Clearing old hay field

[Mtsoxfan]

As I have posted before, I'm looking to buy some abutting land from neighbor. When we talked yesterday, they surprised me with a great offer for me to buy 18+/- acres. (I'm paying for survey, which will happen in March, weather dependent)
It used to be a hay field, hasn't been cut in about 10 years. Not sure why. Someone hays the fields on my road and they are much larger, but same topography, rolling hills. Someone used to hay it for free, taking the hay. Not sure why it stopped. Neighbor has contacted everyone he knows, no luck.
I have no use for hay, nor do I want the expense of it. I'd like to cut area twice a year to hopefully restore it's beauty. basically, an extended overgrown lawn. I will maintain some walking paths for my wife to walk, and turkeys and deer seem to follow a path I cut one year. I have a 29hp tractor with a brush hog, that has met my needs so far. I fear it may not be enough, or wrong implement. Is anyone aware of replacement blades for brush hog that will cut grass/weeds better? It looks like hay until mid summer, then see pic for what takes over. One pic shows my lawn up to field. I'm not opposed to leaving as is, but if it's a simple equipment fix, I will try. I don't even need/want to cut all of it, just enough to look a bit better I guess. Not in market for newer/bigger tractor. This is an investment that I will realize when I sell, or my wife sells when I die of old age...

 

[Thomas]

Ask around someone maybe someone might be interest in cutting also hauling away.

 

[jeff9366]

Is anyone aware of replacement blades for brush hog that will cut grass/weeds better?


1) You need enough power from your tractor so your Rotary Cutter does not bog down in the thickest grass you will mow. That will be a 48" width Rotary Cutter on undulating ground powered by 29-horsepower.

2) Sharpen the blades you have with an angle grinder.

3) At 3-mph:

A 48" mower will cut around 1.3 acres per hour.
A 60" mower will cut around 1.6 acres per hour.
A 72" mower will cut around 2.0 acres per hour.

MORE:

Rotary Cutter / Bush Hog Considerations for Compact Tractors

If you buy a Rotary Cutter too light it will visit the dealer yearly for $600 repair. NEW Rotary Cutters cut everything at first. As the light blades dull a light cutter undergoes increasing stress. 60" - 72" Rotary Cutters: 400/500 pounds = light duty = grass only. 600/700 pounds = medium...

www.tractorbynet.com

I'd like to cut area twice a year to hopefully restore it's beauty. basically, an extended overgrown lawn.

You will need to cut the pasture at least four times per year.

 

[Hay Dude]

A sharp bush hog will do an excellent job, leaving a tall lawn-like finish.
Sharp blades and the right speed are the key.

 

[paulsharvey]

As for the why; my assumption, mobilizing, probably to cut, Ted, rake, bail, load out; my guess is there is little profit in the hay for someone not within a mile or two.

Let's say, 3 4x5s per acres; 18x3=54 bails, ×$40=$2160; but we haven't moved any equipment, wear and tear, moved bails, ect. It's probably just not worth the time. Let's say you have no break downs, no weather issues, ect; you max profit is only like $1500 for 3 days of work, that's not giving any cost other than fuel. If we figure even $35/hr on the tractor, and $15/hr on the bailer; we are probably down to maybe $1000, and we still haven't moved the bails;

If there was a guy next door who needed the hay, and had the equipment, sure, but moving stuff in from 10 miles; probably just not worth it

 

[paulsharvey]

Now, if we could get the quality up, and there is demand, and you get $55/4x5 roll, that's a different story, but that takes weed control, fertilization, ect.

 

[paulsharvey]

BTW, glad you came to an understanding on the purchase, and if you bought it right, it probably was a great move to pick up the acreage.

 

[Rockbadchild]

As for the why; my assumption, mobilizing, probably to cut, Ted, rake, bail, load out; my guess is there is little profit in the hay for someone not within a mile or two.

