Why Mowing Pasture Weeds is Both a Good and Bad Idea 

Tyler, with your subscribers now over 110K and the quality of your instructional videos - manufacturers should be beating a path to your door. You have a unique blend of knowledge covering agriculture and equipment manufacturing. A perfect blend anyone wanting to test their designs and evaluate performance should want. Plus you are an honest and entertaining "influencer" a lot of folk have come to enjoy watching and trust. Now you just need to market your brand.

Hey Tyler I love your videos and so does my stepdad. Even at 15 I can’t stop watching every video and I’m actually milking goat and made some cheese already

So much effort in providing all those different camera angles of the mowing. Very time consuming for you but really takes the viewer right into the centre of what you’re doing. Much appreciated.

The weed wiper is a simple concept, and a simple looking contraption... you could Tyler-Fab one? I know it would make another awsome video.

‘Why, yes, it is a texture issue - it is far too chewy and difficult to eat’ says Betsy Heifer ‘I’m glad you aren’t assuming it’s all about the taste. Taste is but one component of a satisfying grass meal’ 🤣😄

Hey Tyler, what happened to the fence? I know you’re overwhelmed and you’re doing great and I love your videos. I wish you would show more often but I know you’re a busy man and I appreciate what you gave us. Thank you.

I had to pause the video to look up pictures of smut grass. A few seconds back in the video and there you are with an explanation. Thanks for the video.

We use a weed wiper aka wick bar here in south alabama on peanut fields for pig weeds and I’ll say this it works wonders definitely worth the the money and they are easy to make out of pvc and this certain type of rope and you simply fill the pipe with the weed control and it saturates the ropes along the pipe and what ever it touches it kills works best on the bucket of your tractor because you can control the height as you go. Hope this helps out

As a kid back in the 70s and 80s my uncle had a weed wiper made out of pvc pipe. It was about 10 feet long and was about 2 to 4 inches in diameter. Ropes / wicks were attached in the shape of a U with both ends going back into the pipe about 8 to 12 inches apart. The U hung down about 4 inches or so. Make several U's across the lenght of tge pipe Cap the ends and make a place to put the chemicals in. We then attached the pipe to the lip of a loader bucket. Used it to go above soybeans and wipe the volunteer corn coming up through the beans. Worked pretty well. The wicks work just like a cattle back rubber.

Who knew mowing could be an action-adventure movie?? Great shots, FT!

Quick look online shows that Smucker makes several sizes of atv mounted weed wipers, might be easier on your wallet (and rear lol) than a bucket mount type on your tractor.

Consider using herbicide when the timing of the plants are at different stages. Is there a time of the year where the dalisgrass is dormant and the smut grass isn't. That is a good time to spray. In our hay fields we do a preseason pre-emerge along with glyphosate when the coastal or Tifton bermuda is still dormant. You can knock out a lot of perennial weed problems with this method. We have wet areas on some of the edges of hay fields with smut grass. Most years the smut grass will just laugh at the glyphosate application. This past year I applied at a higher rate in these areas just by slowing down the tractor...no more smut grass! I would think part of your problem with smut grass is the flood irrigation. I has to have part of the year with very wet conditions but can withstand long periods of drought too. The flood irrigation would give it the environment that it needs to thrive.

I've got a weed wiper and it does a great job. Used it on Johnson grass with great success.

Also you have to mow it before it seeds. I have to do the same thing with my fescue hah fields. After my first cut of hay for the year, i just brushcut it a few times (depending on how much it rains) to keep the weeds out and from seeding.

Hi Tyler, you have such a fantastic pair of hands, I have no doubt that you could manufacture a weed wiper in a few days in the shop 😀 😉.

Hay Tyler nother day cattle look good you do an amazing job taking care of them you are a true cattle man thank you for sharing blessings

Almost every farmer here in Ireland has a weed wiper. They became very popular about 25 years ago. They are a great job and will eventually almost wipe out all the weeds. The trick is, is to use them in early spring and early autumn.

You can order a weed wipe kit from a facility in Miss for around $100. I adapted mine to fit on my pallet forks of the front end loader. Got a picture if your interested. I've used it for 20 yrs. Smut grass is bad in my West Field, I have wicked it the last 2 Springs with some success. 1:1 Glyphosate/H2O It is hard to kill. Best method is to plow it up while the weather is dry. There is a Herbicide specifically for it. Expensive and there are grazing restriction. I do rotational grazing when I move the cattle out that pasture, the wick works well after I move the cattle the Smut Grass is tall the better grass in short from grazing.

