I have an acre (4000sqm) of paddock/meadow for which I have no
particular use. I have planted a dozen young fruit trees in one corner.
I need to do some maintenance to keep it attractive and to prevent it
turning to scrub. I don't want livestock. My thinking is the ideal is to
cut the grass once or twice a year and remove the hay to keep the soil
unfertile and maintain traditional meadow type flora, but the absolute
minimum is to cut once a year and leave it.

Normally someone can be found who is enthusiastic about having a bit of
extra hay and promises to do the job but doesn't turn up. Last year it
wasn't cut at all and I am wondering if we are going to see the bloke
with the tractor and small baler this year so I am wondering what
equipment I would need if I was to the minimum cut-and-leave on an acre
of very long grass myself.

A bit of a browse tells me (in order of cost) I might have to buy one of
the following:
A scythe £10
A petrol strimmer £200
A wheeled topper-like brush cutter £800
A ride-on mower £4000 or more

Considering the infrequent use and that I am fit but middle aged and not
short of time, but hate to spend money, where should I stick my pin?

TW

On Sat, 24 Jul 2021 12:23:26 +0100, TimW <timw@nothanks.com> wrote:

>I have an acre (4000sqm) of paddock/meadow for which I have no
>particular use. I have planted a dozen young fruit trees in one corner.
>I need to do some maintenance to keep it attractive and to prevent it
>turning to scrub. I don't want livestock. My thinking is the ideal is to
>cut the grass once or twice a year and remove the hay to keep the soil
>unfertile and maintain traditional meadow type flora, but the absolute
>minimum is to cut once a year and leave it.
>
>Normally someone can be found who is enthusiastic about having a bit of
>extra hay and promises to do the job but doesn't turn up. Last year it
>wasn't cut at all and I am wondering if we are going to see the bloke
>with the tractor and small baler this year so I am wondering what
>equipment I would need if I was to the minimum cut-and-leave on an acre
>of very long grass myself.
>
>A bit of a browse tells me (in order of cost) I might have to buy one of
>the following:
>A scythe £10
>A petrol strimmer £200
>A wheeled topper-like brush cutter £800
>A ride-on mower £4000 or more
>
>Considering the infrequent use and that I am fit but middle aged and not
>short of time, but hate to spend money, where should I stick my pin?
>
>TW

IME a scythe takes experience to use effectively, and it needs to be
kept absolutely razor sharp.

Again IME petrol strimmers can be a PITA if not used frequently, as
the volatile fractions of the petrol evaporate meaning that both
starting and smooth running can be problematic.

The last two are surely too expensive for what you need. But you
haven't included a battery-powered electric strimmer. I've never used
one, so can't speak from experience, but I would have thought these
days they're at least worth considering, even if you have to keep two
or three spare batteries charged and ready to go to finish the job in
one go.

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

Chris Hogg <me@privacy.net> wrote:
> On Sat, 24 Jul 2021 12:23:26 +0100, TimW <timw@nothanks.com> wrote:
>
> >I have an acre (4000sqm) of paddock/meadow for which I have no
> >particular use. I have planted a dozen young fruit trees in one corner.
> >I need to do some maintenance to keep it attractive and to prevent it
> >turning to scrub. I don't want livestock. My thinking is the ideal is to
> >cut the grass once or twice a year and remove the hay to keep the soil
> >unfertile and maintain traditional meadow type flora, but the absolute
> >minimum is to cut once a year and leave it.
> >
> >Normally someone can be found who is enthusiastic about having a bit of
> >extra hay and promises to do the job but doesn't turn up. Last year it
> >wasn't cut at all and I am wondering if we are going to see the bloke
> >with the tractor and small baler this year so I am wondering what
> >equipment I would need if I was to the minimum cut-and-leave on an acre
> >of very long grass myself.
> >
> >A bit of a browse tells me (in order of cost) I might have to buy one of
> >the following:
> >A scythe £10
> >A petrol strimmer £200
> >A wheeled topper-like brush cutter £800
> >A ride-on mower £4000 or more
> >
> >Considering the infrequent use and that I am fit but middle aged and not
> >short of time, but hate to spend money, where should I stick my pin?
> >
> >TW
>
> IME a scythe takes experience to use effectively, and it needs to be
> kept absolutely razor sharp.
>
> Again IME petrol strimmers can be a PITA if not used frequently, as
> the volatile fractions of the petrol evaporate meaning that both
> starting and smooth running can be problematic.
>
> The last two are surely too expensive for what you need. But you
> haven't included a battery-powered electric strimmer. I've never used
> one, so can't speak from experience, but I would have thought these
> days they're at least worth considering, even if you have to keep two
> or three spare batteries charged and ready to go to finish the job in
> one go.
>
Any sort of hand-held strimmer is going to be hopeless for so much as
an acre!

