Clay soil, compacted, weeds...help please!

[glasshouse]

Sounds like weald clay which is pretty horrible stuff
Frank the wool knows that land

 

[brigadoon]

@Highland Mule I have been planning on ditching the top border but if I'm not having the horses in it in the winter now, am wondering is it worth spending the money (8k and that's mates rates from family, I was quoted 20k by someone else).
I harrowed and rolled late March and harrowed and reseeded mid-April. Was that all too early? It did get cold again but the fact that we've had almost zero rain is probably the biggest factor. However my neighbours fields look amazing while mine are horrible. Photos tomorrow!

8k would amount to 200 hours with a 13 tonner at a higher rate than you would ever get from a farmer in galloway. There has to be a lot more to this than simply excavating a ditch around three sides of 5 acre plot which really should not take long at all. An interceptor ditch should be a couple days at most - so what was the 8k quote actually for?

 

[JennBags]

8k would amount to 200 hours with a 13 tonner at a higher rate than you would ever get from a farmer in galloway. There has to be a lot more to this than simply excavating a ditch around three sides of 5 acre plot which really should not take long at all. An interceptor ditch should be a couple days at most - so what was the 8k quote actually for?

Not just for the ditch, you're right, plus it's more of an estimate than a quote, it's 2 guys for 2 weeks plus hire of the equipment plus materials.
They'd be creating the ditch plus a land drain through the middle of the field down to the ditch at the bottom. My field slopes both sideways and also undulates along the length, and it's oblong shaped, I'm attaching a picture here. The red lines show the ditches to be dug, the blue are my other boundaries and the green line is the land drain/trench to take the water from the lowest point at the top of the field to the ditch at the very bottom (already there).
They'll also be creating a french drain in front of the stable area, digging out the pond, moving and flattening down all the earth they've moved.

 

[Bignor Farmer]

Looking at your map you’re only a few miles away from me. Grass seed scratched into dust in mid April won’t have stood a chance so far this year with basically no rain since and horses still churning the surface up.
I’ll PM you the number of a friend who will be able to help you out with all aspects from reseeding to drainage.

 

[JennBags]

Photos as promised. This is the field that they've been grazing since mid-April, I am going to move them off it tonight:


Onto this one which has lots of bare patches still although much more grass:


But still lots of bare patches


Looking over to the weed patches (the dark green) from the field they're currently in:


Compared with my neighbours paddock which was rested all winter but has had 4 horses/ponies out on it 24/7 for about 2 months:

 

[glasshouse]

The kiwi farmers should read this to see why we house animals in winter.
Is it weald clay?

 

[brigadoon]

Not just for the ditch, you're right, plus it's more of an estimate than a quote, it's 2 guys for 2 weeks plus hire of the equipment plus materials.
They'd be creating the ditch plus a land drain through the middle of the field down to the ditch at the bottom. My field slopes both sideways and also undulates along the length, and it's oblong shaped, I'm attaching a picture here. The red lines show the ditches to be dug, the blue are my other boundaries and the green line is the land drain/trench to take the water from the lowest point at the top of the field to the ditch at the very bottom (already there).
They'll also be creating a french drain in front of the stable area, digging out the pond, moving and flattening down all the earth they've moved.

two weeks with a 13t machine should do that no bother and up here would be a lot less than half the price you have quoted (with an extra man). I am guessing there is a tractor and dump trailer in the equation as well?

I would step carefully - if you have the wrong folks you could end up with a real mess and if they have to hire machinery in I cannot help but wonder if you are talking to the right people.

A 20k quote for that scope of work would see the dogs set on you up here but you are not up here.

 

[Will May]

We winter out a lot of our horses, healthier physically and mentally for them. Work on a stocking rate of one horse per acre, although one old lady just mooching about does a lot less damage than a three year old colt ripping around like a lunatic. We have lighter soil than you by looks of it. You need to have a sacrificial field that you let them knacker over the winter (preferably a drier part of your ground) and let the rest get ahead of the horses in grass growth, once the grass is ahead it can sustain more horses, if the grass is behind it'll never catch up and always look a bit poor. Lots of good info on here above looking after your grassland, swardlifting/ subsoiling is a bit of a dark art and horses can quickly undo any improvements in soil structure during the winter.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I would chain harrow some seed on and hope you get rain

 

[Princess Pooper]

If you are going to sward lift, leave it until the autumn. With the dry soils we have now and given your location, the roots may not survive a prolonged dry spell.

 

[JennBags]

Thank you all so much for your help and advice, I really appreciate it all. I've spoken to the man that Bignor Farmer put me in touch with and he's going to come out and see it this week, so hopefully together we can come up with a plan to get the land working well for me.
What a lovely forum, so many helpful people.

 

[glasshouse]

Thank you all so much for your help and advice, I really appreciate it all. I've spoken to the man that Bignor Farmer put me in touch with and he's going to come out and see it this week, so hopefully together we can come up with a plan to get the land working well for me.
What a lovely forum, so many helpful people.

Are you on the weald clay?

 

[JennBags]

Are you on the weald clay?

I don't think so, but not completely sure. At the risk of sounding like a total idiot, how would I know?

 

[glasshouse]

I don't think so, but not completely sure. At the risk of sounding like a total idiot, how would I know?

Ask a local farmer!!

 

[glasshouse]

Frank the wool is near you, i havent heard from him recently

 

[vinnie123]

We’ve sprayed all our horse grazing with “headland polo” and it has cleaned them up no end.

Before spraying I reckon we had over 50% weed populations in some parts of the fields .

Early April we sprayed and ten days later harrowed the hell out of it then broadcast grass seed and harrowed some more, followed by a pass with the roller.

Important to avoid ryegrasses in your seed mix as it’s a laminitis nightmare.

This winter was exceptionally kind around here and horses were out most days but you must be prepared to keep the stable door shut, turning out on shitty wet winter days only prolongs the agony.

If it was mine i would be splitting it into two and reseeding it over next two winters.

As others have said drainage and soil nutrients are very important

 

[Will May]

4.5 acre paddock, that has had 4 horses on it 24 hours a day 365 days a year, for at least 5 years. Never been drained or subsoiled, has a patch in middle which has standing water in it for 3 months of the year.
Maintenance this year.
Harrowed (einbock spring tine) overseeded (paddock overseed mix from whittall seeds) flat rolled last 2 weeks of April. Mowed today with a major roller mower.