Reseeding

BENDYBINN

Plan on doing a bit of reseeding this summer.Will kill off grass with round-up .thinking of buying a rotavator to till the ground.Is there a cheaper or better alternative????

ravima

I had contractor do it. He burned off with roundup as you have done so, then ploughed it and then harrowed it, then set it, and then fertliised it. between the ploughing and harrowing, lime was spread.

reilig

BENDYBINN wrote: »

Plan on doing a bit of reseeding this summer.Will kill off grass with round-up .thinking of buying a rotavator to till the ground.Is there a cheaper or better alternative????

I'll tell you that it depends on the type of ground that you have. If you have good deep soil with little stones, then I would recommend that you plough it or get someone in with a one pass system that will develop a good seed bed. Forget about buying a rotavator - there very expensive for a new one, and very troublesome for an old one. It will work out better and probable cheaper to contract in a contractor.

If you are like us, we have a maximum of 4 inches of soil on our land that could be tilled, you will need to explore other wayd of doing it. We have reseeded for the past 3 years and used 3 different methods - I suppose we learned from our mistakes. The first year we sprayed off the ground and hired in a power harrow which when set at full height tilled about 3 to 4 inches of the soil. We then spread the seed with a seed box and spread fertilizer. Finished it off by rolling it. Only one problem, when we broke the sod with the power harrow, the ground became very soft, and it still is - but our new grass grew 100%.

The second year we sprayed off the ground and hired in a contractor with a spring tine harrow and an air seeder (google it and you will see what it does). It didn't break the ground and the seed grew very well. But it was quite expensive in comparison to the power harrowing.

Last year we were at a teagasc open day and saw the simplest and cheapest method. We came home, sprayed off the ground and hooked up an old chain harrow that has been in the shed for years. It tilled the ground better than the spring tine harrow and cost us only the diesel in the tractor. We spread the seed mixed with the fertilizer using the wagtail spreader and we rolled it.
It came up perfect. The seed was very evenly spread, the top layer of soil wasn't loosened so the ground is still dry and we have early growing reseeded silage ground whilh yields silage that the cows go mad for.

We have 60 acres reseeded this year and plan to do the other 60 acres over the next 3 years. Its the best money we ever spent. Farmers are just wasting fertilizer by spreading it on old grassland.

Dan

BENDYBINN

thanks for the very helpful replies.I agree fertiliser on old grassland is a waste.When is the best time to burn the grass and till for reseeding?

reilig

If you spray the grass off with round up or similar, you can do it in early august and after 5 days let cattle or sheep in to eat if bare (they love burned off grass for some reason). You should till it and see it before mid september if you get the weather - later leads to poorer grass growth.

I should have said in my post above that I agree with the first poster, lime is essential for reseeding. 2 ton to the acre at least!

Best of luck

Dan

Sam Kade

If you are reseeding you should put in a clover ryegrass mixture. No need for chemical nitrogen when you have clover, which makes sense at the price of fertilizer now. If you are putting in a clover mixture get it sown before mid august. Dont bury clover seed too deep.

kerryman12

hi guys first time posting on this forum.

In relation to the rotavator they were grand in there day but really a power harrow is the way to go. the last few times we did it it produced a great seed bed - also most of the modern one have a built in land leveller and roller on the back. If you do rotavate then you have a problem with stones and how has the time to pick them these days

reiling that was very interesting must keep that in mind.

In relation to the seed selection - I am no expect but be carefull you need to select you varieties based on what you need the grass for ie silage early grazing, later grazing etc alos the soil type. Of course Sam is correct but I am not sure that clover is readily suited to all soil types. Is it worth carrying out a soil test up front?

Finally I am having a debate with the father at the moment. We plan to reseed in August but he want to put out slurry and Lime while reseeding. Does anyone know if the cacel each other out or something? Finally I wanted to put out the slurry first and plough it in, any comment?

Regards

reilig

kerryman12 wrote: »

hi guys first time posting on this forum.

In relation to the rotavator they were grand in there day but really a power harrow is the way to go. the last few times we did it it produced a great seed bed - also most of the modern one have a built in land leveller and roller on the back. If you do rotavate then you have a problem with stones and how has the time to pick them these days

reiling that was very interesting must keep that in mind.

In relation to the seed selection - I am no expect but be carefull you need to select you varieties based on what you need the grass for ie silage early grazing, later grazing etc alos the soil type. Of course Sam is correct but I am not sure that clover is readily suited to all soil types. Is it worth carrying out a soil test up front?