Let's say, 3 4x5s per acres; 18x3=54 bails, ×$40=$2160; but we haven't moved any equipment, wear and tear, moved bails, ect. It's probably just not worth the time. Let's say you have no break downs, no weather issues, ect; you max profit is only like $1500 for 3 days of work, that's not giving any cost other than fuel. If we figure even $35/hr on the tractor, and $15/hr on the bailer; we are probably down to maybe $1000, and we still haven't moved the bails;

If there was a guy next door who needed the hay, and had the equipment, sure, but moving stuff in from 10 miles; probably just not worth it

and you still haven't re-seeded and fertilize... when a pasture is abandon the ''good grass'' become scares and weeds take over, so without a good initial investment it's not worth the time and effort.

Burning it will surprisingly do wonder to restore a pasture but it is now almost impossible to do so...

 

[Rockbadchild]

I don't think you want to do this with anything else then a brush hog, (espicially at first) and if you are going to only cut it a few times a year... My brush hog dose a nice job cutting but it dose takes a lot of HP when the grass is very long and thick. I have looked to sharpen my brush hog blades but they are round by design it be a lot of grinding to sharpen them (not impossible).

 

[Hay Dude]

I have 2 customers with fields that are too difficult to hay, so I cut them instead once per month. If you do that, it will become lawn-like after a few years.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

Is anyone aware of replacement blades for brush hog that will cut grass/weeds better?


1) You need enough power from your tractor so your Rotary Cutter does not bog down in the thickest grass you will mow. That will be a 48" width Rotary Cutter on undulating ground powered by 29-horsepower.

2) Sharpen the blades you have with an angle grinder.

3) At 3-mph:

A 48" mower will cut around 1.3 acres per hour.
A 60" mower will cut around 1.6 acres per hour.
A 72" mower will cut around 2.0 acres per hour.

MORE:

Rotary Cutter / Bush Hog Considerations for Compact Tractors

If you buy a Rotary Cutter too light it will visit the dealer yearly for $600 repair. NEW Rotary Cutters cut everything at first. As the light blades dull a light cutter undergoes increasing stress. 60" - 72" Rotary Cutters: 400/500 pounds = light duty = grass only. 600/700 pounds = medium...

www.tractorbynet.com

I'd like to cut area twice a year to hopefully restore it's beauty. basically, an extended overgrown lawn.

You will need to cut the pasture at least four times per year.

Thank you for the information. What would be the $600 yearly repair?
I have a 5' brush hog.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

A sharp bush hog will do an excellent job, leaving a tall lawn-like finish.
Sharp blades and the right speed are the key.

Assuming I would sharpen like a lawn mower angle?

 

[Mtsoxfan]

As for the why; my assumption, mobilizing, probably to cut, Ted, rake, bail, load out; my guess is there is little profit in the hay for someone not within a mile or two.

Let's say, 3 4x5s per acres; 18x3=54 bails, ×$40=$2160; but we haven't moved any equipment, wear and tear, moved bails, ect. It's probably just not worth the time. Let's say you have no break downs, no weather issues, ect; you max profit is only like $1500 for 3 days of work, that's not giving any cost other than fuel. If we figure even $35/hr on the tractor, and $15/hr on the bailer; we are probably down to maybe $1000, and we still haven't moved the bails;

If there was a guy next door who needed the hay, and had the equipment, sure, but moving stuff in from 10 miles; probably just not worth it

Thanks, makes sense, although someone is on the our road cutting other fields, very similar in shape etc. I know one guy who only hays for show horses, and he told me it'd be a lot of work to get it to the high quality hay he is known for.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

Thanks all, to reiterate, I'm not looking to extend my lawn for more weekly cutting. I'm looking to keep it low maintenance but looking good. I'll give the blades a good sharpening, wait for a dry spell (lots of rain again this year) and give it a go. I may just do a couple acres that abut my property to see where I'm at, all things considered...

Even though my neighbor told me he has contacted everyone he knows to hay, I will look around myself. He is not very assertive/social. It may end up being too much trouble to get things back to hay status, but it doesn't hurt to try.

