Road Drainage Ditch Question

[bigbendmarine]

Are you going to actually show more pictures of your draining dike and drainage issue ... or just pictures of your property?

TreeSpud, guess I can share more pics of the drainage ditches if needed?

And not sure about the "your property" reference... shared the picture showing the growth in the drainage ditch in another thread about backyard wildlife and when sharing it I thought about the visible growth it showed in the drainage ditch and that's why I posted. Unless I'm missing something, didn't share other pics focused on my property. Sure don't mind taking more pics of the drainage ditches, but figured most on the board would have seen drainage ditches before. Was basically just looking for maintenance tips / advice, and have to say I got so many good tips I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up combining useful info from a number of them.

If I'm missing something and you think that additional pics of the drainage ditches would be useful / my original post wasn't descriptive enough, again I'm happy to take / share some more.

 

[bigbendmarine]

Way out of the price range I'm willing to pay at the moment, but a google of "slope mowers" surprised me by the number of remote control / robotic cutters that appear to be entering the market for cutting drainage ditches. Quite a few like this one, but heck I chewed on buying a used UTV for about 3 years before pulling the trigger so again likely be settling on one of the more manual labor solutions (like the Stihl hand held... errr... shoulder strap brush cutters).
http://landscapemanagement.net/evatech-releases-robotic-slope-mower/

 

[bigbendmarine]

If money were no issue I actually think I'd go with this version of J-Bird and SD51555's tractor attachment idea... that or one that attaches to my UTV as my tractor is a bit oversized for working the edges to the outside of the road, yet they're a bit overgrown / rougher than I think ideal for the zero turn mower that I have.
http://www.killoughfarmequipment.com/woods-s105-ditch-bank-rotary-cutter.html

 

[Tap]

Something else you may want to consider is checking with Ernst Seed. Here's a link to download or order their catalog http://www.ernstseed.com/catalog/
Their catalog is excellent, as is their company. They specialize in native plants/seeds, and they also have a lot of info on dealing with ditches, riparian zones, erosion control. Everyone should have a hard copy of their catalog.
They have a huge selection of seeds and some cuttings for practically any application.
They have a ton of native wildflower choices. Maybe something like that may work well for your situation and keep your wife happy at the same time. Women seldom complain about wildflower plantings

 

[bigbendmarine]

Well, few years since I asked the question and FINALLY got around to tackling the task.

Versus ordering a dedicated brush cutter after a bit of online research / watching tons of YouTube videos I settled on installing a "Renegade Hybrid Blade" onto an extra Echo weed eater attachment I had laying in my garage.



Whereas the photo I originally posted of the ditch showed mostly brambles, over time quite a few sweetgums and willows had cluttered up all the spots I couldn't reach with my mower... maybe about 2/3rds the length of the ditches. Made for a good day's work but cut all I wanted to cut and pulled all the saplings into the woods edge for bunny habitat. Left just a small stretch of saplings on both sides near the center of the stretch of road in a really wet spot for wildlife to use as bit of cover and to help focus crossing, especially for hogs which visit the wet area in the worst heat of the summer.

As for the renegade blade it cut through 1" to 2" saplings like they were BUTTER. Definitely was capable of taking out 3" as well but on some of the 3" to 3 1/2" (big as I had to cut) trunks the blade pinched due to the weight of the small-tree tops on the blade. Found it worked best to either try to make a focused slower cut OR let it "zing" the larger trunks quickly, though sometimes took two swipes.

Guessing a few members might watch "Project Farm's" videos -- he did a pretty good review of blade options a while back that helped me settle on the Renegade Hybrid.