Paddock toppers - what do you use?

[Snowy Celandine]

I'm thinking about getting my own equipment to top my small paddocks but I've not got a tractor and the ground is very rough in places. Any ideas what might be the best set up? I was thinking either a big lawn tractor with a flail attachment or an ATV with a petrol driven towed flail. Any thoughts would be most welcome, thank you

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Sheep - the grass doesn't get a chance to grow long!

 

[Polos Mum]

Quad / ATV are very stealable so you'd have to think about somewhere v secure to keep. I did a c.0.6 acre field with a big ride on mower a month ago, it was lumpy, slow and painful and I grounded it twice on mole hills. Unless you have a tiny patch I don't think that's practical.

I fully agree with borrowed sheep, your local farmer will be pleased to be rid of them for a month - don't buy them they are a total pain to look after.

If not can you not employ your local farmer - for a few £'s he'll have the right kit and you won't have capital tied up for something you only need 3 times a year.

 

[Finlib]

We have a Quad (Honds 4x4 big red) and a paddock topper .The quad and the topper each cost £1500 and that was in1992 !! Well looked after and regularly service e still going strong.I would prefer the flail topper but couldn't find back in1992!. If you go down the quad topper route if you can get a key start on the topper my husband can start the pull start on the topper but I do struggle to start it. Make sure you can lock them away really safely even if you live on site which we do as they are very stealable.We use ours a lot particularly in summer to keep things tidy.
with a Quad we also ha d a ballast roller harrows tipping trailer so can do most of the maintenance.

 

[sport horse]

Unless you have a lot of land find someone to do it - garden machinery will break and everything suitable is a lot of money tied up for very little use.

 

[TotalMadgeness]

Logic flail topper pulled by an ancient quad. We have hills bumps & all sorts of terrain and this thing manages fine. Expensive though!

 

[rextherobber]

I've got a petrol flail mower, and use my husband's Mitsubishi to tow. Bought it secondhand, it's perfect for our sloping fields.

 

[ycbm]

Do you need to top? I haven't had my field topped for 28 years or had sheep for 25 years. It's now deep in grass and wild flowers that is very varied, rough, low sugar and perfect for keeping horses on.

I came to the conclusion a while ago that topping is either to ensure maximum feed value for sheep and cows, or for people who want fields to look well kept, but that it is completely contrary to producing grazing that's safe to put horses on.

.

 

[milliepops]

If not can you not employ your local farmer - for a few £'s he'll have the right kit and you won't have capital tied up for something you only need 3 times a year.

I'd go with this! OH whizzes round with the tractor and flail and it's quick and easy. He does a bit for other people locally, it's not expensive if you have someone close by.

whether you need it doing or not probably depends on your set up. For me it keeps the grass palatable as we aren't overwhelmed with space and I want them to graze the whole area. also knocks back the weeds that haven't got sprayed. I wish my paddocks at livery were topped, the long grass they are strip grazed into has so much old rotted crap at the bottom because it never gets properly grazed that they only pick off the tops of it.

 

[Finlib]

We find it useful to do edges of fields and edges of tne access drive and tracks on the land to keep the areas tidy .

 

[Nicnac]

I just top weeds with an old tractor (Ford 1210) and flail attachment set high so doesn't touch grass and attach a harrow behind. I buy tractors from campsites and this is number two in 25 years.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I had kind of decided to go with YCBM’s theory on this.
I then got OH to top a bit with a lawn mower on its highest setting just to get rid of the seed heads (as was told too starchy for laminitic ponies) and muzzles work better this way, given the choice I’d just leave it. Less mud in winter!
I do spray weeds out though

 

[Ownedby4horses]

We have a large Countax ride on mower with a big deck, its designed for small holdings up to around three acres. We use it weekly to keep the field under control. We have four strip grazing and in two years weve never used all of the field yet as the grass grows like wildfire here!

Its a robust machine and deals with bumpy ground fine and has a big roller on the back so that helps flatten out bumos when the ground is soft enough.

 

[Snowy Celandine]

Thanks everyone and sorry for not replying sooner but it's been a busy day! I have six sheep but they aren't making any headway and I can't give the three ponies any more grass as they are all small natives and need pretty bare keep. I have tried to get someone to top it for me but no-one ever gets back to me, hence me trying to do it myself I've got a fairly big ride on mower but it's very uncomfortable to do it with that as the ground is so bumpy and I can't set the cutting deck high enough to deal with it once the grass gets high anyway. I think the problem is that the field is only small (3 acres) but it's rich cattle pasture and grows like crazy.

If anyone knows a contractor in the Lincolnshire Wolds who'd be willing to do the job please speak out They would need a flail rather than a rotary machine though because the ground is so rough in places.