The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

[two_bit_score]

They used too but I don't know of any that do so now days, used to be able to get them to flush out culverts also.
Haven't heard of that happening lately.
I have to wonder if regulations and insurance issues haven't been the downfall of that community service.

I suspect liability potential scares them off.

 

[Hay Dude]

They used too but I don't know of any that do so now days, used to be able to get them to flush out culverts also.
Haven't heard of that happening lately.
I have to wonder if regulations and insurance issues haven't been the downfall of that community service.

Liability/Lawyers/Insurance

Nope

 

[dstig1]

Has anyone ever actually had a "local FD do it for training"?

I see this said often but I've never known anyone who has had a FD or even a VFD burn anything for them for "training". If you have actually had that ahappen please post the details like what was burned, cost, results, etc.

The VFD's I know anything about don't do this. They have training but they don't burn private structures or land for training exercises. So, I'm genuinely curious about any true actual examples where this happens. The best I know of is a local VFD that would 'stand by' while the owner burned a structure for a donation but that was a long time ago.

I've seen it done. There was a house near work that was in a very odd spot next to the freeway. Probably got boxed in when the freeway went in back in the 60's or something. It was all off by itself. One day the FD was there and did a burn as a training exercise. Had a ton of trucks there. Couple days/weeks later the dumpster showed up and an Ex cleared the lot. I assume the land got sold back to the state as right of way for roads/freeway stuff.

 

[two_bit_score]

I've seen it done. There was a house near work that was in a very odd spot next to the freeway. Probably got boxed in when the freeway went in back in the 60's or something. It was all off by itself. One day the FD was there and did a burn as a training exercise. Had a ton of trucks there. Couple days/weeks later the dumpster showed up and an Ex cleared the lot. I assume the land got sold back to the state as right of way for roads/freeway stuff.

Thanks! Do I understand you correctly that this occurred in the 1960's? Or when?

 

[Hay Dude]

Yup. Not just the tall stuff, though. My desert acres are mostly "cheatgrass" which, depending how how much moisture we've had, will grow anywhere from a few inches high to about 18" max. I have to use a rotary mower (bush hog type) because its the only thing able to take the abuse of hitting dirt and rocks. Same thing - the tractor tires mash down the cheatgrass before the mower gets to cut it. Two days later that mashed-down cheatgrass stands back up again and it is very plain where the tractor tires passed. Wish there was an easy way to have a front-mounted rotary mower!

Gopher mounds leveled by the mower:
View attachment 858833

Did you bring any of the PA family farm’s machinery out to Nevada?

 

[WM75Guy]

Our VFD recently burned a house for training. The property owner inherited the property with an old farm house and planned to build a new house. They had an estate sale with the proceeds going to the VFD. Then the VFD burned the house for training. Cleared the lot and built a new house on the site.

 

[plowhog]

the tractor tires mash down the cheatgrass before the mower gets to cut it. Two days later that mashed-down cheatgrass stands back up again and it is very plain where the tractor tires passed. Wish there was an easy way to have a front-mounted rotary mower!

I agree completely. I have an 8 foot dual rotary cutter to maintain our pastures, and also a 58" front mounted mower on a Ventrac for mowing slopes. Due to the mashed-down stuff not getting cut from the rear cutter, I wind up using the Ventrac on the entire pasture. Over bumpy terrain it can travel faster than my tractor, so its about the same number of hours of mowing either way.

But once it is done I don't have "rows" popping back up.

 

[workinonit]

What kind of tires are you guys running? I'm guessing industrial or turf tires. I run ag tires and have zero issues with the mashing grass down.

 

[deserteagle71]

Did you bring any of the PA family farm’s machinery out to Nevada?

No. Not cost-effective to haul anything that big 2,600 miles.

 

[deserteagle71]

What kind of tires are you guys running? I'm guessing industrial or turf tires. I run ag tires and have zero issues with the mashing grass down.

Ag tires. It's not the type of tires, it's the type of grass. Cheatgrass is very fine-stemmed. If you step on it, it will be flattened but then in a couple days or so it will stand back up.