Mowing to 8" high

[ducks13]

In my 杜eadow restoration project the seed provider has recommended mowing to 8 when it gets about knee high. any suggestions on how to mow to 8? I値l presume a brush hog would do it be I don稚 have one an haven稚 been around them much. I only have about a ｼ acre or so to mow. I have a 318 JD garden tractor but with the deck raised full the blades are only 3.5 high. I also have a JD 4410 compact tractor but no mower for it. And I have a 21 Craftsman push mower that will go up to about 4? I牌e seem pictures of a push mower that had 壮tilts added at each wheel to get it up to 6 or 8 inches but it looks difficult to do on the Craftsman. I致e thought about a weed eater but I don稚 have one and my brother thinks I壇 be crazy to mow that much with a weed wacker. I shouldn稚 need to do it more that once or twice a year. Any suggestions on doing this economically?

Thanks,
John

 

[paulemar]

Mmmmm, what precisely did he suggest you mow at 8"? Was it the existing cover that you want to save before you plant the meadow or is it the newly seeded meadow when it gets knee high? What kind of meadow seed did you use, what's in it? Is it flowers, grasses, annuals, perennials, a mix of everything? What is the purpose of cutting it at that height? Around here in W. PA we usually kill off everything before planting and most meadow plantings consist of bunches of annual and perennial flower seed. We just let them grow, bloom, go to seed, and then mow short in late Fall/ early Winter. I don't think you will find a rotary blade cutter that will mow that high, at least not very well. Maybe a sickle bar mower would work, but I don't have one and I'm not familiar with their height adjustments.

Or, re-reading your post, is this just pasture grasses/mix that you want to mow a couple times a year? If it's pasture, mow it pretty much whenever you want to, cutting it at 3" would be OK. Folks that make hay from pasture cut it short and it comes back just fine. I wouldn't do it in the heat of Summer though. The JD 318 is a really nice garden tractor by the way, but thick knee high grass might be a bit taxing on the mower and be difficult to cut without tangling around the blades.

More info would help us give you better advice and opinion.

 

[ducks13]

The seed that I have planted now is a mixture of native plant seeds that I am trying to get established. They are from Earnst seed. I've been working with the horticultuist there and the mowing would be to control weeds in this case. At least that is what I think the purpose is. I've killed everything there serveral times with roundup. Did it last fall and again this spring a week before I planted the first of March. I've got some false nettle up high but not nearly as bad as last year when it looked like I planted it. Also have anther weed that is tall, not sure what it is, spiny stem and a leaf that reminds one a little of a oak leaf. There is plantain too but the mowing won't get it. Also a some poke weed. I thought I post on here first before asking the horticultuist what the heck you use to mow it at 8" with. I figured he'd say a brush hog which I obviously don't have but you acting like that wouldn't even do it. He did say to mow it to 3" in the spring so the 318 can do that. Maybe I just need to do it with weed wacker but I've never used one and my brother said he wouldn't want to do this size area with one.