How to clear mud/muck/dung/slop out of a farm yard?

Gautama

Hi,

I've been using boards.ie for years but this is my first post on this forum, so go easy on me... I'm not a farmer.

My background: I inherited a farm a number of years ago. I lease the land, I don't think I have the ability to be a full time farmer, but I have no reason to sell the land.

There is a farmyard there that is rarely used. It's got a cattle crush that gets used occasionally, but otherwise it's not a working yard. Over the years, mud, dung, leaves, etc, has built up. This is about 4 inches deep at present and has grass growing on it. As you can imagine, given the weather in 2012 it's very messy there now. I'd like to clear it out.

What I want to know is, how do I clear it out? I don't have any tractor or anything like that. If it's not too expensive, I might get a contractor in with a machine, but is it a JCB, a digger, or what? I was thinking I might hire the machine myself, or one of those mini-versions.
I have the time to do it myself this spring, and I'd prefer to keep the costs down. As it's not a working farmyard, I don't need to do a perfect job.
Also, I've got a use for the mud/muck/soil, rather than leaving it in a heap.

So, any suggestions? If you could also provide a link to a google image of some machinery, that would be great too.

Thanks.

freedominacup

3 tonne mini-digger and 3t dumper from any large hire shop would get a lot done over a weekend if the haul wasn't long. I'd say €400 would go a long way on the hire bill these days.

GERMAN ROCKS

is there concrete under the sh1t or what? if there isnt is there any sort of a firm bed or what do you plan to do after put down stones?

Odelay

Any obstacles in the way or is it a fairly clear run? Under is it good concrete or a rough surface?

I'd be thinking of a skid-steer before a mini digger as they can take a hell of a long time to get used to, fine for digging but clearing a yard is more like "grading" and can take some time to master.

If it is rough, tip the bucket on the skid-steer and pull the muck back into a pile.

Sean

Gautama

About a third is concrete. The rest is an old stone surface, pretty firm.

There are no obstacles bar a raised rectangle in the middle (about 9 inches) where there had been one of those hand-pump wells.

Good loser

Do you have a car trailer? Shovel the stuff into it and relocate it. That might cost nothing but your time. Take the easiest of it out first to get a good start.
If you had access to a tractor loading shovel you could push/shovel it into that.

Gautama

Good loser wrote: »

Do you have a car trailer? Shovel the stuff into it and relocate it. That might cost nothing but your time. Take the easiest of it out first to get a good start.
If you had access to a tractor loading shovel you could push/shovel it into that.

Definitely not a manual job.

reilig

If the yard is big enough to let a JCB in, then you are mad to consider hiring out a mini digger, dumper or skidsteer. Any of them will be a minimum of Eur100 per day and will be slow as hell.

We have a neighbour with a JCB who works on the council. He'll do nixers on a saturday for Eur25 per hour cash. There seems to be guys like this in every part of the country. A JCB with a 6 in 1 bucket and an experienced driver will grade, bulldose, spread, grab and transport and do it all at 10 times the speed of a mini digger, rule out the need of a dumper and outperform a skidsteer.

freedominacup

reilig wrote: »

If the yard is big enough to let a JCB in, then you are mad to consider hiring out a mini digger, dumper or skidsteer. Any of them will be a minimum of Eur100 per day and will be slow as hell.

We have a neighbour with a JCB who works on the council. He'll do nixers on a saturday for Eur25 per hour cash. There seems to be guys like this in every part of the country. A JCB with a 6 in 1 bucket and an experienced driver will grade, bulldose, spread, grab and transport and do it all at 10 times the speed of a mini digger, rule out the need of a dumper and outperform a skidsteer.

I suppose both of our posts show the truth in the line that "assumption is the mother of all f**k-ups". I was assuming he couldn't work a full size machine in the yard you're assuming he can, one of us has made the wrong assumption.

lakill Farm

could you get a lad with a 6 ton machine to tidy it all up and then load a rear discharge dung spreader or even a side discharge one?

i have a 3ton digger. its surprising what you can do in a 10hour day on one of them and for €20 diesel and the hire fee. Lots of lads might be able to hire you one for a sat and sunday and even come down and spread the muck .