Finally I am having a debate with the father at the moment. We plan to reseed in August but he want to put out slurry and Lime while reseeding. Does anyone know if the cacel each other out or something? Finally I wanted to put out the slurry first and plough it in, any comment?

Regards

Spreading the slurry and lime is the ideal thing to do. It will save on the amount of fertilizer that you will need to spread after you seed it. When we reseeded, we spread the slurry and the lime and then powerharrowed it in, so I'm sure you could plough it in also.

Dan

kerryman12

Hi Dan

Thats good to know. When ye did it did ye literally put one ontop of the other and then powerharrow or was it at different times?

Regards

reilig

kerryman12 wrote: »

Hi Dan

Thats good to know. When ye did it did ye literally put one ontop of the other and then powerharrow or was it at different times?

Regards

WE kinda did it the lazy man's way, but it was effective, we spread the slurry with a side slinger, and in every load that we put out, we put in a loader of lime, so when the slinger started up, it mixed the slurry with the lime and spread it in the field - saved us the price of getting it spread by a contractor. As I said above, we wouldn't have soil suitable for ploughing so we just powerharrowed the 2 inches on the top of it - the powerharrow just mixed the slurry / lime into the soil. It was a great job!

Dan

kerryman12

Dan

Thats planning ahead man;)

How was the seed bed, was it a bit messy with all of the slurry?

REgards

reilig

kerryman12 wrote: »

Dan

Thats planning ahead man;)

How was the seed bed, was it a bit messy with all of the slurry?

REgards

The seed bed wasn't bad at all, we had the slurry/lime out about a week before we powerharrowed it and we had dry weather, so it was pretty good.

kerryman12

thanks Dan, good to know

Sam Kade

kerryman12 wrote: »

Of course Sam is correct but I am not sure that clover is readily suited to all soil types.

Clover will grow on a wide range of soil types. The secret is in managing it properly. A lot of people reseed with clover mixtures and then expect miracles. Getting it estabilshed is only half the battle it has to be properly managed after that or else it will quickly die out.

Occidental

Sam Kade wrote: »

Getting it estabilshed is only half the battle it has to be properly managed after that or else it will quickly die out.

Sam,

What do you mean by managed. Are you talking about removing competition or regular cutting, or something totally different.

Sam Kade

Occidental wrote: »

Sam,

What do you mean by managed. Are you talking about removing competition or regular cutting, or something totally different.

By manage I mean looking after the clover sward after it is established. It has to be grazed regularly to let light into the base of the sward to promote tillering to thicken up the sward. Also it must be grazed bare before closing in winter for the same reason. It cannot get chemical nitrogen from may to august or the fertilizer will kill the clover. Even when well managed it will die out after 4-5 years so it can be oversown into the exsisting sward after this period. Clover swards need different management to grass swards getting a lot of nitrogen, this is the reason a lot of farmers fail with clover swards.

BENDYBINN

is it too late to reseed now ?would it be better to leave till spring?

reilig

BENDYBINN wrote: »

is it too late to reseed now ?would it be better to leave till spring?

You would want to be getting the seed in within the next 2 or 3 weeks for it to get a good start. But with this weather it will be very hard to do. The worst thing that could happen would be for the seed and soil to get saturated with water and "scalded". It would really stunt the growth.

kerryman12

Hi All

I wanted to resurect this thread with a slightly different angle. We were planning to reseed some silage groud at home this autum, but the weather put an end to that.
Now that is looks like the spring, I was wondering if arable silage would be a viable option. Does anyone have any relevnt experiance with this style of crop. I was thinking barley/peas and undersow with a suitable silage misture. I am not sure what sort of addational costs are involved for seed etc. Alot of guys have told me that if you reseed in the spring it is effectively a crop for free ass the work that has to be done is the same.

Any advise appreciated.

Regards

kerryman12

Surely someone can add something?!?

Keeperlit

Intersting post maybe a few more people could add their views on reseeding ,marginal ground

morning delight

Last year we were at a teagasc open day and saw the simplest and cheapest method. We came home, sprayed off the ground and hooked up an old chain harrow that has been in the shed for years. It tilled the ground better than the spring tine harrow and cost us only the diesel in the tractor. We spread the seed mixed with the fertilizer using the wagtail spreader and we rolled it.
It came up perfect. The seed was very evenly spread, the top layer of soil wasn't loosened so the ground is still dry and we have early growing reseeded silage ground whilh yields silage that the cows go mad for.

