Mowing City Slicker needs eduction on taking care of land

[dnw64]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I researched every one and summed it all up here in case it helps someone in the future.

Well it sounds like you're very organized

Now you just need to evaluate what you want out of the property, assign weights to the pros/cons and make a decision.

Personally, based on what you've told us, at this point my advice would be to hire someone to do the currently needed rough mow. Then clean up any stuff left behind that would bugger up a lawn tractor. Get a cheap new lawn tractor and keep after it the best you can. If it gets away from you, hire the brush hogger back. At some point over the next few months/years you may decide that then is the time to do something else.

BTW, my advice is not what I would do. I'd probably buy that 1520 or something equivalent. All those accessories would come in very handy around a property like that. And it appears to have been very well taken care of - did you notice that all the implements are up off the ground on blocks? That person cares about their equipment.

 

[airbiscuit]

Now that we have a better idea about how you are thinking, something like this might work for you. You should go to a local tractor dealer and test drive a SCUT (Sub-Compact Utility Tractor). Then you will better understand why we think operating them is fun!

 

[DieselBound]

Best bit of advice I ever got (read it) was that one should live on the land for a full year before attempting to do anything substantial to it. I have 40 acres and I can tell you that what I now am doing and what I was thinking I was going to be doing 6 years ago (when I bought it) is vastly different. And funny, I was thinking I was going to go minimalist; my wife essentially told me in no uncertain terms that I was to get a tractor- our B7800 Kubota (used, with 748 hrs). Once you have machinery you're chained to it. It's both good and bad. You have to use it to justify having it (it'll make you work- my body is beat up pretty good from putting on over 1,100 hours on the B7800). There's maintenance. And then there's the occasional repairs. Most important thing of all is an understanding of one's time. If you're in a hurry you can get where you're looking to go much quicker. Downside is that you end up missing other things; and, when you "get there" you may find that that's not where you want to be!

Flexibility. I would suggest starting out low-key, getting, perhaps, that tow-behind ATV mower that someone else suggested. This will be an introduction. If it doesn't work then sell and try something else. You may, as a result of this experience, find that you don't care for mowing or that you don't think that maintaining open space is worth it.

I think that renting equipment is a great way to test waters. BUT, get out on the land and poke around; doing stuff physically will make you think a lot harder/better about what it is you want to do. I have spent MANY hours swinging a machete; it not only helped clear paths for my tractor, it helped clear my head (some people would dispute this).

 

[jmh1783]

I have a few odd comments to what has been presented so far. To the suggestion to get used equipment, a great idea if you are lucky and can deal with it. I've never been lucky with machinery. I know a guy who bought a Toyota pickup (the ones based on a car chasis) at 170K miles and ran it up over 300K. Me, I would have been left stranded at the side of the road the first week. In general also I don't have the skills or time to deal with breakdowns so I generally buy new. Your tolerance for this sort of thing is something you will have to measure yourself.

Using a zero turn (or riding lawn mower) on rough pasture isn't a great idea. Even if someone else brush cuts it for your, what is left is woody stubble that a normal mower isn't going to be very happy with. Furthuremore the rough part will rattle a residential mower apart. Funny story in my last home there was a pasture across the road. It rarely got used as pasture and the owner got it brush cut about once a year. Last spring I wake to the sounds of a mower, not a tractor from that direciton. He apparently hired some guy with a big zero turn mower. Within an hour the machine had fallen silent and he never returned.

One place I looked at last year when I was looking for some land was owned by a woman who had about 15 acres brush cut a couple times a year by a local farmer. The immediate acre or so around the house she did herself with a riding mower. Perhaps you might consider focusing your attention on just an acre or so for now and get the rest cut until you get a better feel for the direction you want to go.

Leaving anything expensive on site all the time when I'm not there, locked up or not, would make me nervous. I generally live in a safey area but I'm not sure I'd sleep well worrying about it. You have to assess your own tolerance for that. Even a shipping container can be broken into with enough time and no prying eyes.

Just my two cents. Best of luck to you with your new property.