Hedge cutting

[PeteXXX]

Aren't hedges normally cut at this time of the year as it's before birds start building nests, in the Spring..
Still darned annoying when the thorns are scattered across the road, though!

 

[Blue Hills]

Aren't hedges normally cut at this time of the year as it's before birds start building nests, in the Spring..
Still darned annoying when the thorns are scattered across the road, though!

sh - you've reminded andy of the malignant British bird hazard.

 

[CXRAndy]

your location says Lincs - where do you manage to ride then?
I get very few punctures, weather I can cope with, yes some bad potholes but not specifically a Brit thing. Bad driving ditto.

I do most training/riding on Zwift

I do TTs and the odd sportive. I go to Europe/Canary Islands

 

[raleighnut]

Try doing it by hand for a few miles and you would soon change your mind!!

But of course they must be the last nail in the coffin for uk roads. I personally have never had a thorn on my road bike.... perhaps they recognize me.😉

Yep, I've done a bit of 'Hedge Laying' when I worked on Watermead Park, it gives a real sense of achievement in sorting out an unruly mess into something functional. It also allows Trees that are growing in the hedgerows a chance to develop increasing wildlife habitat plus who wouldn't want to use a tool called a Billhook.

 

[12boy]

In the American West we are blessed with goat heads, the seeds of a ground vine that resembles a tiny goat head with two sharp horns. The goat head is about the size of a pea with 1/4 inch thorns and a square yard could have a hundred. They thrive next to paths and roadways and can go right through a Schwalbe Marathon Plus or the pads on a dog's paw, no sweat. Suppose everywhere has some sort of natural caltrops to improve our cursing abilities.
Once in a bike shop filled with guys involved in many different conversations, I mentioned to the owner that I've read the thorny goat vine is considered a natural aphrodisiac in some parts of the world, increasing desire and fertility in both sexes. As the words left my mouth I noticed all those conversations hushed and several people asked simultaneously, "What did you say?"

 

[JtB]

Aye that hedge cutting device on the back of a Tractor was the invention of Satan.

Whenever I pass one of those contraptions I wonder how often sharp bits of hedge get thrown out at speed and what would happen if they hit you.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

The farmers do hedge cutting in August/September time around here.

Yep they start early here too but seem to spread it out till March. 2 got thorns on our Xmas ride so we were twice delayed as it wasn't punctures together but one straight after the other had repaired. Thought Mrs 26 and I had been lucky and in some sense we were as Mrs 26's tyre went down later after we got back. Fortunately I spotted it and fixed it in the warm and dry (that's the lucky bit I guess) before our next outing. I have been known to pick my bike up and walk it through particularly dense hedge cutting debris.

 

[presta]

Uncut brambles ( I think you call them blackberries ) spreading across a path can also be a problem.

The last trouble I had with brambles wasn't the bike.

It was a bright sunny, windy day, and as I rode downhill into a gloomy tunnel of trees my eyes didn't adjust to the dark quickly enough to see the 6 foot long strand of bramble. The wind was blowing it horizontally across the road at neck height, so I arrived home with a punctured neck, and blood all down my T shirt. Fortunately, I think the passing traffic had mashed the worst of the thorns off the stalk.

 

[andrew_s]

Round here, the brambles will grow up the smaller hedgerow trees, out along the branches, and then dangle down over the cycle track or road edge. Personal damage has been limited to relatively minor scratches across the top of the head, but one did manage to snag a new Gore 1985 Shakedry jacket (~£200) and put a small tear in the shoulder.

I also carry secateurs (on occasion) for trimming back brambles on regularly used routes, and I have been known to take a pruning saw for what the secateurs won't cope with.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Freely available to busybodies in any part of the world.

Strange to relate, the interfered with person in this tale didn't take against it.

Further, he said: "Good plan," when I suggested spinning the wheel.

... before flicking the Vs at you vigorously as soon as your back was turned.

 

[classic33]

Whenever I pass one of those contraptions I wonder how often sharp bits of hedge get thrown out at speed and what would happen if they hit you.

The flails are responsible for the "cutting", more pulverising than cutting, with the skirt mounted on the "cutting head", slowing down all debris.

Depending on how big a piece hits you, half inch - inch, you could have a nice bruise.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

The flails are responsible for the "cutting", more pulverising than cutting, with the skirt mounted on the "cutting head", slowing down all debris.

Depending on how big a piece hits you, half inch - inch, you could have a nice bruise.

Could take an eye out with one of those

 

[classic33]

Could take an eye out with one of those

Danger of being hit higher up the higher the cutting head is, and how well it's been maintained whilst in use.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Danger of being hit higher up the higher the cutting head is, and how well it's been maintained whilst in use.

I generally try to look away and raise my arm to shield my face if the operator doesn't pause (some do).

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Aren't hedges normally cut at this time of the year as it's before birds start building nests, in the Spring..
Still darned annoying when the thorns are scattered across the road, though!

Hedge cutting is generally only permitted from 1st Sept to Feb 28th/29th but there are exceptions https://www.nfuonline.com/cross-sec...e-news/hedge-cutting-know-the-rules-for-2015/
To be honest I hate to see the start of hedge cutting in autumn as much seasonal wild berries are available for birds and the like. But it all gets trashed