using a grass slitter

[bluebell]

i bought a ritchie grass slitter a few years ago, and use it over all the grazing and cutting ground a least once or two times a year, , that and the opico grass harrows seem to keep the grass looking well. I could not tell you if the economics add up by the time you take your time and fuel into account, ( the grass slitter has about a ton of weight on it , two bulk bags with sand in). So the tines get right down. Do other people use a grass slitter often, i would like their opinion to the benifit or not?

 

[Mur Huwcun]

We've been planning for a few years now to do half a field to see if there is any noticeable difference but we hever remember at the time!!! Will do one year....

 

[Dog&stick]

We run one, do most fields ever other year, heavy stocked fields by sheds , may get done twice a year, have some ground in hls zero input, very noticeable in that when missed every other run, got a few horsey folk, do some for, need extra weight on then.used when conditions are right good bit of kit,but like now planting take priority still it's a hard sell, no compaction don't need It!

 

[Barleycorn]

I've got one in the nettles somewhere. Now use cocksfoot, chicory, and plantain in the leys, lot cheaper than diesel!

 

[Pan mixer]

I use mine if there has been surface capping - either from weather or light poaching, it is well worth attaching to the tractor for that.

I don't do any fields routinely though but I have done that 'half a field' thing and there was a difference, but the field was capped.

 

[shearerlad]

Bought a browns agri one a few years ago to replace an einbok harrow. It has the sward slitter plus 3 rows of spring tines.
Does a great job of breaking surface panning after winter floods.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

there was an article in practical farm ideas a few years ago saying how much it did increase yield. However since all research is now funded by industry, there has not been research on the benefits.

 

[Longlowdog]

I have a couple of fields next to a chocked drain (previous folk planted willows in it) and they will hold surface water unless I run the Ritchie over them. I only have sheep but they are clearly enough to compact the ground enough to prevent drainage. I'd say the evidence is good that in my situation it works.
Partly to be a little green and partly because I'm mean I stopped using bag fert' a couple of years ago. I now use a fraction of the cost to aerate and harrow (and I pasture top to prevent seed heads forming) and my fields are beginning to grass crop as well as they did before with clover becoming prolific. I always wonder if even a fraction more fresh air and a bit better drainage at the roots helps the clover do its job a wee bit better.

 

[neilo]

We've been planning for a few years now to do half a field to see if there is any noticeable difference but we hever remember at the time!!! Will do one year....

You really should try it. We did several half fields when splitters first came out, maybe 30 years ago. All those fields had had sheep outwintered on them, fed from those old Iron Duke hayracks, pushed around old pp. in not one of those fields could we se any difference whatsoever between the two halves.
Others hired the same machine from our local ag dealer and did the same. That machine then sat in the nettles at the bottom of the dealer's yard for the next 20 years.
I dare say he sold it when they came back in fashion though.

 

[aled1590]

Don't do it routinely here, just the damaged poached fields during lambing, try to do it mid summer when it's at its driest. Use an aerworx, some weight in her

 

[Mr Mackay]

I am thinking about slitting now ,even though its still a bit wet

 

[Longlowdog]

I am also considering just how quickly I can set to work. The quicker I let the air in and the water down the happier my snow crushed and browned grass will be.

 

[betweenthelines]

When you drive a fence post into the ground, what keeps it in place?

The compressed soil it displaces.

When you make a hole with a slitter, where does the soil go?

 

[blackisleboy]

Took the 6m Browns out of the shed today, ready to go in next few days if the forecast is correct.
Definitely helps with the clover, and really sorts out sheep capping in the spots they seem to gather most.
Wouldn't be without one now.

 

[Longlowdog]

To the sides but the water gets to percolate away from the capped soil and the air gets to the roots. If I don't relieve the compaction the soil effectively becomes anaerobic rather than an aerobic system. Okay, it's not entirely reduced to an an anaerobic condition but every little helps when it comes to encouraging a healthy soil which is the backbone of a healthy pasture.

 

[ploughman1963]

I am thinking about slitting now ,even though its still a bit wet

Dont - waste of time until the soil is dry enough to crack outwards from the spike hole especially f you have any clay content in your soil.

 

[Mr Mackay]

Dont - waste of time until the soil is dry enough to crack outwards from the spike hole especially f you have any clay content in your soil.

Soils quite loamy to be fair . Its got the einboch type tine arrangement on the back so doing 2 jobs in one even if its a pain in the arse

 

[Pan mixer]

On my nasty clay where the sheep have made the top inch or so waterproof I am not going to go until the tines will almost not go in the ground. I have concrete weights to hold it down.

Going earlier hasnt helped before.

 

[Wellytrack]

If the tractor is leaving a tread it’s too wet. Your looking for fissures after punching a hole in the ground, plus some aerators have a twisted blade which means the hole is less likely to fill in again.

Mine is 3 meters and two tons, it’s on a 140hp tractor and in work it pulls revs down from 1500rpm to 1200, it’s not just the punching a slot in the soil, it’s the levering up effect when the blade is leaving the ground.

 

[AndyHaycocks]

I've got one in the nettles somewhere. Now use cocksfoot, chicory, and plantain in the leys, lot cheaper than diesel!

Want to sell yours?? I've just aquired some land that has not been tended in over 20years, ground so hard it's like concrete. The last time it rained the water just ran off the surface, sweet FA infiltrated into the soil (I use the term soil very losely).