Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help How close is too close to the edge?

Many of you know my husband, Theo Gallus. I am asking for assistance in serious discussion my husband and I are having. How close to the edge of the pond is it safe to mow with a 42 hp tractor and a six foot bushhog? Or even a riding lawn mower?

I have been informed that I am not a pond expert. So I am asking you, the experts that he respects, how close to the edge of the pond is it safe to mow with a tractor?

We have 2 dug ponds built in 2001 and 2007. The banks were steep sloped when constructed. I know that we have snapping turtles and muskrats. We also have a breeding population of channel cats. Mr Gallus insists on mowing around the ponds parallel to the water approximately 6 inches to 2 feet from the edge with the bushhog and even closer with the riding mower. He sees no danger in doing this. I, on the other hand, seriously freak out when he does this. If the bank collapses, and he and the tractor go in the pond and he is trapped, I will not be able to get anyone there fast enough to saves him (plus he will have done a number on the diesel tractor). I bought him a sickle bar mower to use, but he refused since someone on the forum convinced him that I was trying to cut his fingers off by making him use it. (I grew up mowing hay with a sickle bar and still have all my fingers). I do hire and pay the neighbor kid to weed wack around the ponds twice a year. I also know that my strong reaction to him mowing so close to the edge stems from having a widowed neighbor die after he mowed too close to the edge of his creek and the bank collapsed pinning him under the tractor.

Theo,

It appears that you are already in too deep that I can be of any help. Best Regards on getting yourself out of this one.

Perhaps, just suck it up.

I know I'm going to be in trouble for this but here goes.

Since you have a lot of experience with the sickle bar, could you beat him to the edge of the pond and mow it with it, then let him mow the rest with the riding mower? Maybe send him off to the store to do some shopping while you get the grass cut that is close to the pond?

I have ridden my old riding mower into the pond and jumped off. (going forward - the brakes didn't work as expected).

I have also backed and forthed using the brush hog on the back of the tractor going down and up the pond slope because the bank is too steep to mow parallel to the water.

Even with the riding mower, if the muskrat tunnel collapses, it won't collapse much, (a tire will sink down 6"-10") but the whole bank won't collapse due to a muskrat den.

Even with the riding mower, if the muskrat tunnel collapses, it won't collapse much, (a tire will sink down 6"-10") but the whole bank won't collapse due to a muskrat den.[/quote]

I get what you're saying about it not collapsing much going over a den, but when you are at close to max comfortable side slope, a six inch collapse under the low side tire can add a huge amount to the slope. just thinking out loud.

She does have a legitimate concern, especially knowing that Muskrats are present in the pond.

One thing I do like about the sickle mower is the bar can extend in over the compromised dam area, much less chance of surprise hollow tunnels six or seven ft out from the edge of the water.

That's a tough one Mrs Theo!

esshup

Theo is full time retired now. The things I use to be able to get away with while he was at work are no longer possible. The farm is under new management. I now have 24/7 supervision.

Welcome to the Forum ... Theo's Better Half!

If my wife was worried about me tipping a mower over into the pond, she might just go and check if the life insurance policy was paid up.

All kidding aside, we would hate to lose Theo on the forum and in the world.

IMO, (not even seeing the situation) there is always a slight danger mowing on slopes. Being next to water adds another potential risk factor.

A few years back, we did have a very experienced member tip an ATV over into his pond, and he did suffer a very scary experience.

Can we just throw out possible solutions as Theo's buddies and see if any of them are mutually palatable at the Gallus homestead?

Would it be unsightly to just leave one strip of un-mowed grass around the pond? That might actually be a slight benefit to catch windblown leaves and maybe some grass thatch during heavy rains and keep those organics out of the pond. He can back in the mower to create a few clear paths to pond edge for fishing access, feeding, etc.

My property has almost zero steep slopes, so I am nearly worthless on slope safety protocols. (But I am always happy to brainstorm 10 wacky ideas before dinner.)

I can't remember, does Theo weld? Could he weld an outrigger arm to the tractor frame, or make a bolt-on that is easier to take on and off than the sickle bar? Do the regular mowing, and then place a weight in the outrigger for the last steep strip?

Could you build a tiny berm at the edge of the pond to exactly offset the natural slope? If you made the last strip level the width of the tractor tires, he could safely race around the pond once the grass was re-established.

Hopefully, our members with sloped properties can throw out some better ideas.

ME TOO !!!

Welcome Mrs. T.

Mrs T. The steep banks. Are steep banks below the water surface creating the pond basin or are they above the water line? . Most ponds that are built in Ohio have the embankments above water as generally gentle slopes toward or away from the pond. If your pond has steep banks above the water line and drain lots of rain water into the pond those are conditions why muskrats enjoy living on your pond embankments. If you have gentle sloping banks above the waterline IMO there is little danger of Mr T tipping the tractor into the pond when the front wheel drops into a muskrat tunnel. .

I need to clarify that more than 3/4 of our pond banks were dug straight down with no slope. (This was before Theo bought Mike Otto's book). We did this to discourage cattail growth and to accommodate the field tile that drains into the ponds. Only the dams have slope and the area in each pond that was designated as "beach" for getting in and out. The dams were compacted with a sheep's foot roller that I drove personally. The banks were not compacted. The ponds have held water with no problems. We have heavy clay soil. During last years severe drought, we collapsed and filled all the dens we could find.

