to rake or not to rake

[Green Acres Homestead]

I need some advice. I am very new to this farming thing. Just moved back to Cape Breton and trying to recondition a hay field. I have a kubota tractor and picking up a sickle bar mower today.

Purpose is to make the field look better and down the road have a hay field.

The filed is overgrown in yellow weeds and old hay. I do not have a rake so I am thinking about just mowing and not raking it because I do not have a rake yet. Yes it will make it look better but what is the impact of not raking. Will it kill everything if i just leave it sit there?

 

[Gary Fowler]

Raking it would just windrow it up and might kill the grass under the big roll of grass. Better to leave it as it falls.

If you are just cutting to clean up weeds and grass, I would use a bush hog (shredder) rather than a sickle. You want to shred the grass up so it will decompose faster.
Unless it is very thick and high, I don't think either mowing method would require raking and removing the grass but it might yellow up the grass a bit before it dries up enough for the new grass to poke thru. It takes a lot of effort to kill grass by shading it.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Thanks big time.

 

[powerscol]

You can also check with a neighbor that wants hay for his cows, or even let them run cows for a week or two. will clean it up fast.

 

[jbooth]

Are you allowed to burn? Burning is the best, cheap, and easy way to control brush and weeds in our natural grasslands in KS. Spring burning every 2 years is a requirement on Federal CRP* that has been restored to native grasses. Once it is has been shaped up, haying will control the brush and weeds.

*Conservation Reserve Program.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I "accidently" burned off about 5 acres of pasture grass last winter when a fence row burn got out of hand. The grass that was burned off came back quicker and grew better than the un-burned area. The burning got rid of the large clumps common with Dallas grass when it isn't mowed properly

 

[bigbull338]

you can just shredd the field and leave it laying flat.

 

[suzy]

I am using a sickle mower to beat back a pasture that has 'poplar creep' coming in from the next pasture. Made two passes and have been pitching the hay over the fence to cows. The grass was so high it wrapped around the pto.
Spare yourself the heart attack I almost had when you hit a really thick patch of hay or thistles at perhaps a titch too slow of rpm...the whole thing swings back at a very unnatural angle! You can fix this by backing the fixed part into the part that has swung away. I don't know who engineered this but I was pretty impressed with the whole idea of it...Mine is an old Massey Ferguson mower.