suggestions requested -mowing side of driveway 45 degrees

[Industrial Toys]

Looking at those pictures, I would love to take my Harley rake over that ground and in twenty minutes have it looking like a billiard table.

Been cuttting the grass and steep hill around my house with my Cushman 10 foot wing mower, on account of I can't be bothered to take the stump cutter off the steiner. Does it in a quareter of the time and I swear that Cushman will run circles around the Steiner on a hillside. Those decks, out the side just give it incredible stability. I would never dare drive the Steiner sideways, even with the dual wheels on.

 

[nancyk]

to CADplans- If I could alter the side of the drive as you did I would do that. I believe my drop is just too much. If you can see from the attached picture I can make two passes with the bushhog at the treeline, that part is doable. But any closer to the driveway is really unsafe. One year a neighbor cut from where I had bushhoged down towards the drive. I doubt he felt very safe doing that and he has since moved. I would be happy getting a neighbor to make just one pass "up" from the drive, we could weedeat the rest. My hayman says his mower will not cut "up" at that angle, though he can cut downward. His mower is a Kuhn, which he really likes but he says it shuts off if the up angle is too much.

to Richard- flexwing mower. I will check into that. I had offered to my hayman to purchase a cutter just used along my driveway and possibly along the creek, and leave the mower here, he could mow once or twice a year. He has not given me any feedback one way or the other. I suppose he really does not need more work.

 

[airbiscuit]

Consider planting to original tall grass prairie with flowers. Would make for nice view when flowers are blooming and a great wildlife habitat.

View attachment 669519

Looks great until the brush grows back in.

 

[KennyG]

Looks great until the brush grows back in.

If you get a good stand of ground cover, it will choke out the brush. I planted hard fescue grass (that grows 3 to 6 inches high and stops) around my pond over 5 years ago. I keep an eye out and cut a few shrub type weeds every year, but it's mostly maintenance free. I think the prairie mixes should do the same thing.

 

[aczlan]

I may have missed it, but, how long is this section of driveway that needs mowed??

I was in the same dilemma, I had 1/8 of a mile of driveway that could turn over any type of mower, and I wanted a solution, before I got too old to take care of it.

I called a local guy, with an excavator,, he gave me an estimate, and three days later, the problem was GONE!!
I spent about $4,000, he did some other work while he was here ( a mile of trails, brush torn out of a 2 acre field )
so an exact number is just my best guess.

Anyways,,
This is the bumper sticker on the guys truck,, it says it all,, he does make dirt look good!!

His excavator has a 4 foot wide bucket, he can make a tracked loader look silly, he can move so much more dirt in an hour,,,

He even installed four new culverts, that replaced the two small ones that I had before.

I did the final grading with my landplane, and I planted the grass.

Now, there is no place that can turn over a mowing machine, unless you purposely drive into a culvert opening,,,

Maybe,, the best thing might be to make the mowing problem go away,, it is cheaper than maintaining equipment,,
and no chemicals are used!!

It's amazing what someone who is good with heavy machinery can do.
Nancy I would suggest having someone in the excavation business look at it and give you a quote.

Aaron Z

 

[4570Man]

It's amazing what someone who is good with heavy machinery can do.
Nancy I would suggest having someone in the excavation business look at it and give you a quote.

Aaron Z

It looks like there’s another road above the driveway. But if there’s enough room between them cutting the hill to make it less steep wouldn’t be very hard.

 

[TimberXX]

Based on how much time you have, you can try a BCS tractor with a flail mower. As long as your ankles are up to it. Its your cheapest option.

 

[ruffdog]

Looking at those Harper slope mowers......interesting. The 72" deck flexes in the middle to float over irregular ground better (or a ditch). I would like to try one out.

 

[LouNY]

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.View attachment 669412View attachment 669413View attachment 669414View attachment 669415View attachment 669406View attachment 669407View attachment 669409

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

Looking at your pictures your ground doesn't look bad to work,
just using your existing brush hog most of it could be done.
You do not have to just mow forward with a brush hog.
It does take time but just mowing the width of the mower while backing up or down the grade is quite feasible,
it does take time as you are only getting a few feet width of mowing done each pass.
Also an offset or ditch bank mower would gain you a few feet and provide a stability feeling with the mower on the uphill side.
As far as the quick hitch I am not a big fan of them, does your Deere have the adjustable links on the lifting arms?
If so I prefer those over a quick hitch especially with 3 point implements that use a remove pin in a saddle to connect with the tractor,
rather then the fixed pin type.

 

[CoyPatton]

Looking at your pictures your ground doesn't look bad to work,
just using your existing brush hog most of it could be done.
You do not have to just mow forward with a brush hog.
It does take time but just mowing the width of the mower while backing up or down the grade is quite feasible,
it does take time as you are only getting a few feet width of mowing done each pass.
Also an offset or ditch bank mower would gain you a few feet and provide a stability feeling with the mower on the uphill side.
As far as the quick hitch I am not a big fan of them, does your Deere have the adjustable links on the lifting arms?
If so I prefer those over a quick hitch especially with 3 point implements that use a remove pin in a saddle to connect with the tractor,
rather then the fixed pin type.

Consider a Pat’s easy change system if you do not like the traditional QH style. Which in my experience do not work well with a floating style finish mower.

Ad for mowing your slopes, backing down may be the best option at least on your road, less so on the pond bank as the possibility of the tractor in water or stuck constantly soft soil.
While I realize there can be some variance with the answer to this question, how much distance is there from the top of the slopes to the bottom?
If it requires more than 1 pass to mow, your tip factor may make many options less desirable. I always figure that slope angles are at least 50% greater than they appear in photos when there is nothing to gauge by, thus from my looking at your photos, I would not want to mow with a directly behind me mower mowing beside/along the road.