Implements for small horse farm?

[davep]

I'd appreciate advice on which implements I need for my horse farm. My pastures are, in places, weedy, hardtrodden or covered in with horse dung. I know I need a brush hog to keep the weeds getting the better of the horses in the summer. What would improve the pastures now .. get rid of the dead weeds, spread out or collect up the horse dung, break up the hard trodden areas? Is this a job for a landscape rake? Chain harrow?

What's best for collecting horse manure? Box blade? Rear blade? FEL?

What's best for moving round bales - bale spear on the FEL or 3pt? or both?

I also have a half-mile gravel drive that needs work (leveling and extending) and occasional snow clearing, and a some leveling to make an arena, that will then need tending ... so I'm looking for the few implements that would be the most useful across all of these jobs.

My tractor is a NH TC35 with 16LA FEL.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[theboman]

The best for collecting horse manure in a pasture would be a flat shovel. I suppose you could with a blade or BB but you may take a chuck of earth too. If poo is in piles then your FEL may come in handy too. A bush hog set low may spread the manure too.

Don't waste this compost waiting to happen. Pile it up.... Pile it on... Turn it over... A garden, lawn, pasture, flower bed awaits.

Got a post hole digger? It may be handy on a horse farm unless you use all metal posts.

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue">...get rid of the dead weeds, spread out or collect up the horse dung, break up the hard trodden areas? </font>
A rotary mower will do all but break up the hard trodden areas and if the horses are always walking in the same areas, it'll just get hard trodden again. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Just curious, why would you want to collect up the horse dung?

<font color="blue"> What's best for moving round bales - bale spear on the FEL or 3pt? or both? </font>
Either one.

<font color="blue"> I also have a half-mile gravel drive that needs work (leveling and extending) and occasional snow clearing, and a some leveling to make an arena, that will then need tending ... so I'm looking for the few implements that would be the most useful across all of these jobs. </font>
A rear blade would handle all these tasks except 'tending' the arena. A drag harrow can do that. You can also use the drag harrow in the pastures.

 

[Egon]

Perhaps the pasture grass has seen better days. It may be advisable to start it all over by getting soil tests, making proper chemical adjustments, reworking and seeding it. An occasional harrowing should keep manure spread. Rotatiller- plough - disc ??? whatever can be utilized for the job.

Sounds like the arena area should also be reworked and then maintained in a manner suitable for it's use. Impliments for this may vary.

The driveway rebuilding and maintenance could be handled by a loader and rear blade.

Bale spears may depend on the size of tractor and size of bales. and where they will be placed. If they have to be lifted very high the front spear will be required.

Egon

 

[Wannafish]

theboman,

I guess i need more coffee. As I scanned through your post the following is what caught my eye...

"If poo is in piles then your FEL may come in handy too......Got a post hole digger?"

...and I'm thinking, 'wow, now that's a unique way to justify the cost of a post hole digger'! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Sorry...just the ramblings of an old man short on his morning coffee /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[LKGuy]

We have three horses on 12 acres so I guess our place qualifies as a small horse farm. This is a list of implements I have for my lk3054 w/FEL that pretty much gets me by;

manure spreader - holds about three buckets full
3pt hay spear - we do round and square bales
3pt fertilizer/seeder
box blade
cultivator and discs - pasture renovation/maintenance
bush hog
3pt carry all
hay elevator - not exactly an implement but I move it with my tractor
boom pole

We keep the horses in a 2 acre "sacrifice lot" in the winter to keep the pastures from getting torn up so manure collection is via good old hand manure forks around the barn. I would have liked to have been able to move my round bales with my FEL, but at around 1000 to 1200 lbs, the FEL just isn't up to the task.

 

[davep]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue">
Just curious, why would you want to collect up the horse dung?
</font>
)</font>

We get a lot of poo concentrated around feeding areas, and poo-towers that stallions build on the boundary lines, places where they just choose to concentrate it. Collecting it for compost heap or spreading seems like a good idea. I'm hoping our open plan feeding approach will let collection feeding areas be done with the tractor and rear blade (or box blade or rake) rather than hand shovel.

 

[Holzster]

I might be wrong but can't you drag an old chainlink fence or use a heavy rake to spread & pulverize the manure in the pasture? If you do not want to but the manure spreader now just get a wheel barrow & start a compost pile close the the barn. This is just my 2 cents.

 

[theboman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( theboman,



"If poo is in piles then your FEL may come in handy too......Got a post hole digger?"

...and I'm thinking, 'wow, now that's a unique way to justify the cost of a post hole digger'! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Sorry...just the ramblings of an old man short on his morning coffee /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif )</font>

Just a suggestion on an implement handy for a horse farm.
I guess you could put poo in a hole but where's the dirt go?

