Solved the sickle bar problem

S.Crum · Jul 4, 2010

Rememmber a few weeks back I was trying to locate a 3 point hitch sickle bar mower to mow the ditches the township screwed up? Well I never did find even a junker that I could justify paying that kind of money for. So I picked up a quart of 50% glyphosphate at TSC and mixed up a solution in my pump sprayer. Sprayed the ditches and areas that were too dicey to try and get with a finish mower. The grass and weeds are turning a golden brown and ripe for some joker to flit a butt into to finish the job. best of all I'll likely only need to do that once a year, twice maybe. and I only spent $35 instead of $1500 and those mowers can continue doing what they've done for the past 40 years. Sit in the weeds and rust. Ain't technology great!!!

Mark-Mi · Jul 5, 2010

Not to be negative. But you went at it all wrong. Now you have a good chance of bank erosion since you killed everything and now you can be assured you will have a great crop of weeds on your bank next year.
Variations of 2-4-D is what to use. Kill the weeds leave the grass to grow and to get thicker.That way the grass will snuff out the weeds.
My neighbor on the other side of the ditch did the Round Up thing 3 years ago now all he has is millions of giant rag weeds growing on his bank. Mark

paul · Jul 5, 2010

Yikes, Roundup the ditchbanks? Now you have a weed haven with the grass gone, plus the bank will erode, plus the county/ state/ township should be real mad at you for destroying the road ditch grass - an important part of the roadbed.

I sure wouldn't be happy with you.

Sickle mower on Craigslist a couple weeks ago was $35. See them at auctions $300 or less.

Why kill off a road ditch?

Don't mean to jump on you, but did you think about what you were doing?

--->Paul

armand tatro · Jul 5, 2010

Why did you not go to your local DNR office and have them till and seed the road ditch? They have some 5 or 6 ft. tillers and drills and here in Il. they do a real nice job on seeding road ditches at no cost to the land owner. I would not re_seed a road ditch any other way! Armand

S.Crum · Jul 5, 2010

I guess you would have to see these ditches to understand. The right of way is 16' from the center of the road so the township blacktops the road 12' from the center and they end up with 4' to work with. They will not do anything on the land owner's property such as grade that side down to the ditch. We end up with what amounts to a sluce and my side is a 2 to 3 foot dropoff into the ditch. What the township in effect did was come in years ago and grade down a cattle path and blacktop it. Now they struggle every year to keep it from falling to pieces. Been that way now for 23 years. Dad warned them to build a base and establish the ditches back then. But they didn't. But what does an old farmer that lived here his entire life know?

Brad Gyde · Jul 5, 2010

I say spray away.. but then again, our township hasn't seen a bank mower in probably 4 years now... Well, I guess they come in late October and mow the dead stuff off.. What a waste of money.. and if it's back more than one pass, it don't get cut either.

Maybe this year we'll get a mowing though.. it'll be half a$$ed if we do.. but we did get chloride on the dirt roads this year... First time in 3 years IIRC

Oh, and our ditches have NO POINT... None of them go anywhere, there'll just be a few feet here, few feet there.. If they don't move water to a bigger ditch, well, they are just useless IMO

Brad

Solved the sickle bar problem

S.Crum

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Mark-Mi

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paul

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armand tatro

Well-known Member

S.Crum

Well-known Member

Brad Gyde

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