Why You Shouldn't Brush Hog Your Land (With Examples)

[@dieterfritz1502]

Goats plus cutting the bigger trees for firewood seems to be an great option! idk about all the fence complains here, in my country are an lot of spaces that are managed with goats, i never even heard of an goat escaping here, i think the main reason for them escaping must be to small spaces and bad pasture. Ive seen simmilar damage being done to soil, peole often understimate that you should never drive on whet soil. Thanks for the video! Great as always :) Greetings from Germany!

[@westmeadowrabbits]

I tend to agree with you. Plenty of food and space discourages the desire to escape. It's always cool to here perspectives from other countries!

[@stevejohnstonbaugh9171]

What you have is a Realtor hack job. Two criteria were given; 1) Get it done right away 2) As cheap as possible. Why? The Realtor had one two part priority; flip the property and deposit the commission check. It's that simple and they do it every time. That's the Realtor formula for rural land. Now that you own the hack job, you're going to have to fix it. Hire a farmer and a tractor to come in with a disc and harrow at the driest time of the summer - probably mid August when you land is as dry as it gets. Look for a compact or mid size tractor with wide tires. Disc the pasture parallel with the ruts once. Then disc at 90 degrees Then harrow the disked area at 45 degrees once. That will break up much of the organic trash left behind and mix it up so that it decomposes faster, You may have to do this once a year for 3 years to make a good pasture. As to the brush piles - let them decompose in place. They are not worth the trouble, time and cost of picking through and hauling out. Buy 3 weaned female kids and put them in an electo-net enclosure as soon as they come available. Buying kids gives the opportunity to fence train. Goats love the little tree sprouts. Serving the Halal market is good business. If you want to breed your little goat herd when they come of age, hire in a ram.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Yup that's exactly what it is! I won't be tilling the pasture because I'm a big believer in no till farming and I don't want to further disrupt the soil microbiology. I've got a bunch of goats that will be going on the land, so combining that with fixing the bad spots by hand, I think it will take around 3-5 years to get to fully straightened out.

[@stevejohnstonbaugh9171]

@@westmeadowrabbits Discing is far different than tilling. I stopped tilling 30 years ago. You should GOOGLE the difference. From what I saw, you have way more work than one person can do by hand. Shallow discing, seeding and harrowing is how a pasture your size would be be created or restored with fresh seed of your choice. Don't be a purist. It's too hard on your back, your pocketbook and you'll loose precious time you can't recover.

[@briansmith7094]

Just wanted to say I enjoy your channel and have learned a lot since I have been watching.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Thanks I really appreciate it! Let me know if you've got any suggestions!

[@MrSnivvel]

As another mentioned, fencing for goats has be to top notch or you're going to have a ranging herd at best or a free meal for predators at worse, so there's a lot of prep work that has to be done for them. The other important factor not considered is time, which is just as important as money and energy. There's going to be time to put up proper fencing for goats and even that might require a tractor to clear a strip of the land well enough to allow for a perimeter fence. Then there's question of how long will goats take to clear out the material that's wanted to be cleared, which may or may not be their top palate pick, or will that require additional work post-goat. It seems to me that there was a lot more equipment traffic that would have cause that amount of soil compaction and tire ruts than just a lone tractor, but then maybe they were dumb enough to drive on very wet land.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

I definitely take your point about time. But I think most people looking to reclaim fields want to raise livestock, so you are going to need fences anyways. I'm a big believer in portable electric fencing which stops all but the most determined goats and predators and the need for a lot or permanent fencing. Time to clear may or may not matter depending on your context, but the big advantage of livestock is that you can generate income while they do the work! I don't think this method is for everyone, and there's definitely a place for heavy equipment. But I also don't think a lot of people realize its an option!

[@curtismengsk]

We have 400 acres that is rugged and wooded. We are planning to eventually maintain our property with goats exactly as you describe, however the property when we first bought it was so overgrown I don't think even goats could manage it, plus we needed access. I'm talking about groves of 3-6+ inch trees that are so thick you can't even hike through them. Even wild turkey were kept out by the thick brush. On top of that the tick issue is out of control and I think goats would just make that worse, and it'd be bad for them. Fortunately this land was virgin, so no garbage issues, no wire, etc, except very close to the road, and we cleared that by hand. There are also a massive amount of larger trees we need to remove, stumps, fallen tries, and standing deads that have to be cleaned up as well. So we are using mulching and forestry equipment to do an initial clearing of this stuff and getting the brush and woods more cleared and down to a manageable level, while letting guinea fowl and ducks help with tick reduction. Then we're going to use goats to maintain the brush and hopefully never use the equipment again. It'd be my preference to not use heavy equipment, and I agree with all your points 100%. I think our particular project would be impossible without an initial clearing though.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Its awesome that you have so much land! I do think there is a time and place for brush hogs and heavy equipment, just that they come with risks and should be used sparingly. Your plan makes a lot of sense to me!

