Mowing 85ac pastures... and no time to do it consistently.

   / Mowing 85ac pastures... and no time to do it consistently. #1  

Dadnatron

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Messages
1,113
Location
Versailles, KY
Tractor
JD 5100e with FEL
I have 85ac horse farm put into grass and am having difficulty keeping it mowed regularly.

What is the maximal height you can set a flail mower to cut?

I'm sick of not having the time to mow my pastures, and the grass tends to grow pretty tall before I can get to it. I have a 15' Woods Batwing, and it works fine, although, it leaves 2 big tractor tire sized tracks in the grass which tend to accumulate all the clippings, and mulch down, killing the grass underneath.

I suspect if I could get out there and cut it more consistently and keep it 9-10", this wouldn't be such a problem. However, it is getting up to 24-30" sometimes before I can get to it. (Weekends and rain) The grass is growing well, but the crushed and mulched down tire tracks basically is killing the grass underneath. This is really, the major problem I'm trying to solve.

I was thinking (short of hiring someone to mow it for me) that if I could use a front flail with side flails on back. (I know... $$$) I wouldn't be leaving the long crushed stuff and the tracks wouldn't be accumulating the clippings. The front flail would mow before the grass was ran over by the tractor tires, and the back/side flails would simply drop clippings like a regular flail.

The one issue, (Other than the $) would be the max height I could set the flails. I don't want the pastures scalped to 2-4". I have a flail which I use for road/pond sides etc. But it is just 8' and wouldn't do the job. It rests on a roller, which really wouldn't be ideal for my pasture needs of cutting to a min of 8".

I'm looking for thoughts...
 
   / Mowing 85ac pastures... and no time to do it consistently. #2  
Sounds like someone's ready to up his game:devilish:
Kubota-2016-kv_DM4028-DM4032-DM4032S-1.jpg


Sorry, not much help I've never experienced the tractor wheels knocking down enough grass to kill it.
 
   / Mowing 85ac pastures... and no time to do it consistently.
  • Thread Starter
#3  
That's kind of what I'm thinking, but a flail mower rather than discbine.

But all the large format flails I see are set at less than 4" cutting height... which is just way to short. I don't want less than 8".

 
   / Mowing 85ac pastures... and no time to do it consistently.
  • Thread Starter
#4  
 
   / Mowing 85ac pastures... and no time to do it consistently. #5  
If it were me, I would find a guy who wants to lease some acreage for crops. I do not need 85 acres of mowed pasture. Instead of spending a lot of money and time to mow I would make a few $$ off the land.

BTW, we did this with about 40 acres of land when I was a kid. Both my dad and the farmer next to us were happy.
 
   / Mowing 85ac pastures... and no time to do it consistently.
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I'm really thinking something more like this setup, but leaving 8"

 
   / Mowing 85ac pastures... and no time to do it consistently.
  • Thread Starter
#7  
If it were me, I would find a guy who wants to lease some acreage for crops.

I took it out of row crops and I don't want it to go back. It was too hard to get good grass growing (although that is now the problem). I have been haying it, however, the weather has been hit and miss and I have excellent Timothy on 10ac which is still standing and gone well to seed. It breaks my heart, because I could have used that Timothy for feed this winter. But the people I keep finding, while 'good guys' don't get the job done in a reasonable time, and my hay suffers. I have alfalfa/orchard on 20ac which is 100% bloomed out and gone to seed. Both are so over time, that it drives me crazy. I've realized KY isn't a good place to make hay unless you have all the equip and time to use it yourself.

So I plan on putting the alfalfa into straight orchard/BG/Fescue pasture and just mow it. I'll be using it as horse pasture in a few years, so putting it back into row crops is a no go. I want to improve the fertility and those have severely pulled it out over the years before I bought it.

I do appreciate your recommendation however.
 
   / Mowing 85ac pastures... and no time to do it consistently. #8  
Consider dividing your 85 acres into uneven sections.

Let the horses graze over one small section at a time.

You can then aerate/renovate the horse pastures periodically.
Consider a Miller / 'Hay King' pasture renovator.
LINKS: Hay King pasture renovator reviews

Use a larger section or several large sections for hay.
 
   / Mowing 85ac pastures... and no time to do it consistently.
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Consider dividing your 85 acres into uneven sections.
Its broken up into paddocks, except for 40ac which I put into hay/alfalfa/Timothy.

I actually need to fence more for horses, but that won't alleviate the need to mow it. They can't keep up with the growth on their own. Its a good problem to have, I recognize this...

I'm just trying to figure out a better way to care for it to keep it from becoming overgrown.
 
   / Mowing 85ac pastures... and no time to do it consistently. #10  
Maybe get about 20 cows.
 
 
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