Tiller Tiller or Hay King disc..?

[Farmwithjunk]

Mike - are you tilling the pastures because they're compacted, have too many weeds, or why? I'm plotting my pasture renovation right now and trying to figure out both tools and method. I'll probably restart my thread from a month ago shortly.

Is there any interest in no-till seeding of pastures that far north? Around here, most county extention offices rent no-till seeders per acre to county residents. If you're not dealing with compacted ground, no-till is fast and effective.

Again, commenting on soil conditions here, tillers aren't the answer to real compaction problems. Just not anywhere near deep enough. They do a great job of incorperating lime or fertilizer along with doing some to help level rough ground.

 

[Mike120]

Mike - are you tilling the pastures because they're compacted, have too many weeds, or why? I'm plotting my pasture renovation right now and trying to figure out both tools and method. I'll probably restart my thread from a month ago shortly.

Z - First of all, congrats on your new tractor!

That field was a cow pasture that I sprayed and disced last fall. Because I use a notched disk and didn't feel like making a lot of passes, the ground is a bit rough. I'll till it at a shallow setting to smooth it out a bit. Then I'll have the seed (Texas Tough - common & giant bermuda) mixed with the fertilizer. After I spread it, I'll drag it, roll it, and hope for a shower (not the rain we got for the last few months!).

In your case, I'd still suggest that you check with the extention guys to see what they recommend. If you can go the no-till route and use their equipment that's a great option to consider. My methods work for the ground I've got, and the configuration of my place (60% hay fields, 40% horse paddocks, arenas, grounds) and the equipment I've got.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Well, my pastures are currently 2.0 acres, and prior owners had 7 horses on them year round. I think this is a horse:acre ratio that barely qualifies as pasture rather than paddock. (We have only 2 horses, and are planning to expand to 3-4 acres of pasture.) I don't know for sure, but I strongly suspect that the soil in those pastures is badly compacted. Trying to figure out the best tools to use, and the fewest tools I can get away with. Local extension has a few things for rent, but probably not basic items like disc or plows.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Then I'll have the seed (Texas Tough - common & giant bermuda) mixed with the fertilizer.

Mike,
I'm interested in how long it takes you to till 11 acres. That will be quite a bit of seat time. How big is your tiller? How deep are you setting the till depth?

Are you shooting for horse pastures? Lots of folks that go to the expense of actually tilling their fields around here will have them sprigged/jigged with tifton hybrid bermuda. Just wondering of what your needs are? The tifton seems to shoot up a fresh cutting after a decent rain. Faster than coastal hay.

 

[Mike120]

Kyle,

Well it seemed like a good idea at the time.....

I got about a third done when it cleared up yesterday and this morning, but it's still too boggy and after getting stuck a couple of times my daughter said she had better things to do and wasn't going to pull me out again. So I quit. After all the rain we got this winter, it's probably too soon to be messing with that field but I wanted to get it ready before greenup started. I was planning on fertilizing the other fields next week and wanted to seed this one at the same time.

I'm using a 6' Brush Hog tiller (RTS-74) and I've got it set at the shallowest setting. I can run at a pretty good rate because the ground had been disked and all I want to do is churn it and smooth it out a bit. I didn't want to drag anything 'cause I knew I'd get stuck. If the dry weather holds out I may be able to finish it later this week. To answer your question though...if I were doing it right, at a reasonably deep setting, it would probably take three full days to do 11 acres. If it were dry, I can disc it, making a number of passes in about 5 hours.

This 11 acres is part of a 22 acre tract that I lease. It butts up against my hay field. Mine is already in Tifton, I love the stuff, and it's what I feed my horses. Half of the leased field is already in Texas Tough, that's why I'm doing the other half in it. I'll bale cow rounds off of it....we do squares with the Tifton. I thought about sprigging in more Tifton, but I hate to spend the money on land I only have a 3-year lease on.

For seeded forage Texas Tough seems to work well around here. It's pretty drought resistant and doesn't take much fertilizer. I use it in my horse paddocks for grazing. I did three of them last year in Cheyenne Bermuda and that stuff is even better, but very expensive. I'm waiting to see what the price is this year before I decide to do any more of them.