When I started on this place 5 years ago, the pines had just been planted, and both ponds were so grown up in willow and water oak you couldn't fish in them. I just harrowed up food plots and girlfriend just caught a nice bass. And of course dog is always ready to go boating. I mowed all the middles in the pines last year and made new roads, and cut many a wax myrtle and oak tree out of there. A lot of these pines I planted myself as replants. I plow up one side of the powerline and seed it with NWSG and leave the other to grow in broom sedge and forbs. Its really awesome to see your hard work pay off over time and enjoy it. Yeah that's my little story, hope you enjoyed it. :D
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How could someone not enjoy your story. ;D
I do alot around here. I do more cutting,clearing than planting. I have a grown up pasture that I am gaining on. Stone walls need to be rebuilt,hauled off 2 so far,so called walls,more like rocks spread out for 10 feet. Many places that I have leveled out so I can mow them,many rocks dug out too. I keep about an acre all cleaned up across from the garage. Nothing much smaller than 6 inches grows in there. Time to go through it and pick up the big branches. Than later I'll use my mini bush hog, :D a cheapy lawn mower,to chew up what i did not want to pick up. Than the woods is a never ending peoject.Yes I love my woods and land that much more.
Do you clear w tractor/saw?
Looks like you have a great place, and it would be interesting to watch your trees grow into timber knowing you planted them 8).
Great post and photos, too. :)
I agree, having your own place is special. You are doing some good work there. Your terrain and soil is so different than we see here. Mine is very hilly ledge and swamp. None tillable. If those pines are 5 years old they are growing fast by our standards. Very nice.
I'm very happy for you Ga. There's nothing like having someplace like that to call your own. You are a good steward of your land ;)
GATreeGrower,the fields that have been here for years are mowed with the tractor. The place across the garage would be just about impossible to do with a tractor,even a small lawn tractor. Too many trees. I just do it with my mini bush hog. A little at a time. I may run 2-3 tank full through the mini until it's all mowed over. I only mow it once a year. Not much can grow under it because of the shade from the trees. No grass to speak off,just some green ferns and the bushes keep trying to grow back.
The grown up pasture is an on going project. Been working on it for more than 10 years. I do have a bush hog,but this is uneven ground. The bush hog maybe digging in on one side,but the other side is a foot high. I found it's very hard to kill back bushes and suckers off from stumps that could not be cut lower than 6 inches. I tried a lawn mower and noticed the difference right off. It cuts lower to the ground and does a much better job. Yes,ALOT slower and ALOT more work,but the out come is so much better.I have filled in and leveled out alot of the pasture.It's REAL rocky so no way to plow it up and harrow it unless I want to pick rocks all summer from doing it. I cut the trees low with my chainsaw and mow over them if I can. There is a mixture of soft wood and hardwood. I brought a OWB just to really burn the softwood from the pasture. I was just pushing it into a burn pile,but it would kinda burn for 4-5 days. :o It's a slow process,but the more I clear,the more I have to keep clear. there is a balance here. It's a battle for about 5 years and than I have won the War. There was one area that was real nice, meaning smooth. I can just about mow it with the tractor now,without doing alot of work on it. The grass is coming into the area real nice.
Looking real good, there.
Nice 8) 8) We do get attached to our property :)
Nice work, GA. To say we get attached to our property is putting it mildly. Nothing could move me off this patch of earth.
Thanks for your kind comments yall. I have enjoyed seeing pics of different members' land improvement projects as they evolve, and just figured I'd share one of mine. These are the ponds, I forgot to include pics of them. Yes I fish from a lawn chair :D
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I agree -- one really does become attached to, and protective of, one's own place. Some years ago, before the Berlin Wall was taken down, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist, and communism ended, we had some teachers from the USSR visit our little town and hospital and schools. At that time, of course, no-one in the USSR owned any private property, and particularly no-one owned any farmland or private forest land, as many of the members of the Forestry Forum do. These visitors came to our place, which is 75 acres of western North Carolina mountains forested land, with a lovely 2-acre pond, which my wife and I enjoy and feel very fortunate to have. I had the impression that these visitors experienced severe culture shock. They could hardly believe, or comprehend, that a private individual could own such a beautiful piece of land, to do pretty much whatever he wanted to do with it. So after that visit we have felt even more blessed -- and to live in this country. My $.02 response to this thread.