Dan[/quote]


Morning delight
Reseeding with the chain harrow sounds like a great idea to me. One simple question, any tips on mixing the fertilizer and grass seed in the spreader? My fear is getting an un-even spread of seed.
A

leg wax

you dont mix the seed with fert, seed is light and will not spread the same distance as fert ,when spreading seed you drive along side your othertram mark side by side the seed will only spread a foot either side of the tractor width

Sam Kade

kerryman12 wrote: »

Hi All

I wanted to resurect this thread with a slightly different angle. We were planning to reseed some silage groud at home this autum, but the weather put an end to that.
Now that is looks like the spring, I was wondering if arable silage would be a viable option. Does anyone have any relevnt experiance with this style of crop. I was thinking barley/peas and undersow with a suitable silage misture. I am not sure what sort of addational costs are involved for seed etc. Alot of guys have told me that if you reseed in the spring it is effectively a crop for free ass the work that has to be done is the same.

Any advise appreciated.

Regards

Kerryman I grew arable silage a few times. The first year I grew it I used a mixture oats and peas after that I used straight oats or barley as I got higher yields and the seed was cheaper than the mixes. The seed was untreated and worked well. I baled and wrapped the crop one year and it was a total disaster as rats attacked the bales. When I put it in the clamp I finished off the clamp with a few loads of grass to seal the clamp better and to keep the rats away from it. I know it's a bit late in the year to be telling you now but I didn't see your post until now.

babybrian

Hi
I am just wondering if anybody has an up to date break-down of the price/hectare or acre for reseeding.
Its been years since the ould lad reseeded and I was grass measuring at the end of last year and some of the paddocks are in a bad state. I have the budget done for 2010 and trying to see if can afford to reseed a few.
thanks

sundrez

babybrian wrote: »

Hi
I am just wondering if anybody has an up to date break-down of the price/hectare or acre for reseeding.
Its been years since the ould lad reseeded and I was grass measuring at the end of last year and some of the paddocks are in a bad state. I have the budget done for 2010 and trying to see if can afford to reseed a few.
thanks

section 3 in the journal this week has good few pages on reseeding- costs, benefits etc..

bogman_bass

very cheap way to do it is cut silage, 2 runs of a chain harrow run with a seed barrow and roll

Pacoa

very cheap way to do it is cut silage, 2 runs of a chain harrow run with a seed barrow and roll

Would ya burn off with roundup first?

bogman_bass

Pacoa wrote: »

Would ya burn off with roundup first?

we didnt. Partly because it was a spur of the moment idea when we cut the field. I think its better to think of that method as overseeding rather than reseeding. though I dont see why you couldnt burn of with roundup if you wanted. a post emergence spray would be a good idea for docks/chickweek etc.
we also tied a length of esb pole on top of the chain harrow to give a bit more "bite"

babybrian

and did it turn out as good as if reseeding after ploughing? I know you get the advantage of being able to graze it sooner because the ground is not softened.

bogman_bass

honestly? no. but it was a hell of a lot cheaper than plowing.
if ground needs leveling use the plow. otherwise this method might be a runner

morning delight

reilig wrote: »

Last year we were at a teagasc open day and saw the simplest and cheapest method. We came home, sprayed off the ground and hooked up an old chain harrow that has been in the shed for years. It tilled the ground better than the spring tine harrow and cost us only the diesel in the tractor. We spread the seed mixed with the fertilizer using the wagtail spreader and we rolled it.
It came up perfect. The seed was very evenly spread, the top layer of soil wasn't loosened so the ground is still dry and we have early growing reseeded silage ground whilh yields silage that the cows go mad for.

We have 60 acres reseeded this year and plan to do the other 60 acres over the next 3 years.

Dan

Hi Dan

Two questions for you:
Are you still using this method for reseeding? (and still happy with it!)
And is it a heavy duty chain harrow you're using? I've been looking at them and the common one available around here seems to be a heavy type with solid round rings with shallow spikes.

reilig

morning delight wrote: »

Hi Dan

Two questions for you:
Are you still using this method for reseeding? (and still happy with it!)
And is it a heavy duty chain harrow you're using? I've been looking at them and the common one available around here seems to be a heavy type with solid round rings with shallow spikes.

Plan to use it in August again. Its not a heavy duty harrow - its just one of the old types that isn't on a frame. Have it nearly 30 years.

morning delight

reilig wrote: »

Plan to use it in August again. Its not a heavy duty harrow - its just one of the old types that isn't on a frame. Have it nearly 30 years.

