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help with 4o acres
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Author:  cowboysheart [ Wed Jun 23, 2004 12:31 pm ]
Post subject:  help with 4o acres
Hello out there I need some help brainstorming :idea: :idea:
I have 40 acres of tree and brush That I need cleared for grazing. This parcel is sloping sandy land with a few washes of red clay in SE Oklahoma. I am on a tight budget what is the best and cheapest to reclaimed the property and put in production. The fences are barbwire in fair condition. there are no cross fenceing. Where would I get more bang for the $$$ Or would it be best just to have a dozer in for a day and just wait until there more money to spend. or what method should I used.
I want this area organic if at all possible
Author:  UneverGno [ Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: help with 4o acres
cowboysheart wrote:
Hello out there I need some help brainstorming :idea: :idea:
I have 40 acres of tree and brush That I need cleared for grazing. This parcel is sloping sandy land with a few washes of red clay in SE Oklahoma. I am on a tight budget what is the best and cheapest to reclaimed the property and put in production. The fences are barbwire in fair condition. there are no cross fenceing. Where would I get more bang for the $$$ Or would it be best just to have a dozer in for a day and just wait until there more money to spend. or what method should I used.
I want this area organic if at all possible


If it's small stuff, you can possibly bush hog a lot of it. If not, get a decent chain saw, (I prefer Stihl) several chains for it, a sharpener, and set aside a couple years worth of weekends. Da*n those stumps! :(

If there's any marketable timber on it, you might get some of it cleared for free and maybe pick up a few bucks by contacting someone in that line of work in your area. I believe it's sold by the ton.....there are some online weight calculators for various kinds of trees if you need help evaluating any quote you might get.

You might find that once you start stirring around with the soil those washes can get a whole lot worse in a hurry. Might give some thought to erosion control at the front end rather than having to do more work on the backside of the process. We threw annual rye down on the slopes we cleared as soon as possible and it helped a good bit. The root system it puts down lasts a good while and holds the soil even after the grass has died.

Best way I can think of to make the decision is to just go on out there a couple times and see how much you can accomplish. Generally a couple days of swinging an axe, running a saw, and stacking brush will give you a pretty good idea how much a man with a bulldozer is worth to you. :)
Author:  user_48634 [ Tue Oct 05, 2004 1:03 pm ]
Post subject: 
I hate to see good organic stuff going to waste. The early Spaniards used what are now known as Spanish goats to clear the land. The more of them you have, the more land gets cleared. Keep them herded up as best you can and they should clear it down to the ground.

As a retirement plan, you can sell them or eat them.
Author:  carhoods [ Tue Oct 05, 2004 4:02 pm ]
Post subject: 
Will cost you about 800.00 per day with a dozer and on 40 acres it should only take about 3 days max if it is just brush and small trees up to 6 - 8 inches.. You can make wildlife brushpiles or burn it on a damp day or night. Beats 2-3 years worth of weekend time. That is why they make cash advances on VISA. Have fun on your land and enjoy!
Author:  Robert D Bard [ Tue Oct 05, 2004 11:40 pm ]
Post subject:  40 acres
We just bought 22 acres and it is grown
up. I am guessing that to clear it will take
$20,000.00 to make a dent in it with a
bulldozer - probably more. The estimates
that I have got is $4,000.00 to $5,000.00
to clean around 3 sides (4th side is our
present fence line). I can rent a JD 450
dozer for $1200.00 per week and a driver
is $20.00/hour. Hope fully I can get the
perimeter done for less than $2,000.00.

I am a great believer in electric fence. I
am buying 26 goats that are trained to high
tensile, high voltage electric. Also getting a
guardian dog to protect them. After they
and the cows clear the land maybe I can
decide how I want to use dozer for the
middle stuff. I can also use a chain saw
to cut the small trees to open the canopy
to let sun light in to help grass grow. I
have a Husky chain saw that is about 15
years old and is still like new. It survived
two sons cutting fire wood in east TX. They
thought they could make extra money, but
hard work didn't last too long.

Goats are making money for meat and the
market is not slowing. Goats love brush and
small trees. They convert trace minerals from
trees they consume to the soil surface.

In the wash out areas you might stop this
by buying round bales of hay and putting
them in the washed areas and letting them
rot. Hay is cheap this year and there will
be a bunch left over in the spring and the
price will really go down.

Life in the country is great - enjoy!
Robert D Bard
Author:  dustoff79 [ Tue Oct 26, 2004 10:57 pm ]
Post subject: 
Robert, How well do the goats work on Mesquite. If I cut with a chain saw, they will sprout from the stump and/or root. Most of my land is covered with the smaller bushy mesquite. about 12-15' tall and no thicker than 3-4" diameter, most 1-2". Would I need to cut and keep the goats on for .........how long? as you know the mesquite is not killed easy.
Author:  RobertB [ Wed Oct 27, 2004 8:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: 40 acres
Robert D Bard wrote:
Goats are making money for meat and the
market is not slowing. Goats love brush and
small trees. They convert trace minerals from
trees they consume to the soil surface.

How would one go about selling goats for the cabrito market? Do I just go to the same place I'd take a cow to be butchered for my own freezer, and ask them if they're buying? And is there a market yet for organic cabrito -- would it be worth starting the organic certification process?

I've talked to the kids, and they like the idea of raising goats, even if they're sold for meat. They say that they won't mind saying goodbye, because they're only cute when they're babies. I'm worried that we'll actually end up with a herd of pet goats, but that wouldn't be so bad, either... there's a lot of mesquite to eat.
Author:  user_48634 [ Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:38 pm ]
Post subject: 
Going back to the Spaniards, they ran goats the first year to munch down the brush, including young mesquite. The following year they would bring in as many cattle as they had goats, but they would keep the goats mixed in with the new cattle. Since cattle are grazers and goats are browsers, they mixed well. They didn't care about anything coming back because anything that did became forage.

They use dogs to manage the herd and guns to kill varmints.
Author:  user_48634 [ Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:39 pm ]
Post subject: 
Going back to the Spaniards, they ran goats the first year to munch down the brush, including young mesquite. The following year they would bring in as many cattle as they had goats, but they would keep the goats mixed in with the new cattle. Since cattle are grazers and goats are browsers, they mixed well. They didn't care about anything coming back because anything that did became forage.

They use dogs to manage the herd and guns to kill varmints.
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