Mowing Ditch Banks

[PHPaul]

I have a small drainage ditch that cuts right through my front lawn. It's a county/state drain and moving/modifying it is not an option. It's about 6-8 feet wide at the top and perhaps 3 feet deep.

It looks like crap because it's full of weeds, cattails, multiflora rose and baby alders. At my age, it's FAR too much work to try to keep it cleaned out with a weed whacker so I just live with it.

It wouldn't be necessary to mow all the way down the banks, in fact just a "crew cut" to keep the weeds even with the top of the ditch/lawn would be satisfactory.

It seems to me that the ideal solution would be a small sicklebar mower that allows the bar to work somewhat below horizontal. Due to the placement of the house (the ditch runs within a few feet of one corner of the foundation) and various trees and shrubs, mowing with my B2650 is not an option. The best solution would be something that could be made to work with my LX178 Deere lawn tractor.

Alternatively, a really powerful tractor mounted/driven string trimmer might work.

Cost is a factor, I'd spend $500 or so for a good solution. Maybe more for something really elegant and PROVEN to work.

Looking for suggestions, experience, pictures, sources...whatever input might lead to a solution.

 

[kebo]

Get a goat, or maybe just borrow one from a neighbor. Fix up one of those cables with a sliding leash so it would allow the goat to walk the length of the ditch, and have enough slack so it could cover both sides of the ditch. I wouldn't advocate keeping the goat tied up there all the time, maybe build a small fenced in area to keep the goat most of the time, and when the ditch needed mowing, just move him over to it.

 

[Baby Grand]

Pull an old push-mower on an offset hitch with your tractor of choice?

 

[Dftodd]

I use a cheapy push mower I found in a pawn shop for the ditch in front of my house. My ditch sounds about the same as yours and has the occasional rock sticking out the bank. Used to do it with a weed wacker, but dang.... that was hard on my back and shoulders and took close to an hour for 180ft of ditch. Push mower takes about ten minutes a side

 

[PHPaul]

Get a goat, or maybe just borrow one from a neighbor. Fix up one of those cables with a sliding leash so it would allow the goat to walk the length of the ditch, and have enough slack so it could cover both sides of the ditch. I wouldn't advocate keeping the goat tied up there all the time, maybe build a small fenced in area to keep the goat most of the time, and when the ditch needed mowing, just move him over to it.

1. Ain't gonna be no freakin' goats on this ranch. BTDT. :laughing:

2. I got sheep and they can't keep up with the part of it that IS fenced in.

 

[PHPaul]

Pull an old push-mower on an offset hitch with your tractor of choice?

Something along these lines is perking in the back of my mind now. I'm thinking home-built string trimmer on an articulated arm and powered by the electric clutch on my LX178. That 15hp Kawasaki oughta make a heckuva string trimmer!

Haven't gone out in the garage and contemplated things yet, but I sorta envision dropping the mower deck off and mounting the offset trimmer on the right side of the tractor. I'd only need to do that 2-3 times a year.

 

[beckmurph]

Why couldn't you use a bush hog/rotary cutter. A 4ft bush hog would reach about 4 to 5 foot into your ditch.
You would have to back into the brush, but you would only have to do it maybe 3 times a season.

 

[Thomas]

Good trimmer might take 20 mins.

 

[Mendonsy]

This one's probably a bit over your budget but it's cute!!
Slope Mowers | Bank Mowers | Steep Bank Mowers | Steep Slope Mowers | Lynex Mower

 

[PHPaul]

Why couldn't you use a bush hog/rotary cutter. A 4ft bush hog would reach about 4 to 5 foot into your ditch.
You would have to back into the brush, but you would only have to do it maybe 3 times a season.

I do that on the back 3/4ths of it that runs through the pastures. Lack of maneuvering room and tearing up the lawn prevents that on the front part tho.

 

[bcp]

... At my age, it's FAR too much work to try to keep it cleaned out with a weed whacker so I just live with it.
....
Cost is a factor, I'd spend $500 or so for a good solution. Maybe more for something really elegant and PROVEN to work.
...

Find a lawn service already working in your area. Have them trim it once a month during the growing season. Spend your time on something you enjoy.

Bruce

 

[PHPaul]

Find a lawn service already working in your area. Have them trim it once a month during the growing season. Spend your time on something you enjoy.

Bruce

Where would be the fun in that? :laughing:

It would no doubt be the most cost effective, but I love to tinker with ideas like this.

 

[bcp]

A very basic ditch mower for the non-welder:

Another one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grxc5Foytos

Bruce

 

[flusher]

"It looks like crap because it's full of weeds, cattails, multiflora rose and baby alders. At my age, it's FAR too much work to try to keep it cleaned out with a weed whacker so I just live with it."

Don't know your age or physical condition, but I maintained a 1/4 mile of ditch like yours three times per year for 10 years using a $400 commercial grade string mower (0.155" string, 16" long pieces loaded into a clamp head). I'm 73 years old and in good physical condition. Got a good upper body workout doing this chore.

 

[Deere Dude]

What about a walk behind sickle mower. I had a relative buy one and it worked great for weeds on a road way ditch. It has two large rear tires and a 4' approx sickle bar.

 

[beckmurph]

I do that on the back 3/4ths of it that runs through the pastures. Lack of maneuvering room and tearing up the lawn prevents that on the front part tho.

Understood.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Probably not an acceptable alternative but I don't mow areas like that. I spray Roundup. Knees and hip do not allow me the opportunity to utilize a string trimmer.

 

[orangeandgreen]

Spray with 2-4 D, it will kill the weeds and brush but leave the grass.

 

[s219]

Pull an old push-mower on an offset hitch with your tractor of choice?

When I have some time, I plan to design up something to put the motor of my old Honda mower out on an arm hanging off the 3-pt hitch. The mower deck finally rusted to the point it wasn't usable, so I took it all apart with the though of replacing the deck or using the engine/parts for something else.

With a hydraulic side link, that should allow pretty good control to mow the ditches on each side of my driveway. But I want to figure out the complexity/cost of doing this and see if it's worth the trouble. A sickle mower would be the ultimate turnkey solution, but they cost $$$.

 

[Huskerfan]

You might consider the DR Power 3 point hitch trimmer mower.