Repairing hog damage

[JazzDad]

The feral hogs have come through and destroyed about 5 acres of native grazing pasture. I want to get this leveled out before the winter rains come, because in no time again it will be spring. (Funny how fast the seasons pass now.)
I'm thinking I need a disk harrow to break up the high spots, then some type of dragging device to level it all out. There are some holes about 18 inches deep, and some mounds almost as high. The tractor is only 19HP, so I am leaning toward a 4' disk. The future might include planting some food plots. Do you see flaws in my plan?
Any advice?
Bret

 

[Renze]

with only 19 hp you wont be able to do much more than to bust some weed germs, let alone smooth hog holes. and, a 19 hp is a narrow thing isnt it ?

I dont know what size of truck you own, but to me it sounds that the average truck would have a bit more guts than than your 19 hp tractor... disking is all about speed, momentum. The faster you go, the better the result. When disking through holes, you could tumble over with the narrow tractor, where your truck has springs and shocks all around.

 

[Nat]

That will definitly work, but I have found in the past that a landscape rake is one of the most indispensible pieces of equipment that I have. I use it to smooth the drive,level rough ground, pile brush, spread gravel/dirt, and ,oh waay, landscape.
I built mine, a 72" for a 3PH and love it. I used it today to windrow a lot of small rocks on a place I am going to sow in grass. HTH, later, nat
BTW the B allis in the pic is about 19-20 HP

 

[Soundguy]

Sounds like Box balde work to me... 19hp and a 4' blade.. and just keep it skimming the ground and drive all over the place.. maybee a chain darg afterwards if needed? depends on the vegitation...

soundguy

 

[JazzDad]

The box blade would be useful for driveway work, also. I'm just concerned (not ever having used a box blade) if I could actually smooth the dirt out. Methinks the tractor's front wheels, going through the holes, would cause the blade to dip and gouge. My little CUT doesn't have drift control.

I like the idea of the landscape rake, if that would do the job; same concern about the ups and downs.

Perhaps I'm trying to do more things than one implement is capable of. The primary job is fixing this pasture damage. The cows are not happy.

 

[Tractors4u]

Go with the box blade. If the ground is dry and hard the rake is not going to get it done. Regardless of the holes and the holes and the tractor's front end going down and the box going up, the box will do the job. It might take a few passes, but it will do it. I was fixing a pasture with mine Saturday. Mine didn't have holes from hogs, but from growing corn there for a couple of years.

I was pulling a 5 ft box behind a 36hp Kubota in 3rd gear. It was fun.

The box blade would be useful for driveway work, also. I'm just concerned (not ever having used a box blade) if I could actually smooth the dirt out. Methinks the tractor's front wheels, going through the holes, would cause the blade to dip and gouge. My little CUT doesn't have drift control.

I like the idea of the landscape rake, if that would do the job; same concern about the ups and downs.

Perhaps I'm trying to do more things than one implement is capable of. The primary job is fixing this pasture damage. The cows are not happy.

 

[wushaw]

If your 19hp tractor is 4wd then you could use a 4ft disk...with many passes then a dragg of some fashion...chain link fence, tires, log or just whatever to smoooth things out.

 

[farmerjim]

if your going to disc it up it will probably take a few passes w/ a small tractor to break it all up. then b4 seeding it up go over it 1 time w/ the disc and if possible attach a piece of pipe or wooden post to the rear of the disc that way as you disc you smooth it out at the same time then just seed it up. we used to/ i still see the large farms doing the same thing b4 seeding. we used to use d rings and some chain attached to a piece of utility pole set about 5ft off the back of the disc seemed to work well although we had a 10ft disc. i bet the same setup would work w/ a smaller disc as well.

 

[RonR]

5 Acres with a 4 ft implement sounds like a lot of seat time to me; you can interpret that as good or bad............

I'd not want to drive my truck or tractor very fast in a field that has 18" holes. Drop a wheel in that and you could do some damage, unless you can see them well.

I'd probably go with a disk. Other options would be to hire a local farmer and his disk or chisel plow. He could make two passes with a 75HP tractor and implement in 2 hrs or less. Or see if you can rent a larger tractor and implement to do it yourself.

Have you dispatched the feral hogs, or will they come back to "help you" with the next crop?

My two cents.
ron

 

[RobJ]

Yeah I think you are going to have to start all over again, heavy disk, then a big drag. For big work around here they use either an old cattle guard or 3 tractor tires bolted together. The old problem is the digging, you know how if you dig a hole, save all the dirt, then fill it right back up...you'll still have a hole, because of compaction, it seems you always need more dirt.

