WEED WIPER

bordercollie

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I have been battling weeds like smut grass and other invasive weeds for years. I finally got around after years of research to picking up a weed wiper. It rotates counterclockwise and does a good job on the smut grass. It has a few design flaws -or maybe I should say that I would have done a few things differently, but all in all I am pleased with it. Here is a picture of it - more later. Bordercollie
 

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bordercollie

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smut grass

A picture of treated smut grass. Using round up -generic- 2.5 gallons round up to 10 gallons water. wiped 1 time- Bordercollie
 

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ghautz

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I have never heard of a weed wiper. Looks like it does the job. Just guessing, but from the name I assume it applies the herbicide to the taller plants without affecting the shorter ones. Correct? There is a lot of wild alfalfa growing around here and it is getting thicker. That might be a solution.
 

bordercollie

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That's right. It is non selective so whatever it touches is killed- that's why it's important to graze the good stuff down where then only the weeds are touched. It works best the more that's wiped >>ie 6 inches is preferred. The height has to be adjusted manually by hand using a large wrench. :( The rotating wiper is kept wet with a 12 v sprayer under the hood and just above the roller. I wanted this unit because I had tried a homemade one and it worked good on many things but not the smut grass. . Monsanto use to have plans for a simple wiper under the heading "How to build a pipewick wiper" but again I get better results as much land as I need to cover using this rotowiper. I have a Spiedel wiper that was not what I expected and so I got discouraged with it. ...but with some applications I guess it would have been o.k. just not for me on this uneven terrain. The rotowiper has wheels and goes with the flow :) And I just push the button and dispense the herbicide on the roller when the lather film starts lacking. (Soap is added to the tank and A shaving lather type consistency Keeps it from running off the plant so quickly.) We have had a severe drought or I would have used the wiper more. Our ponds are actually drying up Thanks, Bordercollie .
 

Red Beard

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Thar looks slick. I've been using an old 12ft wick wiper with adjustable brackets mounted to the front of the Gator with good results, but I can really see some advantages in yours! Who makes it?
 

bordercollie

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Hi Redbeard, This is a Rotowiper unit. Grassworks also has a knockoff much like it. Now there is a fine hydraulic one up in Oregon called Agri weld but the shipping to me would have been a 1/3 of the costs so I had to go this way.This unit was just over $2900.I know that is up there but that smut grass destroys so much pasture and spreads like crazy.- those seed heads get on everything -like pepper- and just take over. My only other option would be to spray with Valpar $$$ and then you can't graze for 60 days - have to put out 30 gallons of chemical mix per acre and well stay away from trees . I plan to keep a record of the progress of the smut grass kill and think my determination and wiper will knock the "legs out from under" this awful grass.Thanks, Bordercollie
 

bczoom

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Rascal - Welcome to the forum!

Just wanted to give you a heads-up that bordercollie may not be on the forum today or tomorrow so it may be a day or 2 before you get a reply on this.
 

bordercollie

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Thank you BCzoom and welcome Rascal. This is a great forum as you can see with caring folks like zoom.
On the weed wiper, what type are you looking at? I got the ground driven Rotowiper brand.I did look at the same type in the grassworks brand and saw very little difference. That may have changed if they have improved them since I laid hands on one at a trade show.
One thing very irritating is the height adjustment on the manual type. I finally converted mine to hydraulic thanks to the connections on the back of the WS model RTV. I did then have to add a cooler to the hydraulic part of the RTV. I have a thread on here about that as well as the conversion to hydraulics.. If I had known all of this, I would have gotten a hydraulic one to begin with - On adjusting the height, you must rotate this large nut half turns on each side till you get it right.....really aggravating when your pasture has different heights of good grass. This might be avoided with a tractor mount but then you will need to think about uneven pasture. Here are links on my conversion. Ask any questions.. bordercollie

edit: http://www.nettractortalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14755&highlight=hydraulic+cooler+added
edit: http://www.nettractortalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14573&highlight=question+hydraulic+folks
 
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Rascal

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I looked at a grasswork at a trade show. I have never seen any other other than just the old wick type. I was couroius how much differance there was between brands.
The heigth adjustment was a crank type,it moved pretty quick but is manual. I was thinking about a 10 footer with a foam marker. I wanted to wipe pasture fields and hay ground for thistle and johnson grass. Never used one dont know how they work. The guy at the show seemed sure it was the cats meow but you know how that is.
 

bordercollie

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Rascal,I spray pastures in the early Spring to control those thistles and bitterweed. I have neighbors just over the fence that grow cotton ,corn and soybeans so I have to be very careful with drift-- if I wait too late in the season to spray. This kills my effectiveness in many cases because lot of weeds aren't even up by then. I do try to use a spray that has residual but even so it is only effective for so long. Enter the weed wiper.. As you say it is talked of like it is the thing to get and I guess it is, if you have tall weeds or sensitive crops to prohibit spraying. My wiper would be effective on tall plants- I have no doubt of that.... and do have pictures showing obvious missed runs of goat weed and such. Certain weeds absorb better than others. The wide stems of Johnson grass would be a good candidate.... One problem that appeared last year was that I let the weeds get really tall and they laid over as I wiped and prevented optimal coverage and when they laid over, got roundup on the bermuda..
The smut grass was what I was really after though and the crown is short and down with the good grass and the "spikes"above are tough.I was excited by the brown clumps of it that appeared a few weeks later after a 2 way wiping, but they crowns greened back up and "came back from the dead" The only luck I had with the smutgrass was to use 2 1/2 gallons of round up per 10 of water and then heavily wiping in 2 directions......This way, at the end of the season, I had a few more "dusty dead" clumps...
Our county ag office has one available to "borrow" on a reserve it basis. Maybe you could do that before you buy one.
Feel free to ask any questions .. bordercollie

edit: I think a weed wiper is much, much better than another type I have hanging in the barn. The "other type" is a hollow pvc tube with ends and a canvas covering.... I hope I can get $35 for it and I paid a $100- used it once about 10 years ago..... ok for johnson grass but that is pretty much it. I also found directions for making you own rope wick .
 
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