Things I've learned today, you can live rural and still have HOAs. Good luck on your endeavor.
Acreage tips from the Fanatics
- Thread starter cdnlngld
- Start date
I would really like to plant a row of magnolias along the road. There are some evergreen and apple or chery trees already on the property. I would also like a small grove of conifers like some white pine or something.
That's essentially what self care boarding is. You grant them access to the facilities pastures etc. I would like to keep the riding areana for riding.
Can you tell me a bit more about this? Weed control is a pain and we have a lot of grass to try and keep clean. Do you apply it yourself or do you have someone put it down? Does it really work for multiple years? Do you have a rough cost estimate?
There you go. Have fun. Don't forget a few Redbuds and White Dogwoods (the pink are OK too but I think overrated, and sort of look out of place when they bloom, IMO).
when i was looking for an acreage there was one for sale that didn't allow for certain dog breeds and also no cattle because the guy down the road had cattle.
i think the term is covenants
I found this. Plan on planting trees that are safe for horses and farm animals in general. Looks like you should stay away from oaks and maples, then.
The Best and Worst Trees & Shrubs for Horse Pastures - Your Horse Farm
Many of us may not think too much about the trees or shrubs on our property, but if we didn’t have them, our farms would likely be much less
Your Magnolias are on the OK list! Also Hackberry and Sweetberry trees are also very nice, if you train/prune them properly when young (any tree, crooked not allowed). I'm talking about you, Redbud!
OK CdnlnGld,
I've Got something similar to that.
13.75 Acres total - 8 Acre Property with 1.5 Acre Pond / 4 Acre Pasture / 1.75 acres of ditch to mow, Barn with 5 stalls and no indoor riding arena (that sounds nice congrats). I Have almost exactly 6.75 acres to mow on the property and the 4 acre pasture I have hayed for me (except when I mow it 5 or 6 times year.)
Telling people what they should use to do the work they have is like telling someone how to choose their spouse. It almost always gets you in a fight or belittled. I'm going to give my opinion and you can do with it what you want.
Here's the main equipment I have:
John Deere F932 - I use this for trimming along fence, around buildings and under and around trees.
John Deere 1600T Series II
TYM T390 Millenium with a front end loader
3 Point Attachments:
Post Hole Digger with 8" Auger - Need to dig a post hole or plant trees or bushes?
6' Tiller - Got a garden? What else are you going to do with all the mucking?
7' down reach back hoe - Not a necessity, but it VERY handy when you need to dig anything.
7' Blade - good for spreading and plowing snow, however, don't use as much anymore
6' Box Blade - Very handy for dirt and gravel leveling, although there are some new tools that look pretty nice out there.
HD 12 Post Pounder (if anyone needs one, I've got one cause I am done with pounding posts for a while.)
6' Snow Blower - IF you use your tractor, MUCH better than moving snow with FEL
Middle Buster - Planting and harvesting potatoes, this is the ONLY way.
Where I have bought most all of this stuff:
Govdeals.com
Auctiontime.com
Purplewave.com
HINT: If you deal with a municipality, they tend to have a lot of nice older equipment. You just need to ask them for the service records. If they are a medium to large sized municipality, they are going to have a shop with mechanics that service everything. If the service records have every hose and belt and oil change, pay 20% extra for that equipment. They have kept them in tip top condition. Farmers MIGHT do that too, but it will be more rare. You might ask to talk to their dealer where they got the service done then.
1. I'd go and get a minimum 40 HP tractor with 4WD (there are options on this, but simple 2WD is irritating and not something you'll want to mess with.) I think I would like to have a 50-60 HP version now, but 40 HP has gotten me by this far. It needs a front end loader on it and you'll want to make sure it has at least a 2000# capacity. Don't think you need to go and get a new tractor, step down to an older model and get the HP you need. Tractors are a little like tanks, if they have had the fluids changed, they will last a LONG TIME. The tractor will be your most important tool and you will use it for everything. The FEL will become your muscle and your best friend. DO NOT TRUST WALKING UNDER YOUR BEST FRIEND UNDER LOAD! And BTW, find and use the user's manual. Tractors have a lot of stuff on them that you'll wonder what they do. Know what they do. Learn about float and regen on your FEL if it has it and things like float and the adjustments for the 3 point hitch. You'll not have to wonder why, "this thing isn't working like it should" later down the road. You'll also find a lot of very nice people in user's forums talking about everything you've been wondering about.
2. Get all equipment WITH ROPS AND USE THEM!
3. DO NOT MOW WITH THE TRACTOR! Belly mowers suck and screw up all sorts of activities that you SHOULD use your tractor for. See point #1. I don't care how "easy" it is to take the stupid thing off, it will be a PITA every time you have to do it and it will happen when you need to be doing something else.
