# mechanical concrete ditch cleaners



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

On some of our flood irrigated fields every year I have to clean sand,dirt weeds out of the bottom concrete ditches. I do this by shoveling it out by hand and while that is good exercise. I dislike it immensely. We had a 3 point wire brush that worked ok, but you had to have a level pad to drive the tractor next to the ditch to use it. And there was a strong chance you might break down the edge of the ditch.

My question. Does anyone know of a solution for this kind of thing that wouldn't be to pricey? I've seen ditch cleaners on the internet that can reach into a ditch, but I think those are more for edge of the road dirt ditches and might tear apart a concrete ditch. What I'm thinking is a like a 3 point reaching bushog, but with a spinning wire brush like we had that would kick out the dirt and such.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

No clue. But maybe your next million dollar idea? I cannot picture what you are talking about. Foreign idea here i thunk. Can you show us some pics?


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

How about a fenceline bunk cleaner? A fence line bunk is a concrete channel of sorts. Around here bunk cleaners work like a giant leaf blower, but I see there are other versions also.


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## barnrope (Mar 22, 2010)

Teslan,

Could you post a picture or two of these concrete ditches? Pictures will help us get an idea what you are up against!


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

barnrope said:


> Teslan,
> 
> Could you post a picture or two of these concrete ditches? Pictures will help us get an idea what you are up against!


Ok I'll take a couple of pics later. I'm not sure a blower of some sort would work like a bunk cleaner because dirt and growing weeds that are usually pretty caked in the ditch really couldn't be blown.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

How about a mini excavator with a 4' flat bucket. That's what I use to clean dirt ditches. Mine articulates. Mike


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Mother Nature is my ditch cleaner. 4.8" rain the other day cleaned out everything!

Ralph


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

Blade on a four wheeler if the bottom is flat drive down it?


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Ok here are a couple pics of the cement ditch I'm talking about. One you can see the dirt and grass in the bottom. I have some ditches that are worse then these. The next picture is kinda shows how we use this one ditch and my son standing there so you can see the size. The tube takes the water from the ditch to the field. So as you can see a four wheeler wouldn't fit. A mini excavator would work, but I don't have one nor do I wish to purchase one for this job. Plus you would really have to be careful or you might end up grabbing the ditch and breaking it. The water doesn't run fast enough to push the dirt and grass out.


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## Waterway64 (Dec 2, 2011)

Teslan I wonder if while you are running water in the ditch if you could go down the ditch with a water pump pumping clean water coming down the ditch back into the bottom of the ditch flushing the muddy solution out the end of the ditch? Anyway that's my wild idea! Mel


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## GawasFarm (Jul 10, 2013)

What about using a hydraulic ditch bank arm used for putting a bush hog on to cut ditch banks but instead of a bush hog put a sweeper on it big bristled rotating thingy (little tired and words aren't coming to me) That way the bristles would wear out before breaking concrete and they are pretty common for road sweeping that you could find parts cheap!

links so you can understand my words. combine these two products into one.

http://innovaengineering.com.au/products/consumables/industrial-wire-brushes/roadsweeper/

http://www.kaushikengineeringworks.com/hydraulic_road_sweeper.htm

and the arm

http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=114562&mid=811279

I hope this makes sense to you and gives you an idea. Good luck


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

Just for reference sake, the bottom of the cement ditches are 12 or 13 inches across, depending on the setup when the ditch was made. Teslan, I know that I have seen what you are looking for but I cannot remember the brand name. It was a three point setup. 
I have the same issues and was thinking of making a floating design using a right angle gearbox and an old streetsweeper brush. What I have in mind would fairly simple to build and would be offset several feet beside the tractor


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## enos (Dec 6, 2009)

Does the small child in picture have alot of friends? With shovels? Kids need a job.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

enos said:


> Does the small child in picture have alot of friends? With shovels? Kids need a job.


The small child would have a hard time lifting the dirt out of the ditch right now. Since it is nearly as high as him, but his time is coming. I guess I could have my wife go get a couple day laborers in town. Cheaper then any equipment I could buy probably.


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## enos (Dec 6, 2009)

Try renting a big compresser with a blast pipe on it. The highway dept uses them to clean scuppers under concrete barriers. Blasts dirt, grass clumps and road sand so highway can drain, won't hurt concrete.


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## Thumbtack (Jun 18, 2012)

I know exactly what you are talking about. A friend of mine has a mini excavator and he uses it to clean the ditches, but it is not practical for everybody to have a mini excavator to clean their ditches. Especially when your ditches are old and starting to have cracks, Johnson Grass loves cracks. I have seen a flail mower that is offset for mowing next to fences and attaches to the 3 point and is PTO driven that might be able to be modified to put a brush on to clean but you still have to have a way to get the dirt out of the ditches.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Probably just as easy to shovel them out. We have a lot less shoveling to do then I did years ago thanks to pivots and not running pumps directly from the supply canal, but out of ponds. I've been shoveling them since I was 11 and hating it since then. But soon the kid in the photo can do it and hate it as well.


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## bluefarmer (Oct 10, 2010)

I don't know how hard those bunk cleaners blow, but comparing it to how hard my stihl backpack blower blows it would clean it out good


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

I would think that you could rent a mini-excavator and get it done quickly. How about making a donation to the local fire department and let them have practice with fire hoses? Like Enos said, those big vacuum machines clean out a lot of crap also. If you had to do this often, I think I would build an extension off the side of a 3 pt. scraper blade with the bottom part being rubber to fit the contour of the ditch. Bolt the heavy rubber to the steel extension going down in the ditch and drag it down the ditch. Clear as mud? How often does this have to be done? When I was talking mini-excavator, I was thinking about scraping it out sideways and not down the ditch.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Not the video I was looking for but of the same genre, pump type cleaner.






Paddle type:


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Are the ditches to wide to straddle with a tractor?


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

yes and you would break the ditch, get stuck, tip over, something to get to straddling the ditch.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

Arm to short. Prairieland partners Marion Ks


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Nitram said:


> Arm to short. Prairieland partners Marion Ks


Yes now that would work!


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

620-382-3794. Couldn't find a listing on the website


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## cwarren919 (Jan 11, 2017)

DId anyone ever find the name of this product or a solution to the problem? I am having a similar issues myself and with as many ditches as I need to clean even using a backhoe takes too much time. Thanks!



Teslan said:


> Yes now that would work!





Teslan said:


> Yes now that would work!


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

cwarren919 said:


> DId anyone ever find the name of this product or a solution to the problem? I am having a similar issues myself and with as many ditches as I need to clean even using a backhoe takes too much time. Thanks!


No I haven't really looked into it since. I would probably break my ditches using a backhoe (I don't have a lot of practice running one.)


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## elkbstr (Mar 6, 2017)

I'm also looking into this problem, a guy around our parts could probably make a living cleaning out ditches that have filled with sand/silt. Here is an attachment that I'm looking into for possibly doing the job.http://www.philbrownwelding.com/index.php/ground-hog-brush-sweeper


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## elkbstr (Mar 6, 2017)

cwarren919 said:


> DId anyone ever find the name of this product or a solution to the problem? I am having a similar issues myself and with as many ditches as I need to clean even using a backhoe takes too much time. Thanks!


 I was able to find that unit, man it's kinda pricey though!

http://www.spartanequipment.com/products/Skid-Steer-Feed-Bunk-Sweeper-Attachment.html?gclid=CjwKEAiArvTFBRCLq5-7-MSJ0jMSJABHBvp0ocwAJB_8sQ53J5K87GP8s4yjXt6G3gXBAcP38aR6OhoChNnw_wcB


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