Maintaining Fence Rows

[Caustic Burno]

Heck fire your trimming a driveway not cleaning out a fenceline in a pasture. You bring that weed whacker here you better have a pup tent, sack lunch and a coleman latern were not going to see you for a while. Much less what the yopauns, saw brairs and wait a minute vines are going to do to your weed whacker. I like to stand back and see that weed whacker go over a nest of yellow jackets or bumble bees, bet that be one heck of a horse race.

Caustic, that has got to be one for your classics. I wanna see that myself.
I'd be gone for weeks at a time. I'll have to look into that Craftsman H.D. Cutter.You want me to order you one while I'm at it?

Heck No I'm comin to the house at dark for supper and I don't work Sundays.

 

[susie]

I haven't seen it posted here, but how about goats? That's what we use, they 'complement' rather than compete with the cows as far as grazing. Pretty low maintenance, too. Not pygmies though, they can't reach the blackberries and brush.
Susie

=============
susie,

Hadn't thought of that. I know they browse bushes ...briars...etc. Do you run goats with the cows? Or follow them behind in rotation of the cows? What extra..if any...needs are there to contain 'em...that one doesn't need for the cows.?

We usually rotate them after the cow. They can be intermingled except goat mineral is a little different than cow- maybe less selenium or copper, I can't remember.
Really they don't need anything ecxept water and a shelter is nice. We have field fence and it works to keep all of them in .
Susie

 

[preston39]

Heck fire your trimming a driveway not cleaning out a fenceline in a pasture. You bring that weed whacker here you better have a pup tent, sack lunch and a coleman latern were not going to see you for a while. Much less what the yopauns, saw brairs and wait a minute vines are going to do to your weed whacker. I like to stand back and see that weed whacker go over a nest of yellow jackets or bumble bees, bet that be one heck of a horse race.

============
caustic,

Another context..we don't have 10's or 100s of miles of fence line...obviously it wouldn't work for you ...big fellow ranchers in Texas...prarie ranchers and so on...which probably doesn't represent a whole bunch of folks here including us.

Our weed cutters take out everything up to a certain growth point..depending on what it is...and that does include the vines. For a larger need other approaches obviously would be needed. Yes we have to watch for the yellow jackets....and BB's...but that is no different than other functions so we are use to keeping a weary eye out. The topic was not grown up fence rows...2-3 years..unless I missed a point...it was cleaning fence rows annually as my comments were meant for.

We have had sections that got away from us and the fence needed replacement so the fence went and the row was bush hogged. I should perhaps prefixed my comments with ...for annual fence row maintenance.

LOL on the driveways...we let a svc. do the driveways and small areas..they have the smaller tools...wouldn't work on the bigger stuff.

The program works for us...if it doesn't work for other folks...try something else. Many different ways have been talked about so most all of us have a choice...I guess.

 

[Beefy]

i put a tank on the back of the fourwheeler and spot spray with roundup. some places i spray a two feet wide strip, but if there is grass only i leave that b/c if you kill the grass weeds will just fill in there. try to do it once a year after dad is thru with the roundup (he uses it with his cotton crop).

 

[Crowderfarms]

Heck fire your trimming a driveway not cleaning out a fenceline in a pasture. You bring that weed whacker here you better have a pup tent, sack lunch and a coleman latern were not going to see you for a while. Much less what the yopauns, saw brairs and wait a minute vines are going to do to your weed whacker. I like to stand back and see that weed whacker go over a nest of yellow jackets or bumble bees, bet that be one heck of a horse race.

============
caustic,

Another context..we don't have 10's or 100s of miles of fence line...obviously it wouldn't work for you ...big fellow ranchers in Texas...prarie ranchers and so on...which probably doesn't represent a whole bunch of folks here including us.


Our weed cutters take out everything up to a certain growth point..depending on what it is...and that does include the vines. For a larger need other approaches obviously would be needed. Yes we have to watch for the yellow jackets....and BB's...but that is no different than other functions so we are use to keeping a weary eye out. The topic was not grown up fence rows...2-3 years..unless I missed a point...it was cleaning fence rows annually as my comments were meant for.

We have had sections that got away from us and the fence needed replacement so the fence went and the row was bush hogged. I should perhaps prefixed my comments with ...for annual fence row maintenance.

LOL on the driveways...we let a svc. do the driveways and small areas..they have the smaller tools...wouldn't work on the bigger stuff.

The program works for us...if it doesn't work for other folks...try something else. Many different ways have been talked about so most all of us have a choice...I guess.

Preston, ol' buddy, you must have some $ to burn...You have a lawn service? Gee, wonder what they'd charge me to cut along my driveway, it's only a mile from the road to the house.Would they come down here and give a free estimate?And by the way, I'm sure lots of folks on here do have miles of fence to maintain.between my two farms we have at least 20 miles of it.Have a great day. ;-)

 

[Campground Cattle]

I am small operation I sure would hate to know I had to use a weed eater on a 1 1/2 miles of fence.

