Clover

[rudell]

Hi everyone...I'm new to this forum Now I have horses on a couple of acres and having a severe problem with clover...it's taken over and my horses have sensitive feet...now the agricultural suggested a flail mower..we couldn't find a decent price one and a tractor salesman convinced my man a bush cutter would be fine...well ..NOT!! the clover is like 1" but everywhere would a flail mower have done a better job..does anyone here have one ..how low can it cut..is the blades sensitive to rocks..do you find yourself buying or replacing blades often????

 

[aczlan]

Re: Da** clover

What is the problem with clover and your horses feet? The horses that I have known all loved to eat clover and I have never heard of horses having problems from walking on clover.

Aaron Z

 

[JD5210]

Re: Da** clover

Clover holds a lot of water that is why it is hard to cut and does not cut up well. My suggestion is kill it. Cutting it low is not going to do anything to control it.

I have been very happy with ForeFront from Dow AgroSciences, your local farm store should have it. Not cheap $64/gallon, but it does the job. Depending how bad it is and you are only talking about a few acres just put into a 2 gallon sprayer and have it. Use 3 to 4 ounces for 2 gallons. Your local farm store may also come out and spray it for you.

I would first decide what you long term plans for the pastures are and what you want them to look like, before you purchase any other equipment. This URL addresses the different types of mowers out there.

TractorData.com - Mowing with tractors

 

[mlformula95]

Re: Da** clover

I would suggest contacting your county agriculture agent and taking some soil samples. You will get a nice detailed report on what fertilizers you need to get grass to grow after you kill everything. Work certain areas of your land at a time, keep the horses off the area you are working on until its good and healthy.

Its all about work and money, I'm going through it right now.

 

[rudell]

Re: Da** clover

What is the problem with clover and your horses feet? The horses that I have known all loved to eat clover and I have never heard of horses having problems from walking on clover.

Aaron Z

no no not from walking on it, eating it ...clover is very rich ..can cause colic or laminitus if eating too much ..aslike clover also causes photosensitivity to horses ..a very rich feed that contains little fiber

 

[rudell]

Re: Da** clover

Clover holds a lot of water that is why it is hard to cut and does not cut up well. My suggestion is kill it. Cutting it low is not going to do anything to control it.

I have been very happy with ForeFront from Dow AgroSciences, your local farm store should have it. Not cheap $64/gallon, but it does the job. TractorData.com - Mowing with tractors

humm...gonna look that up..don't know if we carry that in Canada???
thanks

 

[rudell]

Re: Da** clover

I would suggest contacting your county agriculture agent and taking some soil samples. Its all about work and money, I'm going through it right now.

hi...I've done that ..they've been here...gave me a 3 options but best was to invest in flail mower...the poison was another was said very exp and could regrow every year due to very poor soil

 

[mlformula95]

Re: Da** clover

hi...I've done that ..they've been here...gave me a 3 options but best was to invest in flail mower...the poison was another was said very exp and could regrow every year due to very poor soil

Well, that stinks. Good luck on whatever you decide.

 

[deereman75]

Re: Da** clover

I can see how that would cause a problem, my horse loves clover and she will eat it like crazy. She is a tough horse and we dont have much here, so it isnt a problem, but it could potentaly cause death if they eat enough. You could take the horses off of it, and spray the area with roundup, and after it is all dead, plow it and reseed with grass and fertilize.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Re: Da** clover

No amount of close cutting will rid you of clover. In fact, that will promote clover's growth in many cases. Try hitting with full rate of 2-4D. Then fertilize and seed to grass of choice. The sales propaganda used to promote flail mowers has gone beyond ridiculous.