Day after day I see people mowing. They mow the roadsides here in Pa. twice a year. Why? Then they say they are broke.It seems like a waste of fuel and adds additional air pollution, but what do I know. Also I see guys mowing fields all the time and it is not for hay. Neighbor mows his lawn twice a week, but he recycles plastic. On one hand he thinks he is doing something wonderful, but ignores the added pollution he sends up. Oh well "what do I know?".LOL
- Thread starter dej(Jed)
- Start date
Hotflashjr
Well-known Member
- Location
- Western MA
I mow my lawn twice a week just because I like having my lawn nice. I recycle as well. I think it is because mowing is instant gratification. You mow for an hour and you can look back and say man I just did that and it looks good. Where I am they mow the roadsides three times a year because we have a lot of plants trying to take over. Bull briar will literally smother a tree and pull it down in 2-3 years.
Southern Ray
Well-known Member
helps keep the mosquitos down
Ultradog MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Twin Cities
I mow my lawn because if I don't the City will mow it for me and they charge a helluva LOT to do it.
I brush hog my property up at the lake primarily for brush control but also to give better browse for the deer.
I don't recycle anything except my drain oil.
I give it to a friend who burns it in his shop heater.
I brush hog my property up at the lake primarily for brush control but also to give better browse for the deer.
I don't recycle anything except my drain oil.
I give it to a friend who burns it in his shop heater.
PeteTheRookie
Member
LOL, there are some retired guys on my block that all they do is mow grass.
They feed it, water and then mow it 2-3 times a week.
I mow as little as possible. This year with dry July the best areas of my lawn are the ones I stopped mowing. Grass there gets about 6" inches long and lays over. Nice and green. Totally unaffected by the 4-5 weeks of no rain.
I do have to mow the area around the house and where the kids play to keep the tics out and skeeters at bay.
Been think about letting my lawns go over to clover as opposed to traditional grass.
Pete
They feed it, water and then mow it 2-3 times a week.
I mow as little as possible. This year with dry July the best areas of my lawn are the ones I stopped mowing. Grass there gets about 6" inches long and lays over. Nice and green. Totally unaffected by the 4-5 weeks of no rain.
I do have to mow the area around the house and where the kids play to keep the tics out and skeeters at bay.
Been think about letting my lawns go over to clover as opposed to traditional grass.
Pete
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
If you don't mow roadsides at least once a year, the more woody plants will take over. I only mow at home when the grass and/or weeks get tall or unruly so I might mow once a week in the spring or fall and once every month or six weeks when it's dry in the summer.
Kestrel in CT
Member
Started with a tribe called Suburbanites. They fertilize it so it grows, and when it does grow, cut it off, and pay to throw it away.
Meanwhile poison any other plant that grows in the lawn while dragging out hoses and paying more to water it ....
Meanwhile poison any other plant that grows in the lawn while dragging out hoses and paying more to water it ....
IndianaRed
Member
The sides of the roads have to be mowed. Think if someone had an accident, rolled, and people are ejected. If we go with your advice, people will be digging through weeds looking for victims. Not to mention, it's dangerous to let it get too high because then you can't see anything that may be coming into the roadway, like deer. I think there are much better issues for you to be concerned with.
I like to keep the place clean and trimmed and take pride in how it looks and yes I mow some along the roadside and it sure looks great. I guess its my own personal choice and pride and if others dont like to mow and let things grow up more, hey its their land and thats their own free choice also.......
To each their own I figure
John T
To each their own I figure
John T
I have to scratch my head over my brother in law doing it. He bought what he calls "the farm",28 acres of pasture and woods on what used to be part of his sisters place. He drives an hour each way every weekend to go "to the farm" to mow.
I don't get it either. I don't know how impressed the wildlife are with a manicured place to run. Seems like the deer would apprecite it a little more if he'd let something grow up for them to eat.
I don't get it either. I don't know how impressed the wildlife are with a manicured place to run. Seems like the deer would apprecite it a little more if he'd let something grow up for them to eat.