I'm rooting for The Weed Wiper company to reach out to advertize this in your area and get some advertising cirrulated. Also that is some fancy video work. Those different angles were quite the shots.

I would love to see you use that roller I’d like to see how it works. May God be with you

Love your content. I'm guessing the cows won't eat the smut grass because of the name lol

Since you make round bales where not many are made not finding a wiper in area shouldn’t stop you. In reading comments. People who have wipers only said good things about them. Reach out to them for more info. You are a real good teacher for us who like learning more farm things.

Good Morning, Tyler and Callie! Weed Control Day! Fixing the Mower! The Grinder Time! You’re so Clever! Good luck 👍! Great Video! I’ve enjoyed taking a break and watching the video! Thank-you! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Tyler just make a rope wick before you spend the money. We have used one we made for years works great. PVC and rope we use 2” pvc for strength and chemical volume. We attach it to the loader to adjust height as needed in the field. Hope this helps. Good luck

It's so interesting to me about different regions. Here we spray to keep get dallas grass out of our pastures and hay fields. Its considered a nuisance weed around here. We have bermuda and tift 44 grass in our hay fields and pastures. Great video. The weed whiper is just a wick bar essentially. It works great it's just slow, you have to drive slow to make sure you get adequate coverage over/across the undesired plant to kill them. Use them also here in peanut fields. We run a 26' on a 3 pt hitch.

as you were talking about wiping the smutt grass it reminded me of farmers using a rope on the front of their tractors to wipe herbicide on volunteer corn in beans…. G4920_Rope_Wick_Applicators  might be able to put a pipe on your loader with a rope attached…just a thought…

Good topic, good review. Recently Dan Macon with University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources put on a weed management in irrigated pasture. I think the Tahoe Cattleman Assoc. was there and they may have a weed wiper. Unfortunately the spaces filled quickly. Keep us all posted!

A bush hog type mower is not meant to give the same cut especially on tough grass like smut grass like a finish mower. The blades are not meant to be super sharp...look at new ones.

Another great video FTR! Really cool camera shots from the mowing. 😊

Morning FT! I had no idea how many different grasses there are that you have to deal with, wow! Good idea on the cattle clearing of the good stuff! Good luck to you on the best solution! God’s blessings!❤❤

Thank you for the video Tyler. We now also mow our pasture for weed control. There are 6 invasive weeds that grow in our pasture. We have tried removing with a shovel and also spot spraying, but one missed weed results in a multitude of new plants growing. We are hoping that with once or twice mowing it will keep the weeds knocked down enough for the Bermuda grass to take over. We only have 4 acres of pasture to mow, with 13 acres of woodland for the cattle. So our mowing is nothing compared to yours. I hope you find a simple and cost effective way for your pasture.

Thanks for sharing farmer tyler ranch I enjoyed the video and I hope you have a great day

If I might make a very different suggestion. Go to daily moves for your cows. (Your grass isn't getting enough rest time) This would improve your rest time and make your grasses stronger to out compete the weeds. when the smut grass starts to appear, clip your paddock (set mower as high as possible) immediately after you move your cattle out. So each night, you'd do a small portion of your total pasture area. This clips the smut before it can go to seed and give your desirables a chance to compete. You may need to do a total acreage clip only once per season, or perhaps twice to get it under control. The reason you clip immediately after grazing is you don't want to nip those desirable grasses a week or two later, as this stunts them severely. If you're not familiar, look up the law of the second bit principle. I do portions of my acreage each year this way. I had a particularly bad infestation of pig weed in one area. I mowed that area using this method for 2 years. It is almost completely gone. Hope this helps.

We have a weed wipe and it's wonderful. It's a bit of a learning curve so you'll probably have to go over ground twice the first time or two that you use it. But it works, for sure!

I would think make one or buy one of the little kits (the rope ones with gravity fed from PVC pipe) before you buy a big, expensive one. We bought one last year, but I haven't actually put it together and used it yet due to external issues.

We've used the very weed wiper in your photo. We rent it from our NRCS office and it works great. Please don't kill your entire field off and start over, it makes no sense to kill off all the forage just to eradicate one species.. there are much better methods of controlling unwanted weed pressures.. if you can't locate a weed wiper, there are videos out there of people making home made units on the cheap. Good luck !