Thanks Dan. A huge saving then as I've been quoted €95/acre for min cultivation - 2 passes with the disc harrow and 2 passes with the power harrow.
I'm going to give your method ago. Looking through boards, there are plenty others getting good results with this method. I'll probably get one of the heavier chain harrows though as I also have a nice few acres that are very rough. This is due to rushes and poaching. The land was let for 27 years. Fine with good land but grazing of wet peaty land needs to be well managed to keep it in good shape.

reilig

morning delight wrote: »

Thanks Dan. A huge saving then as I've been quoted €95/acre for min cultivation - 2 passes with the disc harrow and 2 passes with the power harrow.
I'm going to give your method ago. Looking through boards, there are plenty others getting good results with this method. I'll probably get one of the heavier chain harrows though as I also have a nice few acres that are very rough. This is due to rushes and poaching. The land was let for 27 years. Fine with good land but grazing of wet peaty land needs to be well managed to keep it in good shape.

Have you ever seen one of the spring tine harrows with the seed broadcasters attached?? A few years ago I got a fellow to reseed 20 acres for me with one - I wasn't at all impressed. It didn't root out any of the old grass like the chain harrow would. You'd hardly know that it had passed over the ground.

Start with a small area of ground to test the chain harrow out. If it works, then you're away with it. It will work!!

Colmm23

morning delight wrote: »

Thanks Dan. A huge saving then as I've been quoted €95/acre for min cultivation - 2 passes with the disc harrow and 2 passes with the power harrow.
I'm going to give your method ago. Looking through boards, there are plenty others getting good results with this method. I'll probably get one of the heavier chain harrows though as I also have a nice few acres that are very rough. This is due to rushes and poaching. The land was let for 27 years. Fine with good land but grazing of wet peaty land needs to be well managed to keep it in good shape.

From your description of the land you intend reseeding you would be literally wasting diesel and time with a chain harrow.

If some of the ground is rough the only way to level it is to develop loose soil either by plough or 3 or 4 runs of a heavy disc harrow.
The method we use for most customers is disc harrow 2 or 3 runs and then use the onepass to sow grass, very succesful for use on level fields. Other method for rough ground is the plough, disc and onepass.

Ya wont till much with a chain harrow these days, fields are like the bloody road:)

morning delight

Colmm23 wrote: »

From your description of the land you intend reseeding you would be literally wasting diesel and time with a chain harrow.

If some of the ground is rough the only way to level it is to develop loose soil either by plough or 3 or 4 runs of a heavy disc harrow.
The method we use for most customers is disc harrow 2 or 3 runs and then use the onepass to sow grass, very succesful for use on level fields. Other method for rough ground is the plough, disc and onepass.

Ya wont till much with a chain harrow these days, fields are like the bloody road:)

I agree with you Colm, on the rough land it would be a waste of time. However, the land I'm reseeding is the good silage ground with no such issues.

The rough areas are another story though. In theory what you describe is best. However I'm slow to cultivate this as the 'scraw' on top is very important and takes a few years to build up. For instance this January I buried the water pipe to the shed and this track is like dust. The land either side of the track where the pipe is buried is fine and the cow's feet dont poach the surface. Over the pipe though their feet sink in as deep as 8-10 inches. It's peaty soil and needs the vegetation layer on top to hold it together.

I don't have sheep or light stock to graze it so it has to be able to take the suckler cows with calves at foot. What I'm looking at here is slow improvement over a few years - rushes first, stumps from rushes next. Oh, and also remove the bog dale that is now no longer hidden by all the rushes;). What I'm currently thinking is to drive along with the transport box ~4-6 inches above ground level to knock over the stumps left from the rushes. When it starts getting flatter I will then use the topper/ chain harrow/ roller. The one thing about this land is when it's managed well it grows great grass, particularly during the dry weather we have at the moment!

Any other thoughts or suggestions welcome.

reilig

I think the point Colm was making was that current conditions are too dry for using a chain harrow for reseeding. I agree with him. But I would never try to reseed at this time of year. It needs to be done in early spring or in August/September. At these times you will find that the chain harrow will work a treat for you.

I agree with your point about the scraw on top and learned my lesson the hard way a number of years ago by power harrowing for reseeding - left my peaty soil which was usually free draining and dry, very soft. Different land types need different treatment.

I intend reseeding about 20 acres at the end of August. Its meadow and I have already spread pasture swart on it for a second cut. A week before cutting it, i will spray it with roundup. I'll take the cut of grass off it then and I will be left with lovely clean ground for chain harrowing and reseeding.

morning delight wrote: »

I agree with you Colm, on the rough land it would be a waste of time. However, the land I'm reseeding is the good silage ground with no such issues.

