I just read through this thread with interest as I also have a few acres (about 8-9 acres of a larger 20-acre lot) of pasture/hay ground that is rough as a cob that I'd like to smooth out as economically as possible.
It's currently a mixture of brome, red clover (I think), and weeds. The smoother parts of the parcel were hayed pretty regularly in the years before we owned it, but we had not kept that up in the years that we've owned it (9 years or so).
Last year we paid a company to clear the portion of the land that had not been previously hayed on a regular basis of the cedar trees and buffalo berry shrubs. This year I finally got around to asking the guy who does the neighbor's if he'd do ours and he agreed. He mowed, raked, and baled pretty much the whole 20 acres (both what had been previously mowed and what had been recently cleared).
Eventually, I'd like to maybe do the haying myself, just for fun and an excuse to use my old tractors. I currently don't have ready access to any tillage equipment, but I am a member of an antique tractor club, so that might be an available resource.
I've been wondering what would be the right process/approach to use to go about smoothing out the portion of the property that has been cleared and hayed once. I'm not aware of any rocks/boulders to speak of, but the cedars and other brush were cut off flush with the ground, so there are some (relatively small) stumps lurking out there that I'm guessing may be a consideration when doing any kind of tillage with something other than a dozer.
I'd guess if I asked some of my tractor club members to plow it up, I'd get some takers, but with the stumps in play, perhaps not. I sure wouldn't want to expose my fellow club members or myself to equipment damage or danger.
My endgame is just to keep it as a mixture of brome/clover that gets cut and baled once a year. The lack of mowing for a number of years has led to significant weed pressure, so I'd like to get that under control and then maintain a nice clean stand of brome and clover.
I'd appreciate any thoughts, ideas, questions, or lookouts from the group.
Edit: I forgot to mention that the portion that was cleared and I'm looking to smooth out is also fairly hilly. It's basically a draw from the northwest to the southeast of the attached picture and outlined area.
It's currently a mixture of brome, red clover (I think), and weeds. The smoother parts of the parcel were hayed pretty regularly in the years before we owned it, but we had not kept that up in the years that we've owned it (9 years or so).
Last year we paid a company to clear the portion of the land that had not been previously hayed on a regular basis of the cedar trees and buffalo berry shrubs. This year I finally got around to asking the guy who does the neighbor's if he'd do ours and he agreed. He mowed, raked, and baled pretty much the whole 20 acres (both what had been previously mowed and what had been recently cleared).
Eventually, I'd like to maybe do the haying myself, just for fun and an excuse to use my old tractors. I currently don't have ready access to any tillage equipment, but I am a member of an antique tractor club, so that might be an available resource.
I've been wondering what would be the right process/approach to use to go about smoothing out the portion of the property that has been cleared and hayed once. I'm not aware of any rocks/boulders to speak of, but the cedars and other brush were cut off flush with the ground, so there are some (relatively small) stumps lurking out there that I'm guessing may be a consideration when doing any kind of tillage with something other than a dozer.
I'd guess if I asked some of my tractor club members to plow it up, I'd get some takers, but with the stumps in play, perhaps not. I sure wouldn't want to expose my fellow club members or myself to equipment damage or danger.
My endgame is just to keep it as a mixture of brome/clover that gets cut and baled once a year. The lack of mowing for a number of years has led to significant weed pressure, so I'd like to get that under control and then maintain a nice clean stand of brome and clover.
I'd appreciate any thoughts, ideas, questions, or lookouts from the group.
Edit: I forgot to mention that the portion that was cleared and I'm looking to smooth out is also fairly hilly. It's basically a draw from the northwest to the southeast of the attached picture and outlined area.