Good video Tyler. Blades cut on the ends, last 4" or so depending on the blade length. If the ends of the blades are rounded they need replacing. Square ends are important, sharpening round ends is a waste of time. How do I know? Learned the hard way. Keep the video's coming.

Velpar is the only herbicide that will take out smut grass we got rid of it after a couple years by spot straying. Velpar is something that is not cheap and must be watered in meaning apply the product without any surfactant and rained on or irrigated. Smut grass can not be killed with glyphosate so not sure weed wiper would work.

FT, check with the Sutter county farm advisor. Several years ago there was a wiper around that they were loaning out to test on range lands. I’m pretty sure that they were involved and they may have acquired it from Beeler Tractor. I think I found out about it at Spray Safe in YC. It’s been a couple years so the details are fuzzy. I actually think your better option would be to hay that pasture for a summer and probably start a hay rotation. It’s a far better option than going nuclear on the whole thing. Cut it very close about three cuttings a summer. The pasture will end up smoother and the weed pressure will go way down. I can put you in touch with some people doing it in Wheatland.

Love your channel- Time to order a couple blades and get that winter project list started 😂

I remember our farm. We didn't have the large size grazing area you have. We only had 8.5 acres. So when weeds would try to take over, my brothers and I would go out to the pasture with a five gallon bucket and a weeding tool. Within 3 days the 4 of us would have all weeds out by the roots. That would last a couple of seasons. With the wind blowing seeds in and untreated cow waste bringing the weeds back, doing manual weed removal was the only safe way to address the problem. With how much grazing land you manage.......there is no way those methods would be feasible. I am looking forward to your plans to address this issue. And as always......thank you for another great video.

Run tractor at higher rpm and less speed it will help. Grazon is a good spray for weed control.

I have heard here in placer county that the county loans out tools to apply herbicide to that type of grass.

I have used Weed wipers in Australian on African love grass - they work brilliantly

Hi FTR you teach so much about farming it is wonderful I live on the out skirts of Toronto ont we have a lot of farms but you only se them I feel with your videos your almost on your beautiful ranch your cows are so cute beautiful markings thanks for all your videos keep up the great work

Yeah, my pastures are really rough and I'm using a 6' cutter as well (looking at getting a bat wing cutter hopefully sooner rather than later). My problem is I have a really bad back and it is killing me. I want to be able to keep on keeping on as long as I can so I'm looking into upgrading to an air ride seat... with little luck so far...$$$..lol. Oh, and please don't turn into Tractor Time with Tim..... @6:44 "Let's get started". 🙄 😂🤣

Here in Michigan we use something like a weed wiper but we use for taking out weeds and edible beans You could make your own using hemp rope Saturate your rope with your weed killer and adjust it to where only your weeds that you want to kill touch the rope it works good for the weeds in the beanfield it might work good for you

Hope you get a weed wiper soon. I have the same problem with smut grass in n

Cool video brother,peace to you and yours…

I’m very interested in your weed wiper theory. It should work.

Great video! You could really use new blades on the mower. Sharpening won't really help. They make chain blades too that might help. New blades don't cost much.

Never heard of this contraption. I hope you get one and it works great

Thanks for the video, always enjoy watching!

I was told by the dealer I purchased my brush hog from not to sharpen the blades. They said the blades were designed to rip, tear and shred brush apart. However, I believe my brush hog did a much better job trimming weeds/grass in pasture environments with sharp blades.

Your sharpening certainly worked. 👌👌👌

great episode

I wonder if the need to eat down the pasture impacts the use of the contact roller method. I hope experienced users comment.

Very nice video Tyler you give Callie the day off today?

We used weed wipers with Soybean fields. It works well to take out volunteer corn and other weeds (button, thistle, sunflower, ragweed, cockelbur, burdock). I’ve never seen anyone use it for pasture or hay fields as the grass is too uneven in height and can be killed too. Just my .02$

FTR, have you thought about corralling goats in that area to eat the weeds? Try building a weed sweeper. A farmer in the next county over built one using a pipe, old carpet and old blue jeans and pump sprayer

Well I hope a company steps up and let's you use one for recognition for that company and that many others will see this type of application and purchase one. Glad the young ones are getting better.