The rough areas are another story though. In theory what you describe is best. However I'm slow to cultivate this as the 'scraw' on top is very important and takes a few years to build up. For instance this January I buried the water pipe to the shed and this track is like dust. The land either side of the track where the pipe is buried is fine and the cow's feet dont poach the surface. Over the pipe though their feet sink in as deep as 8-10 inches. It's peaty soil and needs the vegetation layer on top to hold it together.

I don't have sheep or light stock to graze it so it has to be able to take the suckler cows with calves at foot. What I'm looking at here is slow improvement over a few years - rushes first, stumps from rushes next. Oh, and also remove the bog dale that is now no longer hidden by all the rushes;). What I'm currently thinking is to drive along with the transport box ~4-6 inches above ground level to knock over the stumps left from the rushes. When it starts getting flatter I will then use the topper/ chain harrow/ roller. The one thing about this land is when it's managed well it grows great grass, particularly during the dry weather we have at the moment!

Any other thoughts or suggestions welcome.

morning delight

reilig wrote: »

I think the point Colm was making was that current conditions are too dry for using a chain harrow for reseeding. I agree with him. But I would never try to reseed at this time of year. It needs to be done in early spring or in August/September. At these times you will find that the chain harrow will work a treat for you.

I agree with your point about the scraw on top and learned my lesson the hard way a number of years ago by power harrowing for reseeding - left my peaty soil which was usually free draining and dry, very soft. Different land types need different treatment.

I intend reseeding about 20 acres at the end of August. Its meadow and I have already spread pasture swart on it for a second cut. A week before cutting it, i will spray it with roundup. I'll take the cut of grass off it then and I will be left with lovely clean ground for chain harrowing and reseeding.

I think we're all pretty much in agreement! I'm also taking a second cut and hopefully ground and weather conditions will be more conducive to reseeding in August!

Out of interest, you say you're peaty soil is free draining and dry. When the weather is wet does it not get very heavy and prone to poaching? Have you put mole drains in it at any stage? The new drain type from Connaght agri looks interesting but no one around here seems to know of it.

reilig

morning delight wrote: »

I think we're all pretty much in agreement! I'm also taking a second cut and hopefully ground and weather conditions will be more conducive to reseeding in August!

Out of interest, you say you're peaty soil is free draining and dry. When the weather is wet does it not get very heavy and prone to poaching? Have you put mole drains in it at any stage? The new drain type from Connaght agri looks interesting but no one around here seems to know of it.

Mole drains won't work in a peaty soil. Shores filled to the top with chips or pea gravel are the answer. My peaty soil is fairly dry. It can handle a lot of rain, always has early grass, is dry enough to take early slurry and is generally the best land I have. I have other raised upland that's great this summer, but in wet years, its difficult.

Figerty

You could try the new pipe from Connacht Agri on peat soils; a few years ago I did a few drains on peaty soils and the peat moves into the stone over time and fills the pipe.

The Connacht Agri membrane pipe looks to be able to solve this and no stone needed so while the pipe is dear the stone is not required nor the leveling or taking away of the drain earth. I will be trying out this year instead of stone and yellow pipe.Saying that I have just finished piping about 250 metres of stone and pipel on semi-upland ground.

Big problem is also Iron oxide.

Just finished reseeding this land (about 3 acres). Cows grazed it, sprayed with roundup, three weeks later power harrowed with a stone burier, seeded this morning, couple of bags of 10-10-20 and rolled it..small sup or rain would be nice now..

There was some debate over wether to or what fertiliser to use!

morning delight

reilig wrote: »

Mole drains won't work in a peaty soil. Shores filled to the top with chips or pea gravel are the answer.

This is the type of drain I meant Reilig. It's what everyone around here uses.

morning delight

Figerty wrote: »

I have just finished piping about 250 metres of stone and pipel on semi-upland ground.

How much does this work out at?
There was an article in the journal a while back comparing the wire pipe and conventional drains with yellow pipe filled with stone. All in, they reckoned the wire pipe costs around 75%. It's not as straight forward as it seems though. It's very important to have it at the right level all along. It's also hard to say yet whether these won't also get blocked within 5-10 years!

Figerty

It works out damn expensive!!! However I look at it as a long term investment.

I haven't got the bill for the pea gravel yet but am expecting it to come in at around €2000, the pipe I had a few years ago so I can't recall the price for the 75mm pipe.

