Paddock cleaners for large fields do they really work?

pastel

pastel

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This has probably been discussed many times but just wondering what is out there on the market now that actually works.. we are a retirement home in Wales so many horses, some unlevel ground and sometimes wet ! For the past 35 years we have poo picked by hand 2 to 3 people following a large tractor trailer, its hard work but efficient , we looked at Terra Vac in the past but my husbands argument was the equipment must rot due to the nature of its job and that our ground is not flat like a golf course as its used by horses so my question is... is there anyone out there who has large acreage eg 60 acres of grazed fields that does this mechanically ? Terra Vac seem to have gone out of fashion as you don't seem them very often anymore , I wonder what the big stud farms use ? We would tow behind a tractor as I don't want a small machine which means backwards and forwards too a muck heap to empty , ideas would be gratefully recieved
 
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Abacus

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How much land do you have? Personally I only poo pick the small paddock, it's too much work doing anything in the bigger fields (and I don't have massive acreage). I harrow them and rotate - our horses don't come and go, and we worm count and worm as appropriate. The only downside is that the girls' field gets one patch along one side where they poo a lot, and they don't eat the grass here even after harrowing and resting, but it's not really a major concern. They are clearly tidier than the boys who poo wherever they are standing! I prefer to put the poo back into the soil which I think reduces the need for fertilisers, I don't think this is a popular opinion these days.
 
pastel

pastel

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Abacus said:
How much land do you have? Personally I only poo pick the small paddock, it's too much work doing anything in the bigger fields (and I don't have massive acreage). I harrow them and rotate - our horses don't come and go, and we worm count and worm as appropriate. The only downside is that the girls' field gets one patch along one side where they poo a lot, and they don't eat the grass here even after harrowing and resting, but it's not really a major concern. They are clearly tidier than the boys who poo wherever they are standing! I prefer to put the poo back into the soil which I think reduces the need for fertilisers, I don't think this is a popular opinion these days.
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we graze approx 60 acres once the haylage is harvested
 
pastel

pastel

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AmyMay said:
Which leaves you 40 acres for grazing, perhaps split into smaller (say 10 acre) fields. Far easier to manage. Obviously depending on how many horses you have.
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they are split up into 9 fields approx grazing 40 horses, we have been doing it for a long time we have 5 groups of horses of varying dietary requirements but it works for us like this but all I need to find out is whether there is any new mechanical poo picker but it doesn't look like it!
 
poiuytrewq

poiuytrewq

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I did used to poo pick huge areas with a machine. It was one you walked with but it was self propelled. I had a fair walk down a steep hill and back up to and from the fields. The grass was long and the ground uneven.
To be honest the cleaner did a good job and the fact it only needed steering (hard enough in itself!) was a life saver on the hills.
However I was being paid to do it. Had it been mine I'd have left a barrow in the grazed field, made a muck heap in each corner and just got on with it like that- or if feasible harrowed as above.

I thought the machine a lot of hassle, getting it out, fuelling, walking it to and from the fields etc The owner also liked it washed off before being put away!

It did do a great job and the fields even in long grass were spotless.
 
ihatework

ihatework

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pastel said:
they are split up into 9 fields approx grazing 40 horses, we have been doing it for a long time we have 5 groups of horses of varying dietary requirements but it works for us like this but all I need to find out is whether there is any new mechanical poo picker but it doesn't look like it!
Click to expand...

Okay I see the issue! Quite a heavily stocked set up.
 
AShetlandBitMeOnce

AShetlandBitMeOnce

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My YO has one of those towable things that you drive over the fields and it scoops the poo up, the issue being if the birds have spread it, or it's uneven, or super wet then it just drags the poo around rather than picks it up - so I wouldn't personally recommend one of these
 
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eggs

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When I had more horses (out in 22 acres) I had the larger sized Predator poo hoover which I towed behind a quad bike. It was very easy to use single handed and did a very god job of picking up all the muck. I also had a Logic sweeper muck clearer but that did not work so well on uneven ground or longer grass.
 
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paddy555

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kylixuk.co.uk

LYNX Paddock Cleaner - KylixUK

Our biggest most comprehensive machine in the range of towable paddock cleaners, the Lynx is perfect for 5 - 20 horses and nearly any other estate clearance
kylixuk.co.uk kylixuk.co.uk

this is the only one that I know of that would suit you.

Comments on it are:-

from t hat picture it needs a larger tractor especially on steeper ground.

it is a 2 person job. Doing it one handed with the person on the tractor cleaning is hard work. 2 people works very efficiently.



it does a good job on uneven ground. Not that much quicker but a much better job of getting all the bits of dung out.

the predator ones have a gantry to carry the hose. Most important as otherwise it is heavy. I tried the trafalgar but that was really for small areas and the hose was heavy.

it needs to tip to empty (hydraulic tipping) otherwise you have to fork it out by hand and then either throw it up onto the heap or use a tractor loader to move it up.

works better if you can tip downhill. We tip into a pit (the dung heap)

having a hosepipe close by is hand to spray the screens to clean them. We hose the body out every few times of use.



I don't know how often you clean but if you did each area once say every 3 days you would cut down the walking and travelling to empty. I sometimes stand on the chassis of the pred. and hold on or sit on the tractor bonnet to save walking. It does save effort if you can find a way for the walker to "get a ride" on larger areas especially uphill. 🤣

I had my first pred. which was a smaller one for around 10 years and no rotting. In the end the engine (briggs & stratton) gave up. I have had t he lynx for 5 years perhaps and no rotting. Can't speak for other makes but definitely no rotting or deterioration with it.

Works well for Autumn leaf clearing.

They are not popular so have a look at the s/h market. We got ours very cheaply. The last owner couldn't get it to work very well. If he had thought to change the air filter it would have worked perfectly for him. His loss, our gain. 🤣🤣🤣

We don't have anything like that acreage I just chose the largest machine as I was too lazy to keep emptying it. Also I was experienced with predators
 
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