Beautiful day on the ranch. 😁

Hope you find a good solution for the smut grass. Thanks for showing the current condition of the hoof rot patients.

Tyler make sure you change the oil in your gear box every 500 hours you run the mower. Most people dont and then the gear box gets hot and boom it fails. Just try to save you a headache.

Nice work Tyler thouse blades are not hard to take off. You sharped so I'm thinking they will be good for awhile. Have a good day.

You captured some very cool camera shots today.

Interesting video! Weed wiper sounds intresting👍 My method is to cut when i take the animals of the field.. and i cut aprox every 3 weeks.. lot of work but it does the trick👍🇳🇴

Wonder if you couldn't come up with a design and build your own tall grass herbicide applicator trailer? Might make a nice series of build videos.

Thx for sharing, greetings from Belgium

Enjoyed watching the video Tyler 😊

The weed wiper sounds like a good idea, but the other thing is you should mow earlier if possible, before the smut grass seeds, or at least before it becomes viable. That way you are not spreading it. Cows are generally not to bad in pastures, they either eat it or trample down what they dont eat, keeping things pretty even - horses on the other hand are a guarantee of weed infestations going wild. Not only are they very picky, they will eat what they like right down to the roots, even pull it out, giving the weeds total freedom to take over.

Good morning.

Thank you for the video

Always so much to do - keep a going !!

Hadn’t heard of a weed wiper before. Not an option on our property but very interested in seeing how it works.

Have you ever tried a cycle mower to trim your pastures? It would lay the tall stuff over and you wouldn't have to apply any herbicide on your fields.

The only herbicide that I hear really works with smut grass is Valpar. And it needs to be taken up by the roots. I am guessing if you are using a wiper you would use some form of roundup type. I will be watching we have a smut grass problem also I am in South Louisiana. We have a sprayer I was thinking about doing sections at a time on out farm 70 dollars an acre is a huge pill to swallow.

Great video Tyler

Good morning FTR

Good Morning 😊

It would be more hand work but could you not burn off the clumps? A bucket of water and an old towel or blanket keeps it where you want it. Similar to how you got rid of the thistle.

My uncle used to say, don't sharping them cause you want them to tear the weeds and grass... Then my gramp would say, old school is better, just slice them babies... Lmfao 🤣 🤣 🤣 Memories... 😂😅😊

Make a wick bar or buy one. Does the same thing, much cheaper.

praying while you are under the mower

When he first started RU-viding he would always answer comments now he rarely dus

Can you overseed the pastures instead of killing off and reseeding?

Nice job

How about a DIY weed wiper? You get the content on the fab and the usage. :) There's a couple videos on youtube to give you inspiration.

enjoyed video

You may want a RGB7. 12 to keep your blades sharp probably quarterly would be sufficient. You think?

Was that smutgrass you were walking by and showing us the results of the hoof rot treatment?

Morning Tyler have a great day figuring out what you want to do

The only real bad thing about cutting weeds in the field is if they are mature and can spread their seeds. However if you are going to cut down the weeds you have to cut them low to the ground and do it repeatedly!

You should make your own weed wipe I did best thing I ever did .have seen you make things before you could imake it no problem

I hope the high RPM didn't ruin the temper. NO SEEDS - No future generations. I've had great success with mowing just BEFORE the weeds form seed heads. The weeds spend energy growing but the seeds don't reach fruition.

Is there some reason you let that grass get to the mature seed stage before mowing it and planting more weeds? Seems counterproductive to me, but what do I know.

Bad. Mowing is the best

Not sure how much good a bush hog will do compared th spraying the weeds while Dallas grasses are dormant.but I can see wanting to save money . A conundrum.`

I hear goats will eat smut grass and that they're used in Australia to control it. That sure beats using chemicals in my book. Are there any goat rent-a-herds in your area? Or is it feasible to keep a small goat herd yourself just for this purpose? I've also heard of ranchers controlling smut grass solely by grazing cattle on it and using a very specific grazing strategy. I think it involves mob (intensive) grazing on smut grass early in the season, when the plants are young and tender and have good nutritional value. You'd need to research these methods a bit to find the specifics of what works. But I hear people have had success.

My Gpa used a "rope wick" to kill volunteer corn in his soybean field. Basically a PVC pipe with wicks on one side that mounted to the loader bucket to control the height. It wiped the herbicide on the corn that was taller. Should work great in your situation.