Do they work as advertised? How often do you have to sharpen?

Yes I use one.

Very effective but it can still be a lot of work to cut weeds depending on the size of the job. What would you be cutting?

Three things though:

1.) Soon your weeds will die off anyway unless you want to remove them before they decompose on the bottom.

2.) Some weeds spread by fragmentation so cutting them may actually spread them.

3.) Be very careful with the Weed Razer as it can give you a nasty cut. Ask Bill Cody.

As far as sharpening I would touch it up with the accompanying tool before each job.

Personally I'm doing less and less mechanical cutting and since most of my problem weeds are in the pondweed (Potomogeton) genus I will be treating with Whitecap.

I use a weed razor as well. My experience is that the work pretty good. Just don't expect them to cut really tough weeds.

And Cecil makes really good points. DO NOT CUT ELODEA with a weed razor. It will fragment and end up all over the pond. Trust me.

And they are very, very, very, very sharp and that might not be enough verys (veries?, verys', veri?).

I like the Y shaped weed razor for clearing out openings in weed patches to feed fish, set fish traps, or for areas to fish. I think it works best on plants that will float after cutting. Then the floating vegetation can be collected and dipped out. As mentioned,the edges of the cutting tool are sharp as a razor. Depending on the type of weeds cut and how much the cutting edge is drug into the mud and against rocks will depend on how well it stays starp. Replacement blades are sort of costly. For usefulness for me it has been well worth the initial cost.

Mostly I want to use it on coontail in areas near the docks to clean out a spot for fishing.
I have been using Reward, but have found like many herbicides that it loses effectiveness late in the year when the plants aren't in a real growthy stage.

A pitchfork and long handled rake will work better since coontail is not rooted to the bottom.

cool!

I know all of those words, but that quote makes no sense to me.

I just looked that up and you are correct. So how does it stay in one place so well?

Hello PondProWannaB and welcome to Pond Boss.

I don't see any difference in the handle between the "Weed Shear" and the "Weed Razor" they look the same to me. What is the difference?

Bullhead, the quote didn't make sense to me either until I Googled it. Apparently Renovate On Target Flake is a granular herbicide.

That's a good question.

That's what I was thinking too.

RENOVATE OTF ("on target flake") is a quasi-granular version of RENOVATE 3 Herbicide (a liquid formulation of triclopyr amine that contains 3 lbs of active-ingredient per gal of product). Both formulations are very effective for milfoil control; but not so for coontail.

Coontail isn't rooted; but also has very little if any buoyancy, and therefore remains relatively stationary - once it settles and becomes established in areas where minimal currents are present.

To help remove the Illinois pond weed from my ~3/4 acre pond, I'm looking at acquiring such a device... however, are there any pros / cons [sturdiness, price, replacement parts, sharpening, etc.] between the two versions mentioned above - is this "weed shear" model much different than the "weed razer"?
http://www.weedshears.com/ vs http://www.weedrazers.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=62

Thanks!

Looks like the same thing to me.

As I said I have one and it's quite effective. I've had it for 10 years and it still is in one piece. The rake I've had to have welded though.

I bought one to cut cattails this year. It works, but it is brutal on the user. I had blisters on top of blisters by the time I was finished, and I was wearing gloves. I'm hoping to knock back the cattails a little bit more next year, and that eventually, the task won't be so abusive.

I gave up just cutting a few down (Cattails) as it's a never ending battle. I now eliminate them all with a glyphosate product.

What the name of the glyphosate product? Is it some variation of Roundup?

I use a herbicide also. It's called AquaPro, and kills everything. The problem is that it is not selective to cattails. I like to have some of the cattails to provide cover for YOY fish. Otherwise, the bass and bluegill have a field day with the hatches and recruitment is low.

The weed razer just allows me to be a bit more selective about what is removed. It also allows me to collect the cut floating cattails for removal from the system so that they don't add excess decaying matter to the pond.

What I would really like to get is a lake mower, but holy smokes those things are expensive.

One could just spray a few here and there with the herbicide, but in my case my pond bottom is so fertile it would be a never ending battle.

After they turn yellow from the herbicide I cut them off and remove them so there isn't much organic matter left in the pond.

I've used Roundup with good success however I've been using a herbicide called Shoreclear-Plus that has the surfactant already mixed in it. After spraying, killing, and removing cattails as soon as they appear for a few years in a row I don't see very many anymore.

Well, got the weed razer from the on-line store this past week... been fun tossing it into the pond, the cold, very cold pond, as the water drips off of the rope and device onto your clothes, and any exposed flesh. However, even more enjoyment is had when taking the paddle boat out on the cold, very cold pond to then rake up with the special red plastic rake the now floating IL pond weed, loading up the side seat and back deck with tons of this crud, as the paddle wells fill up with water, soaking your shoes with the cold water from the cold, very cold pond. And the lady telling me I look like a wet gondolier boat driver, standing on the boat with the rake in hand, "digging" into the floating mass of weeds, tossing 'em about, and then paddling with the rake to shore to then deload. Removed about 6 wheelbarrow loads so far from the ~1/3 acre pond. Takes some time, but honestly it beats pulling 'em by hand, and 'tis good exercise too! Plus, no chemicals... well, besides the beer that helps sooth the soreness after all that tossing and raking

I did the hand thing. Water low 5ft deep put on my cutoffs drove in. Worked oneside pulling weed and tossing on bank. What was I think??
Like to killed myself. Mawmaw sitting on the bank laughting at me and yelling " the oldman gone crazy"

I just wait for a windy day after I cut off floating weeds and rake it in from the leeward side.

That's the smart way to do it. Besides, since you like to go ice swimming, why waste your time on such amateur water temps?

Pawpaw/Rick, I did that. Like to have killed me.

Well, I tried that... ya'd think with the heavy winds we had this past week that the floaters would float on over to the bank? pfffffffftttttttttt... nope, just kinda waved in place, laughing at me [and this was over a few days]. So, got the boat, the rake, and got 'em to shore. Seriously - guess that the stringers of these were too long, too massive to wash to shore.

Usually if the floaters stay in place it means there are some underneath that did not get cut off. But you're probably right the stringers were too long to float to shore.