I hope someone can help me here. I have 3 horses that i cam currently boarding elsewhere. I have fenced in some of my acreage to move them on the property. Issue is that when I had the fenced in area bush hogged, there were small trees that got cut, I would say that they are an inch in diameter or smaller and they stick out of the ground 3-5 inches. I am really concerned about the horses stepping on the stumps that are left. I have been told that there is a piece of machinery that will pull them out sort of like a golf ball picker at a driving range. I am will to cultivate the area in order to make it safe for the winter and then plant the pasture appropriately next spring. I have other pasture that I can use then but it is not fenced. HELP, does anyone have any ideas how to remove the stumps that are left so that I can safely bring my horses home....
Making a Horse Pasture <--Help-->
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flusher
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For those small stumps, I'd get a middle buster plow from Tractor Supply ($150 or so) for your 3pt hitch and just plow them out by the roots.
That's my 2005 Kubota B7510HST (21 hp engine, 17 hp pto, 4WD, hydrostatic tranny) with a middle buster.
jgrreed
Platinum Member
Either lower your bush hog and let 'em
have it, or get out your chainsaw and be prepared to buy a new chain after you accidentally make ground contact a couple times...
-Jer.
have it, or get out your chainsaw and be prepared to buy a new chain after you accidentally make ground contact a couple times...
-Jer.
RPW
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What assets do you have available to you? Size tractor etc. How big is the pasture? I'd say for a simple method use tractor and boxblade with scarifiers all the way down and tilt boxblade to not collect any dirt. Run this around the pasture most likely in a crosswise pattern. After that you might be able to rake up with a HD york rake or else if there loose enough a bit of walking and plucking. Then you can use the rake to level the pasture and reseed. If using bermuda before seeding run a roller to compress the top, seed and a light raking to cover seed and roll again. I'm with you that if it's in the pasture a horse WILL find it and get hurt.
Good luck.
Good luck.
jcaron2
Silver Member
I've been through the same thing. I ended up borrowing a turning plow from a farmer neighbor. I turned the whole field over into furrows, then ran through it a couple of times with a disc harrow (which I happen to own, but you should also be able to pretty easily find one to borrow), going first in the same direction as the furrows, then across them. That broke up most of the big clods of clay and leveled things out a fair bit. Then I went over it several times in different directions with a drag. I happened to have a 16' section of crane boom that I towed around on a chain, but mostly I've seen people use steel I-beams or logs. Again, if you're friendly with any farmers in the area, they'll usually have something you can borrow for this purpose.
After dragging, the field should be nice and smooth and ready for planting. The small stumps will have mostly been buried to rot away in the future. Any that remain should be lying harmlessly on the surface.
If you do end up tilling the field this way (or having somebody else do it), it's also a very good opportunity to lime. Given that you had to have the field bush-hogged, it's pretty likely that the soil pH is lower than ideal for pasture grasses. It's pretty typical to put down anywhere from 1/2 to 2 tons of lime per acre (in most areas you can buy bulk lime by the ton, and they'll come spread it for free or for a small fee). Since tilling the lime into the soil is much, much more effective than leaving it on the surface, you could lime the field right before turning it (or really any time before you do the last pass with the drag).
Finally, depending on where you live and what the winter weather is like, you may also want to plant something this fall to minimize erosion until you get your real grass planted in the spring. Wheat and barley are two fairly common options.
whistlepig
Elite Member
If you have access to a loader you can shear them off just below ground along with an inch or less of topsoil. I do this all the time. Depends on how many small trees you have. If you have hundreds of them doing them one at a time with a loader or anything else wouldn't be an option.
SuperCobra
Silver Member
I've had good luck popping out stumps/trees this size with the tooth bar on the front end loader. My tooth bar has replaceable teeth and I'm considering replacing the middle tooth with a longer one for just this sort of task (popping out stumps, rocks, etc) to minimize damage to the ground from the other teeth. Anyone else do that (get long in one tooth)? Seems like a good idea.
whistlepig
Elite Member
I saw (I can't remember where) an attachment that bolted to the front of a loader. It was a "V" shaped thingy with serrations on it. The "V" was pushed against the stump until the stump seated in the bottom of the "V". Then they curled the bucket and popped the stump out. Don't know how well this works.