 

[Chuck]

Preston, ol' buddy, you must have some $ to burn...You have a lawn service? Gee, wonder what they'd charge me to cut along my driveway, it's only a mile from the road to the house.Would they come down here and give a free estimate?And by the way, I'm sure lots of folks on here do have miles of fence to maintain.between my two farms we have at least 20 miles of it.Have a great day. ;-)

Hey, Crowder- I have a lawn service too! He's 12. All I have to do is feed him, buy his clothes, and pay his orthodontist bill. Oh, shoot- now that I put it that way, it is costing me at least $150 to get the yard mowed every week! :lol:

 

[TLCfromARK]

Heck fire your trimming a driveway not cleaning out a fenceline in a pasture. You bring that weed whacker here you better have a pup tent, sack lunch and a coleman latern were not going to see you for a while. Much less what the yopauns, saw brairs and wait a minute vines are going to do to your weed whacker. I like to stand back and see that weed whacker go over a nest of yellow jackets or bumble bees, bet that be one heck of a horse race.

Caustic, great post, as someone else said a classic! I can remember being in that type of a "horse race" when I was a boy. If I couldn't outrun yellow jackets as a 14 yr. old I don't figure there'd be much chance now at 54! :lol:

;-)

 

[Crowderfarms]

Preston, ol' buddy, you must have some $ to burn...You have a lawn service? Gee, wonder what they'd charge me to cut along my driveway, it's only a mile from the road to the house.Would they come down here and give a free estimate?And by the way, I'm sure lots of folks on here do have miles of fence to maintain.between my two farms we have at least 20 miles of it.Have a great day. ;-)

Hey, Crowder- I have a lawn service too! He's 12. All I have to do is feed him, buy his clothes, and pay his orthodontist bill. Oh, shoot- now that I put it that way, it is costing me at least $150 to get the yard mowed every week! :lol:

Good one Chuck, just waiting for mine to get about 20 lbs. Heavier, so he wont make the blades stop turning.

 

[btfakralc]

i have no desire to use chemicals on our farm we still clear them the old fashioned way. first we mow close to the fence then we trim together by hand. i have seen very fancy rigs that mow under the wire and right around the post. some mount on the front of the tractor and some are 3point, all very costly. i am not able to justify the cost for this type of tool at present. staying with it as we do there are no trees or bushes. the key is to be able to drive a tractor on both sides of the fence.

 

[dun]

I've used a string trimmer in the past to keep a coule of miles of hotwire cleared, it was a pain in the butt, but it worked. But I didn;t have to do every inch of it and only the sections that were going to be powered when the cows were in the field.
The dairy uses a walkbehind sickle bar to keep his perimeter fences clear. It's to narrow brtween the ditch and the fence for a tractor, they only have about 500 acres scattered in a couople of locations. The trick is that he has highschool kids that he hires to do it.
The point is, that even if it isan;t practical or common practice to be done where you are, it may be for someone else in different circumstances.

dun

 

[Crowderfarms]

I've used a string trimmer in the past to keep a coule of miles of hotwire cleared, it was a pain in the butt, but it worked. But I didn;t have to do every inch of it and only the sections that were going to be powered when the cows were in the field.
The dairy uses a walkbehind sickle bar to keep his perimeter fences clear. It's to narrow brtween the ditch and the fence for a tractor, they only have about 500 acres scattered in a couople of locations. The trick is that he has highschool kids that he hires to do it.
The point is, that even if it isan;t practical or common practice to be done where you are, it may be for someone else in different circumstances.

dun

Dun Where does he find High School kids that want to work anymore?Wish I could find some.

 

[dun]

I've used a string trimmer in the past to keep a coule of miles of hotwire cleared, it was a pain in the butt, but it worked. But I didn;t have to do every inch of it and only the sections that were going to be powered when the cows were in the field.
The dairy uses a walkbehind sickle bar to keep his perimeter fences clear. It's to narrow brtween the ditch and the fence for a tractor, they only have about 500 acres scattered in a couople of locations. The trick is that he has highschool kids that he hires to do it.
The point is, that even if it isan;t practical or common practice to be done where you are, it may be for someone else in different circumstances.

dun

Dun Where does he find High School kids that want to work anymore?Wish I could find some.