David L.
That's right on, David. I just hope I can pass this same love for the land on to my kids one day (if I end up having kids, I hope so). Seen a lot of family farms around here get sold on the courthouse steps when they passed to kids or grandkids.
Now, I see one lawn chair down by the pond. I saw your girlfriend with a really nice bass. Do you two fish together? If so, which of you gets the chair? :D
She catches and I release. :D
nice place gatreegrower! Cool story about the visitors david. Excellent thread; yes, I am very attached. I flew 3000 miles to do some grounds and home maintenance for my mother-in-law back in '97(dredge the pond, fix the windmill, oil the woodwork in the kitchen and great room, etc, etc.). fell in love with the farm the first time I laid eyes on it. After a month of discussion and because my MIL was not wanting to keep it, we made a 2 year plan to move our family from western WA to western NY. I became the owner of 95 acres of farmland and woodlot in '99...always have called it the future retirement fund, IRA, 401k, investment for the generations to come(no other family member of hers wanted anything to do with it). I've shed a LOT of blood sweat and event tears on and over every acre of my piece of heaven! I hunt nowhere but on my own land, plant a good garden each spring, teach my growing or grown kids why I need to feel the soil and sawdust through my fingers, from our own land. all paid off in '09 just in time for the recession. I feel like the taxes keep me from affording the toys like 4 wheelers and snowmobiles, but ya know what?? I'd rather walk it any day of any season!
mark
Quote from: thecfarm on April 12, 2013, 08:27:55 PM
The grown up pasture is an on going project. Been working on it for more than 10 years. I do have a bush hog,but this is uneven ground. The bush hog maybe digging in on one side,but the other side is a foot high. I found it's very hard to kill back bushes and suckers off from stumps that could not be cut lower than 6 inches. I tried a lawn mower and noticed the difference right off. It cuts lower to the ground and does a much better job.
Root rake does wonders, then burn the piles of roots and stumps once dried. ;D
Nice place GAtreeGrower and nice story. Do you folks get cattails that grow from the wild. Around here, any pond like that seems to seed to cattails on the rim, which in itself is nice to filter the water. Just wondering.
As to owning private land, I think it is not so shocking as it is different. Just because those folks didn't own land doesn't mean it's something evil. Lots of people here on this continent own a home and maybe 1/2 acre which they still don't really own if you consider land tax as rent. Stop paying 'rent' and see how long you still have it. ;)
I don't have a root rake,only have a 40hp tractor too. May not need more than that for root rake. Even going down 2 inches will produce more rocks than I care to see. Double that depth and triple the amount of rocks and maybe the size of them too. :D This is just a small scale clearing job that it it takes me another 20 years to get done that will be fine. And if I don't get my Big Plan done, that is even finer. ;D Just more bushes to grow back when I am gone. I just kinda want it back the way it was when I was growing up. I have dug out a few stumps. It's hard with just a bucket,no back hoe. And did I mention,one stump,20 rocks? Than I find out they don't dry the best. Need a way to pick them up and shake the dirt out of them.
Then you need a rock picker, dozer with rake and dump truck to haul the rocks. ;D I had thought that maybe you was clearing land for crops. But maybe you just want to watch deer. ;) :D
I meant to type that in too. Deer too. If I can get 100 X100 done in one year that is good for me. Takes a lot of time to get it all done the way I want,with the equipment I have. Than the more I clear,the more I have to keep clear. With a 20 inch mower it's slow mowing. I really only have one area that can be mowed with the tractor. The stumps have rotted away now. But that is only 100 X 100 too. :D Small scale at it's finest. ;D I also have bunches or rocks sticking up out of the ground,my 40 hp tractor can't even wiggle them.
Hobby farms have their challenges. ;D ;) Your lucky to have a tractor, my uncle only had a horse and hand scythe. The horse was just as happy without a sickle mower or plow hitched to it and made a better pet than a farm implement and it's owner never pushed the issue. :D
Definition of Hobby,Something that you enjoy doing,put money into it,but never get none back. Yep,I'm a Hobby Farmer. :D
QuoteNeed a way to pick them up and shake the dirt out of them.