Hogs can make a huge mess of things.

 

[JazzDad]

Thanks for all the replies.

" Have you dispatched the feral hogs, or will they come back to "help you" with the next crop?" No, you can't get rid of them all. We can only try to diminish their numbers.

I am trying to avoid putting mesh fencing all the way around our place, due to the cost. If I can repair the damage myself, with only purchasing one implement, again, I've contained costs. If I hire someone to clean up this mess, and can't keep the hogs out, it will happen again. And again. This has been the worst time, and we've lost a lot of grass.

 

[BTDT]

Good luck to how ever you decide to repair the damage. Something you might want to try that would be cheaper than fencing and continual repair, is put up a feeder or two in a corner of your place where you don't mind them being. Attract them to a spot that won't be a problem for you, and maybe your problem will be solved.

 

[Soundguy]

Not smooth dirt out? What do you think box blades do?

Angle the blade reall non agressive so it won't dig in, and then just drive with it dragging the ground.. if you find a hole.. no biggie.. the dirt pile int he box will fill it.

soundguy

The box blade would be useful for driveway work, also. I'm just concerned (not ever having used a box blade) if I could actually smooth the dirt out. Methinks the tractor's front wheels, going through the holes, would cause the blade to dip and gouge. My little CUT doesn't have drift control.

I like the idea of the landscape rake, if that would do the job; same concern about the ups and downs.

Perhaps I'm trying to do more things than one implement is capable of. The primary job is fixing this pasture damage. The cows are not happy.

 

[3RRL]

If it was me, I'd use the boxblade to sort of level all the piles and holes for a happy medium.
Then disc it to mix up the hard and soft spots to get a more even top structure.
Seed and drag/ cover up.

 

[john_bud]

I sounds like $$ are a factor too. If you get a box blade, set the scarifiers to the setting where they are only 3-5" lower than the bottom of the front blade and then set the rake (front to back tilt) neutral. Then drag it from the high spots to the low spots. You will need to time the work to when the soil is soft and will probably have to rig up something to add more weight to the box.

It will both break up the surface and move some dirt. You will have to cut the grass down as low as possible so it doesn't get in the way. (Discing it is best, but that's buying 2 attachments).

Final smoothing can be done wth a roll of chain link fence with a chain thru it. Attach the chain to the 3pt arms. Sounds goofy, works well.

jb

If I was close, I be asking for permission to bow hunt them bacons.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm not a big fan of the box blade and rarely use mine for anything but storing stuff on top of it. If the damage is light, then it will work fine at smoothing things out, but for large areas, and for really rough ground, I don't think it's a very usefull tool.

I have hogs on my land and they do some damage from time to time. I have a pretty good selection of implements and tractors to use, but my favorite is my log drag. I have an 8 foot length of oak that's almot 2feet thick and has cyclone fence wraped around it. Then the fence drags behind the log. I have a chain bolted to either side of the log, and I just hook it over a tow ball on my draw bar.

The first few passes are always the toughest because of the roughness of the rootings, but then it starts to smooth out and you can pull dirt from the high spots to fill the low spots. The weight of the log will crumble the large dirt clods and the fence will break them down and make it smooth.

If it doesn't work, you're not out very much money. I found mine to be very useful at smoothing my trails and even wiping out tracks to see what's around during the night.

Here's a couple pictures of mine.

Eddie

 

[JazzDad]

I appreciate all the responses. It sounds like I need to do some experimenting to see what will work with my soil type. I like the idea of dragging around a chuck of wood (cheap) wrapped with some chain-link (always have scraps of that laying about). Maybe a railroad crosstie would be a good choice?
Oh, how I wish you could come hunt these critters, John. One night we were out in the back pasture and saw a herd of about 25, ranging from (somewhat) cute little piglets up to giant sows. Thinking about the guy who runs dogs after these hogs, I turned to my wife and said, "Watch this". I started baying like a pack of dogs, and you should have seen those pigs take off. As soon as I stopped, so did they. I let out a few more yelps, and again they were on the move. Unfortunately, I can't keep that up all night, every night. Besides, it wouldn't be long before they took me away to the State Hospital at Rusk.

 

[JazzDad]

We've got traps out, Rob. The acorn crop is so good this year, it's hard to get the hogs to come into the traps. Our Wildlife Management Area predator control guy (TEXAS MASON CATAHOULA TRAINING HUNTING CATAHOULA HOG DOGS) will be running his dogs soon, now that the temperatures are cooling off.