Reclaiming overgrown land

[JRobyn]

Osage orange also makes some really good firewood...

And the BEST longbows!

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I took the lazy man's path and just pastured pigs and goats. The pigs turned all the snails, mushrooms, acorns, etc. into meat, and the goats cleared all the twigs head high. The goats took some serious fence building, but for pigs all you need is an electric nose wire a few inches off the ground. The pigs tore apart any rotten logs looking for grubs and rooted up anything that was not buried over a few inches deep. They did a huge amount of work, and I sold the meat. For the first few weeks they even quit coming to their corn. All I could hear was the sound of acorns and snail shells crunching.

 

[Soldier415]

Great thread. Look forward to seeing how it turns out

 

[jk96]

Not much progress lately. We have had just enough rain to keep the ground too wet to work. We did get our first hard rain last night. From yesterday morning until now we have just over 2". It was enough to top the temp dam I built to check water flow through the valley. I'm hoping next week I can get started again.

2017-04-05_08-57-39

 

[Gary Fowler]

With the steep sides of that ravine, you will need a massive dam in order to back up enough water to be significant. Nothing beats a nice pond or long lake for relaxation though so it will be worth the effort. You may want to consult with your county extension service about damming that ravine prior to doing it AND to maybe get some advice on how large the dam needs to be to hold back the several feet of water that you will need in order to have something more than a narrow creek.

 

[jk96]

With the steep sides of that ravine, you will need a massive dam in order to back up enough water to be significant. Nothing beats a nice pond or long lake for relaxation though so it will be worth the effort. You may want to consult with your county extension service about damming that ravine prior to doing it AND to maybe get some advice on how large the dam needs to be to hold back the several feet of water that you will need in order to have something more than a narrow creek.

I had one of the most reputable pond builders in the area come out last week and take a look. Basically said it was one of the most ideal locations he's seen in the area the way the land lays and how the ravine fingers out in a few different directions. We can do a fishing pond for $20k or a recreation lake with a massive dam that would approach 6 figures. After the land is cleared enough to get a better visual he said he would come out and survey and place some markers to give us an idea of the shoreline if doing something on the larger side of the scale. My instinct is to hold off for 2-3 years on the doing anything. I've got a new business venture in the works. If things pan out the way we think it will I could hopefully afford to do something bigger than a fishing pond a few years down the road.

 

[tractorshopper]

Awesome. I love these types of threads. This is my favorite tractoring. Creating your own view and using your property how you like.

 

[deezler]

Nice. With how quickly you made a 5' dam, why not build it up yourself? Just a little logging and more dirt work and you'll already have that fishing pond!

By the way, sorry to snoop your flicker, but this flag you made is beautiful. How did you cut the stars, hand chisel?

Flag5 by Jeremy Kovac, on Flickr

 

[jk96]

Hi Deezler. I think it would probably be a waste without some bigger equipment to work the dam correctly and dig down enough to get a good mix of clay so it would hold. Not much progress to report lately. I've got about 3 weeks worth of heavy work ahead of me before I can find some more time to play.

Thanks for the compliments on the flag. The stars were done with hammer and wood chisel. Here's a pic of the 2nd one I made. It's a bit smaller than the one you linked to.

Flag4

 

[deezler]

Very nice. How many hours do you have into each of those? Could easily sell for $500 a pop.