5 Acres of Scrub to Clear, Cost and Advice

HillFarmer

Hi all,

I have 5 acres of scrub to clear, briars, bushes furs and some rushes.
The land was rough grazed about 10 years ago but nothing since.

Attached picture


Looking for advice, rough costs etc, and I know, will never get return economically but its just a pastime

When I have a rough idea of costs I'll be able to make a decision on the level of reclamation I can do.

Its all roadside with a gentle slope to the road. pic attached

All advise welcomed, idea is to be ready for grass seed in march / April if possible

Cheers

nashmach

Is that dry ground and easily trafficable?

I'm thinking not by the way!

Maybe best to graze it off first if possible as it will need to be sprayed with the amount of vegetation.

jersey101

HillFarmer wrote: »

Hi all,

I have 5 acres of scrub to clear, briars, bushes furs and some rushes.
The land was rough grazed about 10 years ago but nothing since.

Attached picture


Looking for advice, rough costs etc, and I know, will never get return economically but its just a pastime

When I have a rough idea of costs I'll be able to make a decision on the level of reclamation I can do.

Its all roadside with a gentle slope to the road. pic attached

All advise welcomed, idea is to be ready for grass seed in march / April if possible

Cheers

graze it, spay it. Then digger

hugo29

jersey101 wrote: »

graze it, spay it. Then digger

as a matter of interest what would eat that,

i have a similar exercise to carry out

jersey101

hugo29 wrote: »

as a matter of interest what would eat that,

i have a similar exercise to carry out

sheep id say. A few suckler cows might do eat a bit of it away

HillFarmer

nashmach wrote: »

Is that dry ground and easily trafficable?

I'm thinking not by the way!

Maybe best to graze it off first if possible as it will need to be sprayed with the amount of vegetation.

Would you believe its bone dry.

Other fields on the same level along the road are all reseeded and I cut silage off them. There is actually a good depth of black soil, but it would need lime, and a nice bit I'd say. Its acidic ground

HillFarmer

jersey101 wrote: »

graze it, spay it. Then digger

Thanks Jersey, sorry now but when you say Spay it, what does that mean?
Just googling it here

HillFarmer

HillFarmer wrote: »

Thanks Jersey, sorry now but when you say Spay it, what does that mean?
Just googling it here

Presume you mean spray

hugo29

HillFarmer wrote: »

Thanks Jersey, sorry now but when you say Spay it, what does that mean?
Just googling it here

ah they speak funny over that side, he meant spray

jersey101 wrote: »

sheep id say. A few suckler cows might do eat a bit of it away

jayus dont think cows eat that, horses might be a good bet

TITANIUM.

HillFarmer wrote: »

Hi all,

I have 5 acres of scrub to clear, briars, bushes furs and some rushes.
The land was rough grazed about 10 years ago but nothing since.

Attached picture


Looking for advice, rough costs etc, and I know, will never get return economically but its just a pastime

When I have a rough idea of costs I'll be able to make a decision on the level of reclamation I can do.

Its all roadside with a gentle slope to the road. pic attached

All advise welcomed, idea is to be ready for grass seed in march / April if possible

Cheers

Id graze it down to the bone first with sucklers then sheep. You'll have a better idea of the lay of the place then. Spray it. You might get away with a few big drains and mole plow. If not then leave the digger there a few more days and peel her right back.
Best of luck anyway.

jersey101

HillFarmer wrote: »

Thanks Jersey, sorry now but when you say Spay it, what does that mean?
Just googling it here

sorry that would only work on a dog :P ha no sorry i mean spray. You could get obe of the tree root mulchers. They will mulcge up all them ferrs and grass. Theres lads on donedeal that do it

nashmach

HillFarmer wrote: »

Would you believe its bone dry.

Other fields on the same level along the road are all reseeded and I cut silage off them. There is actually a good depth of black soil, but it would need lime, and a nice bit I'd say. Its acidic ground

That makes it a lot easier.

As said graze it hard with sheeps, old dry cows or horses and then spray it hard with Roundup and get your digger in.

Best of luck with it.

HillFarmer

Ok, guys, so I'll throw in some sucklers there I'm wintering out.

Probe leave them there and feed them til February.


When I get the digger in, what's the action plan?

Will start getting a few quaotes this week if I can.
What do I say I want done


Peel back all dead growth etc?