Go for a ride-on of some sort, buy one secondhand and you could get it
for a *lot* less than £4000. We bought a 4WD diesel powered Stiga
'out front' mower for £2400 a couple of years ago and that's probably
rather bigger/heavier than you need (we have 9 acres, but we have a
tractor as well as the Stiga).

--
Chris Green
·

On 24/07/2021 12:23, TimW wrote:
> I have an acre (4000sqm) of paddock/meadow for which I have no
> particular use. I have planted a dozen young fruit trees in one corner.
> I need to do some maintenance to keep it attractive and to prevent it
> turning to scrub. I don't want livestock. My thinking is the ideal is to
> cut the grass once or twice a year and remove the hay to keep the soil
> unfertile and maintain traditional meadow type flora, but the absolute
> minimum is to cut once a year and leave it.
>
> Considering the infrequent use and that I am fit but middle aged and not
> short of time, but hate to spend money, where should I stick my pin?

Hire the right kit once a year, or allow someone with livestock to graze
it from time to time. But you would have to be sure the fences are stock
proof. The latter has become rather more tedious than it used to be.

There is a bloke not far from me notorious for lambs escaping onto the
road. His "stock proof hedge" is more like a rusted through culander.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 24/07/2021 12:23, TimW wrote:
> I have an acre (4000sqm) of paddock/meadow for which I have no
> particular use. I have planted a dozen young fruit trees in one corner.
> I need to do some maintenance to keep it attractive and to prevent it
> turning to scrub. I don't want livestock. My thinking is the ideal is to
> cut the grass once or twice a year and remove the hay to keep the soil
> unfertile and maintain traditional meadow type flora, but the absolute
> minimum is to cut once a year and leave it.
>
> Normally someone can be found who is enthusiastic about having a bit of
> extra hay and promises to do the job but doesn't turn up. Last year it
> wasn't cut at all and I am wondering if we are going to see the bloke
> with the tractor and small baler this year so I am wondering what
> equipment I would need if I was to the minimum cut-and-leave on an acre
> of very long grass myself.
>
> A bit of a browse tells me (in order of cost) I might have to buy one of
> the following:
> A scythe                £10
> A petrol strimmer            £200
> A wheeled topper-like brush cutter    £800
> A ride-on mower                £4000 or more

A top of the range robotic lawn mower costs in excess of £2500, and I
suspect that you'd have to keep the grass fairly short. Cheaper ones
come in at a fraction of that price, but won't cut the whole paddock on
a single charge.
>
> Considering the infrequent use and that I am fit but middle aged and not
> short of time, but hate to spend money, where should I stick my pin?
>
> TW

--
SRH

On 24/07/2021 12:23, TimW wrote:
> I have an acre (4000sqm) of paddock/meadow for which I have no
> particular use. I have planted a dozen young fruit trees in one corner.
> I need to do some maintenance to keep it attractive and to prevent it
> turning to scrub. I don't want livestock. My thinking is the ideal is to
> cut the grass once or twice a year and remove the hay to keep the soil
> unfertile and maintain traditional meadow type flora, but the absolute
> minimum is to cut once a year and leave it.
>
> Normally someone can be found who is enthusiastic about having a bit of
> extra hay and promises to do the job but doesn't turn up. Last year it
> wasn't cut at all and I am wondering if we are going to see the bloke
> with the tractor and small baler this year so I am wondering what
> equipment I would need if I was to the minimum cut-and-leave on an acre
> of very long grass myself.
>
> A bit of a browse tells me (in order of cost) I might have to buy one of
> the following:
> A scythe                £10
> A petrol strimmer            £200
> A wheeled topper-like brush cutter    £800
> A ride-on mower                £4000 or more
>
You don't need to spend THAT much for just an acre - a 42" will do that
no problem in about 2 hrs

https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/John-Deere-Ride-On-Lawn-Mowers/260921/bn_27196120

> Considering the infrequent use and that I am fit but middle aged and not
> short of time, but hate to spend money, where should I stick my pin?
>

Strimmer will do it, but you will take over a day and it will look ragged

> TW

--
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the
other is to refuse to believe what is true.”