There some extreams to Mowing by some, I for one
live in PA. & Very glad when the mow the road
sides, in fact thankful when they do.. I Mow the
grass once a week, & I cycle bar mow the road
side on my property 2wice a year & the township
does it once. To each his own, but there are
some who are very extream.. It's like the owner
where I work, he'll plant sunflowers at the Ford
Dealership, then he complains about all the
bee's?
live in PA. & Very glad when the mow the road
sides, in fact thankful when they do.. I Mow the
grass once a week, & I cycle bar mow the road
side on my property 2wice a year & the township
does it once. To each his own, but there are
some who are very extream.. It's like the owner
where I work, he'll plant sunflowers at the Ford
Dealership, then he complains about all the
bee's?
If you don't mow the roadsides, you won't have a road left after about 10 years. The weeds will just keep working their way out into the roadbed, making the road narrower and narrower.
Compared to the brand new superintendent's pickup truck, and the new wheel loader, and the new road grader, and the new excavator, and the new dump trucks... every other year.... the cost of mowing is a pittance. They don't lease, they BUY, and they replace half the equipment every year... They claim it's cheaper than keeping the equipment until it's worn out.
Compared to the brand new superintendent's pickup truck, and the new wheel loader, and the new road grader, and the new excavator, and the new dump trucks... every other year.... the cost of mowing is a pittance. They don't lease, they BUY, and they replace half the equipment every year... They claim it's cheaper than keeping the equipment until it's worn out.
Wheat Farmer
Well-known Member
Roadsides should be mowed/Sprayed even more, and before the weeds go to seed. My biggest problem in farming is weed seed coming from the road. We even had some Leafy Spruge show up. Our county has grant money and will come and spray it on private land. They won't let me mow along the state highway, but I do along the county road. I swathed my hay along the highway this year about two months early just to control THERE weeds.Then when it started to grow again I sprayed the whole field. The drought is not helping.
Simply put,weed control. And the fact that folks dont want the state spraying weed killers up and down the roads we all travel. Increased danger of drift onto your land if the state does this, even though it does pencil out to be cheaper than mowing. Mowing road sides also decrease greatly the chances of car animal collisions, increases safety by increasing visibility etc. Lots of reasons. Mowing your yard at the proper time and at the proper hieght actually helps it. Mowing your pastures especialy this time of year really helps to kill weeds. Lots of times its used in conjunctin with spraying. and the TIMING of spraying is just as important as anything else. simply put Spraying gains you very little if you dont spray the weed your trying to control at the proper time. With all the miles of roads most states have it would be foolish to try to spray it all in a two week period when the plants are small enough for a proper kill. Figure in the added runoff from spraying ditches,the environmental considerations alone makes it unfeasable.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Not sure where you are but here in Indiana the highway equipment is nothing to write home about. Maybe a few nice pickups but most over 100,000 miles, a few newer dumptrucks mixed with a bunch from the 90's and a bunch of equipment from the 90's. Decently maintained but certainly not new.
Heat Houser
Member
Here in Iowa you mow the road shoulder so you can wing the snow back. Ever to try and wing snow that has drifted into tall grass? It will push a motor grader around......
Lots of correct responses, Its alot like YOUR tractor, paint it whatever color you like, switch it to twelve volt, muffler or staight stack, its your tractor do as YOU like. My yard is the same thing MY yard. Don't play the POLLUTIN card to justify your concern. just my .02 worth gobble
fixerupper
Well-known Member
In Iowa it's like Heathouser said. It's better to have the roadside clean so the snow blows on over the road and into the field on the other side. The tall grass on the roadside makes a snow fence that stops the snow right on the road. When the snow plow wings it into the ditch there's a snow furrow in the ditch that creates a snow fence that makes another drift the plow can't wing back any farther. In my neck of the woods the county sprays the weeds but the state still mows the state and federal highways. Personally, I mow everything in sight just to keep the place neat. One neighbor tells me it's a waste, and it is, but I like things neat. Jim
Ok maybe mowing burms is somewhat needed, but not every year (come on now). Mow off the fields and you destroy winter forage for critters. Also you give birds of prey an easy shot at small wildlife. And then everybody moans about no birds or rabbits. Oh well to each his own.
