Mowing Interstate Highway Right-of-way

[Bird]

I've seen contractors mowing highway right-of-ways on slopes that I wouldn't want to mow, but never saw one have a problem until today. About 30 miles east of Vicksburg, MS, on I-20 there was one tractor and rotary cutter sitting in the grass, one tractor upside down at the bottom of a steep slope, 2 pickups on the shoulder of the service road, and 3 guys standing around as if they were wondering what to do next.:laughing:

 

[Rustyiron]

May be that's the up side down oil change method and they were just waiting for it to finish draining out of the air cleaner.:laughing:

 

[bcp]

Most of the mowers I see around here are a tractor with wide tires, a mid-mount flail on each side, and a flail at the rear.

Some of the roadside cuts look like near 45 degrees. I would expect the side mowers to have hydraulic down pressure to stabilize the tractor. I could sure see a problem if the low side flail was accidentally raised.

The only problem I've seen is one had the lower rear tractor wheel in a sandy spot and it had spun. He was waiting for a pull.

Bruce

 

[amaxwell]

I've seen contractors mowing highway right-of-ways on slopes that I wouldn't want to mow, but never saw one have a problem until today. About 30 miles east of Vicksburg, MS, on I-20 there was one tractor and rotary cutter sitting in the grass, one tractor upside down at the bottom of a steep slope, 2 pickups on the shoulder of the service road, and 3 guys standing around as if they were wondering what to do next.:laughing:

I see lots of mowers on the Tennessee hillsides mowing on slopes so steep I would NOT be driving my tractor on.

 

[Arc weld]

Most of the mowers I see around here are a tractor with wide tires, a mid-mount flail on each side, and a flail at the rear.

Some of the roadside cuts look like near 45 degrees. I would expect the side mowers to have hydraulic down pressure to stabilize the tractor. I could sure see a problem if the low side flail was accidentally raised.



The only problem I've seen is one had the lower rear tractor wheel in a sandy spot and it had spun. He was waiting for a pull.

Bruce

Sounds like Mott/Alamo Interstators. I think they have down pressure because they can be tilted down to do ditches from the road, but they also have float position to follow contours. They will generally slide sideways on a hill before they will tip over and the mower on the other side acts like a counter balance.

 

[Bird]

The ONLY time I've actually seen a flail mower being used on a highway right-of-way was several years ago, along U.S. 460 in Princeton, WV.

 

[Gary Fowler]

The ONLY time I've actually seen a flail mower being used on a highway right-of-way was several years ago, along U.S. 460 in Princeton, WV.

Same here, just regular bush hog shredders with fold up wings, but they do a good job of cutting. I guess they put a knife edge on their blades. The tractors seem to be specially built for mowing with wide stance and low to the ground bodies but with lots of power to pull 15 foot bat wing mowers easily.
Some one posted that highway slopes are max 3 to 1. IF that is the case and it seems to be pretty close except for some natural sloping, then they will always be less than 45 degrees to mow. I see some spots that mowers skip because of natural slopes to gullies and streams and the occasional bridge overpass that exceed the safe operation in some or all areas. These are handled by men with weedeaters and they seem to have some difficulty standing.

 

[JakeBrake]

I've seen contractors mowing highway right-of-ways on slopes that I wouldn't want to mow, but never saw one have a problem until today. About 30 miles east of Vicksburg, MS, on I-20 there was one tractor and rotary cutter sitting in the grass, one tractor upside down at the bottom of a steep slope, 2 pickups on the shoulder of the service road, and 3 guys standing around as if they were wondering what to do next.:laughing:

I hope you stopped at the Mississippi Welcome Center at I20/Vicksburg.

I never get tired of watching the traffic on the I20/Mississippi River Bridge and the barges on the river.

 

[smstonypoint]

I see a mixture of rotary cutters and flails being used for right-of-way mowing in the Carolinas, with rotary cutters being more common.

Steve

 

[rd_macgregor]

I just drove back from Vermont to PEI yesterday and saw lots of roadside maintenance going on along I-95 in Maine. The majority was using flails, though I did see a couple of rotary cutters as well. Most of the skipped spots looked to be wet/boggy or had some hazard like a culvert or rock outcropping. I was impressed by the three-flail unit described by bcp, above, though I only noticed one like that.