Kev's Grass renovation thread

[Kevtherev]

Right good on toast

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Sorry if someone has already said this but clovers can be sown with lime or ferts and we have even put some in with sheep cake in the snacker and mixed in with lamb creep too. You can't really fail with clover.

My yard grow silly amounts of clover just from manure and split/blown silage, pretty much anywhere there's organic matter is clover here. As you said, hard to go wrong really. Throws well out of a spinner too.

 

[Kevtherev]

Anyone using grass harrows?
I have done some overseeding with mixed results

 

[milkloss]

View attachment 479196
Anyone using grass harrows?
I have done some overseeding with mixed results

I had some just like that but with a spinner instead of air seeder. Was glad to see the back of them they just weren't strong or effective enough. Gave the buyer a free bag of tines with it.....he'll need them!

 

[GTB]

View attachment 479196
Anyone using grass harrows?
I have done some overseeding with mixed results

Yes we have one and it works well most of the time. Weather needs to be fairly wet for good results.

 

[GTB]

I had some just like that but with a spinner instead of air seeder. Was glad to see the back of them they just weren't strong or effective enough. Gave the buyer a free bag of tines with it.....he'll need them!

The weather and ground conditions must be drier with you. We find it works well if you're lucky with the weather.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Before I head to the naughty step...[emoji117]
How good are those machines for getting rid of thatch, scale of 1 to 10
Have heard very conflicting stories, one side says hopeless, one side says great
(not you guys either)

 

[milkloss]

Before I head to the naughty step...[emoji117]
How good are those machines for getting rid of thatch, scale of 1 to 10
Have heard very conflicting stories, one side says hopeless, one side says great
(not you guys either)

Very good but it's the tines that let them down very often. The one I had was just a horsey paddock thing imo, there are some much stronger ones about.

 

[Kevtherev]

Pretty good at pulling thatch and moss out to be fair

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Thanks, trying to figure out mechanical means of getting dirty old browntop out, and shiny things in...without unleashing what else is in there!!

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Dad has an Opico set and loves them. They are pretty good at dragging out the thatch and disturbing any moss. He's run them 4 years, probably 300 acres in total, with no tine breakage yet

 

[milkloss]

Dad has an Opico set and loves them. They are pretty good at dragging out the thatch and disturbing any moss. He's run them 4 years, probably 300 acres in total, with no tine breakage yet

In all fairness I think they improved them quite a lot but once burnt and all that.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

don't plow too deep
i would say if spring and summer good growth chicory would help break up some of the pans then go to deep rooted grasses to try and keep it open
kales etc have deep roots too and can grow in to things

Plow

I wouldn't dare!

There's several places where the "soil" is only 3" deep over blocks of concrete the size of a car. Over the years I have cut off all the rebar sticking up, some of it 1" and bigger

 

[scholland]

The grass Harrow type machine can work well but ground need to be not to hard and plenty moisture after sowing. We use them for sowing on cultivated ground but now have an old moore for dd and over seeding.

 

[Kevtherev]

Plow

I wouldn't dare!

There's several places where the "soil" is only 3" deep over blocks of concrete the size of a car. Over the years I have cut off all the rebar sticking up, some of it 1" and bigger

Rotavator [emoji23][emoji85]

 

[Kevtherev]

Chain harrows @neilo

 

[Big_D]

Before I head to the naughty step...[emoji117]
How good are those machines for getting rid of thatch, scale of 1 to 10
Have heard very conflicting stories, one side says hopeless, one side says great
(not you guys either)

Very good, was at meeting today where a farmer said he'd had to bale the thatch it pulled so much off, 20 round bales off 25 acres!!

 

[cubby]

For this year I have an einbock front mounted harrow coming and and erth agriseeder on the back wil get some results posted

 

[JD-Kid]

Thanks, trying to figure out mechanical means of getting dirty old browntop out, and shiny things in...without unleashing what else is in there!!

i would say spray but gut feeling yer cant
we have brown top here old matted crap both above ground and roots
only thing we found is rip it up get lime on beat it to death and then beat it to death again a few crops to kill off any regrowth then in to perms but knowing it will be back
if yer can spray simple
one year fodder crop then in to the likes of platain chicory and clover grass kill type sprays for a few years to keep grass out then in year 3-4 put in to perms once getting rid of all the roots and seed in soil

have not seen harrows working so can't say how good they would go i think like topping it makes it look better but not sure if it's doing a lot

 

[Kiwi Pete]

i would say spray but gut feeling yer cant
we have brown top here old matted crap both above ground and roots
only thing we found is rip it up get lime on beat it to death and then beat it to death again a few crops to kill off any regrowth then in to perms but knowing it will be back
if yer can spray simple
one year fodder crop then in to the likes of platain chicory and clover grass kill type sprays for a few years to keep grass out then in year 3-4 put in to perms once getting rid of all the roots and seed in soil

have not seen harrows working so can't say how good they would go i think like topping it makes it look better but not sure if it's doing a lot

It's biomass but that seems to be about the extent of its benefits.
Would love to be able to beat it with spraying or the likes but not an option here, I may give it a bit of a scratch with heavy chain harrows and a good aeration and see if that has much effect. Have heard plenty of N will just make everything else smother it too, I'm just looking for the organic solution.. can get a fair bit of a premium for stock through the local butchers already, and much more so once biogro certified. Extra $2/kg is what they're saying they will pay, even if it's only 80 lambs a year, few cattle and 5 pigs- it's still a fair bit of extra $ and helps keep costs in check too!
Aiming to blot it out with a pea/oats crop and undersow with usual salad bowl mix.