Field/paddock care - what kit do I need?

[tomw2000]

We bought a new place recently that has more land - one of the reasons being to have space for the wife's horses.

Previously the horses have been kept at livery - so we've never had to concern ourselves with looking after the land they're kept on.

Basically, what kit (tractor/gubbins) would I need to be able to take care of/top around 6-7 acres of paddocks?

I'm happy to pay every so often to get the experts in. But figure I might like a go myself and am guessing my sit-on mower won't cut it (*groan*).

[Mark Benson]

We have sheep on ours (and we have more woodland than grass), so we don't bother to top or make hay, but a neighbour has a local farmer come in to make silage from her 6 acres - she takes enough for her horses, he has the rest. This very much depends on the quality of the grass though, if it's full of docks (often the case with horses), thistles or nettles you'll need to deal with them first - Grazeon 90 is a good product but you've missed the boat somewhat this year.

Otherwise, a small tractor and a flail mower will keep the grass topped, but it seems a shame to waste the hay/silage making opportunities.

[anonymous-user]

We've got about 3 acres that we take hay from. We use a local agricultural contractor to do the work - spraying (if needed), harrowing, rolling, cutting, baling and wrapping (if required). Buying all the kit to do it yourself on 7 acres would cost a lot. If you're not using the hay then you'll have to be cutting it pretty often too.
Mike

[Condi]

Take care of, or make hay from?

If you want to buy in hay and just use it as a paddock then not much really. I would have a small tractor, a mower and a cultivator of sorts to pull out the grass swards. If you want to start making hay then your best getting a contractor - although unless you have one next door I hate to think how much that would cost per bale off 6 acres! You'll need a mower, hay turner, baler, as well as the (other) mower and cultivator for your general maintenance.

Anyway, tractor;

For my money it would either be a modern small tractor like a Kubota or an older, bigger machine like a Ford 4000. Both have PTO, modern one is likely to be 4wd, not that you'll ever use it, but a bigger one can handle bigger kit and has a lot more character about it. You might get power steering on an older one, again, its nice but not really required. Both are likely to cost between 2 and 4k. Something along the lines of

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ford-Force-4000-tractor-/280...
or
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/john-deere-1630-2wd-tractor-...

Mower - something simple and cheap to run
Used ones of these

http://www.ryetec.co.uk/mowers_flail10.html
http://major-equipment.com/product/three_point_lin...

As for chain harrows or a cultivator;

http://www.opico.co.uk/agmac/grass-harrow/index.ht...

Or a chain harrow. Just something to pull through the bottom of the grass, spread any st about and stimulate new growth.



The whole set up should easily be yours for £5k, probably less. Go to auctions and see. They are all very simple mechanical bits of kit and there isnt a lot on them which cant be fixed. Plus its rather good fun!

[racing green]

We have paddocks at work for horses - about ten acres. For this we have a small tractor, 8ft topper, 9ft grass harrow, fertiliser spreader, and 8ft roller. In addition there is a horse manure vaccuum called a terravac which gets towed behind the tractor to remove droppings every couple of weeks (its better than by hand and the machine will happily suck huge lumps straight up). Add to this a strimmer for going around fence lines, hedge trimmer for cutting back hedges and clearing electric fences and a tractor mounted rake for the sand school and there you have it. In terms of keeping the grass divide the paddocks and rotate the horses. Top after use and feed to keep grass healthy. Would recommend small tractor, chain harrow and some sort of mower as a minimum. A small garden fertiliser spreader would be adequate for your field size. Strimmers are invaluable as they can be a good way of removing those plants the horses don't touch such as nettles and docks, decent barrow and rake. And especially important somewhere for all the crap to go especially if your using shavings which are difficult to get rid off. All our horses are on rubber mats so only poo which goes into the compost bins. Hope this helps.