First timer- field prep for field grass

[sd455dan]

I would not plow it again this year. You want the sods you got upside down to rot in place to kill all the weeds you turned under. Spread your manure and let it and the soil dry out in the spring sunshine and wind for a few days until clods fall apart to dust when kicked then disk again to chop in the manure and give yourself a fine even seed bed. It looks good so far especially considering how wet it still is.

Thanks for the info, so when I spread the manure (wish we had a small manure spreader) but we don't I will have to use the loader and just try to dump it out of the bucket slowly while moving a long. It would be better to disc it in now, and then leave it to dry right? Thanks again I do appreciate the help

 

[vtsnowedin]

Thanks for the info, so when I spread the manure (wish we had a small manure spreader) but we don't I will have to use the loader and just try to dump it out of the bucket slowly while moving a long. It would be better to disc it in now, and then leave it to dry right? Thanks again I do appreciate the help

You will probably end up with quite a few lumps and clumps using the bucket to spread manure. Back drag out the worst of them and let it and the dirt under it dry a day or two then disk. It might take you that long to spread all of it anyway. If the suns out by the time you get it all done once where you started will be even more dried out and ready for a second pass. The disk will pull a lot easier and do a much better job if the dirt is dry enough to not stick to the disks and need to be scraped off by the scraper bars.

 

[sd455dan]

I would not plow it again this year. You want the sods you got upside down to rot in place to kill all the weeds you turned under. Spread your manure and let it and the soil dry out in the spring sunshine and wind for a few days until clods fall apart to dust when kicked then disk again to chop in the manure and give yourself a fine even seed bed. It looks good so far especially considering how wet it still is.

Going to take your advice on the plowing, sometimes- the (urge to use new tools, overcomes logic) and ends up causing one to take 2 steps back, instead of one forward.. I transferred 2 of the aged Horse manure piles to the field and just shook the material out of the bucket while in 4th gear, going to leave it alone for a while as suggested , also took a clean 5 gallon bucket and got soil from 5 places around the field, before putting the manure on.. I may try and run the plow thru the other horse field, it has more trees and a whole lot more pine needles, already removed five totally full grapple buckets of just pine needles, last fall...not sure how it's going go with the tree roots.... Anyway thanks again everyone. Will try to post new developments

 

[vtsnowedin]

You never said what you plan to plant for grass. Not knowing anything about Idaho soils and practices I don't know what would be a good mix there. Here I'd go for Timothy and red clover but you might not have the conditions for that.

 

[KennK]

We have a few horses and for 15 years I hand-spread composted manure. I'd manure fork it into a small trailer pulled behind my JD 420 tractor (garden sized), drive to where I wanted to spread on my lawn, and then just hand fling it - kicking the larger chunks down. I'd then let it dry for a few days and then mow to disperse the clumps.

Eventually as my back and the JD 420 got older I moved to a JD 3320 with a front end loader and a smallish ground-driven manure spreader. I still do the post spread kicking and mowing thing.

Around here most people I know that are trying to reseed use a harrow and then rent a slit-seeder. I have not yet had to do that as we have a gravel-covered "sacrifice area" for wet weather and keep the horses off the paddocks when too wet. We also try to rotate them around two areas. The ground can still take a beating though.

By the way, next time we create a sacrifice area we won't use gravel since it can't really be cleaned using the front end loader (we get gravel in the mix). Next time we are thinking of using those rubber mats with the holes in them.

 

[sd455dan]

You never said what you plan to plant for grass. Not knowing anything about Idaho soils and practices I don't know what would be a good mix there. Here I'd go for Timothy and red clover but you might not have the conditions for that.

Oh, on the seed lets see-last year- Before I picked up the disc and plow we overseeded the field next to the one we're working on now, my wife just hand seeded it, with according to her memory (Northwest Horse Pasture Mix).
she believes the main seeds in it are Timothy/Alfalfa/Clover. Thinking of just trying this. There may be better choices, going to ask at the local Co-Op, The girls are the horse experts, so just trying to grow whatever the horses like...

 

[sd455dan]

We have a few horses and for 15 years I hand-spread composted manure. I'd manure fork it into a small trailer pulled behind my JD 420 tractor (garden sized), drive to where I wanted to spread on my lawn, and then just hand fling it - kicking the larger chunks down. I'd then let it dry for a few days and then mow to disperse the clumps.

