LIVING THE DREAM FOR A DOLLAR AN ACRE
(Page 4 of 9)
Unlike any reel or rotary we've used, it handily cut
waist-high grass and meadow weeds evenly and close to the
ground, wind-rowing the cuttings into a narrow row to the
right (the already-cut side) of the mowed swath. With
another quick pass, we were able to kick the cuttings over
as often as was needed to dry and cure them-even if rained
on. This let us make hay that would keep well, on a
limited, hand-work, homestead basis. Small scale hay-making
is possible otherwise only with a hand-scythe or a powered
sicklebar cutter, plus turning rakes and pitchforks. Using
these tools takes a terrible toll on modern spines and back
muscles, because they are not used to preindustrial
hay-mowing techniques.
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To date, no wheeled trimmers are self-propelled; they must
be pushed. They are not feather-light machines. However,
the DR's high wheels, good balance, ability to pivot in its
own length, as well as its unique ability to cant the deck
over its axle and wheels, permitted us to mow uneven
terrain and hills fairly easily. It did this without the
danger of the sliding or flipping posed by rotary mowers
and without the dreadfully hazardous — but
little-publicized — tippiness of self-propelled,
heavy-duty walking or riding tractors with rotary-mower
attachments.
To our countryfied standards, the trimmer-mower can do
anything a conventional lawn mower and stringer combo can.
It also does a great deal that the combo can't. The
trimmer-mower will cut herbaceous plants and tender young
tree sprouts, but draws the line at woody stems. In cutting
down pasture, I carry a hand-pruner to nip off the more
mature tree seedlings and the occasional woody old
goldenrod stem.
Cutting Bigger Game
For woodland paths, badly-overgrown roadsides, and pasture
margins where encroaching stands of popple or sumac have
gotten a root-hold, we use the thirty-year-old Gravely L
with the brush-hog-type, thirty-inch rotary mower
attachment and its ten-pound blade. It is still being made
to fit today's Gravely walking tractors. The DR answer to
heavy undergrowth is their Field and Brush Mower, a
self-propelled workhorse with a fourteen horsepower engine
and heavy mowing blade. Either of these mechanical brutes
— and similar heavy-duty mowers from other walking
tractor and tiller-makers — will whack off any young
tree they can bull down. Anything they can't cut down calls
for a chain saw.
A Saner Hand-held Model
If you don't own a conventional hand-held string-trimmer,
you've surely seen and heard them. They feature a ground
level string head revolving at the bottom of a steel tube
handle that contains a flexible shaft powered by a little
two-cycle engine that burns a mix of oil and gasoline. It
runs at high rpms, belches oily smoke, and produces a
high-pitched shriek just a few inches from the operator's
ear. They're ghastly little machines. Most of them are now
illegal in California and other locales concerned with the
environment.
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