I recall writing that cutting the tops of weeds has benefits in terms of preventing weed seeds from ripening to the point where they are viable, even if it was too late to help the crop's yield. I decided to take my own advice.
As I was cutting the weeds, I realized that it will make it faster to dig potatoes if I didn't have to keep pulling weeds to find the hilled potatoes. That will be much appreciated.
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| Equipment set: 2000W Wen generator, 100' of extension cord and a 20" Black and Decker, corded hedge trimmer |
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| "In the beginning, there was chaos." If you are going to steal lines, then steal from the best! If you look carefully, you will see a wheelbarrow on the extreme left-background of the image. And a shovel handle and at T-post. Tobacco plants on right side off frame. |
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| 30 minutes, same angle as original |
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| After 30 minutes from a slightly different angle. The tall plant is a tomato vine that I plugged into a gap where the potato plants did not come up. |
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| After 59 minutes Time-on-task. I took two breaks but stopped the clock while taking them. |
I got faster as I got more experience in handling the hedge trimmer. It breezed through the Giant Foxtail grass and choked on the thicker stems of the Smartweed and Pokeweed. I had to cut those 12" above the ground rather than the 6", give or take a bit, above the ground that I cut the grasses.
At today's prices, a corded, Black and Decker 22" hedge-trimmer costs about $60 on Amazon. 2000W generators run about $300 so that might be a deal-breaker if you don't already have a generator.
Another deal-breaker might be if you cannot lean over and sweep the blade parallel to the ground. That will be hard for some people.
I use a DeWalt pole mounted hedge trimmer. I mounted an extra handle on the pole, and have the hedge trimmer at a 90 degree angle. It handles fairly well as a scythe. The two problems with my rig are holding the power and safety triggers down makes holding it more awkward and that the hedge trimmer motor will overheat under constant use. I have decided that the overheating is a feature that makes me take regular breaks, and am not going to override the safety, so will live with those issues.
ReplyDeleteBending over won't work for me... But I like Tweell's idea!
ReplyDeleteI use tweel's method with the same model dewalt pole trimmer, I have the handheld one too, bought secondhand for a song.
ReplyDeleteWeed eater has a circ saw blade attachment I may break out....
ReplyDeleteI use a weed whacker that has a blade attachment, but your weed patch looks more dense and taller than what I’ve dealt with. The whacker is battery operated, and has been a joy to have. Some of our weeds are thick stemmed, and a string trimmer won’t cut them.
ReplyDeleteSouthern NH
There are walk behind sickle bar mowers, available as just the sickle bar cutting attachment itself, or already attached to a walk-behind tractor to make a complete mower.
ReplyDeleteNot nearly as cheap as the gennie/cord/hedge trimmer arrangement, but.....I wonder if a generic walk-behind tractor might be a useful addition to your property management equipment list. There are lots of different implements one can operate, and they've got more HP than the average self-contained tiller or mower.
As one ages it's useful to shift more of the horsepower burden to the machine rather than one's own back and legs.