RamblinMan
Member
Back in the day when I drove trucks it was sure nice to have the roadside mowed by farmers on two lane roads. When the ground was dry and solid it sure made breakdowns easier to cope with. With it tall you never knew what might be under it, big hole, ditch, discarded trash, and such. I had a bad experience on the roadside with tall growth. Someone had thrown out a pile of scrap metal which took out my right steer tire after blowing a drive tire on the road. I have thanked many a farmer for their extra work in keeping the roadsides trimmed.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Pleeze senore. It ezz undocumented workers.
If you are worrying about (POLLUTION)You need to put domes over all the volcano's. When one volcano erupts and spews 100 times the (POLLUTION) that mankind has ever manufactured it kinda puts mowing lawns into a different perspective.
With Mt ST Helen killing every one with in a hundred miles radius a few years back from the (POLLUTION) we all need to worry about (POLLUTION) killing all of us.
Wait! Maybe every one didn't die within a hundred miles of Mt St Helen from the (POLLUTION). Maybe even every one didn't die within 20 miles from the (POLLUTION). Who a mung the chicken littles would have thunk it.
With a hundred times the (POLLUTION) that mankind has ever made we all should be dead from the (POLLUTION)
With Mt ST Helen killing every one with in a hundred miles radius a few years back from the (POLLUTION) we all need to worry about (POLLUTION) killing all of us.
Wait! Maybe every one didn't die within a hundred miles of Mt St Helen from the (POLLUTION). Maybe even every one didn't die within 20 miles from the (POLLUTION). Who a mung the chicken littles would have thunk it.
With a hundred times the (POLLUTION) that mankind has ever made we all should be dead from the (POLLUTION)
Ultradog MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Twin Cities
If you really care about saving the little critters start taking out all the stray cats you see.
I AGREE Good points, If one considers in relative geologic clock terms old mother earth has been here a year, mankind only came about at like the last minute before the stroke of midnight on new years eve and yetttttttttt the earth has still survived despite volcanoes and warming periods and ice ages and perhaps meterorites hitting the earth (killing the dinasours) and all that POLLUTION
Like you, I sorta doubt lawn mowing is all that much to worry with lol
True, in the billions of years the earth has had POLLUTION and hot and cold cycles and meteor showers and volcanoes, but I think it can survive what us mere mortal feeble humans have dished out in such a few short years so at the risk of Al Gore's wrath IM GONNA KEEP MOWING MY YARD AND ROADSIDES but if others choose not to so do Im NOT gonna harass them or pass laws saying they have to mow or carry guns either if they choose not to.......
John T
Like you, I sorta doubt lawn mowing is all that much to worry with lol
True, in the billions of years the earth has had POLLUTION and hot and cold cycles and meteor showers and volcanoes, but I think it can survive what us mere mortal feeble humans have dished out in such a few short years so at the risk of Al Gore's wrath IM GONNA KEEP MOWING MY YARD AND ROADSIDES but if others choose not to so do Im NOT gonna harass them or pass laws saying they have to mow or carry guns either if they choose not to.......
John T
IHcollector_94
New User
They mow the road side because it looks nice to potential land owners. also it helps with drainage. the water can go through a ditch easier then if there were 6 foot high weeds in it. also where im from we then bale the roadsides and feed it to our livestock.
ShadetreeRet
Well-known Member
Before mowers were invented most people didn't have lawns. The immediate yard around the house was bare and was swept almost daily with a "brush broom". A daily sweeping being necessary because of tobacco and snuff spit, and free range chickens.
Actually not all that is entirely true either. mowing the roadsides twice a year destroys millions of tons of weed annualy. Basic rule of thumb is destroy a ton of weed,make a ton of grass.Most ground dwelling animals simply cant utilize high weed ,so it makes no difference in food value,and in fact helps because it encourages shorter,more open growth they need to feed. Animals such as deer dont like the open so they simply stay away from the roadsides instead of making it a home range.Small animals and deer like edge cover.Mowing the right of way makes miles apon miles of edge ,it simply moves it back away from the road center.Small animals simply feed on short grass forbs and yes weeds that grow closer to ESCAPE cover which is normally the fence line.This not only protects motorists but actually puts game back on your feilds where they are accessable to be harvested. Weeds allowed to grow one year normaly take two to destroy,increasing the monetary vallue for control much more. Very few down sides to mowing IF its done responibly. Farmers that raise a crop up to and under fence lines are the biggest destroyers of habitat in the country. birds of prey are more or less self regulating,as their prey dies so do they.
