Paddock Sweepers

[Bosworth]

I am looking to buy a paddock sweeper and am struggling to find any other than Wessex and Logic. Does anyone know any others they could recommend.

I don't want a vac as I had one of those and to be honest I found it was far more effective to use a wheelbarrow and fork to pile the muck in a pile then use the vac to pick it up - and that was on 7 acres.

No we have 30 acres and want to be able to just brush the paddocks weekly. Any ideas welcome

Thanks

 

[Lynne21]

Beware of sweepers - there is a study going on at the moment (as far as I know), looking into the effects of the damage that is done to the sward and a possible link to Grass Sickness. I don't know if the study is complete and what the outcome is, but I would do some homework before investing in one.

 

[Bosworth]

any idea who is doing the research - as I will look into that.

 

[Lynne21]

Unfortunately, no I can't remember! Perhaps you could Google it (though what you would put in I don't know!) Have a word with your vets maybe they can find out for you. I might be wrong but... I think I read it in an article in H&H so perhaps you could search the site for paddock sweepers or GS related articles. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

[Pidge]

I did a lot of research into GS as I lost Higgins to this 18months ago, and have to say one of the things to avoid is the disturbance of the soil, this came from Leahurst where Higgins was treated. The less you can disturb the soil the better so unfortunately good old fork and wheelbarrow for poo picking however tempting the electric ones are I would never ever be tempted to have one. That is obviously my opinion but please look into this before buying one.

 

[Bosworth]

but how much more damage can a machine do than harrowing or even the horses feet cutting up the sward. I have googled and tried Horse and Hound but am failing to get anything about this.

 

[Pidge]

can't remember exactly where as I researched loads after Higgs, but it definately advised against disturbing the soil which apparantley happens with these mechanical poo pickers. When poo picking by hand the soil doesn't really get disturbed. If I find the advice I'll pm u with it.
http://www.grasssickness.org.uk/main.htm

 

[Lynne21]

It is the brushing action of the sweeper that damages the area around the base of the grass plants and the actual plant itself. It causes some sort of fermentation process in the leaves themselves (as far as I can remember). As for the damage caused by harrowing, you don't harrow on a weekly basis and the action is different. Same really for horses cutting up the ground too. Will see if I can find the article and report back!

 

[Lynne21]

Have Googled it and found a research paper on it www.grasssickness.org.uk/research/recurrence_study_results_2002.htm-11k-

 

[flyingfeet]

We looked at an industrial PTO driven sweeper

However decided that it would cheaper to pay someone to pick it up!!

 

[Lynne21]

Don't think that the link I put up is working so here is a quote from the paper added in 2006 - "Whilst we didn't differentiate types of mechanical faeces removal in our study, our working hypothesis is that paddock sweepers specifically increase the risk of recurrence of EGS on previously affected paddocks. We believe that this is due to soil disturbance and contamination of grass as well as possibly dissemination over the pasture of aetiological factors/agent present in faeces and/or soil. In contrast, we believe that if the soil remains undisturbed, the vacuum faeces removal may actually be protective as it is much more akin to the manual faeces removal, which our study did find to be protective against the recurrence of EGS. " Hope this helps.

 

[Bosworth]

thanks everso.

Will have a think and decide what to do. The paddocks have never had a grass sickness case so potentially it is not likely to affect us. Horses have been kept on this land for over 50 years. We have enough grazing to rotate fields regularly so post sweeping they can be left with no horses on them for a week or so.

I am seeing the vets tomorrow so will discuss with them what they feel.

have had the vacuum one and it really does not make the job easier, and to be honest the DIY liveries will be asked to poo pick their own field but having had DIY liveries who felt it was a real imposition to be asked to poo pick their own field I would rather charge them a monthly fee and run the sweeper over it. I can't afford to pay someone yet to poo pick as we are just starting up - nor have I got the time to do everyones fields

 

[hunteress]

our yard owner bought one hasn't used it all winter as too wet to get onto land good old barrow and shovel do's just as well .

 

[Bosworth]

Solved the problem of the sweeper versus the vac. Have been to see a fabulous bit of kit made by Danelander - a combination vac/topper. Works off the tractor PTO, the blades cut the grass and create suction which sucks away anything under it - so grass, poo acorns etc all get pulled up. You can set the blades high so they don't cut and you still suck.

You can also set the blades low so you can scarify. It works across the full width of the machine so you vac/top 5ft in a row. And it is cheaper than a paddock sweeper or vac. And will not disturb the sward unless you want to harrow so no problems from grass sickness issue.

 

[Kathryn1smith]

Solved the problem of the sweeper versus the vac. Have been to see a fabulous bit of kit made by Danelander - a combination vac/topper. Works off the tractor PTO, the blades cut the grass and create suction which sucks away anything under it - so grass, poo acorns etc all get pulled up. You can set the blades high so they don't cut and you still suck.

You can also set the blades low so you can scarify. It works across the full width of the machine so you vac/top 5ft in a row. And it is cheaper than a paddock sweeper or vac. And will not disturb the sward unless you want to harrow so no problems from grass sickness issue.

Hi. Long ago thread I know but did this work for you? I’m now looking at paddock sweepers and desperate to find something not too expensive that works. Thanks

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Beware of sweepers - there is a study going on at the moment (as far as I know), looking into the effects of the damage that is done to the sward and a possible link to Grass Sickness. I don't know if the study is complete and what the outcome is, but I would do some homework before investing in one.

I've mentioned this a few times before on the forum. Anything with soil disturbance can cause a problem, like drainage going through the land, or a menage being built next to a paddock. Will try to find the link.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

thanks everso.

Will have a think and decide what to do. The paddocks have never had a grass sickness case so potentially it is not likely to affect us. Horses have been kept on this land for over 50 years. We have enough grazing to rotate fields regularly so post sweeping they can be left with no horses on them for a week or so.

Think you are missing the point. Makes no difference if there has been GS on the paddocks before or not. Sweeping the paddocks can potentially cause a case of EGS, leaving them for a few weeks isn't going to change that once the damage is done.

From the EGS website: https://grasssickness.org.uk/advice...-which-may-reduce-the-risk-of-grass-sickness/


Risk avoidance

• Minimise exposure to pastures where previous cases have occurred
• Minimise any pasture/soil disturbance (e.g. harrowing/mechanical faeces removal/pipe-laying/construction work etc.)
• Minimise soil exposure (e.g. close grazing/poaching of fields)
• Avoid any sudden changes in diet (quantity and/or feed type)
• Avoid the “over-use” of ivermectin-based wormers (e.g. rotate with other classes of wormers)

If circumstances dictate that the above changes have to be prioritised, then they should be prioritised towards stock which possess the greatest “horse-related risk factors” (young adults, new arrivals, horses in “show condition”) and at “peak” seasonal (spring and early summer) and climatic (cool/dry weather) periods.

 

[milliepops]

on a 12 year old thread I expect if the OP was going to have a problem it would have happened by now

 

[hopscotch bandit]

on a 12 year old thread I expect if the OP was going to have a problem it would have happened by now

Ha didn't realise it was so old, sorry.