Farmer Pudsey

reilig wrote: »

If the yard is big enough to let a JCB in, then you are mad to consider hiring out a mini digger, dumper or skidsteer. Any of them will be a minimum of Eur100 per day and will be slow as hell.

We have a neighbour with a JCB who works on the council. He'll do nixers on a saturday for Eur25 per hour cash. There seems to be guys like this in every part of the country. A JCB with a 6 in 1 bucket and an experienced driver will grade, bulldose, spread, grab and transport and do it all at 10 times the speed of a mini digger, rule out the need of a dumper and outperform a skidsteer.

For a JCB paying cash it is expensive I would expect to get one for 30/hour with a docket would not give cash ( am slow to pay cash always get reciepts)

ootbitb

http://www.todaystractors.com/iphotos/a207.jpg

any neighbouring farmer will have one of these and farmer's son would welcome the few quid.

wait a few weeks and straight to a field with it.

freedominacup

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

For a JCB paying cash it is expensive I would expect to get one for 30/hour with a docket would not give cash ( am slow to pay cash always get reciepts)

Just goes to show, I thought €25was v. cheap even on a cash basis. I couldn't see why he'd bother even on a nixer where the running costs for the machine were covered by Mon-Fri's work and then you tell me you can get a machine for €30 incl.

freedominacup

ootbitb wrote: »

http://www.todaystractors.com/iphotos/a207.jpg

any neighbouring farmer will have one of these and farmer's son would welcome the few quid.

Never to be seen in this part of the world.

Muckit

freedominacup wrote: »

I suppose both of our posts show the truth in the line that "assumption is the mother of all f**k-ups". I was assuming he couldn't work a full size machine in the yard you're assuming he can, one of us has made the wrong assumption.

Another thing we can't rule in or out yet is laziness

st1979

25 or 30 an hour who cares. Dont bother hiring just pay the digger man and let him at it with the most suitable size machine available. It probably will be 3 or 4 hrs work. Which wont even cover the hire shop charge. I often make the same error bothering to do it myself when it is only a few hrs work for a skilled man.

Gautama

freedominacup wrote: »

I suppose both of our posts show the truth in the line that "assumption is the mother of all f**k-ups". I was assuming he couldn't work a full size machine in the yard you're assuming he can, one of us has made the wrong assumption.

Can't fault either of you with your assumptions. In a way you're both right.
The yard is big enough for a JCB. However, I've never used a JCB whereas I have used a mini-digger, once. Therefore I probably can't work a full size machine, but someone with experience can!

Gautama

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

For a JCB paying cash it is expensive I would expect to get one for 30/hour with a docket would not give cash ( am slow to pay cash always get reciepts)

I'll need a receipt as this will be tax-deductible.

Gautama

ootbitb wrote: »

http://www.todaystractors.com/iphotos/a207.jpg

any neighbouring farmer will have one of these and farmer's son would welcome the few quid.

No farmer's sons around, believe it or not. About half of the neighbouring farmers are single men and unlikely to get married.
Those that do have sons, well, the sons are long gone.
One guy had the farm signed over to him about 10 years ago. Immediately got it planted with trees. And it was good land, not marginal or anything.

Gautama

Thanks for the replies, plenty of food for thought.
The farm is in North Cork, close to Kerry and Limerick borders.
If any of you know anyone that could do it, please PM me.

rancher

Gautama wrote: »

Can't fault either of you with your assumptions. In a way you're both right.
The yard is big enough for a JCB. However, I've never used a JCB whereas I have used a mini-digger, once. Therefore I probably can't work a full size machine, but someone with experience can!

All tracked diggers have much the same controls, so if you drove a mini digger, they're all the same, I like the six tonne tracked....big enough and handy

jay gatsby

Ring up the fella who is taking the land off you and ask him if he know's anyone or would do it himself. Then you have the option of knocking a few bob off the rent or writing him a cheque. If he's a decent tenant he'll be looking to keep in with you and will get the job done half right and at a reasonable cost. He's probably using the crush occasionally so it might be in his interests to have the place clean aswell