Converting scrub to pasture

ArmyDoc · #**121** 08/07/14, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wberry85

Ok update time I guess.

Mowing didnt work. I mowed it down, kept mowing and mowing. Eventually it got the best of me and now I am right back in the same situation. I dont think I have a single blade more of grass than I did before. Maybe I havent given it enough time. Maybe it needs a couple years but being the impatient person that I am, I am going to try and move things along a little bit.

How do yall feel about tilling and putting down grass seed around labor day? Short of spraying its going to take many years to get all of these root systems out of the soil and replaced with grass. I think if I can till and spread seed it would really help move the pasture along in the right direction.

I don't think this is the best time to plant. Everything has a season...if you miss the season this year, you have to wait till next year to catch it again. I would recommend a soil test, a controlled burn this winter(Dec/jan), followed by soil correction indicated by the test (generally lime at a minimum) and the plant in the spring in ~ March.

It's been a wet summer though, so maybe you'd be ok planting. My limited experience with late planting is that as soon as you plant you will be responsible for state wide drought.

But seriousely, there are forages that you can plant later in the year, but generally those are planted in late september, not august.

vpapai · #**122** 09/17/14, 06:13 PM

I was out bush hogging using my tractor as a bull dozer clearing 2-3" scrub. Had the pallet forks on the FEL and was digging up the pine trees and scrub oaks. Bent the right hand mount of the front end loader........ Grrrrrrrrrrr....... Now it will be several 100 dollar bills to fix.....

Just another reason to get a real dozer to clear the area, will be cheaper and easier on your own equipment

**highlands** · #**123** 09/18/14, 04:29 PM

Ouch. Every few years I hire in a guy with a dozer and track hoe to do the big things I'm tempted to abuse my tractor on. I have a backhoe, forks, bucket, jaws, etc but he can do in a week what would have taken me all summer and probably broken my tractor to boot. Sometimes he lets me drive the dozer...

haypoint · #**124** 09/18/14, 05:10 PM

I generally take good care of my tools. It would bug me that my misuse damaged my loader bracket.
But if you got $500 worth of work completed and ended up with a $100 repair, you didn't do so bad.
Once there was a crew clearing brush and branches from around the township's electrical lines. They had a Hydro-Ax. A heavy duty brush hog mounted to the front loader of a big front end loader. I had 16 acres I wanted cleared of willow and tag alder. They said they could do it for $150 an hour. They worked for a few hours and got an acre done. I couldn't afford $4000 to get it cleared, so had them stop. I went out there with my 6 foot brush hog and a bunch of shear pins and abused that equipment for three weeks straight. I figured if I ruined two brush hogs, I'd still be ahead. Got it done and spent a couple days welding the brush hog back together.

vpapai · #**125** 09/18/14, 07:35 PM

Everything is relative, based on your finances at the moment. I do not have much patience and cleared land that needed to be cleared for a fence corner. Land is now cleared, ground is relatively unscaffed, I did not pay a dozer, but will have to fix my tractor. You pays your $ and generally get what you pay for.............