Eventually as my back and the JD 420 got older I moved to a JD 3320 with a front end loader and a smallish ground-driven manure spreader. I still do the post spread kicking and mowing thing.

Around here most people I know that are trying to reseed use a harrow and then rent a slit-seeder. I have not yet had to do that as we have a gravel-covered "sacrifice area" for wet weather and keep the horses off the paddocks when too wet. We also try to rotate them around two areas. The ground can still take a beating though.

By the way, next time we create a sacrifice area we won't use gravel since it can't really be cleaned using the front end loader (we get gravel in the mix). Next time we are thinking of using those rubber mats with the holes in them.

I tried to talk my wife into the gravel idea around/in the barn to, told me that the horses feet can get the gravel stuck in under the hoofs, also as you stated, glad I didn't put it in the run outs or by the loafing sheds , it would have gotten in all of the manure/fertilizer..
Guess the 3/4 minus will be best used for the driveway.
Many years ago- bought wood shavings /bark for the run outs and feeding area- but I don't want to defeat the purpose of using the manure as fertilizer...unsure on the effect of mixing wood products in the manure??
On the harrow,I do have an ancient 2 section (spike)? harrow with the pointed teeth that look like iron rail road spikes. Tried it years ago on an untouched field ,did nothing but now that the field has been worked by the disc it maybe the last step before seeding ?? Thanks for the post

 

[AKfish]

I have been fighting invasive plants for about 6 years now. It is called Dogbane. I mow the field three times a year. Mowing does help but in some cases seems to encourage more than kill off the invasives. I have been using a 1.5% solution of roundup that does a good job, not great but good job of removing invasives while not killing the grass. That solution attacks broad leaf invasives and leaves the natural thin blade grasses alone. Again I have been using the roundup for about 5 years. Discing did very little.
What I think I have learned is that the invasive plants come up at different times so repeated applications of expensive roundup is not always effective. If I spray to early some of the same species of plant will grow later and be unaffected. If I spray to late some of the plants are so hardy that they survive and come back with a vengeance.
While I have had success with keeping the invasive plants down if I miss a year I can see they will come right back and ruin the fields. That means I would waste all the fuel time and herbicides that I have spent to date. So this year I am going to take a section of field and use roundup to kill off everything, keeping erosion in mind. Disc the area after all is gone and plant something I want. I think it will be much less expensive than year after year with so so results and hopefully a great hay field. That's my :2cents:s good luck

Apologies...Not meaning to get too far off track or hijack the OP's original thread.

I did a quick search of the USDA database and found that 2,4-D is a very effective control agent for Dogbane. No mention of Roundup. For my most stubborn broadleaf weeds in my pastures and hay fields I use a combination of low-volital 2,4-D and Dicamba.

It has done well enough that I've only had to spray my fields about once every 3-4 years.

AKfish

 

[AKfish]

Believe it or not... the best horse pasture mix we've come across is a northern, climate lawn mix. No fescue and heavy on the Kentucky bluegrass. The grass overwinters really well and will grow and regrow all summer-fall.

We keep (I fight with my wife ALL the time on this!) the horses off the pastures when they're real wet and we rotate them about every 3-4 days (have 4 pastures ~ 1/2 acre each). Planted a 5th this past summer and have started on clearing another 1-11/2 acre pasture as well.

Might get a couple head of cows..

AKfish

 

[sd455dan]

Well the last couple days have been sunny, no moisture , so I worked in the part of the field that is treed and just pulled the plow thru the areas that the trees were not closely spaced. Tried not to rip out the root systems of the Pine trees, Once that was opened up , got the disc and worked it over the plowed up parts, and anywhere I could get,
Glad the old Ford does not have a canopy, or it would have been destroyed by the end of the day, as it was- a branch got a hold of my coffee cup and between the disc and loaded 14.8 -28s another cup wiped out.:ashamed:lost count on how many coffee cups have been run over in the last few years...
Today put some extra weight on the disc, and ran it over the manured field - the field was not very wet except in a couple of shaded places, the dirt did not stick to the point of gumming up the disc wheels.
I found the sweet spot on the 3 point top link adjustment,to where both front and rear gang shafts were evenly running above the field, and a good spot for the depth adjustment the front discs are 16" and notched the rear wheels are 18" and smooth. When I took this picture, tractor in 5th gear and a smile ear to ear:cloud9:View attachment 310158 here's where I stopped for the day , still going to look into the soil analysis, if price is not to much