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8 years ago

16
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I've had a notion that's been on my mind for sometime. I guess with the weather slowing down spring work today I'll post it here. The area of Kentucky in which I live has what is called rolling type land. I have areas on my farm that are fairly level, but I also have some steep hillsides. These hillsides are in pasture but have been allowed to grow up a bit. I've been working as time permits to cut the brush, mainly consisting of cedars and honey locusts. I've been stacking the brush in gullies that the former owners allowed to form, and with some pretty impressive success. I had a few gullies when I bought the farm that were over my head which are now filled and growing grass. I mainly laid in the brush, tromped it down, then fed hay on it and this has really worked well. In years past the hills were bush hogged, though I think the tractors did more harm than good. The hills are breaking a way in places and rutted pretty bad from the bushhogging. My notion is to get the brush off, then try mowing the hills with a number nine set up with a 4 foot bar and my mules. We'll see how this goes. The thing that comes to mind is, I know they farm steeper ground in the Alps. I've read a little about hay making on these hillsides and I know it can be done. What I've seen though, when I looked into finding more info, is that there is no info to be found or it's in German, Swiss, Italian or French. Apparently they think no one in the English speaking countries care how to farm a hillside. Has anyone ever seen anything beyond a few videos of scything and a few short articles on hand made hay or walking tractors? My goals have been improving the farm, and I think in general I'm doing well. I think it's time to give a more serious look to the hillsides and beyond treating them like flat ground on it's edge, I figure there might be more helpful info out there. I plan to soil test, and I know it will need lime. I figure I can spread it on the top a little heavy and a little lighter as I go down and count on it work it's way down the slope. I don't have manure enough to spare on steep ground but I might figure a way of coming up with some organic matter to lay on the steep ground. I'm already putting my tobacco stalks there. We rotate the pastures on them, but this doesn't help with the brush, it'll have to be mowed. I know there has to be more that can be done than just letting it go back to timber that won't result in erosion.

vince mautino says 2016-03-05 13:34:07 (CST)



When I was a youngster in the 50's ,we didn't have flat piece of ground on the place. This was what some called rolling hills.
The not so steep,we stripped farmed with a tractor, corn alfalfa, oats.
The steeper, we hayed with a team of percherons.

it took some effort to stack hay on the hay wagon with out it falling off .

I think once you get the brush removed the mower and team could do the cutting.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Fort Causeway says 2016-03-06 09:48:14 (CST)



You could review "keyline design" started by PA Yeomans which is ideally suited to managing water and soil resources on rolling topography. One of his books, "water for every farm" has some real practical methods to institute infrastructure upgrades on the farm.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Billy Foster says 2016-03-07 11:22:07 (CST)



We have some very rocky, stumpy, brushy steep new pastures. These were areas that were clear cut several years ago and we have been wintering sheep on. after years of destroying a pull behind brush mower I found a walk behind brush mower (billy goat) was the best option. I was resistant because mowing 8 acres with a 2' cut mower is A LOT of walking but it goes everywhere and it does not break. In the past I would mow until I broke the mower, spend the time and money to fix it and then get back to mowing. Now I mow for a few hours every night for a couple weeks in July and it all gets done without any brake downs.
I know this is not the exact solution you are looking at but I have found that the walk behind mower is very gentle on the ground, no ruts or erosion.
Billy


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

JerryHicks says 2016-03-09 06:17:29 (CST)



I've got about 20 acres in these hillside pastures. I've mowed about half of it in years past with the scythe. Two of us could get a couple of acres a day if we stayed with it. I'm finding more and more that I like the scythe, but I have more profitable ways of spending my time. Though, I may have to still do some of it with the scythe. I've got a gravely walking tractor with about a 3ft deck, but I've found on those hillsides, it's about like fighting a bull. That deck catches those multifora snags or a cedar root and those handles are in the ribs. As much as I hate chemicals, I'm thinking of painting the stumps of the honey locusts with something as I cut them, hoping it might give me the edge to keep them under control. I'm thinking if I can get the brush under control the mowing machine will do the trick. I've had old guys around here who grew up further south in the more mountainous parts of the state tell me they used to mow ground rougher than mine but had to walk behind the mower. I've got one old mower that I plan to consider my "throw-away". I don't want to use my haying mower in those stobbs and rocks. I figure at the current time I'm getting less than a third of the use out the hillsides that I should be getting. If I can open it up a bit more there is a good bit of grazing on the hills and I'd like to get at it.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Klaus Karbaumer says 2016-03-09 19:44:08 (CST)



Have you ever thought about using goats, Jerry ? You would need very good fences, though. They do a terrific job of cleaning up brush and keeping it clean. That's what we use our nine goats for.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

So. Oh. Bill says 2016-03-09 20:30:44 (CST)



I am about 40 miles north west of you as the crow flies and share some of the same problems with the hills. Our farm is in the river hills of southern Ohio. My next door neighbor is the Zimmer Power at Moscow.. The land runs from rolling to very steep, with the pastures on the worst areas. One thing to remember is lime is your best friend. With a good PH the grass grows better with thicker roots and is the best way to control erosion on these hills. I think cutting the brush and painting the stumps as fast as you can is the only thing that stops them from sprouting. I use something like Round up that I carry in a plastic jar and paint those stumps just as I cut them. It works.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

NoraWI says 2016-03-10 10:18:54 (CST)



I did the *cut and paint the stumps with RoundUp* thing on honey locusts 10 years ago and found they were sprouting from the roots the next year and ever after. Of course, the small trees were easier to cut but it was a pain anyway. I think that excellent fences (or a solar fencer and movable sheep mesh) and goats or sheep is your answer to the problem after the initial clearing.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Billy Foster says 2016-03-11 06:10:51 (CST)



Jerry I hear you about the gravely mower, they are a killer. Had one for years and found the only thing it was really good for was beating me up. The Billy Goat mower is a world different than the gravely, it is well balanced and does not fight you like the gravely does. Around here a lot of rental companies rent them out, maybe you can rent one if you want to giving one a try. I was very skeptical about walk behinds because of my experience with the gravely but tried my father in-law's and realized very quickly it is a different animal.
My "forester" friend said he uses a spray bottle with concentrated roundup to squirt the stump within an hour of cutting it. he said maybe 2 hours but no longer than that. He said it works very well when you do it during the growing season and spray right after cutting, it will kill all the roots including any coppiced growth associated with that plant.
Have you tried any Management Intensive grazing?