Good to hear from you ewest. Your painting hangs proudly in our family room. If Theo was backing up to the edge, I would feel a little better, but due to cattle fencing, it is not possible to do this on most of the edges.

FishinRod: I have a girl friend who increases her husband's life insurance policy every time he insists on doing something stupid. I have not increased Theo's policy, but I have increased coverage on the tractor. I have 46 years invested in Theo, and I can't put a value on that.

Snapping turtle dens that collapse leave big holes that are more than 6" to 10" deep. Theo may raise big bluegill, but he also raises big snappers! Snappers love AquaMax. He has a big one-eyed snapping turtle he named Rex Luscus, that comes in to eat with the fish every night.

MrsTG. You not only have an unusual roomate you also have unusual snapping turtles. I have 3 large snapping turtles in my 0.7 ac pond. My turtles do not live in nor create dens that have been dug back into the embankments. During winter dormancy my large turtles just "nestle" into the surface sediment similar to winter behavoir of my bullfrogs. I have 'rooted' both of them out of the winter bottom sediment dormancy a few times by accident. It your pond has large catfish they will create cavities back into the embankment as nest sites. I have seen some CC dig or create underwater cavities 2ft in dia and back into the bank 18" to almost 3ft. I do regularly get some muskrat migration into my pond where tthey dig burrows. I trap out and shoot the muskrats as soon as I discover their digging activity and floating vegetation eating scraps. .

Honey, can you get this from the store for me?

Mr Cody I stand corrected and apologized for my ignorance. I guess I have seen too many shows explaining the dangers of noodling and sticking your hand into a turtle instead of a catfish. I do know that we get sink holes that are too big to be explained by muskrat. Our youngest is a muskrat trapper and am proud to say their 4-H Muskrat Trapping projects represented our county twice to the Ohio State Fair. If anyone on the Forum has youngsters at home, I strongly recommend 4-H. There are many pond based 4-H projects that cover pond management, fishing, and trapping.

Unfortunately, 4-H does not have a project on how to teach a New Holland TT50A to swim. Theo tells me that the grass around the ponds needs to be kept well manicured so any varmint activity can be easily spotted. I just want to keep Theo safe and I know he would respect your opinion.

A properly deployed roll bar will go a long ways to prevent an operator from getting trapped, and a seatbelt helps with keeping you from falling under the roll bar as the tractor is tipping. At minimum use both when mowing near water. I am guilty of using neither as the roll bar likes to rip limbs from trees if I’m not paying attention, and I’m not sure where the seatbelt is. But my banks are not steep on the parts I mow.

I have been in scenarios with my Ferris zero-turn on wet grass where the darned thing just accelerates downhill in whatever direction it desires. It isn’t even that steep. Luckily that particular hill doesn’t end in water, but the excitement is almost beyond my nerves to take it.

The backside of my pond, uphill, just doesn’t get mowed but once every so often (years) when the ground is very dry. In that case I back down, brush hog first, so I have a chance to bail if things don’t go well. That hill has blessed us with a fantastic show of wildflowers instead, making us glad I don’t mow it regularly.

A thought… kill off the grass and plant wildflowers! No reason to mow then.

Ah yes....the joys of retirement.

Time to take up pickleball...

esshup - The last time I sent Theo to the store for me was May 2, 1995. It ended up with me needing to buy him a new pickup truck. I will leave it to you to get the full story from Theo with full technicolor descriptions. Ask him about the cop and the Mountain Dew can collection.

A tractor of that size can handle a flail mower, and there are many models that can mow off to the side of the tractor rather than behind it. I'm going to look at one this afternoon to mow my pond bank edges and I'll probably be coming home with it. If you search for Cosmo FRF 165 online you'll get an idea of what it is. With something like that, he can stay 5' from shore with the tractor and still reach everything with the mower. Because they don't use sharp blades, he doesn't have to worry about how many fingers he'll have when he's done.

Uh Theo; time to fess up.

Oh that should be a good one!!!

I have the same issue. Of my 3 ponds, 2 have berms around them. I haven't figured out mowing those banks as my tractor is far too large. I have to undo years of minimal care and then figure out a plan.
The third pond is surrounded by grass. As the pond level lowers through the summer, tall grasses grow up and you can barely see the pond. I would say before me, a team of folks with weed whackers was how it was done. Perhaps this is how I will do this in the future, but for now since I don't live there full time, I'm using the same setup as the OP. I have a JD 4044r with a 72" rotary cutter.
I back the cutter out over the bank and lower the 3 point as far as it will go.
Not the best as it doesn't get down the bank, but at least levels the pond grass with the yard grass.
Sketchy backing that very large tractor that close to the bank lol

It is possible to use goats to clear the dangerous areas of your property. You can use GPS to set the boundaries of where the goats will graze.

Would this work for Theo's wife if she created a GPS fence in a circle about 10' farther out than the pond edges?

GPS Collars for Goats - Pond Boss Thread

Thank you, Rod, for (possibly) restarting the multi-decade long goat argument.

Sorry about that!

If my wife was posting on the forum, she might say that my #1 life skill is opening my mouth and inserting my foot!

In fact, if there was a Hall of Fame for that skill, I might actually be the GOAT!