Ranger Rick
Gold Member
Where do you live? Is there any chance of getting the area tilled up and planted now. Fall is the best time to plant grass. You might also want to get some electric fence and fence off some other area to use as pasture until you get the new pasture established. Here is a link to an article on pastures form the Virginia extension service. Virginia's Horse Pastures: Grazing Management - Virginia Cooperative Extension
It will take some time to get it done and ready for the horses. Good luck, Rick
It will take some time to get it done and ready for the horses. Good luck, Rick
whistlepig
Elite Member
If he is going to turn his horses out on pasture this time of year it would probably not be a good time to work the soil. Soupy weather is coming soon and horses tear up enough of a pasture with their feet with out adding the worked ground to it. Perhaps he has alternate pasture to quarantine the horses. What we call a "sacrifice field". A field the horses are hayed during the winter to keep them from destroying the rest of the pasture with their feet.
jcaron2
Silver Member
Anybody know if small stumps like these will come out with a Harley Power Rake or a Rockhound? I've never used either but that might be another straightforward way to get rid of them. You can probably rent one with a skidsteer or hire someone who has one. Or, if you have a tractor that can do it, you can rent one that goes on the 3PH.
jgrreed
Platinum Member
If you're going to go to that trouble, look around your area for someone with a Fecon style mulcher. That'll deal with them in short order...
-Jer.
jcaron2
Silver Member
Wow! I'd never seen one of those before. Just watched a Youtube video of one. It looks to me like you could do a 5 acre field in an hour or two.
jgrreed
Platinum Member
Ya, depends on size, but they can clear some bush in a real hurry. If you want to see a real monster Youtube 'Ironwolf Slasher'.
Someone with a skidsteer mounted Fecon head could zip up and down your fencelines in a only a couple hours I'm sure. I don't know what others will do, but the guys that I used to associate with that had the mulchers wouldn't actually 'till' the soil like they do in the Ironwolf video.
I think the skidsteer machines billed out at ~$300CDN per hour.
Might be worth considering a flail mower for yourself?? Check out the Caroni's at AgriSupply. That'd chew up those 1" stumps I think.
-Jer.
Carykong
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Cultivation of your field and/or and pulling 1" tree stumps may not be necessary. Actually overkill from my perch. Your weed wacker can be adapted for a saw blade that could saw your tiny stumps flush to the ground without all the bending that would happen with a chainsaw. So hog it close as you practically can. With that visibility finish it off with your weed wacker sawblade. Good luck. As an aside. Hoedad with a sharp edge could flush up those tiny stumps with one stroke.
Thanks for all the replys, I live in Spotsylvania (Fredericksburg) Virginia. This is the only pasture that I have that I can use for this winter. This is my or will be my first year with the horses on the property. I am completely prepared to till the area and put the horses on hay until spring. I also have been thinking about the mud factor, but if I want to stop paying the monthly horse mortgage boarding fee, thats what I need to do. The stumps, if you can really call them that are only 1 inch or less in diameter. thats why i am concerned with them.
So Rick, how far from Spotsy are you?
I have a call in to someone to see what it will take to bush hog down at the lowest setting on the machine, just maybe with any luck they will just go away for the winter and I will cultivate the area early spring to get ready for next winter. I do have other areas but they are not fenced yet. I just bought the property early summer.
So Rick, how far from Spotsy are you?
I have a call in to someone to see what it will take to bush hog down at the lowest setting on the machine, just maybe with any luck they will just go away for the winter and I will cultivate the area early spring to get ready for next winter. I do have other areas but they are not fenced yet. I just bought the property early summer.
slaveToHorses
Gold Member
Gee, sometimes I wish I could send my horses back to the boarders! Your life changes quite a bit when you move them home. No more leaving the house whenever you want, no more vacations without arranging for a horse sitter, no more sleeping in (ever)...
You really must get rid of everything down to 6" below grade if you want it to be really horse safe. They dig in pretty deep with their hooves and can get tripped up by small stumps and roots, especially my Arabians. Not worth the risk. My horses run full speed as soon as I let them loose in a new pasture. Quite entertaining, if you know the field is safe.
Don't bother trying to remove those stumps individually. Heck your stumps are tiny. Best practice is to plow the field with either a deep running plow or subsoiler or rippers. That will not only help to prepare the field for disking and finishing but it will also get all the stumps and roots.
I build one of my pastures from pure virgin forest. Oh my what a job! I had 100+ft high Douglass Firs. The loggers used a huge LinkBelt trackhoe loader, a Cat D-8 with a stump buster spike on the rear (evil looking rig) and a Cat D-6. I followed with my backhoe, before then starting the plowing process. The rippers did the job of finding all the small stumps and burried roots, with my son walking behind hand clearing them before disking. That was one dirty summer. Virgin soil is dust powder. I always had to run down wind from the hand labor and had to position the backhoe so the dust would blow away from me. Even then we had to wear masks and bananas over our face!
You really must get rid of everything down to 6" below grade if you want it to be really horse safe. They dig in pretty deep with their hooves and can get tripped up by small stumps and roots, especially my Arabians. Not worth the risk. My horses run full speed as soon as I let them loose in a new pasture. Quite entertaining, if you know the field is safe.