 

[JimRB]

In Georgia good 4 foot rounds are $80-90. That is from limed, fertilized and weed controlled fields. Or at least limed and fertilized. Just mowing with the brush cutter will be a good start to see if there is any cheap hope.

 

[Hay Dude]

Thanks all, to reiterate, I'm not looking to extend my lawn for more weekly cutting. I'm looking to keep it low maintenance but looking good. I'll give the blades a good sharpening, wait for a dry spell (lots of rain again this year) and give it a go. I may just do a couple acres that abut my property to see where I'm at, all things considered...

Even though my neighbor told me he has contacted everyone he knows to hay, I will look around myself. He is not very assertive/social. It may end up being too much trouble to get things back to hay status, but it doesn't hurt to try.

I bet 1x/month will whip it back into shape. Weeds peter-out after being repeatedly cut, but grasses don’t. Just make sure to cut weeds now, before they get seeds. Might be a bit late for that, but I don’t know what you have there for weed types.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

I bet 1x/month will whip it back into shape. Weeds peter-out after being repeatedly cut, but grasses don’t. Just make sure to cut weeds now, before they get seeds. Might be a bit late for that, but I don’t know what you have there for weed

Thanks, I'll give it a go. We are having another rainy summer, so maybe that would counteract the cooler than normal temps as of late. Now to go sharpen the blades...

 

[paulsharvey]

In the longer term, you might want to take a look at how much of the 18 acres needs mowed, how much might be better in native grasses/veg, and how much might be better in something like planted pines or something. The reason I mention this, 18 acres to mow, even every two months, your looking at basically an entire weekend if mowing, every two months. Hired out mowing, I'm guessing $800-1000/cut? If you looked at it, and decided, we'll, that 4 acres I want cut every month, these 6 acres are going to be native veg, and these 8 acres are going to go either pines or natural forest reg, we start turning a two day job into a couple afternoons.

 

[Hay Dude]

18 flat easy acres would be about $1,000 from me. If it’s got a lot of trees, steep, swamps etc, it would be more.
I just bumped my mowing rates substantially.
Now $250 for the first hour and $200 for each additional hour, but I tend to bid by the job and not by the hour.

 

[EddieWalker]

I strongly disagree with sharpening your blades. A bush hog/rotary cutter, is not a lawn mower. The blades are thick for a reason, they are designed to destroy the brush, not make it look pretty. Once it's been cut a few times, you can sharpen them if you like for a nicer look, but not until you have it under control.

Sharpening them will cause them to wear out faster. The initial edge will wear out very, VERY quickly on tall, overgrown weeds!!! Odds are very good, that you will probably need to replace the blades before you get things under control, make them last as long as possible. Blades are easy to change if you have a big impact wrench, and horrible to do if you don't.

Ideally, you need to mow three times a year to get the weeds under control and allow the grass to take over. Two times a year would be the minimum. After two years, you should see significant improvement just from mowing.

After the first time, it will be significantly faster and easier after that. Consider the first mowing as the big task. Get it over with, and it will never be that bad again if you maintain it.

As for getting somebody to hay it for you, it would be my guess that they do not want to go through the time and effort to get it back into quality grass without any guarantee that they will be able to get hay from it in the future. Once you get it into decent shape, odds are a lot better that somebody might become interested in haying it for you.

Since 18 acres is a massive amount of land to mow, start out with an area that you can easily mow three times a year. Lets say it's five acres. Focus on that area the first year, and then the next year, add a few more acres to it when the five acres become easy to maintain.

I started out with a 6 foot cutter that I wasn't able to keep up with on my place. I focused on areas that we spent time on, like around the pond, and are walking trails, but other areas would get out of control since I only got to them every other year. Now I have a bigger tractor and a 12 foot batwing cutter, and I'm able to mow everything three times a year. The transformation has been amazing!!!!

Congratulations on the land!!!