Having a corner lot and being a good citizen that follows and obeys village ordinance, I'm obligated to maintain an easement that in my case consist of a ditch 750 feet long. Most of the ditch is narrow and shallow, no big deal for a 30" rider. Takes three passes to cut the easy part. But the first 200 feet is deep, about 3-4 feet deep to be exact. I cannot mow up and down (perpendicular to the ditch) because of a line of trees that run along my property. In fact, my little JD130 will tip over if I were to attempt to mow the deep part. I do not want to damage the engine for the luck of lubrication if I were to install wheel weights to keep center of gravity lower to the ground. I have used a trimmer in the past but it took me 2 hours, looked like crap and it was tiring! What are my options? Electric push? 2-cycle maybe?
Those Husqvarna AWD mowers work good on slopes.. The ones I have seen however had the Honda engines on them. The bigger one not the 160. Most of them I see in Lowes have the Briggs nowdays. Roundup is an option. So is a growth control product.
2 cycle like a used but working Lawnboy would fit the bill. I have a gold model F engine that I've had for years and it still functions great, plus its very light, and has self drive. It's in my Avatar.
In the 60's, my father cut his ditch area with a Toro Flo-Mow (or Fly-Mo) that was a small hover mower with no wheels. The 2 stroke engine floated the deck (that was shaped like a shallow bowl) over the lawn to be mowed. If it was really steep, he used a rope attached to the handle to lower the flo-mo up and down the banks. Yea, I know, but it was the 60's. People were less concerned with safety and law suits then. Since your bank is not too steep, a 2 stroke, IMO, would be just the ticket. Craig's List usually yields good results on used Lawnboy 2 cycle mowers. Good luck!
Husqvarna 4x4 sure is a nice mower but they tell you mow up and down with it...I can't do that because of the trees and ditch is only about 5 feet wide. I've got Blue Spotted Salamander, 4-5 different toads and frogs and three different turtles living here...I don't want to use any chemicals here. The LawnBoy option sure sounds pretty good. I'll look into it. Thanks.
So, I'm suppose to be looking for something like this?
#10
Bob E
Maybe a pole model hedge trimmer? Almost like a sickle bar mower...
I would definitely use weed killer. If you mow the ditch like a lawn you'll be ruining the amphibians habitat anyway.