—Soren Kierkegaard

On 24/07/2021 12:23, TimW wrote:

>
> A bit of a browse tells me (in order of cost) I might have to buy one of
> the following:
> A scythe                £10

an estimate of man hours in the hands of someone skilled(?) in using a
scythe ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02dbIDRwy2Q

> A petrol strimmer            £200

Hard work for that area

> A wheeled topper-like brush cutter    £800
> A ride-on mower                £4000 or more
>
> Considering the infrequent use and that I am fit but middle aged and not
> short of time, but hate to spend money, where should I stick my pin?

As other have said a ride on mower can be a lot cheaper than your estimate.

The collection and transport of the hay from the field is probably the
most time consuming part of your problem. Maybe the ride-on mower
provides the least manual labour for the removal of hay but how much can
be cut before the the collection box is full? In the past how much hay
(weight/volume) was baled and removed?

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 24/07/2021 18:04, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 24/07/2021 12:23, TimW wrote:
>> I have an acre (4000sqm) of paddock/meadow for which I have no
>> particular use. I have planted a dozen young fruit trees in one
>> corner. I need to do some maintenance to keep it attractive and to
>> prevent it turning to scrub. I don't want livestock. My thinking is
>> the ideal is to cut the grass once or twice a year and remove the hay
>> to keep the soil unfertile and maintain traditional meadow type flora,
>> but the absolute minimum is to cut once a year and leave it.
>>
>> Normally someone can be found who is enthusiastic about having a bit
>> of extra hay and promises to do the job but doesn't turn up. Last year
>> it wasn't cut at all and I am wondering if we are going to see the
>> bloke with the tractor and small baler this year so I am wondering
>> what equipment I would need if I was to the minimum cut-and-leave on
>> an acre of very long grass myself.
>>
>> A bit of a browse tells me (in order of cost) I might have to buy one
>> of the following:
>> A scythe                £10
>> A petrol strimmer            £200
>> A wheeled topper-like brush cutter    £800
>> A ride-on mower                £4000 or more
>>
> You don't need to spend THAT much for just an acre - a 42" will do that
> no problem in about 2 hrs
>
> https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/John-Deere-Ride-On-Lawn-Mowers/260921/bn_27196120
>
>
I've got one of the John Deere ride-ons - probably the x165 - which I
use on our 1.5 acres.

As I'm too lazy to be constantly emptying the grass-box, it's been
retro-fitted with a 'mulching plug'
- which means that, rather than discharge the grass into the collector,
it chops and re-chops it and spits it out under the mower deck.

This works well - so long as you (or I) remember to mow the grass at
least once a week during the summer.
Let it get too long, and the mower spits out clumps of half-chewed
grass, rather than finely-minced stuff.

Even without the mulching attachment (and you could run it so it just
lobs the cut grass out the side of the deck)
I think you'll find that it'll struggle with anything much more than a
couple of weeks' growth..

Back in Suffolk, we had an acre of paddock that we didn't do a lot with..
When it needed mowing (annually) I rented a venerable 'auto-scythe' -
which was like a self-propelled rotovator, but with a
set of fearsome 3ft-wide cutter blades out the front.
It was self-propelled, relatively-easy to 'drive' - and did what it said
on the tin.
Result - one mowed paddock, with the grass etc laying down flat..

If you were particularly keen you could collect it up somehow - but we
never were...

There are much meatier ride-ons than the little John Deere machines, but
they're more like mini-tractors, and cost accordingly.

On 24/07/2021 19:05, alan_m wrote:
> The collection and transport of the hay from the field is probably the
> most time consuming part of your problem. Maybe the ride-on mower
> provides the least manual labour for the removal of hay but how much can
> be cut before the the collection box is full?  In the past how much hay
> (weight/volume) was baled and removed?

Just leave it to rot

--
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will
eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such
time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic
and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally
important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for
the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the
truth is the greatest enemy of the State.

