out this weekend and fight it out with the Bermuda.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

You go slow
the radiator gets filled up (so does the air filter) I just cleaned them out, now instead of them being on the tractor, they are on me.
The biggest fear is just not knowing what is there, you just go forward slow and hope you can catch it before you slide into some huge hole.
Fingers crossed.

Oh yeah, went to do a bid today and it was mroe of this huge tall stuff and I told him "look, it's going to be expensive this time, I can't see what is where and it's ridiculously tall, but next time it shoudl be way cheaper"
he had no issues at all with it.

Everyone has their own style and their favorite way of doing things. That said, I've had better luck when I just tell 'em the price and don't go into great detail on how I came about it. That almost always opens up a debate over rates. If they ask specifics, I answer with specifics. I've found most people are reasonable. They want a decent price but don't need an explaination. Those who aren't resonable, seem to be looking for a leverage point to try for a lower price. No explaination is good enough.

It's tedious duty mowing a place for the first time. Compound that with conditions that make seeing where you're going almost impossible and you have a long day. Long days need proper compensation.

 

[frank_f15]

HECK i have trees that aint that tall

 

[Slamfire]

HECK i have trees that aint that tall

I've got tomatoes that are!

 

[tnau664]

You go slow
the radiator gets filled up (so does the air filter) I just cleaned them out, now instead of them being on the tractor, they are on me.
The biggest fear is just not knowing what is there, you just go forward slow and hope you can catch it before you slide into some huge hole.
Fingers crossed.QUOTE]


You are oh so right about the holes. My family has owned our farm since 1947 and while bushhogging on July 3 we found a huge hole had formed in an area where we always grew cotton. Thank goodness it wasn't as overgrown as what you were in or we'd have planted the tractor. Very lucky to have spotted it in time.

This drought is doing strange things to the earth around us.
Terry

 

[MossRoad]

With that tall stuff, is there anything extra you do...or tricks of the trade to keep the weed seeds and junk out of your radiator and such? I noticed LoneCowboy did not have a bucket attached to push the weeds over...

Well, you could get a front mounted brush hog like on my Power Trac PT425 with a rear mounted air cooled engine. That pretty much solves those problems, as everything is destroyed before the rear mounted engine gets anywhere near the weeds and there is no radiator to plug up. Watch a video of it here... http://www.mossroad.com/PT425Videos/PT425DeepWeeds1.WMV

 

[MossRoad]

Two more videos.

http://www.mossroad.com/PT425Videos/PT425DeepWeeds2.WMV

http://www.mossroad.com/PT425Videos/PT425FieldClearing.WMV

Of course, these are only 6' weeds and less, but that is only a 5' high 25HP 1500 pound tractor. Nothing like the big guys, but still fun.

 

[Ford850]

Last week I had my guys mowing 155 acres of Canadian Thistle and Bull Thistle that were mostly eye level and taller.(while sitting on the tractor) Thistle draws birds and snakes (after the birds). Snakes keep me away. Funny part is (Well, not really all that funny) we're in the grips of a drought with 100+ degree weather. Grass has all but quit growing. Weeds seem to be thriving.

Farmwithjunk,
I learned about thistle the hard way, a few years back. Most of my new property was covered with canada thistle, and some bull thistle mixed in to spice things a little I guess. I foolishly waited until it went to seed before mowing the first time, thinking I would fully deplete the root strength. I had to clear my radiator screen on every pass with my old Ford 850. I added an extra pre-screen but still had to peel off the thick felt layer often. I was covered in the fluff from head to toe, and it was in my ears, nose and mouth. I'll bet it easily quadrupled my mowing time. Now I start cutting as soon as I see those purple buds, and most of the thistle has been eliminated. Maybe someday I'll be able to look back and laugh about that first year, but not yet!

 

[sandman2234]

We all use what we have available and going out and buying a new machine just because the weeds are a little high doesn't make sense when something you have will work.
If I was going to do it, I could clear enough for my tractor from the street and then drive over cleared property without having to worry about the stuff getting into my radiator, because with that slope mower I can cut a path in excess of 20 feet away from the tractor. I can't do that with the JDeere/bush hog, which is the type of arrangement he is working with.
A pyramid or triangle shaped contraption mounted on your front bumper, resembling a tow bar might spread the weeds enough to allow a better sight path. A cylinder to raise and lower it would also be good so you wouldn't loose turning space when you got near to something. The lower it was mounted the better it would allow you to see in front.
Just a thought,
David from jax

 

[3RRL]

Moss,
Those are great videos. Between you and lonecowboy, that's some tall stuff. I thought mine was bad enough being about 5' high, but it's nothing compared to what I seen here.

 

[Redbug]

Rob...That's too pretty to bush hog! I would enjoy the scenery Mother Nature gave you for awhile!

 

[3RRL]

Rob...That's too pretty to bush hog! I would enjoy the scenery Mother Nature gave you for awhile!

I hear ya, but in about one month it all turns brown, dies as it gets hotter than Hades and dry as a bone out here. I mow it just before it gets real dry for a couple reasons.
First, there's a tremendous risk of a wildfire from a spark ... my property is in the wilderness and I have no water other than a faucet at my camp site.
Second, it's so hot when it's dry the tractor's radiator gets clogged real easy and my allergies go nuts from all the dust and debris I breathe.
Not the giant weeds like in the other photos, but I just love this picture.
I have a great time mowing when it's like this.

 

[MossRoad]

I hear ya, but in about one month it all turns brown, dies as it gets hotter than Hades and dry as a bone out here. I mow it just before it gets real dry for a couple reasons.
First, there's a tremendous risk of a wildfire from a spark ... my property is in the wilderness and I have no water other than a faucet at my camp site.
Second, it's so hot when it's dry the tractor's radiator gets clogged real easy and my allergies go nuts from all the dust and debris I breathe.
Not the giant weeds like in the other photos, but I just love this picture.
I have a great time mowing when it's like this.

I had to wait most of the summer to brush hog our property due to lack of rain. I don't like going out there when it is so dry due to the dust and the greater possibility of a fire starting. We had over 5" of rain in the last few weeks so I went out Saturday to nice green, wet weeds, some of which were over 8' tall. Had lots of fun and very little dust.