 

[zekeman]

Dave
What happened to your crate Jimma ? Glad to see you choose a tc35, especially for a small horse operation. I have a similiar situation .
Horse Manure - I drag the paddocks to break up the manure but I leave it in the Field- by breaking up the manure 1) speed up the decomposing process. 2) you kill worm eggs, helps to keep the horses worm free, that plus a consistant worming program. Also, during the growing season I rotate the horses from field to field, each field approx 5 acres (leased land) no more than two wks in one field, give me time to maintain the pasture and time for the grass to grow.

Ron

 

[oldgrizzlybear]

A chain drag is the best for established pastures. It will break up and scatter the piles. It will also break up the thatch, a piece of chain link fence won't do this.

 

[thegreatrandini]

You want a manure spreader.. and a seed broadcaster. I just use a hand broadcaster with a canvas bag. Call your county ext. office and ask about weed control. Spray your weeds with 2-4-d. Then use a chain harrow to break up the ground in an area. Broadcast new seed over the area and cover it with manure using your spreader. You can reclaim large areas using this method. You can use temporary elec fence to keep the horses off until established good. You can broadcast annual rye grass over your warm season grass in the fall. This will give your horses winter forage. Your fel will be valuable to clean up around the barns but just drag your fields. The crap is already where you want it. You just need to break it up. Best to drag when it is hot and dry. I always over seed after I drag. I use alot of seed but it is cheaper than hay! You may want to use some liquid nitrogen. Your may want to have your soil tested.

 

[davep]

Hi Ron,
</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
What happened to your crate Jimma ?
)</font>

A couple of JohnS's posts put me off the jinma. It began to sound like just too much "fun". Especially the one about the tractor breaking in half from overloading the FEL.

Then the NH beat the Mahindra, because of a deal on a slightly used TC35. A big market garden buys 40 new tractors in the spring and sells them off in the fall.

So now I have a tractor!

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
I drag the paddocks to break up the manure
)</font>
drag means chain harrows?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
I rotate the horses from field to field, each field approx 5 acres (leased land) no more than two wks in one field, give me time to maintain the pasture and time for the grass to grow.
)</font>

I looking forward to being able to do that. How long do you leave the field before using it again?

Dave

 

[zekeman]

Dave
Yes to the chain harrow question- most of the time I don't even use the tractor for this, bought my Son a Polaris ATV three years ago and he still hops on it today and drags the paddocks. this year I "HOPE" to lease 20 open acres, bust it up into 4 paddocks, using 1 1/2 white electrical tape and metal fence posts. Movement Depends on how many horses I have at the time, how fast they graze down, average is two weeks each paddock. if I can get a long term lease I will put up a couple of 3 sided sheds. Also they are never totally on grass- I always feed grain.

Ron

 

[Soundguy]

Boxblade.. good for the road and maneuer pile.

Chain harrow. Good for maneuer plods or dragging a dirt areena, or scratching the soil for seed. You can flip these over for less agressive bite.

Seeder/spreader

I'd go with a fel spear for that size of tractor.

Disc is optional.. Have fun!

FEL makes up for lots of other things..

Soundguy

 

[Wannafish]

"I guess you could put poo in a hole but where's the dirt go?"

In the FEL ! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Justaplain]

Quick attach and then a bale spear and a material handling bucket with a 3' bottom and a 3' verticle back and as wide or wider than your tractor. Horse manure/ bedding is quite light. Usr a bush hog to flatten manure till you get a tine/chain drag. bcs

 

[VAChesterfield]

Dave, IMHO, the advice from LKGuy and RonNY is right on the money. As LKGuy pointed out about the bale spear, unless you really do need to lift them high, go with the 3pt spear, lots safer.

When using a bale I suggest you use an Open Top Horse Bale Feeder (image from TSC attached). Avoid a bale feeder designed for cows (they're enclosed along the top and dangerous for horses). The feeder opens up so you can drop the bale in the center w/o the need to lift it over the top -- no need for a FEL spear. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[vetteman]

We have 2 horses. Everyday my wife or I go out in the pasture and pick up the horse manure, seems like a lot of work, takes about 20 minutes. We take it with the kubotaand fel, we take it to the compost pile, we have lots of compost .... we give it away by the truckload. One of the main reasons is ..we have almost no flies in the summer because the manure is 1000 feet from the barn, and that is very nice . Wayne

 

[davep]

Ron,
If an ATV can handle it, does that mean I can go for a wide drag harrow if I'm doing it with the tractor? 8ft or 12ft? rather just the tractor width - 6ft. Although I can see the extra width being a pain some other jobs.
Dave