Mowing parallel to cattle fences

[Mousehunter]

Cattle tend to walk near fencelines-so it will never be yard smooth. I am putting in a new frontage fence and would like to keep it clean and pretty. One look that I like is narrowly mowed path (to keep tall grass from hitting the fence, but minimize loss of grazable land) with the actual fence poisoned. I have seen many people do it, but I suspect the fields were used for hay production not grazing.

I have a smaller zero turn and have tried to mow paths with it. It does not work well on even relatively smooth fields-aka rural yards. It needs very smooth to excel. I have shredders, but question my ability to keep them close to the fence plus they are heavier equipment more prone to tear up the soil (my tractor is small utility/large SUC sized)

Have considered a small offset flail for the tractor (or possibly for a smaller tractor (scut/cut). A larger zero turn or mmm, and even a walk behind self propelled brush cutter (rotary or flail). My best friends father swore by one. His son curses it, but cursed my zero turn more when it borrow it to mow).

Eventually will build a house on the ranch. So yard mowing is also in the back of my mind as well as trail mowing, pond mowing, fence repair, etc... The tractor is limited on embankments and under trees. This new fence is 7k feet, so mowing both sides will be two long cuts

Thanks for dealing with this mostly common question

 

[oosik]

I have a JD G100 riding lawn mower. It cuts a 54" swath. I cut a swath with it down the East barbed wire fence line. 1320 feet by 54" wide. Its the one fence line on my property that can be seen from my house. The other three fence lines are too far away. The 54" cut is not so much for beauty but it, sort of, keeps the neighbors cows from leaning in to where the grass is always greener. The other three fence lines need no cutting. They are out where there is only occasional bunch grass and big 'ol Ponderosa pines.


And - by-the-way - - - Welcome to TBN and the forum.

 

[Ford850]

How wide is a "narrowly mowed path"? An offset flail mower seems like it would be ideal for the uneven ground, but maybe too wide. There are walk behind 2 wheel tractors like BCS, that can also have a flail or rotary brush cutter attached out front.

 

[Mousehunter]

Lurked for years, but used to have issues with my antivirus so was not an active member

I am am pretty sure the fields I have seen have been edged with a garden tractor/mmm, but recognize/fear mine will not be as smooth. Right now it is rough to drive on, but fence builder will probably run a chain drag after the clearing is replanted. But no plaining or rolling. Plus cows will just tear it up anyway

I have 300 acres and a small working ranch. Keeping the fence pretty is mostly a whim, but will make it seem more presentable once we move onsite.

 

[oosik]

That's all I mow with - 25 hp JD riding lawn mower. I don't have a rear cutter for my tractor. Not enough to cut on my 80 acres. Yes, at places along my East property line the ride on the little mower is a really rough go. I'm quite surprised the unit has lasted as long as it has - purchased new in 2003. I mow the fence line twice a year - unless we get a warm, wet fall - then I mow it a third time. I also have around two acres of lawn around the house and outbuildings that I mow. I knock on wood as I say this - never any repairs on the little mower - still on the original drive belt and original mower blades. Although, I will admit - after fifteen seasons of sharpening the blades have a distinctly modified look.

 

[EddieWalker]

When the ground softens up in winter, pull a disk over the areas that you want smoothed out. The disk will break up the ground and then when you drive over it, it will smooth itself out. I did this in planted pines where they intentionally put a ditch between every tree. One direction it was nice and smooth, the other direction, it was non stop speed bumps. I disked it a few times and smoothed it all out nicely!!

 

[Mousehunter]

I have a feeling I will get some experience will field smoothing. I have several long term projects in front of me. First is repair of peremeter fencing. next is cleaning brush out of my hay fields and fixing their internal fencing. Finally is repairing wild hog damage-the fields need to be eleved before I can even dream of cutting hay again.

The field repair is the main reason I am considering a midsize tractor. I think the field needs offset plowing, and possibly the use of a plane

 

[oosik]

Mowing the fence line will take care of two projects at once. Cut the grass and check the fence for any maintenance issues. I check my fence with my ATV in the spring and again in the fall. Mother Nature can be rough on barbed wire fencing. So can the neighbors cows.

 

[TheMan419]

We have horses and they like to walk the fence line as well. I found my little lawn mower works well. The left side of the decks sticks out just far enough to get under the fence line. So the only place not mowed is just around the post.

DR mower makes a pto powered device that is basically a string trimmer. Various threads around here that give it good and bad reviewes. Could get one of those for the close up work and a brush hog to mow a stripe away from the fence line.

 

[BHD]

one could consider an under fence mower, it is a mower that swings under the fence and then glides around the posts, not cheap, I built mine, one need to go slow but it works well keeps grass and weed out from under the fences.

 

[Mousehunter]

Current trend arround here is field fence (mesh) rather than barbed wire. (Ok, in addition to barbed wire, as a strand of barbed is at ground level to prevent digging and 2 strands are on top to limit reaching and climbing over.

Anyway. Mesh to the ground does not allow for mowing under, likewise I fear that long term mesh will have issues with the weight of weeds growing through it, necessitating frequent poisoning

People are going to mesh due to the wild hogs

 

[two_bit_score]

Welcome to TBN as a poster Mousehunter! :welcome:

Not sure where exactly you are and as you know the geography changes dramatically from one side of I35 to the other.

Guadalupe County has started paying a bounty of $5 per tail for feral hogs.

Guadalupe County will pay people to hunt feral hogs to curb...

I think it's an attempt to be seen as 'doing something' no matter how useless it may be.

So, if you are going to put in net wire fence you will almost have to spray it instead of mowing it.

Until then your JD D100 should do just fine.

 

[4570Man]

A walk behind has a narrow cut and would likely require 2 passes up both sides. That’s 5.3 miles of walking. That’s not something I’d want to do on a regular bases. I’d look for a mower with a good off set in one side. My F series Kubota and grasshopper do a lot better job on fence than my other mowers.

 

[Mousehunter]

I am about 40% to Houston from San Antonio, a little south of I10. I can shred, just not as close as I would like. Sounds like I should try to make things as smooth as possible and mow with a heavy lawn mower with a good offset.

Likewise I can imagine other useage of the 2 wheeled tractor, so might get one for those and just try it on the fence. The front is less than 1/2 mil round trip. I have not measured how far I walk mowing my current yard (stopped bothering with the zero turn), but quick math came out to 4400 (65 yards x 15 yards/24 per pass)

 

[Mousehunter]

Heard a different solution yesterday that is probably worth posting. When the fence line was cleared, small part of neighbors grass was damaged. I had already planned on overseeding the fenceline to fix this...

Well a helpful neighbor called with a suggestion to plant buffalo grass. It only grows about 6 tall, no mowing necesssry.