[@zone4garlicfarm]

One of the main reasons rotary cutters are so popular is they are the least expensive mowing attachment you can buy for a tractor. A flail mower would do better in most places where people use a brush hog but most tractor owners won't spend the money to buy one. Your field appears to have been mowed when the ground was saturated. Was that the fault of the guy with the tractor or did the land owner tell him to get it done any way he could? Last summer was especially difficult in New England due to wet conditions. Many farmers were only to harvest one cutting of hay because of wet weather and soft ground.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Oh it definitely was. Personally I think it was the fault of the owner and the operator. Last year this wasn't a field but a dense thicket of birch saplings, brush, and bittersweet.

[@rubydevices1017]

Thank you for this video. Soon my family will be moving onto a 34 acre property. Most of the land has nice paddocks ready to go for cattle and sheep. Along the perimeter of the property though the terrain gets rough and has overgrown vegetation. I need to get the vegetation under control as the property is in a bush-fire prone area. I don't know what I'll do exactly yet but I suppose in the short term I will see what I can do with a ride-on mower. Long term it would be great to have goats but might take a while to get the fencing sorted out. What do you think a good short term solution might be? A ride-on mower with some sort of brush attachment?

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Thanks and congrats on getting the new land! As to your question, I tend to doubt you'll get very far with a ride on mower depending on how rough the terrain is. Remember, the only way to permanently get rid of brush is to either let it convert to forest naturally, or use animals to convert it back into pasture. Otherwise you'll have to be out there cutting it every couple of weeks. The way I see it, you've got three options. 1. Leave it alone until your ready to reclaim it with goats. This is often a neglected option for a lot of homesteaders, but it's one of my favorites. Brush is great wildlife habitat, which is a good use of land in my humble opinion. And it can act like a living fence for your property if it's thick enough. 2. Hire someone with goats to graze it for you. They may even do it for free! 3. Go for the bootstrapped setup. Buy some temporary electric fence, and some female goats and/or whethers. No Buck! From what it sounds like you've got prime goat habitat (although I don't know your region). They won't try to escape as long is there is food and water and might powerful energizer for the fence. Deepening on the predator pressure, you could leave them out there, or build a small shed to lock them in at night. Hope that helps and good luck!

[@rubydevices1017]

@@westmeadowrabbits Thank you for the detailed reply! Going to take all of that into consideration. I would love to let it grow wild until I get the goats on it - just need to do some careful risk analysis as the property is in a bush-fire prone area in temperate Australia. I might be able to get away with it though as there is a significant depression in elevation where the brush is and the area gets decent rainfall so it seems like a fairly moist micro-climate. I will keep learning about the options and discuss with locals. Cheers

[@westmeadowrabbits]

@@rubydevices1017 You're welcome and good luck!

[@jayroser9876]

The hard part is trying to keep the goats inside the fence.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Fair enough, But with plenty of tasty brush and a good electric fence, you ca keep them contained (at least for a while!)

[@thebhn]

@@westmeadowrabbits And.... we use a brush hog to clear the area for the fence. Forget the goats, get pigs and sheep instead. Much more fence friendly and will make short work of the undergrowth, reaching higher than goats will.

[@brian3986]

Both people I know who've done goats, say never again. I agree brush hogging has its drawbacks, but there's a reason the goat is often used to symbolize Satan. Lol

[@westmeadowrabbits]

@@brian3986 Already got my goats on there and I'm loving them! In my experience, generalized statements about livestock species and varieties don't really hold up. Individual genetics and the farmer's skill in management and husbandry are usually much more relevant. I'm not trying to contradict your friends or anything, but I don't place a ton of stock in the American perspective on goats or rabbits. I've got friends from Europe, Africa, and Asia, where these animals are staples raised everywhere from tiny villages with no infrastructure to massive high tech farms.

[@brian3986]

@@westmeadowrabbits they're working for you. That's all that counts.👍

[@OakKnobFarm]

I just found your channel today. Welcome to NH, we live a bit southeast of Concord

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Thanks! I grew up on the wrong side of the border. I wanted to get into your area but my job is down here unfortunately.

[@jenniferjones5017]

So what did you do to repair the land & damage?

[@westmeadowrabbits]

It's going to take at least a few years, but I will fix the worst spots manually. The rest will heal naturally as we move our goats over it and allow plant regrowth.

