This Bank is KILLING Me….

[oosik]

Same situation here - mikester. That entire slope would be within the ROW.

 

[ruffdog]

I’d plant some ground cover or day lilies and never mow it again.

View attachment 753728

Years ago, it was very common for highway departments to plant Crown Vetch on the embankments. Now it is considered invasive as it spreads pretty quickly. My QV is in bloom right now and looks like a blanket of pink clover.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I had a similar situation with the slope below the house. I cut it with a string trimmer for years until my hips gave out. At one point, I thought of buying a 3pt articulating flail bank & ditch mower for the tractor to cut it. I solved the problem for less money by spraying the slope with roundup, laying landscape cloth and covering it with rip rap. Looks great and it's maintenance free.

 

[vagem55]

I don't envy you with some of this advice.
Get reliable advice from respectable pro, either a gardener or a landscaper.
Do you want to kill all the vegetation and plant hundreds of bulbs that bloom for a day (daylilies) and have to be mowed in a month, leaving you with the same problem?
Are you willing to mulch every year, and will rain wash it into the ditch?
Does an annual that has to be reseeded or cut back to rebloom really help?
Will anything you plant be dense enough that you don't have to pull or spray intermittent weeds?
Those gardens you see on TV look and sound great, but they're a lot of work keeping out weeds. Most are in a closed or at least urban environment, rather than in the open or rural area where weed seeds spread from everywhere.
Will you spend a half hour with a string trimmer or mowing up and down?
How about risking loss of traction or a belt slipping going down the hill and sending you into the road?
Many folks, like me, know of guys in our area that have died or been seriously injured when their lawn tractor rolled on banks and hills like yours and worse.
Are you willing to spend more on a piece of equipment than it would cost you to have someone do it for the rest of your time?
I have over 20 years of actual experience on hills much worse than yours.
Above is what I've experienced, not something I think might work. A walk behind mower is the fastest, easiest and safest solution I've found.
Still, I'm no pro, so I would ask one.

 

[Sonny580]

I mow steeper ones that that here! z-turn works , also I have used the IH 185 with creeper gear, but my fave. is one of my Sunstar 20's with 60" deck. They have diffy locks in them and hang up the side's of banks like a magnet! lol! --- corse people say I am crazy for mowing the roadside in the first place!

 

[ruffdog]

This thing handles a 34 deg slope....what degree is the OP's slope? It has to be about the same or more.

ATM 72LC Slope Mower - safer solution to mowing slopes | Harper Turf

 

[MossRoad]

View attachment 753705

This hill is killing me. A little steeper than it looks. I have a JD 1023 - not enough juice for a boom mower or a flail. You can see I have easy access from the top. Been weedeating this mess for five years.

What if I took tow behind mower like you use with an ATV - hitched it to the back of the 1023 - and just backed up to the edge letting the mower drop down over the bank? Put a bit longer extension on it if I needed to. Then work my way across up and down. Is this a really smart idea or a really stupid one? I’ve been known to have both kinds.

Have you ever measured the slope to see what the max degree is? You could take a 2x4 and lay it on the slope in many places and set an angle finder like this to find the degree of slope. Or, if you have a smart phone, many have built in angle finders.

That would help people give you some suggestions, and also help you find a machine that’s capable of sustained operation on that slope if you desire.

Also, how much are you willing to spend on equipment if you go that route?

$1000 buys a lot of ground cover.

 

[tradosaurus]

This thing handles a 34 deg slope....what degree is the OP's slope? It has to be about the same or more.

ATM 72LC Slope Mower - safer solution to mowing slopes | Harper Turf

A lot of money to spend for just one slope.

 

[Hughman]

Roundup

 

[Hay Dude]

View attachment 753705

This hill is killing me. A little steeper than it looks. I have a JD 1023 - not enough juice for a boom mower or a flail. You can see I have easy access from the top. Been weedeating this mess for five years.

What if I took tow behind mower like you use with an ATV - hitched it to the back of the 1023 - and just backed up to the edge letting the mower drop down over the bank? Put a bit longer extension on it if I needed to. Then work my way across up and down. Is this a really smart idea or a really stupid one? I’ve been known to have both kinds.

A used Kubota F will eat that bank for lunch and beg for more. Trade your JD1023 in on one. You’ll love it.