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Mowing a pond edge

R

Rick Kr

Well-known Member
Every year I end up spending way too much time maintaining/mowing the edge of my pond. I mow close with my zero turn then walk around, and around, and around with my Stihl trimmer with a sickle attachment.

I can only get so close with the ZT, otherwise its stuck. I have two ideas. Buy a used pull behind trail mower with an offset hitch, or build a hitch and hook a 20" push mower to it. The banks are not steep enough to flip over, just slowly slide in on the clay base.
I'm frugal (ok CHEAP), but not looking to spend a ton of $$ and want to keep it simple too.

Likely would hook my contraption to the Gator not the tractor to save rutting around the pond.

Whats your ideas/pictures?? You guys always seem to come up with solutions to my problems.

Rick
 
Get an old pull sickle mower and put an engine on it from a junk mower. It's not like you have to use the whole mower width so to engine doesn't have to be huge.
 
i bought a 5 ft swisher trailing mower i use with my cub for road ditches. extended the hitch way out so i dont get on steep slopes. works real good

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If you left a buffer strip around most of the pond instead of mowing the entire perimeter of the pond, would you have a cleaner pond because of less old grass decaying in the water producing algae food? Maybe only mow it all twice a year for weed control.
 
Have a 42" Haban trail behind mower. Used it behind a Deere 140 garden tractor for years. Son now pulling it behind a Deere ZT mower. Has been a good working setup. Just watch out on the extremely short, sharp turns.
 
www.bikebandit.com/tires-tubes/motorcycle-tires/itp-holeshot-mxr6-atv-tire

Here's the other place and tire in my size: www.motorcycle-superstore.com/26365/i/cst-ambush-rear-tire

Put a set of these on your ZT and quit worrying about slipping. Run them around 8-10 psig. There are numerous tires of this tread pattern on the www for ATVs. Just get the size off your ZT and they will fit it too. I have a set of their tires of this pattern and a couple more from another supplier in 23x10x12 probably because these guys didn't have the size; don't remember.

I know this pattern works. Surely others do too. It's a crap shoot, but much cheaper than other options. Shipment is fast too from this company and the other one.

I like some of the other options shown herein too, but this is your cheap way out.
 

I used a 1941 John Deere B with a #5 Mower, can't hardly hear the mower run & sure does make the frogs jump....
 
I can't convince a friend not to mow to his lake's edge. Yet he complains about the duck weed in his lake, which only showed up after he got a crane to remove the cat tails from lake. Now he applies a chemical to kill the duck weed, yet the weed returns. Like my neighbor who uses round up on his white rock Yet it kills the existing grass in drive, but there is always new grass that returns. Some people don't realize they are the problem.
 
This may or may not apply as I do not know the purpose of your pond. As an alternative to mowing up to edge of the pond, leave an unmowed strip a few feet wide around the pond to maintain a riparian zone. This strip of tall grasses and other green plants provides habitat for those little creatures that like to be near water but not in it all the time. Also the strip of taller green plants provides a kind of filter to keep the bank from erosion. One of our local parks has a small pond, a couple of acres, with an unmowed strip around it. Looks good and looks a little more natural than one that is mowed to the edge. You can mow to the edge in a small area where you need access. Just a thought.
 

A neighbor whose field I hay put a pond in it after he hit Megabucks. keeping the edges clean was always a problem so finally he had his excavator buddy line it with erosion stone.
 
Im going to try to answer everyone in one reply.

I already own the Gator and a push mower. So I likely will start with a 2x2 offset hitch on the front, then hook the push mower to it. Cost is free, minus time. If that contraption works, then look for a used trail mower for a bigger swath. Meanwhile look at the tires Mark posted.

Glennster and Ray: Glenn it was probably your picture a while ago that gave me the idea of an offset.

Mark: Those tires would help, but my pond level drops throughout the summer, I would be running in wet clay, and possible still be stuck.

Joe and others: I would only be mowing around the beach and swimming area. The other half of the pond is a gradual slope to 6 feet deep. I leave a buffer strip for the cattails, etc. Lots of frogs and ducklings.

Gordo and others: I like the sickle. Measuring the pond edge, even a 9 foot sickle gets me too close to the soft bank. My tractor is too heavy. This would be a good reason to search for a light little tractor and a sickle.

thanks for all the ideas.
Rick
 
Once you know how to use a good scythe, you can trim over twice as fast compared to using a gas string trimmer.
 
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