4. With that said, get something specific to mowing. Here is where you can go 2 directions. You could get a smaller Zero Turn and zoom around fast OR you could go a little slower and use a larger deck 72" with something like what I have the F932 (although, I'd step up to a JD 1445) that you can also put a snow blower on.
5. Moving snow: For you, I'd get a front attachment for the 1445 and a cab (would be ideal) and then you'd have that place clean in a short time. If you like a neck ache, then you can get a nice snow blower for the tractor and run backwards all the time. I've been moving snow out here for 11 years. No matter how good you are with a bucket and float, you're going to leave a mess and have to mess around forever cleaning up all the lines that sill off the sides. AND the snow is in big piles and going to blow back in on one side or the other. Either way you go, get a blower and get that stuff as far away from the drive as possible. ALSO, the blower can be set to float above your gravel. NO matter how good you are with the bucket, you'll lose gravel with it more than a well set blower.
6. While you are at it make sure you have a good truck / suburban and a trailer with brakes. I have a couple trailers, but I use my flat 16' double axle car trailer the most. It is handy and can carry 7000#. I use a 2013 2500 Suburban with all the seats taken out with a flat piece of plywood and a little 2" X 4" structure across the back. It is like a 2500 with a topper, EXCEPT you can get a little more in and you have access all the way through. This is where there a TON of options depending on what you really need to do. But, I like the arrangement I have. (BTW, find a fire department getting rid of these, they take EXCELLENT care of their trucks. Mine's red, wink, wink.) One tool I would add in this area would be a 7' X 16' dump trailer. That would be an ideal piece, I've just never pulled the trigger. But, that beast would come in so handy just ask anyone that owns one.
7. I just found this stuff. If you like clean fence line, you might try this too: WeedSeal
Eventually, My place will be on this site. I'm taking pictures for them of a brand new installation. Mowing fenceline sucks and I really want to stop spraying chemicals to control grass. I'd suggest not doing it for 11 years before you do it.
I'm sure I will think of more later, I'll just add it on here.
Good luck, now I'll read what everyone else wrote during the 2 hours I spent doing this twice.
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I suggest 200 hours each of FarmVille and Hay Day to hone your skills.
Idiot you mean. I was about done and making a link, hit back or something and lost everything except:
OK CdnlnGld,
I've Got something similar to that.
Good thing I got to keep that, I would have been lost otherwise.
We had a local pest control service do the application for about 1 acre of pasture. Total cost was $375 plus tax. Our fall treatment consisted of a pre-emergent that should not need to be repeated for 2-3 years. Additional herbicides were applied to go after noxious and perennial weeds. They also included a granular pasture fertilizer. All products were safe for grazing animals. The Highnoon product does have a warning about using manure in gardens and flowerbeds because it can cause damage.
Herbicides used were Highnoon and Rejuvra. You can look up the product labels online.
So far it seems to have been pretty effective. What we haven't figured out yet is how to reseed areas where the pasture grass was completely overrun with weeds. Direct seeding won't work because of the preemergent. But we could add topsoil or possibly do a deep tilling. Hope this helps.
Well, we're here to help not chastise. Although, planning is a good thing. Equipment over time is not going to be a crazy thing, but you CAN get a lot done with the right tractor and an FEL, just not in the ideal way. Start there. LISTEN to everyone about the insurance. And, I am staying away from the crazy horse people talk for now.
EDIT: OK, I take that back. If you all aren't already pretty experienced horse folks. This may not be the best idea. Forgive me if I am getting the wrong impression, but it appears you may have NO experience by what some people have said in my cursory read. (IF that is not the case, just tell me to forget it.)
IF that IS the case. That is probably not going to go well.
If you really need to rent it, I'd rent the entire thing out to one individual and let them manage the entire thing. Have you ever heard horse owners "talk" to each other about how their horse is being treated by the other horse owners' horse at a boarding facility. It's a little like a helicopter parents at times. Horse folks can be a little touchy, no matter how cool they appear at first. Then, they can be pretty cool too. But, people who are going to want one stall at a place like yours, may ALSO not be horse people. Get two of them in the same joint and whammo.
Be careful, be very careful.
And once again, if you're seasoned horse folks, forget everything I just said.
But, still listen to my groundskeeping advice. Belly mowers suck!
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Under control, situation normal here.Idiot you mean. I was about done and making a link, hit back or something and lost everything except:
OK CdnlnGld,
I've Got something similar to that.
Good thing I got to keep that, I would have been lost otherwise.
We are just getting prepared. I think.Good thing I got to keep that, I would have been lost otherwise.
I use a 485x John deere to mow a couple 4 acre yards. Usually takes an hour with a 63 inch deck. 4-5 acres won’t take you all day unless you use a push mower.
You aren't trying hard enough. I need you to cut your time down to 45'! Do you hear me recruit?!
Maybe if I put guidance on it. I’m probably overlapping too much.