I have my own mini digger so that was only diesel and time. I used a foot wide bucket which is perfect for solid ground. I got the loan of a dumper to carry away the dug out earth and clay. I have a hole that I need to fill anyway.

Much of the dig out was 'blue mud' so there was no point spreading it around the land, it would have made things worse from drainage and growth point of view.

It should be a long term benifit.

I will be using the Connacht agri pipe for the bog/black earth areas.

morning delight wrote: »

How much does this work out at?
There was an article in the journal a while back comparing the wire pipe and conventional drains with yellow pipe filled with stone. All in, they reckoned the wire pipe costs around 75%. It's not as straight forward as it seems though. It's very important to have it at the right level all along. It's also hard to say yet whether these won't also get blocked within 5-10 years!

lab man

thinking of reseeding in april has anyone tried it or could frost be a problem, any help would be great

Gballs

Hi Lads

Just after joining this crack.
I have 12 acres of very wet and badly poached land with a lot of rushes, there is a good topsoil but it's only about 6" deep and very poor soil under that.
The plan is to get 2 cuts of silage off it this year ( am I dreaming ).
I'm about to buy a gravel mole plough to try and drain it, but it'll be at least another few weeks before I could even think of bringing a tractor on it without sinking.
The plan is depending on conduitions to burn it off get it disked, then reseed and when its hopefully got a good skin on it run the gravel plough on it.
I could be way off so ANT ADVICE would be more than welcome.

MfMan

Gballs wrote: »

Hi Lads

Just after joining this crack.
I have 12 acres of very wet and badly poached land with a lot of rushes, there is a good topsoil but it's only about 6" deep and very poor soil under that.
The plan is to get 2 cuts of silage off it this year ( am I dreaming ).
I'm about to buy a gravel mole plough to try and drain it, but it'll be at least another few weeks before I could even think of bringing a tractor on it without sinking.
The plan is depending on conduitions to burn it off get it disked, then reseed and when its hopefully got a good skin on it run the gravel plough on it.
I could be way off so ANT ADVICE would be more than welcome.

Taking a cut of silage off reseeded land in the first year can be rather severe on the pasture.

reilig

Gballs wrote: »

Hi Lads

Just after joining this crack.
I have 12 acres of very wet and badly poached land with a lot of rushes, there is a good topsoil but it's only about 6" deep and very poor soil under that.
The plan is to get 2 cuts of silage off it this year ( am I dreaming ).
I'm about to buy a gravel mole plough to try and drain it, but it'll be at least another few weeks before I could even think of bringing a tractor on it without sinking.
The plan is depending on conduitions to burn it off get it disked, then reseed and when its hopefully got a good skin on it run the gravel plough on it.
I could be way off so ANT ADVICE would be more than welcome.

Your will need a lot of HP to pull a gravel mole plough. Also you will need a second tractor with a stone cart to convey stone into the gravel mole plough. Cheaper and more effective to get in a digger and put down drainiage pipes, fill the deains to the top with stone - every 50 yards apart. Then get an ordinary mole plough and plough right into the stone in the tops of the drains.

Gballs

reilig wrote: »

Your will need a lot of HP to pull a gravel mole plough. Also you will need a second tractor with a stone cart to convey stone into the gravel mole plough. Cheaper and more effective to get in a digger and put down drainiage pipes, fill the deains to the top with stone - every 50 yards apart. Then get an ordinary mole plough and plough right into the stone in the tops of the drains.

Maybe I should have explained my situation first, Have a small farm bit under 100 acres that has been rented for the last 12 yrs. I decided this last year to take it back and do something with it, some of the land needs work so bought a few bits including a NH TS135A so should have the HP for the gravel plough.
Plan was to cut bales for the first few years (maybe 2, max 3) and then deside what route to go, as of now have no stock and not in a position to get into any.
The 12 acres i'm looking at first need a lot of work, I was told it would need pipe every 3 to 5 mts so this would be very expensive. Can buy the gravel plough and stone for less than half, and I've seen it do wonders for land.
In total about 50 acres need work so if the gravel plough works i'll be able to do it without the lotto.

dar31

MfMan wrote: »

Taking a cut of silage off reseeded land in the first year can be rather severe on the pasture.

+1
its advisable not to take a silage cut off a fresh reseed for the first year, to give it a chance

convoy

hi all,just wondering has anyone used an electric(12 volt)seed broadcaster,if so what are they like,accurate etc,im planning on putting it on a 2meter major power harrow,any advice would be great