suggestions requested -mowing side of driveway 45 degrees

[nancyk]

I'll preface this by saying I am a woman who will be attaching this usually by herself.
Husband passed away a few years ago, he had a 83hp Deere and a 15 ft batwing that he attached once a year, as the pto connection was very heavy and a two person hookup. I used this for two years to mow along our stream when it was dry in late summer, and could mow somewhat along the driveway, although he had told me the wings are not really designed to mow "up". I sold the tractor and batwing last year and now just have a Deere 5055e tractor and a heavy duty old bushhog and a finishing mower for flatland. I have been asking around as to what implement I could get to make a pass going out the driveway and mowing up and possibly along the stream(attached pictures, the slope to the stream is steeper than it appears in the pictures). A quick attach was suggested for starters, as I was complaining that sometimes the bushhog can be a real bear to line up and connect. Then a ditch bank mower was suggested, when questioned on ease of connection he said he would not recommend I do it alone.
The quick connect sounds interesting, tho it has been mentioned bushings may be needed for compatibility. The finishing mower already has the bushings. This attachment would not be used much, possibly once or twice a year along the driveway and once a year along some parts of the stream. Right now we have been weedeating and clipping where I have not been able to safely bushhog, which is very time consuming. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Pictures are out of order, could not re-arrange.

 

[cqaigy2]

First question is do you really need to mow those really steep areas, if yes, Power Trac has machines that can handle those steep areas. Hopefully someone from the Power Trac group that knows more about those machines will see this post. I have a small one that is not capable of such slopes, that i got because all of my place is a hillside. Power Trac. Heck you really aren't that far from them, you might just want to drive over and talk to them.

 

[4570Man]

The hill by the river doesn’t look that bad but a string trimmer is the only thing affordable that’s going to do the driveway bank. Those hydraulic boom mowers that cut the road side would do it but they’re $$.

 

[airbiscuit]

Your property is beautiful.

 

[Diggin It]

The hill by the river doesn’t look that bad but a string trimmer is the only thing affordable that’s going to do the driveway bank. Those hydraulic boom mowers that cut the road side would do it but they’re $$.

What about a sickle bar that can be raised at an angle? Can they be lowered to cut below level?

 

[KennyG]

Spray and kill all the steep areas. Seed with ground cover or grass that doesn't need mowing like hard fescue.

 

[leonz]

I guess my first question is can you afford to sell the existing tractor??


One option would be the purchase of a slope mower that can mow everything or the other suggestion would be investing in a radio control Spider slope mower.

The spider mower would be out of the question if you have a pacemaker.

Spider slope mowers | slope-mower.com



Another option would be the harper turf equipment slope mower that can mow flat land and slopes greater than what you have there.

It has a very wide mower deck and hydraulic wheel drive with chevron tires.

Turf maintenance equipment & debris management solutions | Harper Turf


A third option would be exchanging the tires and wheels you have on your current mule with high floatation combine rice tires and wheels which would lower the centerline and center of gravity of the tractor and mounting an orchard and Vineyard boom mower on the three point hitch.

If you only going to mow these areas a couple of times per year renting or leasing a spider mower or the Harris slope mower for a month will cost you much less money.

As all you will have invested in them is the lease payment, leased equipment insurance, gasoline and your time.

I think your going to find that the renting/short term leasing of a Harper slope mower will be the least costly of the 3 options.

I fixed my typos grrrr.

 

[Rebeldad1]

we have a slope like that (15-20 degrees according to the excavator) tho not as long. wife handles it nicely with a John Deere garden tractor mower.

 

[nancyk]

Lots of suggestions. I will read all the links and see what could be doable. Spraying is not an option I will consider. It is bad enough I have to spray the driveway. Our current weedeating/clipping protocol is doable, just trying to not rely so much on my weedeater person.
And, to a point, I am not looking to save a dollar. I just do not want to purchase something then find it is not doing the intended job or is too hard to connect or maintain.

 

[leonz]

Smith turf and irrigation for the harper slope mower and Spidermower USA for the radio control spider mower.


Fixed my mistakes.