Weed Killing Time

[Jay]

Hey guys I got a problem.  Over here in Flint MI we have a 50 year old blacktop circle.  It's nice to have but it's in need of repairs.  About twice a month I have to go out there with my weed whacker and and trim the weeds growing in the cracks.  It's takes me about 2 hours or more with help to hit the whole circle.  After that I spray the cracks with diesel fuel to keep them at bay.  It's great for about a week or two and then they come back.
What I was wondering, do you guys have any idea what I can spray to keep the weeds dead permanently?  We are trying to get the city to fix it, but this is Flint MI. 
Any ideas? 

[Larry Wong]

You can try Round up weed spray , it kills the root and will not grow back till the siol is disturb.   Check local laws on this product....

[Randy Powell]

Any decent herbicide. I use some Ortho stuff called, oddly enough, CleanUp. Keeps 'um down for up to a year.

[Bill Little]

Hey guys I got a problem.  Over here in Flint MI we have a 50 year old blacktop circle.  It's nice to have but it's in need of repairs.  About twice a month I have to go out there with my weed whacker and and trim the weeds growing in the cracks.  It's takes me about 2 hours or more with help to hit the whole circle.  After that I spray the cracks with diesel fuel to keep them at bay.  It's great for about a week or two and then they come back.
What I was wondering, do you guys have any idea what I can spray to keep the weeds dead permanently?  We are trying to get the city to fix it, but this is Flint MI. 
Any ideas? 

Hi Jay,

Don't let anyone catching you putting diesel fuel on the weeds.  EPA will nail you with a fine that all of us combined couldn't pay. 

We used to use diesel fuel on baseball fields and such to keep the grass out of where we didn't want it.  It is a HUGE no-no now.

Check with your local farm supply.  There is (or was) a product called Steritron that is used under paerking lots and pavement, around fences and under bleachers etc., that sterilizes the soil and lasts three years or more.  Surprisingly, it wasn't very expensive.  You might have to get a favor from a lisenced guy to use it though.

Bill <><

[Ralph Wenzel (d)]

If you can't use Round-Up, plain old vinegar will work, too. The stronger, the better, but cheap is important, too.

[Kirm Dog]

Use Roundup soil sterlizer  and do like the famers do. Spray twice with a week between sprayings. That should keep them go for the whole year.

Don.

[Jay]

I tried that Roundup stuff and it works great, but the reason I am using diesel fuel is because it's cheaper.  Roundup at Home Depot cost about $10 a gallon as where diesel fuel cost about $3. 
Would like to get the city to fix it and some of the guys are working on it.  As for now I need to go the cheapest route.

Jay

[W.D. Roland]

there is probably grant money to fix it if the citys engineer knows how to get it.

my dad got enough $$(hes engineer) to build r/c field on citys old dump--could have had u/c to but no one in clubs was interested.

if cracks are large where grass is growing clean them out(weed eater sideways and blow with air)and use sonometric or similar to fill cracks

a heavy coat of asphalt emulsion should fill the small stuff and give you an almost new surface

David

[Bill Little]

I tried that Roundup stuff and it works great, but the reason I am using diesel fuel is because it's cheaper.  Roundup at Home Depot cost about $10 a gallon as where diesel fuel cost about $3. 
Would like to get the city to fix it and some of the guys are working on it.  As for now I need to go the cheapest route.

Jay

 

Hi Jay,

Make sure you read the post I made about fines.  The EPA don't play around. 

They put a local crop duster into bankruptcy a few years ago, and he was following the rules.

Bill <><

[Jay]

Thanks for the tip Bill, but I am really not worried about anyone catching us using diesel fuel as a weed killer.  We are way out way from the public next to the General Motors railroad tracks.  No one goes out there but us C/L guys and a few visitors.
I only use a five gallon can marked kerosene.  Pour is in a garden sprayer and spray the cracks the best I can. 

I like that tip for making repairs, but we are not a club and most of these guys are on a shoestring budget.

I wonder if AMA will help us out?  Heard about that program, but not sure if we can fall under the rules.

Jay

[peabody]

I always have had success with gasoline....sometimes I light it to speed things along.
I have used gas to de-ice the center circle and take off area in the snow, too....very versitile stuff!

[Russell Shaffer]

Buy the concentrate, not the ready mix.  An expensive jug of concentrate will make many, many gallons of spray.  You can also cheat and go a little stronger.  Only problem with Roundup is it takes a couple of weeks to work.  Also only kills the growing weeds, and doesn't sterilize the soil.  You really need something nastier.

[Herb Calvin]

Be careful Jay you just posted it. Who knows  who is reading this    Herb

[Bill Little]

Be careful Jay you just posted it. Who knows  who is reading this    Herb

My point, exactly.  Kerosene (diesel fuel), gasoline, any type of contaminant, can cost you well over 5-6 figures in fines.  It only takes one person to tell the wrong person.

They don't have to "catch" you.

Bill <><

[W.D. Roland]

be carefull on the epa thing--we are the public/they are public enemy #1(or close)

and i should have said consulting engineer as most city employed engineers are as usless as most government employees.

will see if i can find out what programs can be used for flying sites.

i am almost positive that epa funds are used to convert dump sites into model flying sites ect.i guess model fliers can stand exposure to toxic things better than othes!?
this makes epa public friend #1?

the money is there if you can find it--and after all it is our money.

  David

[Alan Hahn]

Jay,
Russell is right. My bottle of Ortho Kleenup makes 6 gallons of spray which the bottle says will treat 1000 square feet. 6 gallons of diesel is goning for ~$18 right now, so I don't think you are being economical.

Remember--you spray it on, not pour! That should cover a lot of cracks. Yes it takes a week or two to get down to the roots, but then it is gone. Make up a gallon's worth and spray it on in after the weeds have sprouted each year, and you will have enough for 6 years!