Cutting grass on 45 degree bankings, options?

[drinksloe]

Alright folks

 

I'm sure plenty on here have came across this problem before.

 

Have any of u came up with a way of cutting grass on proper steep bankings?

It is at back of my house so i can run power to it and it is a genuine 45 angle slope.and quite a decent size could be 7-10m up the slope and mibee 50m long

 

The only option i have thought of is an electric hover mower do wot i can from top and bottom and dangle it on a rope for the rest, seen the green keeper doing it a local golfy years ago but not for anything this size.

I would be worried about a petrol mower unless it was 2 stroke being at such a step angle for so long having problems with the oil/sump.

 

I have a big petrol strimmer and strim the old banking at the bottom no probs but the steepness of the new banking it just is hard to keep ur footing at all, patching in some grass seed a while back ending up sliding from top to bottom on ar@e with a bucket of grass seed scattered everywhere, really don't fancy that with an expensive strimmer on my back

[dumper]

Petrol two stroke hover mower on rope going to take sometime especially if not regularly cut

[Stere]

Trouble here is nearly  every bank and many lawns are cratered all over with rabit scrapes. Didn't used to be so bad but last few yrs populations have exploded for some reason.

 

 

[openspaceman]

44 minutes ago, dumper said:

Petrol two stroke hover mower on rope going to take sometime especially if not regularly cut

Yes they don't do very well on long grass if you are swinging them off a rope, they will still be quicker than an electric mower.

 

I still have a couple of these, working and actually little used if @drinksloe would like one but I doubt spares are available.

[openspaceman]

Just now, openspaceman said:

Yes they don't do very well on long grass if you are swinging them off a rope, they will still be quicker than an electric mower.

 

I still have a couple of these, working and actually little used if @drinksloe would like one but I doubt spares are available.

Older versions of this

 

 

[Doug Tait]

Have done the odd banking with a strimmer while wearing climbing harness tied in at top of bank which made working much more stable, still hard going though.

Did one as a nipper with Dad using a flymo like openspaceman has offered dragged across the bank on a rope but as has been mentioned it was ok on short grass.

 

For a large area I think nowadays robo mowers are preferred but expensive. 

[Bob The Dog]

I have about 50m of banks in the garden, all around 6m in height. Have always used an electric flymo on mine and albeit time consuming, it works ok. I bought the widest cut available, attached a rope to the handle and it works a treat! I had to turn the electric coupling on the handle over so that the cable attaches via the top, otherwise it kept getting knocked out when it slid down the bank. Otherwise, I’ve had 16 years of trouble free bank mowing from it! 

[drinksloe]

Cheers folks for all replies so far very helpful

Been thinking about this bloody banking for years while i dug the stuff out but didnae truely appreciate how steep and slippy it is.

 

Had a wee go with the strimmer there and done the less steep banking easy but that extra few degrees wjll make it a bugger.

Must admit dinae even want to think about striming it while i'm tied in, would be a nightmare with climbing harness and strimming harness on.

Done felling like that of near vertical faces for railways and laterly for pheasant shoots to open up gully drives for guns

 

Must admit i didn't even know u got 2 stroke flymo's, not something i've ever looked into before.

 

Would an electric 1 struggle then? Never even used an electric flymo before or any flymo before so really havnae got a clue how it will work.

I ight nip up and see the greenkeeper 1 morning, he's the only person i've ever seen doing it, mibbee could borrow his just for a trial run.

 

its at the back of my own house so doing it for myself so even if it was an hour or 2 hear and there

 

Grass was only hydro sown last back end, had a pretty good catch but the type it is not too thick yet but still 1st year.

Meant to be banking grass species, must admit amazed its grown as well as only sown on sub soil, no top soil at all, but a few bits are struggling a bit with lack of nutrients so getting a bit of fert when weather allows.

At moment i'm meaning to leave it another week or so as a lot of the grass is just seeding the now

 

Banking was pretty level, had a couple of runs over the winter but filled them in and keeping on top of the rabbits too!

 

I take it the hover mowers need quite even ground?

When u read some of the bumf most claim to be able to cut grass and leave it 1ft long

 

Cheers open i'll drop u a pm 👍

Is there much to go wrong with them?

I see a few other brands for sale 2nd hand allen and u still can buy new 1's just not flymo

 

 

[Treewolf]

Sheep?

[scbk]

I've used ice crampon things on my boots before to strim steep banks. It's a horrible job though, so easy to injure yourself. It's one thing to get paid for doing it, but if it was your own land find another way round it. Small livestock, or a robotic mower, some of the husqvarna automowers will cut steep banks.

 

 

Inverness castle banks and the river banks are very steep and full of rabbit holes

 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@57.4757904,-4.2263103,3a,75y,28.76h,103.56t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sZEbaFIo63Ny0GDbrVeVt2A!2e0!5s20220301T000000!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en-GB

 

 

 

They used to be done by a flymo on a rope, but I think there was an accident. I think it would be hard going on your back too. The last I heard they were going to buy a remote control mower. I think they've had a few different machines, probably on various long term lease arrangements that keeps a salesman in a job 

 

 

https://www.pitchcare.com/news-media/plan-to-save-cash-with-40-000-remote-control-mower-at-inverness-castle.html