Will he be able to rake it and make it fit for seed, or would I need someone wit a heavy duty rotovator?

Mac Taylor

Conmaicne Mara has a great line in reclamation gear. Very low tech might not be the cheapest to run but might do the job.!!:D:D:D

He might be available on a consultancy basis!

milkprofit

HillFarmer wrote: »

Hi all,

I have 5 acres of scrub to clear, briars, bushes furs and some rushes.
The land was rough grazed about 10 years ago but nothing since.

Attached picture


Looking for advice, rough costs etc, and I know, will never get return economically but its just a pastime

When I have a rough idea of costs I'll be able to make a decision on the level of reclamation I can do.

Its all roadside with a gentle slope to the road. pic attached

All advise welcomed, idea is to be ready for grass seed in march / April if possible

Cheers

aLL THE SHEEP U CAN FIND AND
HORSES MIGHT BE EASIER TO FENCE
the only problem is getting rid of them

Conmaicne Mara

Mac Taylor wrote: »

Conmaicne Mara has a great line in reclamation gear. Very low tech might not be the cheapest to run but might do the job.!!:D:D:D

He might be available on a consultancy basis!

I am currently putting together a franchise package including full rig out in the best of equipment and a 23 volume manual (hur hur, see what I did there) on the methodology.

Good loser

Get three different digger guys to look at it. Between them they will set you right.

eire23

As said graze and spray it and then deep dig it, Have reclaimed a nice bit of mountain here in the past this way

just do it

You'll need two separate sprays:

1. Grazon for the woody stuff like furze and briars etc
2. Round-up for the old grass, rushes and general growth.

Another option is to get a mulcer in now if it's dry enough. This will then rot into the ground over the winter. But whatever you do don't cut the furze before it is dead or else you'll spread it (I say from experience )

Sharpshooter82

jersey101 wrote: »

sorry that would only work on a dog :P ha no sorry i mean spray. You could get obe of the tree root mulchers. They will mulcge up all them ferrs and grass. Theres lads on donedeal that do it

That's what I was thinking, the one pass job

HillFarmer

Thanks for all the advice.

1st quote back from the digger man, 3,500 to skin off the existing scrub, "reden the ground" and dig 1 open drain in a low lying spot.

Its 5 acres in total of furs rushes etc.

What do people think of this quote, good value?

Sharpshooter82

HillFarmer wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice.

1st quote back from the digger man, 3,500 to skin off the existing scrub, "reden the ground" and dig 1 open drain in a low lying spot.

Its 5 acres in total of furs rushes etc.

What do people think of this quote, good value?

Might not be too bad as there is a lot of ground in five acres

49801

Quote for digger sounds ok.
Usually €50/hr

Conmaicne Mara

49801 wrote: »

Quote for digger sounds ok.
Usually €50/hr

Can get a digger + driver + dumper here for €250 a day.

poor farmer

I have deal,t with similar ground to that . Cattle or cows usually don't want to stay in that type of place.You would want good fences .
I would cut or shred it.I have used a heavy flail topper with good results.It will cut briars bushes furse etc up to about 1 1/2 thick
At least you will able to see what the ground is like and what further work is needed.

Digging is very disruptive and you can ed up losing your best topsoil.

reilig

HillFarmer wrote: »

Hi all,

I have 5 acres of scrub to clear, briars, bushes furs and some rushes.
The land was rough grazed about 10 years ago but nothing since.

Attached picture


Looking for advice, rough costs etc, and I know, will never get return economically but its just a pastime

When I have a rough idea of costs I'll be able to make a decision on the level of reclamation I can do.

Its all roadside with a gentle slope to the road. pic attached

All advise welcomed, idea is to be ready for grass seed in march / April if possible

Cheers

We have reclaimed some land similar to that. Eat it off if you want to, but the benefit of eating won't match the cost of fencing it. Around here we would hire in a 12 or 13 ton digger with a good driver. He'd clear approximately 2 acres per day - pull scrub and briars, level any bushes and bury the whole lot. he'd scrape any of the uneven ground into the holes and he would leave it ready for reseeding. Cost would be €400 per day inc vat and vat would be reclaimable. he would leave the ground in a way that you would just need to spread the grass seed on it and then run over it with a chain harrow or a bush!

