I'd like to clear some ditches. The willows are between 1/2-1" in diameter and pretty close together. Anyone cut stuff that size with a sickle mower?
Will a sickle mower cut willows?
- Thread starter Bob McCarty
- Start date
Don McCombs
501 Club
Not hollow. Half inch or less, maybe. One inch, I wouldn’t risk it. Use a rotary cutter.
I do cut the occasional tree and have done so with 1” diameter. It was all my mower wanted. Couldn’t see going through several that aren’t far about. I realize they aren’t all 1” but a one inch in combination with a 1/2” would be too much, in my opinion. I was not using full throttle. It would cut them better at full throttle. But really won’t know until you try it. We want video if you do try it!
ricky racer
501 Club
Sounds like a pretty big ask for a Cub sickle bar mower. One problem is even in 1st gear the ground speed is to fast to cut through any grouping of small trees, in my opinion.
dont even attempt it!!! all that will happen is you will destroy the mower in 3 feet of travel----they aint made to cut wood to start with and ground speed is WAY too fast for another thing so all that is gonna happen is you are going to bend/break and twist the mower bar! They are super flimsy to start with. Even in heavy hay they wont cut it and it stops the mower or drags you sideways.
I agreee with those who say no. The problem being you said ditches which may present problems with other types of mowers due to the slope. I do cut between the field and the fence and if a sapling is missed one year the next year will be close to an inch. No problem with ONE. Ever consider spraying it in the spring to kill the brush? You might even be able to cut the tops off later if it looks too ugly. Nothing says you have to take the whole thing in one pass. I might try that but I'm also a bit hard on equipment. Sticks would still be harder on the mower than hay. How big are the ditches? Vern
I had hoped to use the 105 to cut on a downward angle, but will look for another solution, probably spraying.