[@cobococreek1224]

I think overall you have good observation and interaction with the land, you care! Perspective and ultimate goals can play into certain realms of the conditions of that land. For pasture and domesticated animal keeping I agree that it appears the tractor has caused setbacks. For something like reforesting and re-wilding tho, pits and mounds serve a very important function of water, organic matter, and seed collection points. Also it diversifies the landscape for various critters on the small scale to start to establish which creates biodiversity. I've been witness to this over the last several years at my property where areas I disturb will now expose new life of native seed and flora banks that have been waiting to emerge. If a person has the space, try some disturbance here and there, and be patient, while also of course monitoring and maintaining invasives like bush honeysuckle - which can be a challenge! The number of wildflowers, baby trees, frogs, toads, dragonflies and birds have increased tenfold at my place from driving my tractor around digging and selective mowing. But its not in a haphazzard way, I pick and choose where swales, micro ponds, paths, etc might fit well to help slow and spread the water and also grant me easy access across the property. Certain areas get brushogged every 2 weeks (works fine for me as a finish mower) , certain areas every 2 years, certain areas never! Good luck on your journey friend, overall I do think a light, natural footprint is a great approach and ill likely sell my equipment one day in the future to pursue that path.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

I think the key to your success is being intentional. You are observing the land and making conscious decisions, not barreling through treating the land like a play ground for your tractor. And I strongly agree that this is context dependent. I guess my biggest hope with this video is that people will observe and understand their land before they go out and throw heavy equipment on it.

[@cobococreek1224]

@@westmeadowrabbits I forgot to thank you for the amazing insight you offered in the vid, I think it will help many people, including myself!

[@westmeadowrabbits]

@@cobococreek1224 Thanks!

[@homesteadhelper9126]

I'm impressed with your knowledge.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Thanks, although I haven't owned this much land before, I've worked on farms with tractors for a while.

[@xX3NEZUE3Xx]

nicely formated video of your perspective.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Thanks!

[@johndhead1]

Did they use a drum mulcher with tracks? Much finer mulch and much less soil disturbance. You get what you pay for..

[@westmeadowrabbits]

I doubt it, the property was owned by a flipper before me.

[@PANTTERA1959]

They did a wonderful job that just needs to be finished. Tractors buy time,that simple. It still has to be farmed for grass,trees,food,space. That's why farms need farmers.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

I've worked with tractors on farms for a long time, and this is probably the worst hack job I've seen in my life. Not only did it wreck the land, but it wrecked an income opportunity. We have large middle eastern and African communities here that pay top dollar for live goat. All that brush in that pile that I now need to dispose of could have been converted into cash. Not to mention that I know need to pay to get the land regraded in many places.

[@stevejohnstonbaugh9171]

@@westmeadowrabbits Hire a farmer and a tractor to come in with a disc and harrow at the driest time of the summer - probably mid August when you land is as dry as it gets. Look for a compact or mid size tractor with wide tires. Disc the pasture with the ruts once. Then harrow across the disked area once. That will break up much of the organic trash left behind and mix it up so that it decomposes faster, You may have to do this once a year for 3 years to make a good pasture. As to the brush piles - let them decompose in place. They are not worth the trouble and cost of picking through and hauling out. Get a 3 weaned kids put them in an electo-net enclosure as soon as they come available. Buying kids gives the opportunity to fence train. Goats love the little tree sprouts. Serving the Halal market is good business.

[@PANTTERA1959]

@@westmeadowrabbits All that can still be done. You have a cleared pasture, now just finish it. Did you pay for mature pasture and ended up with raw land?

[@rajbeekie7124]

I don't see brush hogging as a waste. The materials go back to the soil. Also, millions of people use tractors safely. Yes, they are powerful, but they can be used safely. Using goats requires intense labor. Most people have more money than time. Brush hogs will continue to sell. Goats are a niche for most folks.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

I don't think they are niche, it's fairly common in the US and even more common globally. If you're already farming, goats aren't a big addition, and if you aren't its easy enough to find people who would graze your land. I'm not saying brush hogs are (or tractors) are inherently bad, but from a sustainability perspective, they are less than ideal and often overused.

[@rubberducky1707]

You bought decapitated land, now your crying about it,

[@robertsparling]

Really, the contractor can only be expected to do what he is contracted to do. Probably the owner was in a hurry to get the brush hogging done, and too cheap to pay for clean up, etc. So the contractor went in on wet land and left the scrap laying. Would you do the extra work for free? If so, then just do the extra work and quit whining.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

I don't entirely blame the contractor, its mostly the owners fault. That being said in my businesses I wouldn't want my name attached to a sloppy job, and wouldn't take a job that would put me in that position unless I was desperate. And if you're the kind of contractor that does excellent work, you usually will have plenty of work. That being said, brush hogging still has the other flaws I've discussed in the video, especially if you want to raise livestock on the land.

[@stanthaman6634]

Lol. Chill. Tractors, brush hogs, flails are fine. You're giving millennials a worse name.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

I'm not a millennial! Also heavy equipment is a tool which can be fine when used appropriately. When I worked on a farm, we weren't going to spend 3 months making hay with a scythe, for example. But all tools have impacts that people should be aware of, and when used inappropriately, they create a lot of preventable problems. Pretty much every day I see people using heavy equipment that have no idea what they are doing, and this video is an example.