Hi everyone. We have just bought a 1.8 acre paddock next to our house. It had sheep on it until we exchanged contracts, and before that, horses. A quarter of it has been left to grow, the rest is partly mowable with our ride on (we already had an acre of garden/paddock) but partly covered in brambles, nettles and thistles, and some really tough grass, which the mowing deck just flattens and doesn't cut. Access is reasonable but a full sized tractor can't get in there, the drive is too narrow (the farmer who owned it used to come straight across from his yard with his tractor if he needed to do anything in the paddock but he's selling up and moving out so asking him is out). We plan to take out a horrible leylandei hedge and the existing double fencing since we do not want to be tied down by livestock. (I keep a few hens, but you can leave hens for a week with enough food and water, you can't do that with other livestock). We want to plant new native hedging all round and maintain the grass at a reasonable (not garden neat) level with a wildlife area and some more trees. There is one huge and beautiful existing oak tree and a very old pear tree with tiny pears (maybe a perry pear, I half hoped - how can I tell?) There is part of an existing hedge half way across it, all hawthorn, very overgrown, that we hope to bring down to a reasonable level, but at the moment it's more or less trees. What is foxing us is, what is the best thing to buy to maintain things? We have tried some local firms and can't even get anyone to come and look at it so we're going to have to do everything ourselves. We're looking at two wheeled tractors, quad tractors and compact tractors, but which of those and what makes to look at? Shops just want to sell you what they sell and always the most expensive option! What we want to be able to do is cut the grass maybe monthly (or cut paths through it and cut it all down once a year), plus cut brambles, thistles etc and the sides of the access track. We think a flail cutter best, since it's not enough grass to make a useful amount of hay. My husband would dearly love to have a digger attachment of some sort, to love soil, gravel (for the track), wood chippings, compost etc around the garden. But dearly is the word,. not cheap! Is there anything we could get or hire that would make hedge planting easier? We have a garden building to store a vehicle in, but can't fit the ride on and something really big. What have people tried and what would you recommend? We are wary of second hand, we got very badly caught out with a second hand ride on when we moved here.
Topic: What equipment to buy to manage a paddock (Read 4782 times)