Dave in GA
Member
What I don't understand is them mowing the grass medians between the divided highways. The grass will get as tall and thick as my hayfield, and the machines come through and chop it all down. What a waste. Seems like these medians with tall grass should be available to the local farmers to cut all the hay they want, or plant wheat or whatever, as long as they maintain it and keep it neat. Sure, there's some danger involved, but any farming's got some danger.
which farmer? youd have to work out some kind of plan or one farmer or another would wind up getting rich off public land. just the farmer with hyway right of way? that farmer who lives thirty miles down a dirt track owns just as much of the hyway as anyone why shouldnt he benifit? lease center median acerage to the highest bidder maybe?
Ed in Northern VA
Member
Where are you getting your numbers from? USGS figures show emissions from human activities exceed volcanic activity by a factor of 10 to 1. There's a lot of information available on the internet.
Volcanoes & green house gasses
Volcanoes & green house gasses
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
One of the worst practices is they mow the ditches immediately after a rain because they can't do anything else. Causes ruts and damages the existing good grass and allows the undesired weeds a place to grow. Also mowing short during the dry spells. Kills the good grass and again allows weeds to take over. If you have decent grass and not haying it, much better to let the nesting birds have it all summer and then mow it during the slack time before harvest.
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
Its an affliction I call Short Grass Psychosis drives otherwise sensible people to hate grass over 3 inches tall.Medians should be planted with heavy shubbery to cut don mowing and stop vehicles from crossing it in a wreck.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
You hit on the reason I despise mowing the lawn; ie., no matter how good of a job that is done, a week later it needs to be done again. I don't enjoy repeating the same job to perfection again, and again and again... One a month, one a year or every ten years I'm game but not once or twice a week!
gene bender
Well-known Member
So you poor people driving down the road dont get hay fever.
gtractorfan
Well-known Member
As far as harvesting hay along the highways, ever notice all the trash people toss out? Might be expensive feed.
2 words: Hemp Dogbane. It's heck to get it out of a hayfield once it gets in there. Can't leave it in because it's toxic. If it grows anywhere I don't have a crop but a mower can get to it, it gets mowed. Keeps it from going to seed, and if you mow it close and often, it uses its root reserves to survive instead of spreading by rhizomes.
Ultradog MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Twin Cities
Here too.
I don't know if they pay for it or bid on it or what. It would behoove the state to make it available though as it would save taxpayers the cost of mowing.
I don't know if they pay for it or bid on it or what. It would behoove the state to make it available though as it would save taxpayers the cost of mowing.
theoldtexasfarmer
Member
Forest Gump just liked to mow and run.
I keep my place mowed every week. Used to let the field behind the house go in Hay when the farmer took it off the main field. 1990 the farmer decided the field behind the house wasn't worth monkeying with so he left it go. Once it was nice and tinder dry some joker tossed a cigarette butt into it and I nearly lost my house and shop building. Now it's mowed every week as well as along the road (at least as well as I can since the township screwed the ditches all up).
jon f mn
Well-known Member
Kenneth R Ohnstad
Member
It looks nice.
k
k
farmer boy
Well-known Member
I have seen obsessed, and most people are not obsessed. Seen it where the guy mows what must be close to 10 acres of grass between fields and along the road. Mostly retired guys I think. I mow because it would look like crap otherwise. I ain't putting goats next to the house and the land between the fields and lane would just be overgrown weeds. What I can't understand is people buying $10,000 lawnmowers. The thought of spending that much money on a mower makes my head spin.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
I used to mow the road reserve outside my place until I saw a booklet from the council which said it was illegal without a permit. So I am not going to waste my time to travel 10 klms to get a permit. One day I, with tongue in cheek, will ask them to come and mow it.
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