Sharpshooter82

If you could get a digger with a land rake it's a great job as it doesn't bring too much soil with it as it pulls off the scrub

eorna

hugo29 wrote: »

as a matter of interest what would eat that,

i have a similar exercise to carry out

my sheep would do a great job cleaning that ;);)

deckycoop

you need to contact a local horse man,tell him your need ground cleared and there is enough on that field for 5 horses to get true over 2 months.. We have horses and the amount of people tat want rough ground like yours cleaned up over the winter is mad. a few horses and a electric fence around them and they will be as happy as larry. sheep wont stay on that ground and cows will be half the size when there are taking of it after a few months.

horses are the only way to go and there is no looking after or chasing them as you would have if you got sheep or cows in.

Good loser

HillFarmer wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice.

1st quote back from the digger man, 3,500 to skin off the existing scrub, "reden the ground" and dig 1 open drain in a low lying spot.

Its 5 acres in total of furs rushes etc.

What do people think of this quote, good value?

Too much to my mind. See quote 23 above. You must get more quotes as I suggested above.

Farmer Pudsey

That looks like wire rush you have not bull rush. Rush is usually a sign of wet ground but furze is usually associated with dry/rocky ground. The bush seems to be a willow/sally again wet ground but sally dislikes it ropts being water logged.

What kind of earth underneath, is it black/peaty or is there white marl/clay underneath

Lad quoting 3.5K sounds like he is trying to make a killing.

If it requires draining you would be foolish doing anything before sorting out that. Is the rest of the land drained around or is there dykes present.

Will land be waterlogged during the winter

is the field flat or sloped

coolshannagh28

As mentioned above get one of the lads on donedeal with a seppi mulcher he will leave it ready for seed for you and only disturb a couple inches on top so it doesn't go spungy .I got 5 acres of similar done last year which was the wettest in creation and I still have light stock out on it.

just do it

coolshannagh28 wrote: »

As mentioned above get one of the lads on donedeal with a seppi mulcher he will leave it ready for seed for you and only disturb a couple inches on top so it doesn't go spungy .I got 5 acres of similar done last year which was the wettest in creation and I still have light stock out on it.

What did you do with it?

deerehunter

Get a lad with a mulcher to go in and cut all scrub.

i would only get the trackmachine to open dykes and maby a few drains if you know the feild is wet in certain places or has springs ect.

disc harrow and powerharrow and seed dont plough lads tink deep ploughing works. it only works in some ground more ofen than not the soil you bring up is worse then what you turn down power harrow on its on is abit of a disaster ground never realy drys after it .hope this helps

Conmaicne Mara

How much do those mulcher lads charge? Do they travel to all parts? Asking out of curiosity nothing else.

deerehunter

im 40 an hour anyway but i can only cut scrub i cant rotavate the soil like you see some lads doing tbh most of my work is rushes.

wed travel about 12 miles thats usualy all we get asked anyway i do know the lads that rotavate aswell travel country wide

redzerologhlen

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

How much do those mulcher lads charge? Do they travel to all parts? Asking out of curiosity nothing else.

Dont know about the tractor mounted ones but tis 50 an hour for this rig.

coolshannagh28

The lad that done mine moves all on a lorry e120 per hour plus travel 300 hp tractor and a 3.5m mulcher ,would do that in about 2 days . He offers the choice of a Lemken Rubin disc which is pretty effective too but leaves ground softer as there is less depth control. The mulcher leaves a mould seedbed on any terrain regardless of trees stones etc and is less intrusive so ground stays hard. PM me and ill send number

Farmer Pudsey

The other advantage of mulchers is the amount of P&K left in the ground as opposed to clearing and burning. Saw a place cleared by a bulldozer land looks very hungry was a lot of heavy scrub that was bulldozed into huge heaps and burnt. Mulching will return all that into the ground with the price of fertilizer this could be worth 200/acre

randomperson12

wevwe field like that witch has has cows on it but ti also is like that

randomperson12

muchers are great for that but none in my area

Bog Man 1

Celtic Soil solutions travel all over the country and have a mulcher stone crusher stump guzzler .

http://www.celticsoil.com/forestry.html

087 6494127

087 7479911

Celtic Soil Solutions
Coonogue Farm
Adamstown
Co Wexford