Mowing 4 acres

[countrryboy]

Is there any mowers that really chop up the grass so u could just leave it to rot without killing the grass below?

If not u could ct it and go over it with a trailed silage chopper just blowing the now chopped grass out the back. I'd imagine should be small and fine enough and well spread so not to cause the grass below to be suffocated.

But obviously going to cost u as no product to sell.

 

Depending wot u want to achieve but many birds and animals do not like areas with high trees as it gives a good perch for predators (raptors and corvids) someime better letting the hedge grow taller and wider provides better nesting oputunities

[woodyguy]

Trouble is if I leave it to rot then I maintain the fertility and I never get a decent hay meadow. So will have to cut and remove at least once per year. Other cut could be left. I could look at a small tractor and mower but it seems a lot of kit for something I don't need and will only be used twice per year.

[Alycidon]

Farmers wont mind to much what you do with the margins.

 

Have a look at the Countryside Stewardship schemes, your plot may be to small to qualify but you may be able to get some grant aid payments for your wild flower meadow. A friend has one. Grass can be cut for hay in the normal way but only after July 15th from memory and I dont think fertilizer can be used.

 

I dont think getting the hay yourself is viable for what will be maybe 200 bales a year especially as the quality from the wild flower meadow wont be good. Selling seeds from the wild flowers may be another option.

 

A

[GreenGui]

Would welcome some advice. I've recently bought a 4 acre meadow. Currently it is fertilised once per year then mown by a local farmer twice for silage. In return he cuts the hedges. The grass is native ie not rye but has poor species diversity.

I'm happy to cut the hedges and would like to stop fertilising so that like neighbouring meadows it can gradually become a wild flower meadow. I also wish to plant the edges with trees to increase the species diversity along the edges. So not attractive to a farmer.

I'm wondering what my options are. I've got a hayter rotary mower with a rear roller, so fine for a lawn but not for a rough meadow.

I guess I could get a contractor to mow it. Roughly what would that cost, say 2 cuts per year?

Or I could buy a second hand mower eg Hayter Condor, say £2k. I'm happy to spend a day mowing it each time. Are there other mowers you would recommend second hand.

Do I have other options?

 

 

I have been cutting 6 acres of ex farmland for the last 10 years with the same intent. First 8 years I used a flail mower behind my "crap chinese" tractor and cut once in the spring and once in autumn. It left so much debris on top of the sword that things just got worse year on year. For 2 years now I have cut it with an old pitman stick finger bar mower, turned and racked with an old belt rake and then baled with an old low density baler. The difference is night and day to the quality of the sword even in 2 years. But I have a tractor and thats not really what you want to hear... The old bit of kit are cheap though as others have said:thumbup1:

[Peter]

If it's taken 10 years to mow 6 acres I think you need a bigger tractor.

 

 

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[Welshwoodsman]

Trouble is if I leave it to rot then I maintain the fertility and I never get a decent hay meadow. So will have to cut and remove at least once per year. Other cut could be left. I could look at a small tractor and mower but it seems a lot of kit for something I don't need and will only be used twice per year.

 

 

Just trying this myself- i have 3 acres, its quite wet/damp and a 4x4 tractor is essential. I can't find a farmer for love or money who will top the field- so doing it myself. I got a flail mower, with a collector. That would be the answer, but my tractor isnt big enough, or the grass is too big. These 3 acres took 9 hours- so looking for a solution that is quicker. The wildlife trusts etc would remove the turf from any areas they were seeding, before sowing wildflower mix.

 

 

Sent by smoke signal from my teepee.

[GreenGui]

Peter - Tres Drole

 

Welshwoodsman - thats the look I achieved for the first 8 years, 5 ft high weed turned to 4 inch of heavy mulch:thumbdown:

[dustydave]

Another option is to get a jcb in to to scrape off some of the top soil to make banks around the edge of the land; if you have bunnies in the area they'll soon move in and establish themselves thereby keeping the edges grazed low.

 

The other option is to burn small sections off in January. I do this on a 9 acre site - burning about 1 acre per year; keeps the fertility low and kills off any small trees that are starting to grow. Not possible near to main roads and worth letting the firebrigade know before hand - otherwise someone will give them a call while you are doing it.

[woodyguy]

All interesting ideas. I'm particularly interested in those trying to establish traditional style hay meadows. Thankfully mine isn't 5 feet high with weeds in July but even so the mulch would be several inches thick if not collected. Cutting is easy and I could do that with my strimmer. Collecting is not so simple. Don't see many old fashioned square bales around these days. The problem with getting a small/ancient tractor is that you then need the mower, turner and bailer. All a lot of faff, expense and storage space for use once per year.

[Matthew Arnold]

Just trying this myself- i have 3 acres, its quite wet/damp and a 4x4 tractor is essential. I can't find a farmer for love or money who will top the field- so doing it myself. I got a flail mower, with a collector. That would be the answer, but my tractor isnt big enough, or the grass is too big. These 3 acres took 9 hours- so looking for a solution that is quicker. The wildlife trusts etc would remove the turf from any areas they were seeding, before sowing wildflower mix. [ATTACH]163450[/ATTACH][ATTACH]163451[/ATTACH][ATTACH]163452[/ATTACH][ATTACH]163453[/ATTACH]

 

 

Sent by smoke signal from my teepee.

 

Not picking up much grass there.