Can you get a set of forks for your loader? I found, by default - not by any planning, that the forks work great with any rocks up to the size I can't pick up with the loader.
Stick the forks in and pop the rocks out, the carry them off on the forks or in the bucket. Same with popping stumps out and shaking the dirt off.
Of course it is just an improvement over just-a-bucket, not a cure-all for every rock and stump. ;)
I have a set of fork. I would kinda be concerned about doing something to loader. These are really good size rocks for the most part I am dealing with. One that will fit inside my bucket is a small one around here. I can pick up a pretty good size rock with mine. Ho big deal to have them as big as a washing machine and that is really on the small size.
I figure if the Deere loader can lift it, then it is built to handle digging in out with the forks. ;)
We had Deeres here on the farm and I've seen some pretty big rocks put a beat'n on tractor buckets. :D I think one has to be careful when repairs are costly, and if the farm don't support the repair bills. ;)
SD
You need to get out more. ;D
15 years and not damage to the bucket. ;)
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Out of pick'n rocks is all I want 'out more' of. :D
This reminded me of my wife asking me when I'll be done with all my work in our woods. Um, you really don't get it if you have to ask that question.
A better question would be "When is the work gonna be done with you?" :)
Not that it matters I've seen some pretty bad banged uo buckets on JD tractors and these were on farms too. Probably I would of had some of them bent in half with some of the rocks I've dug. I know when my Father and me went looking at tractors in 1992 JD and Ford offered 2 price buckets a light duty one or a heavy one. We brought the heavy duty one on a 2120. I dug out some BIG rocks with that. I regretted getting rid of it. The bucket I have on this NH must of been a light duty. I've done more damage to it than the almost 18 years of the other tractor. I have dug 100s of rocks. How many you dug beenthere? ;)
beenthere,That is only a 30hp tractor,bucket is how wide? I can't really tell,but the 2120 bucket was much bigger,deeper higherI think. That had a big bucket on it.
We moved a mountain of rocks off these farms up here and they are still growing. :D We always had 100-120 HP tractors here and the buckets wider than the wheel base. A potato row that would be say 650 yards long beside the house here, we would often have to dump the bucket twice, going one way. We would pick about 20 rows wide or so as we went. However one of our farms up the road had hardly a rock and that was at the base of a mountain. Go figure. I remember one spring, this 100 acres around the house we picked 3 times. Once each between harrows and then again after the first hoeing. But this field was always bad for rocks. The guy that bought it said we never picked any rocks. He didn't know anything as far as rocks we picked. We filled a swamp with rocks, build up a road with the rocks and another 20 feet deep rock pile for 100 yards on the edge of the farm, plus used under buildings we poured cement on. He musta been blind or felt like mouth'n or both. :D
Yall got a lot of rocks up er :)
I'm not counting the ones that I can pick up by hand. That would be me up in the 10,000s. ;D I need to go up to the bog and take a picture.It would scare you and than you would know I don't know nothing. :D
QuoteHow many you dug beenthere?
Hundreds too. I've been digging them out of the yard (they do grow, as you well know) for 50 years now. And because this is the terminal morraine for the last glacier that slipped down into WI about 10k year ago, it left a log of rocks.
Largest is about car size. I didn't have the convenience of a bucket except for the last 15 years. Prior to that it was dig 'em by hand, wrap chain around, drag out and load on a stone boat and drag away.
I gave away several truckloads of big rock for a large rock wall. Prolly 3-400 all in all there. Last few years I've been building some of my own rock walls out of the boulders such as seen in the bucket. For a 30 some hp tractor, it carries its weight well. And the addition of the forks makes it a much better tool for rocks and a gazillion other chores. I have the forks on more than I have the bucket. A grapple tooth on the forks is forthcoming. :)
Give rocks away,I wish that would happen to me.I have a couple stone walls I would like to see gone.I'm building a rock wall up in the bog. Pictures are a coming. It's about a 10 minute drive,but I know the rocks will not be in the way again. More memories. I dug out alot of rocks with my Father,might just as well take pictures of that pile too. He had it easy,I was the chain man and he drove the tractor. A few times we had to fill the hole back in and the rock was still there.Took a few times to get the rock out,2 people made it easy. We got the Ford in 1993,bucket and all. First time The Farm had a tractor with a bucket.