Senile Texas Aggie - comic relief for the rest of you

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

One thing I forgot to mention above is that I am thinking of getting goats to clear out the vines and other shrubs south of the shop. I am thinking of getting 5 strand electric fencing, although if there is better electric fencing for goats, I'd surely like to know about it. I am considering not getting any LGDs, at least not right away. But I have a feeling that I am asking for trouble from predators if I don't have any LGDs. What do you folks think?

 

[Mike CHS]

Prices over your way seem high compared to here. I've used a neighbors dozer for a couple of areas and I have hired a few hours work from a gent that has equipment that can handle the job in a couple of hours versus weeks doing it by hand. We can hire them for a couple of hours at a time as long as they can schedule their time around other jobs they are doing in our area. They charged us $125 an hour last year when they were out. They will only pile it up at that price and I finished up cutting and burning.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Well, folks, I haven't posted on here in awhile, so I thought I would provide an update. (Since my last post, I had been stalking @Mike CHS and just finished a few minutes ago.)

We visited family over Christmas, and again the weekend before New Year's (New Year's Day is my younger sister's birthday). Just before the end of the year, we signed a 5 year lease on our pasture land. The man who leased the land will be responsible for all improvements (lime, fertilizer, weed killer, etc.). I provided him the soil reports I got earlier.

We haven't done anything around the farm. With this really cool, albeit wet, weather we have been having, I have been trying to talk myself into getting out and cutting down the vines, shrubs, and small trees around the edge of the pasture. But after seeing just how quickly the power company was able to trim the edge of the woods (they did in 2 days what would have taken us 2 months to do), I'm not all that eager to get out there and do it the way we were doing it.

When my Beautiful Gal and I were clearing the brush and trees from around the dam of the pond, I happened to watch a YouTube video on the "Outdoors with the Morgans" channel which showed the guy (I can't remember his first name) using a grapple on a tractor. I was amazed by how much he got done using that thing. I don't think I had even bought a tractor at that point, but we stopped working on the pond for awhile while I researched tractors and grapples. We finally decided to continue on the pond before I was able to find a tractor and have a 3rd function valve and grapple installed, so it did not help any with the pond, but ever since I got that grapple I am so glad I did. I can no longer imagine trying to clear brush without it.

So given my experience with the grapple, I wondered if maybe there was something I could find that would do the job easier and faster at a reasonable price. I found the product named BrushShark that looked impressive (see http://brushshark.com/), but the $5,000+ price point had me going OUCH! (That is what my 3rd function valve and grapple combined cost.) So I looked into perhaps renting a skid steer with a mulching attachment would cost. The closest one I could find was in Longview, TX (just under 200 miles away) and the cheapest one there was over $5,000 a week! Another OUCH! So, do you folks know of anyone who has rented or bought any brush clearing equipment that would clear brush and small trees (besides a rotary mower) that I could use around the edge of my pasture, as well as for cutting paths through the woods?

Senile Texas Aggie

Some times, depending on where you live...it is cheaper in the long run to hire someone to do the major clearing, and just buy the needed eqipment to keep up small regrowth...shouldn't cost you anything for a estimate. ....

 

[B&B Happy goats]

If your getting goats for clearing only, i would buy wethers and buy a meat breed if you decide you want to eat them...if eating them is not of interest, i would look for inexpensive common breed for your area and still buy only wethers. I don't mind horned goats, it gives them some defence within the herd...or you may look for someone who would like to USE the area for their goats, you provide fencing and water, they provide extra feed and written agreement between you two. As to who is responsible for what....you have lots of options

 

[Rammy]

Id opt to hire someone to do it also. Will save you time, money, and you wont get hurt. Plus, you wont have to pay to maintain all this equipment. Id let someone else drop 5 grand out of thier pocket instead of depleting my retirement nest egg.

 

[farmerjan]

I don't know about all the "normal" goat people on here. You are looking at very well taken care of, maybe "pampered" a bit? But 5 strands of electric will not keep most of the goats I know in. Especially if you are going for some common "brush goat". Better to go with something like Premier electrified netting. It is portable, you can move it around to where you need to get a section cleared, it is electric to keep predators out, and it will not really break the bank. It's not cheap cheap, but it will make the keeping of the animals alot more safe as far as being contained goes. You could get 2 rolls, and enclose a decent size area, and then when they are really getting it eaten down, move them. Take the bushhog, make a path around a section, then fence it with the netting and charger, and let them go to town on it.
I am assuming that you were not able to find anyone that rents out goats, or does brush clearing with them, in your area?

 

[greybeard]

Not enough information........
What diameter and what type vegetation is the majority of the stuff you want to get rid of mechanically?


I can tell you from experience, that any tractor with front loader attachment for clearing is going to be somewhat "awkward" and labor intensive. The turn radius is going to be problematic if there are many relatively large trees in the mix, and you need to ensure sure your tractor's hydraulics can produce a high enough flow rate to run a brush shark or mulcher.
flow needs to be 5 GPM to 30 GPM, tho I believe the lower end will be slower than Moses walking to the Promised Land.
Hydraulic PSI Required: 2000 PSI to 3000 PSI continuous.

I never expect anyone to charge less hourly rate than what the shop hourly repair rate is.

If it's small stuff, maybe look in to something called a "Ratchet Rake" .
I've never used on.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Better to go with something like Premier electrified netting. It is portable, you can move it around to where you need to get a section cleared, it is electric to keep predators out, and it will not really break the bank.

Interesting. I will definitely check into the electrified netting.

I am assuming that you were not able to find anyone that rents out goats, or does brush clearing with them, in your area?

That's right. I never was able to locate anyone who rented goats.

What diameter and what type vegetation is the majority of the stuff you want to get rid of mechanically?

Most of it is small brush (< 1" diameter) so the shredder can easily cut it. But there are some small to medium sized trees (1" .. 4" diameter) that also need removing. These size trees occur in different bunches around the edge of the pastures. They occur often enough that make their manual removal with the chain saw and reciprocating saw slow-going.

flow needs to be 5 GPM to 30 GPM... Hydraulic PSI Required: 2000 PSI to 3000 PSI continuous.

My owner manual says that the flow is 12 GPM. It does not specify the hydraulic pressure but does say the safety relief valve is set to 2490 PSI.

I will continue to look for attachments that may work on my tractor. I did watch the videos for the ratchet rake -- thank you for those -- and may consider that, although my grapple will already do a lot of that.

Thanks to all for your wonderful suggestions. I can tell my Beautiful Gal that I am getting the professional help she often tells me I need!

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[greybeard]

I can tell my Beautiful Gal that I am getting the professional help..

I wouldn't go that far..........the help you are getting here from me is usually worth exactly what it cost.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

@DuckLady, @elevan, @Nifty, @Sumi, and @Support,

I need some help in understanding why I am not getting notified when certain members whom I follow post on BYH. For example, among the folks I follow are Miss @Baymule, Miss @farmerjan, Mr. @greybeard, and Miss @Mini Horses. I follow those folks because they almost always have something quite educational to say, and in Miss @Baymule's case, quite funny! Yet while looking for something else, I stumbled upon a thread, "Farmerjan's journal - Weather", where all four of those folks, as well as others, had posted. As I read through it, I was quite pleased with what I learned, but quite disappointed that I had not been notified.

So my question is this: is it something I am doing wrong -- maybe my Senile Texas Aggie I/Q getting in the way -- or does the "Follow member" feature not include alerts?

Senile Texas Aggie