In this video, I use a lawnmower that I converted to a brush mower to mow down a tall crazy field. I'm happy with the results the thing powered right through it. Unedited first person view: • Uncut first person vie...
That's a very efficient machine. I have mixed feelings about mowing down native plants that are able to thrive in poor soil. I'm inclined to help what wants to grow to develop to maturity, propagate, and create an environment for other native plants. You'd probably dislike having me as a neighbor, but the grassed parts of my home are completely green-covered and self sustaining without watering, fertilization or poisons because I'm willing to tolerate other species living among the grass, and every few years let the other plants thrive.
Yep, that old mower works pretty good. I don't mind letting native species grow. That's why I left the patches that I did, including a lot of grass and weeds on our 2 acre plot. The soil here is very sandy and doesn't grow stuff very well, but the leach field is a different story.
I know a guy that was mowing with sandles. He slipped on the dew on a small hill and as he fell his hands went up lifting the back of the mower and he cut off 3 toes.
As I mentioned in the video, it is not much of a hazard to wear flip-flops while mowing. Weed whacking is a different story, because stuff gets thrown back at your feet all the time. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide for themselves whether or not to wear Close toed shoes.
Like I said, in the video, it is ultimately up to the individual to decide for themselves what they believe is safe footwear. As for shorts, there is no logical reason why they would be more dangerous than pants for mowing. That is purely personal preference.
What about provision for cutting through tall grass and hitting a big rock that is concealed by the long grass? What about like thick weed-wacker string or a steel cable instead of a steel blade to provision for hitting unseen hard object in tall grass? I see some brush mowers at Tractor Supply do that, using a thick weed-wacker-like string instead of a steel blade.
You could do that, but then you can't cut through bushes or any woody material, because the plastic would just break. I've cut this field many times before, and know that there are no rocks on it, but I always make a practice to survey the area that I'm cutting to the best of my ability, to make sure there are no hidden objects. Although some bush hogs have hinging metal blades, so if they hit something hard, they pivot out of the way.