hopsnhay
New member
Greetings all - I'm new to this site.
We have a "hobby" farm of 70 acres. Of which, half is open and was in C.R.P. until about 6 years ago. We started brush cutting the fields when it came out of CRP and ultimately have gotten most of it into pretty good grass hay condition since. Most of our time and energy goes into hops production. We only have been making hay and selling it to keep the fields looking nice and clear of weeds. It has become clear that I can't keep up the pace of hops, hay, and a full time job. The wife says I have to keep the job (go figure).
I've been making hay (small squares) with my Kubota L3800 diesel. I just drop the bales in the field to be retrieved later (lots of labor). I want to stop making hay for 4-5 years (until I retire) but keep the fields (20-30 acres) in nice shape. In the past I have given the hay away to anybody that will make it themselves. This proved to be understandably unreliable and the fields could become a mess pretty quickly. Fencing is virtually non existent, so opening the fields to pasture animals is not possible. Oh yes, my wife absolutely will NOT allow row crops, so leasing the land is not negotiable!!
I'm willing to try and keep the fields under 6-8" tall and mow it as often as that takes. I'm thinking that it's an unrealistic number of rounds with my 5' brush cutter or 5' finish mower to successfully save myself any time (which is my goal). I've been exploring the purchase of larger mowing equipment, but have gotten lots of mixed reviews regarding horsepower (etc.). The idea of gang reel mowers came up.. but I can see how falling a few days behind could become a problem. A larger tractor is not open for discussion right now.
Finally the question - Any suggestions? Larger mower configurations, horsepower suggestions, or farm practices that might have merit? Basically, can one guy mow a 9 hole golf course all summer, weed 1 acre of hops, and keep a full time job (smile)? Thanks.
We have a "hobby" farm of 70 acres. Of which, half is open and was in C.R.P. until about 6 years ago. We started brush cutting the fields when it came out of CRP and ultimately have gotten most of it into pretty good grass hay condition since. Most of our time and energy goes into hops production. We only have been making hay and selling it to keep the fields looking nice and clear of weeds. It has become clear that I can't keep up the pace of hops, hay, and a full time job. The wife says I have to keep the job (go figure).
I've been making hay (small squares) with my Kubota L3800 diesel. I just drop the bales in the field to be retrieved later (lots of labor). I want to stop making hay for 4-5 years (until I retire) but keep the fields (20-30 acres) in nice shape. In the past I have given the hay away to anybody that will make it themselves. This proved to be understandably unreliable and the fields could become a mess pretty quickly. Fencing is virtually non existent, so opening the fields to pasture animals is not possible. Oh yes, my wife absolutely will NOT allow row crops, so leasing the land is not negotiable!!
I'm willing to try and keep the fields under 6-8" tall and mow it as often as that takes. I'm thinking that it's an unrealistic number of rounds with my 5' brush cutter or 5' finish mower to successfully save myself any time (which is my goal). I've been exploring the purchase of larger mowing equipment, but have gotten lots of mixed reviews regarding horsepower (etc.). The idea of gang reel mowers came up.. but I can see how falling a few days behind could become a problem. A larger tractor is not open for discussion right now.
Finally the question - Any suggestions? Larger mower configurations, horsepower suggestions, or farm practices that might have merit? Basically, can one guy mow a 9 hole golf course all summer, weed 1 acre of hops, and keep a full time job (smile)? Thanks.