Don't bother trying to remove those stumps individually. Heck your stumps are tiny. Best practice is to plow the field with either a deep running plow or subsoiler or rippers. That will not only help to prepare the field for disking and finishing but it will also get all the stumps and roots.
I build one of my pastures from pure virgin forest. Oh my what a job! I had 100+ft high Douglass Firs. The loggers used a huge LinkBelt trackhoe loader, a Cat D-8 with a stump buster spike on the rear (evil looking rig) and a Cat D-6. I followed with my backhoe, before then starting the plowing process. The rippers did the job of finding all the small stumps and burried roots, with my son walking behind hand clearing them before disking. That was one dirty summer. Virgin soil is dust powder. I always had to run down wind from the hand labor and had to position the backhoe so the dust would blow away from me. Even then we had to wear masks and bananas over our face!
SuperCobra
Silver Member
Sounds like we are neighbors. I'm in the Wilderness. I went through the same thing. I've been clearing myself. Got little stumps out - it is the big ones that are a pain. The size you describe it doesn't take too much to pull them out. I was pulling them out with my truck before i got a tractor. They might not be tall enough to get a choker to stay on but maybe something like this would work unless they are already too chewed up:
Bailey's - Heavy Duty Brush Grubber
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DcTxT6E3Ss&NR=1
I agree that if you just cut them off flush they will be exposed again in no time. I rented a stump grinder for some of the big ones I couldn't push over or pull out and even though I thought I ground them far below the surface some of the ones on the high ground are exposed after a couple of years or erosion.
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jcaron2
Silver Member
I'm right on the NC/VA border so I'm not too far south of you, and we finally moved our horses home about two years ago after two previous years of stuggling to get the pastures established. I don't know if things are different where you are or not, but I can at least pass on some of what we learned: First and foremost, it's pretty much mandatory to plant horse pastures in the fall. Every time I planted in the spring, the majority of the grass died during the hot, dry summer because it hadn't had the time or motivation to establish deep roots during the relatively short and rainy spring growing season. I don't mean it turned brown and went dormant until the fall rains, I mean it DIED - never to return. And that was WITHOUT horses on the pastures. The pastures that I've planted in the fall, on the other hand, have done amazingly well. (Too bad it took me so long to figure that out). I usually use wheat as a cover crop (I just mix in about 10 lbs of cheap winter wheat with each 50lb bag of grass seed before spreading or drilling). The wheat comes up within a week or two and grows (albeit slowly) all winter long. The grass lags behind a little, but also grows little by little all through the winter, protected to some degree from frost and erosion by the blanket of wheat. By spring time, the grass not only has well-established roots, but is also mature enough to take a normal dose of fertilizer without being burned. (If you're planning to graze horses you'll definitely, definitely need to fertilize in the spring - we have to fertilize every year). By late spring you'll have a nice hardy pasture that's ready to be mowed. Since wheat is an annual, once you mow it, it won't come back.
One more piece of advice: If you haven't done so already, get a soil test kit from your county's ag extension service (should be free) and get the soil tested. That way you'll know exactly what you need for fertilizer by spring time.
I'm not trying to tell you what to do; just thought I'd pass on some of what I've learned the hard way.
Good luck!!
Dave5264
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I was in a similar position last year, while I didnt have the stumps issue, what I can tell you is this:
-Ensure you have a minimum of 3 acres (acre per horse, and that may be a stretch)
-If your looking to have them on the pasture in the next 6 months, do not plow / till/ seed it now. it will be a mess if they walk in it and any grass that grows in the first 6 months will be pulled out by the roots.
-Divide your pasture into a few sections if you can, rotate the horses through to allow some pasture to recover
-designate a winter sacrificial paddock, the fall and spring wet seasons with 3 horses will trun a padock to mud in no time flat.
-re your stumps, id use a bush hog or some other mulcher /grinder to take em out and not disturb the rest of the grass if you can.
I started with a 3 acre paddock divided into 2 ( 2x 1.5 acres) - not enough for my 3 Icelandic horses. They took down 1.5 acres of 2' high hay in less than 2 weeks. 1 month and both 1.5 acre paddocks were down to stubble !. I had to scramble last year and erect a couple of temporary paddocks to keep the beasts fed and allow my permanent paddocks to recover
I now have 4 paddocks, the 2 small original ones, 1 of 4 acres on a hill (spring paddock) and another of 6 acres (summer paddock). the 2 small ones I rotate as sacrifical and which ever one I sacrifice needs to be re seeded in the spring. I re seeded last years sacrifical in April and it came back beautifully this year. My pasture seed mix is 35% Timothy, 30% Rye Grass, 30% Feskew, and 5% Red clover (no cover crop used, although i know many folks do). I didnt have any issues with grass drying out in the summer up here.
