Field mowing....

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inkjunkie

inkjunkie

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Need to get something to take down the weeds.....tall enough we can see the Coonhounds when they are running thru the yard. We have 5 acres, back of it is steep enough that getting up it on the tractor is difficult. Front is pretty much open, but the sides and back have quite a few trees. And we have a boat load of rocks...some sticking out far enough to be be problem some not. A neighbor uses something similar to

http://www.drpower.com/prdSell.aspx?Name=fab-sp-pro2

He has a contraption like

http://www.drpower.com/TwoStepModel...bsupportaccesories&Name=FABBladelessmowingAtt

to avoid destroying the blade....or starting a fire with how dry we can get.

Anybody have any suggestions? We have a neighbor that swear by his little lawn tractor....but his yard is pretty much rock free and flat from front to rear. Looked into a bush hog type of deal

http://www.bushhog.com/

but with the amount of rocks have my doubts. Plus with the amount of trees we have getting our old tractor between them is going to leave a lot of stuff un-cut.

Any suggestions?? Have thought about natures mowers (goats) but our dogs would have a field day...
 
Ever thought about one of these? Way less expensive, a lot more work though as you need to push it your self. But if done in increments it's possible.
 

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Hire a one time mowing service. let them knock everything down for you, than all you need to do is maintain, and you can do that over a couple of days instead of trying to get it all done in one shot.

Another thought would be to mow, plow, and plant corn. lol
 
Bad Sport said:
Ever thought about one of these? Way less expensive, a lot more work though as you need to push it your self. But if done in increments it's possible.
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We both have bad backs so self propelled is pretty much a necessity...

Frankie said:
Hire a one time mowing service. let them knock everything down for you, than all you need to do is maintain, and you can do that over a couple of days instead of trying to get it all done in one shot.

Another thought would be to mow, plow, and plant corn. lol
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There is enough out there where having it knocked down and then trying to maintain it probably will not work. Even tough we do not get much rain during the summer the crap continues to grow. And one of the reasons we want to knock it down is so that we can start a garden somewhere at some point....


krazykuda said:
How about one of these? I found it in another secion here today.

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Doubt Ernestina would be on board with this....suppose it won't hurt to ask :mrgreen:
 
Hire someone to plow it under and plant corn. Then you can arrange to have someone pay you to harvest and sell it. ;)

Perhaps a nice controlled burn would do the trick. Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

...a "For Sale" sign my be the ticket.
 
Frankie said:
Hire someone to plow it under and plant corn. Then you can arrange to have someone pay you to harvest and sell it. ;)

Perhaps a nice controlled burn would do the trick. Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

...a "For Sale" sign my be the ticket.
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hmmmmm......a controlled burn might be the ticket.....course it probably would not stop at the fence line....

Waiting to hear back from someone who has a 16 hp DR Field mower for sale.....

Can only imagine the ditches we will find from our one Coonhound digging when we get it mowed. He spends several hours a day outside looking for gophers. Most days he comes in covered with dirt. He digs enough that we do not have to trim his front nails.....
 
Get a farmer or someone with a commercial sprayer to hit the whole thing with Round-up. Then you can see what you've got. Maybe rent a Bobcat and do a little resurfacing. Steep areas can be covered with heavy groundcover plants - find out what the highway dept uses that grows good in your area.
 
Goats. My sister lives on basically a hill side, has some goats that pretty much contain it. Don't know if that's an option for you or not but does work well for her.
 
ducter said:
Goats. My sister lives on basically a hill side, has some goats that pretty much contain it. Don't know if that's an option for you or not but does work well for her.
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Xs2 ...I had a pair of goats hanging around for awhile and they sure do clean up the weeds and whatever else in the yard.
 
Frankie said:
That's what the local forestry commission and volunteer fire department are for.
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Good point.....

zkx14 said:
Get a farmer or someone with a commercial sprayer to hit the whole thing with Round-up. Then you can see what you've got. Maybe rent a Bobcat and do a little resurfacing. Steep areas can be covered with heavy groundcover plants - find out what the highway dept uses that grows good in your area.
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Do plan on covering the hill with ground cover of some sorts. Wife is a bit concerned with critters living in it. We had a big patch of rosemary plants in AZ.....until she seen a snake in it. Local farm supply small sprayers on sale pretty much all summer long....we do have a small tractor....hmmmm

ducter said:
Goats. My sister lives on basically a hill side, has some goats that pretty much contain it. Don't know if that's an option for you or not but does work well for her.
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RaniDart70 said:
Xs2 ...I had a pair of goats hanging around for awhile and they sure do clean up the weeds and whatever else in the yard.
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Did think about goats. Our three dogs would have a field day chasing them. Neighbor suggested just pounding in a few posts, putting up a couple of fence panels and put a goat or two in the fenced in area. When they are done, just move the pen. He had a few goats he was going to bring down when we discussed this....but he decided they needed to be in his freezer instead....
 
roundup with some atrizene and be done with it for the year.