It's a kind of a bribe. They're allowed to keep their 4-H/FFA projct dairy heifers at the dairy and they work off their feed. The two that are working there now are seniors, problem is he has gone through a dozen before he found these two that keep up their end of the bargain.

dun

 

[Crowderfarms]

I've used a string trimmer in the past to keep a coule of miles of hotwire cleared, it was a pain in the butt, but it worked. But I didn;t have to do every inch of it and only the sections that were going to be powered when the cows were in the field.
The dairy uses a walkbehind sickle bar to keep his perimeter fences clear. It's to narrow brtween the ditch and the fence for a tractor, they only have about 500 acres scattered in a couople of locations. The trick is that he has highschool kids that he hires to do it.
The point is, that even if it isan;t practical or common practice to be done where you are, it may be for someone else in different circumstances.

dun

Dun Where does he find High School kids that want to work anymore?Wish I could find some.

It's a kind of a bribe. They're allowed to keep their 4-H/FFA projct dairy heifers at the dairy and they work off their feed. The two that are working there now are seniors, problem is he has gone through a dozen before he found these two that keep up their end of the bargain.

dun

Sounds like his Bribery works.Just wondered.Seems with the invent of the Internet and Play Stations, Sattelite TV, High school kids are in short supply around here.They;ll work a day and get paid, and that's the last you see of them. Specially when there's a 1000 square bales in the field and a black clouds coming.

 

[dun]

It isn;t all that recent of a phenomenon, we had the same problem 20 years ago.
I hate these kind of storys, but when I was a kid, we would buck hay all summer long for 2 hots and a cot and a couple of bucks in our pockets when we were done.
In the mid 70's it seemed like we couldn't even get the high school football team out to do any kind of manual work, but the illegals would work from can see to can;t for a couple of bucks and do a good job in the bargain.

dun

 

[Crowderfarms]

It isn;t all that recent of a phenomenon, we had the same problem 20 years ago.
I hate these kind of storys, but when I was a kid, we would buck hay all summer long for 2 hots and a cot and a couple of bucks in our pockets when we were done.
In the mid 70's it seemed like we couldn't even get the high school football team out to do any kind of manual work, but the illegals would work from can see to can;t for a couple of bucks and do a good job in the bargain.

dun

Kind of reminds me the of the phrase " I don't do windows" Lot's of these young men will tell you "we don't do hay"And that's where we need labor. In the Hayfields,When I was a kid I hauled lots of it, it was the feeling of the tiniest amount of independace of having a few bucks in my possesion.Things have changed.I'm not bashing kids in general at all.Lot's of great ones. But the one's willing to do farm work are scarce.

 

[dun]

I'm not bashing kids in general at all.Lot's of great ones. But the one's willing to do farm work are scarce.

In a way it was each succeeding generations fault. My parents wanted things better for us kids then they had it but we still had to work our butts off. Our kids didn;t have to work quite as hard, their kids worked even less and started getting into the outside activity stuff. Now it's outside activities or computer/video games and money in their pockets for doing nothing.
When I first heard of an "allowance" for kids I couldn;t believe that some parents paid their kids for doing nothing.
Ah well, memorys of the old foggys

dun

 

[Crowderfarms]

I've tried to take a couple of them under my wing, but they don't stay for long.Lot's of outside interferences.My Dad's probably about your age Dun.We would have never said no to any job and were happy to help. We got paid in the way of Breakfast, Dinner and Supper, A good roof over our heads, and clean clothes etc.And a great family upbringing.

 

[dun]

I've tried to take a couple of them under my wing, but they don't stay for long.Lot's of outside interferences.My Dad's probably about your age Dun.We would have never said no to any job and were happy to help. We got paid in the way of Breakfast, Dinner and Supper, A good roof over our heads, and clean clothes etc.And a great family upbringing.

Don;t give up on taking them under your wing. Some of the brightest spots in my life have been kids and in some cases young adults that I've spent time with and have turned into really good productive people. When you see them accomplish things and make a mark on someone elses life, that's when it's all worth while. The ones that were a waste of time makes the successes even sweeter

dun

 

[Crowderfarms]

I've tried to take a couple of them under my wing, but they don't stay for long.Lot's of outside interferences.My Dad's probably about your age Dun.We would have never said no to any job and were happy to help. We got paid in the way of Breakfast, Dinner and Supper, A good roof over our heads, and clean clothes etc.And a great family upbringing.

Don;t give up on taking them under your wing. Some of the brightest spots in my life have been kids and in some cases young adults that I've spent time with and have turned into really good productive people. When you see them accomplish things and make a mark on someone elses life, that's when it's all worth while. The ones that were a waste of time makes the successes even sweeter

dun

I'd never give up. we have one that works for us down at the store on Saturdays, that's come a million miles in 4 months.No one has ever taken the time for him.He's a lttle slow but he's really caught on.Has a great attitude, and does'nt use foul language, and is always speaking to customers.He's been raised by a couple of so to speak big job parents who let there kid fall by the wayside.He's been my project this year.He didn't even know how to operate a push broom.