Newbie - Need Help Fixing Massive Cracks in Horse Pasture

[ChisholmRanch]

I agree it might be better to put the horses in a small area that he can keep smoothed out. It does take quite a bit of time to improve the organics in the soil, many years. I have never understood the people who haul away hay from their farms, they are depleting their organics. Much better to haul hay and other things such as wood chips, pine needles, hay, grass clippings and even weeds in to break down.

Thanks for all the great information here, I'm learning a lot.

I think my plan so far for management is to get some fences going to break up these pastures into smaller areas so that I can rotate them and work on areas without horses on them. That way I can take an acre or so and really get it going well to plan for the horses to be turned out there every July and August like was suggested. I like the idea of keeping it simple and manageable in the sense of what to do for the horses while we work on these larger issues.

I'm looking at a tractor in the 40hp range and if I end up needing to cultivate, I'll contract that out. From my additional research online, it seems as though if I did go in and get deep down, I would likely rarely if ever need to do it again with proper management from here on out. Am I correct there? If so, contracting it out instead of going higher hp and keeping such an implement seems much more wise...

 

[joeu235]

You need 10 hp per point on a chisel plow or 50 hp per shank on a sub soiler in the clay where I live.

 

[jenkinsph]

ChisolmRanch,
I don't see where you benefit much from deep tillage in this case. Think about adding in the amendments to a top layer of clay no more than 6 to 8 inches deep. You want to add the amendments to this top layer without turning too deep. The point being it takes a specific quantity to add these amendments to a 6" layer of clay, if you turn over a 12" layer it will take twice the amendments. Most grasses you will find grow in the upper 6 to 8 inches of the soil. I would focus on improving the top layer, that is a big enough endeavor itself.

I would hope you would consider a slightly larger tractor as you could easily handle the discing and planting. I have and would suggest a 60 hp tractor, in your case a slightly heavier utility tractor of 60 to 80 hp would make quick work of these smaller fields once the property is sectioned off. As an example I can rototill, smooth out, seed and roll a 4 acre field in a day's time with a long lunch break.