What next?

[warhammer]

My wife and I purchased our farm two years ago.
There was 9 acres that was terraced and not level enough to be row cropped. That portion was left vacant with no brush management for the last 20 years or so.
Shortly after we took posession I bush hogged everything I could. The result can be seen in the aerial picture.
Now since I want to get this acreage back into pasture I have had the rest of it cleared.
What do I need to do on the ground next to smooth it out?
Will using a Yard rake to gather up the small debris and then discing it a few times do it?

Warhammer

 

[AKfish]

When you say "Yard" rake - I'm guessing you mean a 3pt landscape rake, yes? If so, then yes, that would work for most everything less than the diameter of your arm and around 6-7' in length.

Smaller branches and larger limbs is usually by hand and/or FEL grapple - if you've got one of those on your tractor.

Can you burn those piles or will you bury them? I buried a few of mine and I made a mess of my top soil and organic material... it all ends up mixed in with the lower soil zones and it will take a number of year's before those spots are as productive as the other areas in my fields.

So, I burn my piles at present.

A disc would do the job - providing you don't have a great deal of roots and other heavy debris. Any significant woody debris will make your soil prep work a PITA. And it won't matter what attachment you use - rototiller, disc, plow - they will all buck and jump and not do a very good job.

Now... if you know somebody with a mulcher or a Meri-crusher - you can alleviate your woody debris problem - real fast!

It's been my experience that roto-tilling does a better job of mulching the sod, breaking up the root wads of grasses and shrubs and leveling than a disc with fewer passes and saved fuel.

That's what I do to get things "black" after all the woody stuff is removed.

Good luck. Nice pictures. Quite the natural "Oasis" you have there. I'll bet the deer, turkey's and other critters were very much at home there.

AKfish

 

[MarkV]

Looks like you are in farm country. If you have a neighbor with a big tractor and heavy heavy disk it would chew up the small stuff and incorporate it into the soil to rot.

MarkV

 

[yellowdogsvc]

My wife and I purchased our farm two years ago.
There was 9 acres that was terraced and not level enough to be row cropped. That portion was left vacant with no brush management for the last 20 years or so.
Shortly after we took posession I bush hogged everything I could. The result can be seen in the aerial picture.
Now since I want to get this acreage back into pasture I have had the rest of it cleared.
What do I need to do on the ground next to smooth it out?
Will using a Yard rake to gather up the small debris and then discing it a few times do it?

Warhammer

I think it would depend on what part of central texas. I live in s. central texas and "yard" rakes last about 10 minutes in the tough ground. You might want to rent a skid steer and harley style rake to really get it smooth. Might check out a landscape rake by rockhound, too, as a rental. It will backdrag, level, and clean up small debris at the same time.

also, a brush mulcher going backwards would remulch the debris and smooth the ground out.

 

[warhammer]

Yes a 3pt curved tine rake is what I have. I am in Central Texas towards the east end of Williamson County.

I plan on burning the piles after they dry out for a couple of months. I am hoping to get at least a good start well in advance of summer burn bans.

The ground here is blackland and you have to really look for any rocks. There are some stumps and roots although not many considering how much stuff was removed. I am figuring that I will have to disc it with a bunch of passes and that it will be an ongoing project to smooth it out.

I am thinking of spreading some winter rye seed in hopes that some of it will grow and provide a little erosion resistance. Not sure if I have missed the window for that or not.

The only critters I saw when it was overgrown were rattlesnakes, wild hogs and coyotes.

I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on fencing this area in to run some cows and I am looking forward to that.

Warhammer

When you say "Yard" rake - I'm guessing you mean a 3pt landscape rake, yes? If so, then yes, that would work for most everything less than the diameter of your arm and around 6-7' in length.

Smaller branches and larger limbs is usually by hand and/or FEL grapple - if you've got one of those on your tractor.

Can you burn those piles or will you bury them? I buried a few of mine and I made a mess of my top soil and organic material... it all ends up mixed in with the lower soil zones and it will take a number of year's before those spots are as productive as the other areas in my fields.

So, I burn my piles at present.

A disc would do the job - providing you don't have a great deal of roots and other heavy debris. Any significant woody debris will make your soil prep work a PITA. And it won't matter what attachment you use - rototiller, disc, plow - they will all buck and jump and not do a very good job.

Now... if you know somebody with a mulcher or a Meri-crusher - you can alleviate your woody debris problem - real fast!

It's been my experience that roto-tilling does a better job of mulching the sod, breaking up the root wads of grasses and shrubs and leveling than a disc with fewer passes and saved fuel.

That's what I do to get things "black" after all the woody stuff is removed.

Good luck. Nice pictures. Quite the natural "Oasis" you have there. I'll bet the deer, turkey's and other critters were very much at home there.

AKfish