Burleigh co. Ditches debate

[Obi-Wan]

If the damage in your ditch was bad enough that you couldn't run your mower over it or cause accidents to riders because the ruts are so deep, or experience these "kids having fun" causing even more damage how would you feel about it.

I have all this and more in less amount of road frontage ditch.

Did you ride as a kid ?

 

[Obi-Wan]

If this passes does that mean that farmers in Burleigh County can't drive an atv /utv in there own ditches

It sounds like they are exempting farmers, commercial use, and snowmobiles. Bitner even said he uses his to spray weeds and that would also be exempt. Pretty sweet deal when you can ban others but exempt your own usage from those bans

 

[Twitch]

It sounds like they are exempting farmers, commercial use, and snowmobiles. Bitner even said he uses his to spray weeds and that would also be exempt. Pretty sweet deal when you can ban others but exempt your own usage from those bans

Shocking behavior from a politician….rules for thee

 

[Allen]

We can't seriously be thinking the amount of damage done by someone doing 3-5 mph spraying weeds is similar to that being done by recreational driving of the offroad vehicles, can we?

Or, are we suggesting a person can't use their offroad vehicle on their own property to maintain it?

 

[Kurtr]

No shooting ditch parrots in the ditch and no riding in the ditch. Some fun haters up there

 

[Twitch]

We can't seriously be thinking the amount of damage done by someone doing 3-5 mph spraying weeds is similar to that being done by recreational driving of the offroad vehicles, can we?

Or, are we suggesting a person can't use their offroad vehicle on their own property to maintain it?

I wasn’t insinuating either. Just stating the obvious that politicians are great at passing laws and nitching things out so they don’t apply to them. I live in Morton cty and sold my side by side. My tractor works fine to mow, pull a sprayer and blow snow.

 

[Achucker]

Did you ride as a kid ?

I rode with a buddy very little but was usually in an area designated for it.

Not that it should matter.

 

[Rowdie]

It sounds like they are exempting farmers, commercial use, and snowmobiles. Bitner even said he uses his to spray weeds and that would also be exempt. Pretty sweet deal when you can ban others but exempt your own usage from those bans

And farmers kids? Grandkids and other relatives?

 

[Allen]

I wasn’t insinuating either. Just stating the obvious that politicians are great at passing laws and nitching things out so they don’t apply to them. I live in Morton cty and sold my side by side. My tractor works fine to mow, pull a sprayer and blow snow.

And since I use a UTV mounted sprayer, I need to buy a 3-point sprayer now?

People are quick to suggest Bittner is carving out an exemption for himself, but I don't think he's out joyriding the ditches. I prefer to look at it as they carved out a reasonable exemption for people who use their offroad vehicles to maintain the right-of-way as expected by their neighbors and the county.

Maybe I'm weird, but I don't use my UTV for joy riding. I guess one could say that when I use it at Sporting Clays and ice-fishing that I'm using it for recreation, but neither of them involve ditch riding.

 

[guywhofishes]

Can someone here explain why ditch riding is fun for anyone other than a kid who just wants to RIDE no matter how/where?

Are there adults who enjoy such a mindless exercise?

 

[Wirehair]

Interesting thread! We own a piece of rural property in Burleigh and have the ditch ripped up each spring and late fall during periods of rain and / frost coming out. There have been several instances in which I have had to bring in loads of black dirt to fill the ruts in order to safely mow the ditch. I am not in favor of an outright "UTV ban." I have no issues with kids & adults that like to ride ditches as a form of outdoor entertainment. What I do have an issue with is the willful & intentional damage to property when ditches are soft / wet. We seldom see / hear dirt bikes or UTV's unless there is a little mud to tear up. We have not engaged law enforcement as I believe they may have better ways to utilize their limited rural resources. All it would take (IMO) to resolve this issue is a little common sense and respect for private property. Not so confident that that will happen!

 

[Obi-Wan]

We can't seriously be thinking the amount of damage done by someone doing 3-5 mph spraying weeds is similar to that being done by recreational driving of the offroad vehicles, can we?

Or, are we suggesting a person can't use their offroad vehicle on their own property to maintain it?

You tell me - add 500 to 700 lbs fully loaded sprayer in a ditch after a rain.

I wonder if Bitner doesn't spray commercially. I do believe he said he has a license.

 

[LOV2HNT]

Can someone here explain why ditch riding is fun for anyone other than a kid who just wants to RIDE no matter how/where?

Are there adults who enjoy such a mindless exercise?

When I 1st moved to NE Bismarck 12 yrs ago, I would take a rip around the area I live on my atv but never when wet or muddy as I despise cleaning mud off, but now I only go when my 6yr old son wants to go for a ride.

 

[johnr]

Out west here we rarely get rain, so when we do have a little wet spell, I just love getting out on the road ditches and letting it rip, funnest days ever.

 

[Allen]

My UTV sprayer is 25 gallons. And about 50- lbs when empty. Combined that's about 260 lbs in addition to the 1500 lb UTV.

My tractor weighs just shy of 6,000 lbs and would be using a minimum of a 40 gallon sprayer, putting the combined weight well above 6k.

Either way, under no circumstances would either of the above setups be doing 45 mph and routinely gunning the throttle in an attempt to spin the wheels.

Besides, last I checked...when spraying it is not recommended to repeatedly run over the same ground. It's the repetitive recreational use of the ditches that creates erosion. The twice yearly spraying barely leaves wheel tracks in the grass.

I can't believe I have to explain the difference in net effect on this.

 

[Coyote Hunter]

I don't like the ban either... but I have been predicting it for years. A lot of these idiots make a point of going out and ripping around when it is wet out. They try to tear up the ditches. Most of the time, it is kids doing it, but not always. A couple of years ago, when they widened 71st Ave, the county was trying to get grass growing in the new ditches. Every time it would rain, there would be dipshits out on dirt bikes tearing up the ditches and the newly planted grass. They were even driving over the straw waddles that were placed in the ditch to help control erosion.
If it were kids doing it, the parents bear some responsibility. If it was wet out, they should have had the common sense to make their kids leave the dirt bikes parked in the garage.

Bottom line for anyone upset about this (Obi)... blame the idiots who pissed off the landowners and tore the hell out of the ditches. I am not happy about it either, because I have occasionally ridden in the ditches. However, I only did it when the conditions were dry, and no damage was being done. I totally understand why it was done, though.

 

[Silver]

Every time that I see a 4-wheeler or sideXside covered in mud.....I imagine a water source (ditch, slough, mudhole) just got raped.

 

[NDSportsman]

This is why we have to have all of these laws because of the morons living among us!