I now have mowed, lawn quality paths six to ten feet wide to and around the ponds as a result of nearly two years of work on them, first clearing, then smoothing, chopping roots, digging out stumps, filling, etc. The paths extend a distance of about 1,300 feet from the edge of my lawn. They are nice to walk on, even in the dark, with no fear of tripping on obstacles, etc. Two years ago, the area was an overgrown, brushy, impassible mess.

Have others done similar projects?

John, the trails look very nice. I'm sure lots of time and labor, congrats. Do you have any before pics?

Before: The trail that now exists is to the left of the red pipe.

There is some serious fence row clearing there John!

I maintain the dam which is easy, the remainder get's weed whacked on occasion just to keep the ticks and chiggers down. However, I do mow paths around my property to allow for pleasure rides on the tractor to just see the place from time to time and to check on my newly planted trees. It's good feeling to have such nice trails to enjoy. It takes 30 minutes to travel my paths on my 8N tractor in 1st gear low idle with a hayride behind.

I believe one could run a "scooter chair" on my trails without issue.

Just a word of caution. The bigger your yard is the longer it takes to mow!!! My yard started less than 2 acres, grew to over 7, now I am in the process of cutting it back to about 3.

My yard isn't that big in area, maybe an acre total. The paths and pond banks don't cover a lot of area, they are just loooong. Probably mowing an acre and a half total.

If I let it get away, there is always the DR brush mower, or the tractor with rotary cutter.

I cleared that fence row by hand, with chain saw, loppers, and a DR brush mower. Pulled out the old hog wire too.

Here's the original thread:
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=433790&page=1

John, Brian's right, but wow that looks nice. It would be hard for me to quit mowing those paths once we got used to having them.

I'm a path mower also. I have one to the peach trees, to the pond...well there have been multiple to the pond. At one time I wanted to make a trail around our 35 acres that you could walk on...but then I thought, who would walk on it? lol. I do love the looks of trails in grass though. Looks great John!!

I walk on them a lot. Technically, we are in town. On my own paths, I can take the dog off leash, and just let her have fun.

Very nice John......Well done!

Looks good!

Looks good!

It looks like a really nice place to take a walk. Good job!

I have to admit, my paths look more like Johns fields in his pics. My goal or should I say...my extra time only allows me to keep the paths cut below the knee where as my fields are left mostly to the wild and are thicker than one would want to pass through.

Looks good John. Won't be twisting an ankle walking that path.
I mow around the pond occasionally. Sometimes, if company's coming, I'll mow with the lawn tractor. Most of the time though it with the tractor and brush hog. That means I've been down in the dirt a few times. I've still got lots of bumps, roots, and bare patches. Work in progress. It doesn't help that I am not there often enough.