I Finally Found the Holy Grail of Slope Mowers!

[JethroB]

Barefoot and working a pitchfork. That girl has skills & confidence. :thumbsup:

 

[Creamer]

I've seen those before and they really are impressive especially for maintaining a hillside lawn or possibly the bank of a highway. The thing I can't understand is how it's cost effective to cut hay on the side of a mountain.

I have to agree - let the cows, sheep, goats, etc. cut it for you. Because it isn't only cutting - they still have to gather it and bring it in.

 

[Creamer]

I suggest a Grasshopper with chevron tread tires. The grasshopper sits very low and will not roll. the chevron treat tires make a world of difference for traction and it will climb like a billy goat. I have a 25 degree slope next to my pond and I mow it with my Deines and have for 25 years. The first 15 I was too stubborn to change from turf to the chevrons because they were not the same size. Once i did it was night and day difference. The biggest difference between my Deines and grasshopper slopewise is the height you sit at. The Grasshoppers are lower and more stable. If you want to dual it up you could but no reason for it - just lift the deck ever so slightly to take some weight off of the gage wheels and put it on your drive tires and you will have no issues even on a wet day.

 

[oosik]

A video was posted on those walk behinds a couple years ago. A couple things impressed me. Why would you want to cut such steep slopes. No old fat men running those machines. They are UBER expensive.

If the idea is to harvest hay - save $$$$ - just turn your farm animals loose on these slopes.

I guess it is because - it's the only land available and winter feeding does require summer harvest.

 

[Creamer]

A video was posted on those walk behinds a couple years ago. A couple things impressed me. Why would you want to cut such steep slopes. No old fat men running those machines. They are UBER expensive.

If the idea is to harvest hay - save $$$$ - just turn your farm animals loose on these slopes.

I guess it is because - it's the only land available and winter feeding does require summer harvest.

That and a lot of European cattle never see a pasture. They have adopted the model of hauling all the feed into them and the manure away - one of the stupidest models ever made because not only do you add a lot of cost to control a little waste but you also lose many of the natural processes that replenish the soil, breakdown plant matter, control disease, etc. Fortunately some recent research has shown this to be true but if you listen to the guy who led the research he tells you do not do what the Europeans did because they ruined their land and then came to the Americas to find new land to ruin with their awful methods.

 

[Creamer]

Come to think about it your best answer might be a few sheep and a good dog to keep them in place. A very natural solution. Goats would also work but sheep are easier to handle. Cows tend to make too big of hoof prints and kind of tear things up when wet.

 

[groundcover]

And if you wonder how the bale the hay on those slopes. Here is one way of doing it.

Other times, they use Lindner tractors, which could be considered lowered tractors and fit them with duals.

Could be pretty exciting to let a round bale out on that slope ! Could take out a house !

 

[ultrarunner]

That and a lot of European cattle never see a pasture. They have adopted the model of hauling all the feed into them and the manure away - one of the stupidest models ever made because not only do you add a lot of cost to control a little waste but you also lose many of the natural processes that replenish the soil, breakdown plant matter, control disease, etc. Fortunately some recent research has shown this to be true but if you listen to the guy who led the research he tells you do not do what the Europeans did because they ruined their land and then came to the Americas to find new land to ruin with their awful methods.

In the Alps the young cows summered in the high meadows and the milk cows only confined to open barns in winter... after evening milking out to pasture until returning for morning milking... all summer long.

The first time out in Spring the cows get quite frisky...

The cows actually line up to go in for milking... just a single strand of hot wire keeping the herd in pasture.

Pastures rotated and manure spread on hayfields... very organic and no added chemicals... typical of small alpine family farms...

Every blade of grass valued in addition to pride of ownership... no one uses Green Waste for grass... grass not used for feed is composted...

Hundreds of years same small family farms so no ruined land and yields maintained... it's a balance as land is too valuable and traditions run deep.

 

[Creamer]

In the Alps the young cows summered in the high meadows and the milk cows only confined to open barns in winter... after evening milking out to pasture until returning for morning milking... all summer long.

The first time out in Spring the cows get quite frisky...

The cows actually line up to go in for milking... just a single strand of hot wire keeping the herd in pasture.

Pastures rotated and manure spread on hayfields... very organic and no added chemicals... typical of small alpine family farms...

Every blade of grass valued in addition to pride of ownership... no one uses Green Waste for grass... grass not used for feed is composted...

Hundreds of years same small family farms so no ruined land and yields maintained... it's a balance as land is too valuable and traditions run deep.

Think about what you said. I you take all the growth off of a hayfield and haul it away and bring some of it back (manure) what replaces that which you did not bring back? Ruined is a relative term, as it productive as it once was - are you sure. Just how was productivity measured 100 years ago. The fact is that almost all farmground in the US is as productive or more than it was one hundred years ago but that does not mean it is healthier and does not take more inputs and is being managed as efficiently as possible. It just means that it gets more total crop than it did before.

 

[ultrarunner]

Productivity is measured by liters of milk produced and this number tweaked by percent of fat per liter.

I have no independent documentation but regional dairy coop members repeatedly claim Austrian alpine Dairy farms are the most productive per hectare of grassland.

I've visited farms when foreign farmers and universities were onsite doing research...

The family farm has been Dairy since the 1700's and have meticulous breeding and yield logs for every cow...

On a side note farmers are getting push back for their organic method... college friends from UC Berkeley happened to arrive the day after liquid manure was sprayed on the fields and some became ill saying it was no different than breathing cow flatulence ad nausam... the old time farmer asked me what all the fuss was about and then said it smells like money to him...

On a side/side note most locals drink fresh unpasteurized... even in the local public schools until a new prohibition against schools buying unpasteurized... I suggested the local school buy the cow and the farmer charge for boarding and milking so no sale of milk... locals thought it a brilliant work around...

Lots of studies on Austria Dairy and Permaculture... 40 acre family farms are typical with most in the mountains

Austria – background info on case farms