5+ acres of grass to mow

[Sir Henry]

People here in Wisconsin sure have large lawns. Mine is 5 acres and that’s not counting what I mow alongside the county road or part of the hayfield they can’t harvest. It took me ten hours to mow yesterday and that doesn’t include the trimming which I will do today.

Paradise is nice but it sure needs a lot of attention. Add to the fact I’m grading a turn around at the top of the driveway and building a berm and I don’t have time to shoot.

I have a wonderful view from my home and the home can be seen from the road. This is a 3X telephoto view.

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My entire summer is working on this place and I have a farmers tan to prove it.

[Hatchdog]

Looking good Gene. Remember, right now you’re in the development stage, soon you will be in the maintenance stage. Personally I enjoy mowing mostly because when you done it looks so nice. However come 2-3 weeks and you say, where did all the beauty go.

[North Country Gal]

That's a lot of mowing for sure. You might want to consider turning some of it into a conservation easement and let it grow back and/or convert it to native prairie. That would get you more wildlife to view and less work. Check with the DNR to see what is available.

[RanchRoper]

Less work = more shooting.

[BrokenolMarine]

You bought a tractor didn't you? In Virginia, Miss Tina bought a finish mower to pull behind the tractor, and it cut a five foot swipe on each pass, and left the yard looking very nice when it was done. Had three blades and you could cut at a bit higher speed than a riding mower as well. You can get get them with wider cuts to reduce the passes you make and your mowing time.

You can still use the rider right around the house or landscaping, but the open areas... Boom. What a timesaver, and it's a finish mower, not a bushhog, so the results look great.

[Sir Henry]

That's a lot of mowing for sure. You might want to consider turning some of it into a conservation easement and let it grow back and/or convert it to native prairie. That would get you more wildlife to view and less work. Check with the DNR to see what is available.

In the long term I’ll have the time. Last year some of the property wasn’t mowed and in just one year the brush started to take over. It would end up to be more work than mowing.

The hay fields around me only gets one harvest as it has ground swallows nesting in it. They won’t hay it till they fly away. I will continue to make my place a bird habitat. Some of the plants feed birds all winter and right now song birds and hummingbirds are feeding on the flowers. I also see lots of butterflies and bumblebees.

[Sir Henry]

The Nelsons started to harvest the hay a few hours ago. They have four tractors going. Two to cut and two to pickup the hay. They will haul it back to the farm and bail it there.

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[graywolf]

So they won’t cut that field again this summer? We cut, rake and bale in the field. Do you know why they don’t bale in the field?

[Sir Henry]

So they won’t cut that field again this summer? We cut, rake and bale in the field. Do you know why they don’t bale in the field?

I’m not sure but was told it was to save fuel.

[Hatchdog]

Is it possible that the wagon in the picture is for the collection of silage? A local farmer here does that for cattle feed. The unit with the hopper in front of the wagon chops up the hay.

A side note, before moving to the place I’m in now this farmer would sometimes bale at night due to heat causing a lack of moisture in the hay. He had a big field right across the road from my place and I loved the sound of his baler running at night. Thrump, thrump, thrump. Just a quiet constant noise in the distance, very relaxing.

[daytime dave]

Gene, it does take a long time to mow that many acres. As long as you have a nice seat, it makes it better. The push mowing takes it's toll. I hope you get your rhythm down soon enough. It has taken me just over a year to do more time on the tractor and less on the push mower. You just have to get used to doing it. Then of course there is the string trimmer work..............

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Henry do the neighbors have livestock (cows)? I suspect they put up haylage (like silage only hay based). Do you ever see white plastic bags out in the fields around there? That would be AG bag haylage. Does anybody around there put up small or large square bales? Or round bales? Good stuff I always liked haying time.

-Ed-

[Sir Henry]

Is it possible that the wagon in the picture is for the collection of silage? A local farmer here does that for cattle feed. The unit with the hopper in front of the wagon chops up the hay.

A side note, before moving to the place I’m in now this farmer would sometimes bale at night due to heat causing a lack of moisture in the hay. He had a big field right across the road from my place and I loved the sound of his baler running at night. Thrump, thrump, thrump. Just a quiet constant noise in the distance, very relaxing.

Yes its for silage.

[Sir Henry]

Hey All,

Henry do the neighbors have livestock (cows)? I suspect they put up haylage (like silage only hay based). Do you ever see white plastic bags out in the fields around there? That would be AG bag haylage. Does anybody around there put up small or large square bales? Or round bales? Good stuff I always liked haying time.

-Ed-

Yes to all your questions. I'm told the silage is for beef cattle and not for milking cows.

[dave77]

I guess the cows like it and the mold must not hurt them. Years ago we had a vegetable canning facility here and a friend was hauling the corn cobs and husks out to a feed lot and dumping it into large sloped pit. I went with him a couple of times and you could smell it from quite a distance.

[Sir Henry]

I guess the cows like it and the mold must not hurt them. Years ago we had a vegetable canning facility here and a friend was hauling the corn cobs and husks out to a feed lot and dumping it into large sloped pit. I went with him a couple of times and you could smell it from quite a distance.

As a kid we fed pea silage to the milk cows. It was bit ripe and in the winter was actually quite warm.

[graywolf]

Very few people around here use a push mower or weed eater anymore. If they can’t cut it with a riding mower,it don’t get cut. I try and do the trim work the day before cutting. We cut almost 6 acres. With both of us cutting, it takes about 3-1/2 hrs.