Sounds like a job for a bigger tractor dragging an angle scraper blade, to push the rocks to the side a few times. Then you could mow/bush hog it.Toolslinger wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 4:37 am I never really gave the ash much thought until they all started to die. They're a surprisingly high percentage of the woods by me. Now when I drive through my logging roads, I've got areas that are wide open, and grass, and ferns have taken over. I'm going to have to mow the roads, because I can't see where it is in some areas. I don't want to spray since the plants help hold the dirt, but I can't figure out really how to mow it safely since the roads are real rough and rocky with a lot of erosion... If I keep a mower up to clear the rocks, all I'll get is a slightly lower mess where I still can't see where I'm driving. Perhaps drag some chain link , or just a bunch of chains through to just knock it all down...
I've got the bigger (not massive, but plenty big for a back blade) tractor, and even have an angled back blade...Eugen wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 2:18 pm Sounds like a job for a bigger tractor dragging an angle scraper blade, to push the rocks to the side a few times. Then you could mow/bush hog it.
It's amazing what low prices older bigger tractors have. There's a David Brown diesel not far from me, with loader, going for $1500.
I was thinking about your logging roads. I imagine they are not wide enough to use a sickle mower with the cutting bar tilted up slightly to skip over the rocks. But what about a flail mower? It would probably be noisy and you might have to replace some knives from hitting rock but it might knock the grass down. I don’t know, it’s just a thought.Toolslinger wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 4:37 am With any luck the Gypsy Moth will catch some plague, or move on... They were real bad when I was a kid, and then just disappeared for a couple decades out in PA. I never really knew why, but yea, they can shred the trees. We've started seeing them again, which is just delightful...
I never really gave the ash much thought until they all started to die. They're a surprisingly high percentage of the woods by me. Now when I drive through my logging roads, I've got areas that are wide open, and grass, and ferns have taken over. I'm going to have to mow the roads, because I can't see where it is in some areas. I don't want to spray since the plants help hold the dirt, but I can't figure out really how to mow it safely since the roads are real rough and rocky with a lot of erosion... If I keep a mower up to clear the rocks, all I'll get is a slightly lower mess where I still can't see where I'm driving. Perhaps drag some chain link , or just a bunch of chains through to just knock it all down...
I'd like to see something that likes to eat buckthorn, pac man style.
You might be on to something there... A couple 4' rollers, or cultipackers might do a reasonable job if I run them through weekly... After a while the greenery might decide it didn't like being crushed...
Yea, sickle would be too wide unless it was front mounted. The flail is an option... I could give it a shot, but man, I'd hate to do that to the unit since I just finally got it in service... $250 flail, and $2500 in parts/repairs over 6 months... Cuts the grass and brush great, terrifying sounds when it catches a rock. I haven't tried it lifted much. The discussions I've read on flails seem to indicate they don't work terribly well high off the ground. That's the grass cutting style like I have, obviously the hammer style must work ok since they put them on boom units now.JSinMO wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 5:56 pm I was thinking about your logging roads. I imagine they are not wide enough to use a sickle mower with the cutting bar tilted up slightly to skip over the rocks. But what about a flail mower? It would probably be noisy and you might have to replace some knives from hitting rock but it might knock the grass down. I don’t know, it’s just a thought.