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

JerryHicks says 2016-03-13 10:20:37 (CST)



A lot of good advice and very pertinent to my situation. We do management intensive grazing with cattle and the mules, but have been thinking of getting into sheep. We get a few requests every year for lamb and mutton but really don't have the fence or the knowledge base for it yet. My experience with sheep hasn't been good but I was working with others opinions on them. My grandpa always told me the only thing dumber than a sheep was a man who would keep one, and I've since applied that comment to just about every type of livestock I've owned in a tense moment but have learned from my mistakes (I hope!). I do like lamb and cook a leg twice a year at St. Patrick's day and Easter, so I know I'm good for at least one a year. I kept a milk goat for a while and that could be feasible too. I have one mower that I plan to leave a four ft bar on to mow the hillsides and plan to give that a go. I have been watching a test down in Lexington on various forms of brush control and the cut and paint method does seem to be going well for them. I also know I need lime. I plan to lime the flatter fields by having it trucked in and spread for me. I've spread some lime using my manure spreader and it worked but wasn't very evenly placed. I followed with the disk and it seemed to do just fine. I would like feed back from folks on lime spreaders though. I've been told repeatedly that those old box lime spreaders don't work. That the lime clumps and won't flow through them. Does anyone have any thoughts on this or suggestions? A favorite model or alternative method altogether? I've also dropped bag lime on a small area, evenly spread and then busted the bag, and threw it over the surrounding area with a shovel. It was less than ideal, but as I've said before, the lime is much better on the ground than in the bag and what ever it takes to get it there. I've set many goals for improvement in several aspects of the farm this year, and liming and fertility is one. Hillside management is another facet but of course it all plays together in it's own way.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

So. Oh. Bill says 2016-03-13 21:27:25 (CST)



Spreading lime on steep hills requires a lot of small loads and careful planning on how you maneuver the steep part safely. What ever spreader you use must have very steep sides or the lime wont flow down. If you buy bulk lime, go with the coarse grind and when you receive a load make sure to put it on plastic and cover it with a tarp to keep it dry. Once it gets wet it becomes very hard to work with. I have seen people use the nine ft. wide drop spreaders the we used to spread fertilizer when we raised tobacco years ago. It only held about one thousand pounds and was filled with a shovel one scoop at a time , but it worked pretty good.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

So. Oh. Bill says 2016-03-14 13:37:29 (CST)



I think the #9 with a four foot bar will do the job very well. They make a sickle bar section that is heavy duty, chrome plated and is very wide serrated which gives more cutting area. It's called Tiger Shark by Herschel. It's only been out for two years . I have never seen anything outlast and out cut them. That is the only thing that I use on my haybine and my # 9. My dad mowed our pastures with a team of Percherons and a #9 when I was a kid and made the place look like a golf course.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Billy Foster says 2016-03-14 14:00:54 (CST)



I made a outer shoe to clip pastures with, it lifts the bar about 6 inches above the ground. It is high enough that I can get over the rocks and stumps on one of our rough pastures. I hold the inner shoe at the same height using a chain around the pole. I got the idea from and old JD manual.
I posted some pictures, hope they come though.
Billy


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

JerryHicks says 2016-03-15 07:05:28 (CST)



I wish I had read your post before looking at the pictures! I was wondering what that chain around the tongue was for. That is a good idea. I had never seen that done before. That would solve my issue of only have the one wheel for the outside shoe, as well. How do you like the dolly wheel? I have one, but took it off and went back to the straight setup. I heard plenty of pros and cons for and against using one. I took mine off because I had a guy want to trade for the mower it was on, and by the time we got down to brass tacks, I kept the dolly wheel and my sealed bearing before we finally came to terms on a trade. The next mower handled just fine and I never but the dolly back on. I had a McCormick seven foot bar that I had intended to put on for pasture clipping but one of my Amish neighbors wanted it more than I and I let him have it. I had planned to put the seven foot bar on the clipping mower with the dolly wheel and the weed clipping wheels.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

K.C. Fox says 2016-03-15 22:03:26 (CST)



On pg 211 in L Millers book the weed cutting attachment is shown it does it a little different. I cant see anything wrong with your set up looks like it will work OK. The only reason we use a tongue truck is to keep the proper tongue height of 31" with what ever size of horses or mules we mow with.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Billy Foster says 2016-03-16 06:44:43 (CST)



I really like the tongue truck. Keeps the mower the correct height and keeps the vibration of the horse necks. I have small horses so it really simplified things for me. It also allowed me to set the mower up to hook 3 which makes the work easier for them as well.

Billy


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

So. Oh. Bill says 2016-03-19 19:28:30 (CST)



Billy Foster, That is a good looking mower rigging. The chain looks like it works well with the outer shoe and that is a neat bracket that you have to hook the 3 horse evener. I would like to see it close up as this is something that I may use on my #9 for hilly pastures.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum


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