The roundup will kill the green and the atrizene will be sure nothing grows in the area for the year.
 
dodgedifferent2 said:
roundup with some atrizene and be done with it for the year.

The roundup will kill the green and the atrizene will be sure nothing grows in the area for the year.
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Atrizene? Have to see if that is in what I sprayed some of the nasty looking weeds with....
 
lawn tractor?? or farm tractor??

5 acres is alot to maintain without the right equipment. Unless you have a lot of time on your hands, it's at best an ongoing project. Is a small estate type tractor with a pto that can run a bush hog in the cards?
 
plumcrazy704406 said:
lawn tractor?? or farm tractor??

5 acres is alot to maintain without the right equipment. Unless you have a lot of time on your hands, it's at best an ongoing project. Is a small estate type tractor with a pto that can run a bush hog in the cards?
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Tractor is a 20 hp Kioti....does indeed have a pto. But we have enough trees where getting the tractor around them with a bush hog is going to be a problem. And using something with a blade with the amount of rocks we have and as dry as we are in the summer might be a disaster (fire) in the making.

I do indeed have a lot of time on my hands....I am retired (disabled)....
 
You can rent heards of goats, I can't imagine it would be to expensive but then again I also knew we would have a different President so I really don't know much.
 
plumcrazy704406 said:
I'm split on this this one. As much as I hate weeds, we stay free from what amounts to clear cutting the earth we grow in.
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Atrizene and roundup will not touch any of the trees that will be growing there. Just the weeds and grass.

There is another one besides atrizene but i cant remember the name of it off the top of my head.
 
Some friends of mine use llamas to take care of that issue. I have been watching them at work for two years and they do a wonderful job, aren't hard to contain at all and are large enough that predators don't mess with them. Pen the up for the first couple of days and they will always go back to that same spot to use the bathroom plus the feces don't smell bad. They are sure footed in rough terrain, they love their owners and other people that their owners introduce to them but do stand guard when strangers show up. They might blow a wad of snot at them. They sell pretty cheap around this area and I am planning on investing in a pair.

Llama Manure Benefits http://www.hidog.info/LlamaManure.html
 

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plumcrazy704406 said:
5 acres is alot to maintain without the right equipment. Unless you have a lot of time on your hands, it's at best an ongoing project. Is a small estate type tractor with a pto that can run a bush hog in the cards?

I'm split on this this one. As much as I hate weeds, we stay free from what amounts to clear cutting the earth we grow in.
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My suggestion of 'Round-up' was just for a temporary kill to rework things to a point of being more managable-not kIll, kill, kill. Permananently clearing could result in other problems. There are of course other brands and diff formulas that kill what you want and for how long you want. Possibly do it in smaller sections, but then you need the 'earth moving equipt' multiple times - which I was guessing you would need to aquire. My understanding was you want to make a large part of it mowable grass and some garden.
As for critters. Snakes will live in just about anything. I just try to keep them away from the house. Had a 5 foot blacksnake trying to visit me in the garage the other day. (3d time this year) I just take them down back and toss em in the woods. Luckily I have never had any poisonouse ones. Rattlers and Copperheads can live in our area but not common. Mostly black, some rat snakes and hognose. My biggest critter issue right now is the rabbits. I've come really close to mowing over a few.
 
stihl makes a weed eater type of machine called a sickbar mower it is like a weed eater only there is not the spray of weed juice. You want to be real careful as some weed are very toxic and can burn your skin and scar you. This tool is simmilar to a hedge trimmer only much heavier duty and will cut small diamater trees and brush. Take it down over time dont kill yourself do a little at a time clean it up and maintain it. Or just hire it out and let the professionals do it. For what it will cost for all the equipment you could have it done for a ton less. People are hungry for work and money. Bill
 
If you decide on Round up, or any chemical solution for that matter, Take extra care with your dogs.
 
pro-tech said:
stihl makes a weed eater type of machine called a sickbar mower it is like a weed eater only there is not the spray of weed juice. You want to be real careful as some weed are very toxic and can burn your skin and scar you. This tool is simmilar to a hedge trimmer only much heavier duty and will cut small diamater trees and brush. Take it down over time dont kill yourself do a little at a time clean it up and maintain it. Or just hire it out and let the professionals do it. For what it will cost for all the equipment you could have it done for a ton less. People are hungry for work and money. Bill
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Correct, they are made by a number of manufactures, Troybilt has one, also.

Thing is, you don't have to buy one, you can rent one, to get control of the situation, see what you've got, and them make a decision as to what to do, or buy, once you've assessed the area.
5 Acres is a lot for any walk behind machine...
 
Whenever I've started a new house, I call in a local guy with a tractor and hedge hog. It makes quick work of the lot and does a great job. Usually costs about $300 depending on the lot size....1 to 2 acres. Probably wouldn't be much more for extra acres. The expense is in transporting the tractor.
 
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