Joseph Goebbels

On 25/07/2021 06:42, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 24/07/2021 19:05, alan_m wrote:
>> The collection and transport of the hay from the field is probably the
>> most time consuming part of your problem. Maybe the ride-on mower
>> provides the least manual labour for the removal of hay but how much can
>> be cut before the the collection box is full?  In the past how much hay
>> (weight/volume) was baled and removed?
>
> Just leave it to rot

From the OP:

"My thinking is the ideal is to cut the grass once or twice a year and
remove the hay to keep the soil unfertile and maintain traditional
meadow type flora"

Were there any wildflower meadows before we started creating them? Who
removed the hay before we did?

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman <jmlayman@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> On 25/07/2021 06:42, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> > On 24/07/2021 19:05, alan_m wrote:
> >> The collection and transport of the hay from the field is probably the
> >> most time consuming part of your problem. Maybe the ride-on mower
> >> provides the least manual labour for the removal of hay but how much can
> >> be cut before the the collection box is full?  In the past how much hay
> >> (weight/volume) was baled and removed?
> >
> > Just leave it to rot
>
> From the OP:
>
> "My thinking is the ideal is to cut the grass once or twice a year and
> remove the hay to keep the soil unfertile and maintain traditional
> meadow type flora"
>
> Were there any wildflower meadows before we started creating them? Who
> removed the hay before we did?
>
Meadows are essentially a human creation as far as I understand
things. They have to be mown or grazed every few months to keep them
in their 'meadow' state.

We have 9 acres of which about 5 or 6 is 'meadow', there's an orchard
on one piece and the rest is grazing or unused. I just top it
occasionally if/when it gets too long and leave the cuttings where
they fall. It seems to work, we have some lovely meadow with mixed
species of flowers and grass and quite a variety of butterflies.

For the first few years here we have a Kubuta T1600 ride-on mower for
the regular mowing (lawn around the house, orchard, clearing patches
of nettles) and a little Iseki 18Hp tractor with a topping mower for
the larger fields if/when they needed cutting.

The Kubota after many years of sterling service was getting a bit worn
out so a couple of years ago we upgraded to a Stiga 'out front' mower
with a rotary mulching deck (and we've also got a little flail mower
attachment for it, very handy). For the bigger stuff we now have a
Kubota STV36 tractor with various attachments, in particular a 155cm
offset flail mower which can do banks etc. as well as flat fields.

--
Chris Green
·

In article <6kjvsh-os1v2.ln1@esprimo.zbmc.eu>,
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
>Jeff Layman <jmlayman@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>
>> "My thinking is the ideal is to cut the grass once or twice a year and
>> remove the hay to keep the soil unfertile and maintain traditional
>> meadow type flora"
>>
>> Were there any wildflower meadows before we started creating them? Who
>> removed the hay before we did?
>>
>Meadows are essentially a human creation as far as I understand
>things. They have to be mown or grazed every few months to keep them
>in their 'meadow' state.

Yes. They exist in the wild, where deer etc. are the grazers, but
are neither common nor large. The best solution here is grazers,
which could be a huge rabbit warren, regular visits by sheep or a
cow or two, or whatever. Not horses.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren <nmm@wheeler.uucp> wrote:
> In article <6kjvsh-os1v2.ln1@esprimo.zbmc.eu>,
> Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
> >Jeff Layman <jmlayman@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> >>
> >> "My thinking is the ideal is to cut the grass once or twice a year and
> >> remove the hay to keep the soil unfertile and maintain traditional
> >> meadow type flora"
> >>
> >> Were there any wildflower meadows before we started creating them? Who
> >> removed the hay before we did?
> >>
> >Meadows are essentially a human creation as far as I understand
> >things. They have to be mown or grazed every few months to keep them
> >in their 'meadow' state.
>
> Yes. They exist in the wild, where deer etc. are the grazers, but
> are neither common nor large. The best solution here is grazers,
> which could be a huge rabbit warren, regular visits by sheep or a
> cow or two, or whatever. Not horses.
>
No, horses are a disaster for (unmaintained) grazing. They eat the
places with short grass even shorter and leave all the tall weeds, as
a result it's easy to spot grazing that has had (only) horses on it,
it looks a really scruffy mess. I know only too well as we keep
horses on our paddocks, we need to top the bits the horses have left
pretty regularly! :-)

--
Chris Green
·

On 25/07/2021 08:57, Jeff Layman wrote:
> On 25/07/2021 06:42, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>> On 24/07/2021 19:05, alan_m wrote:
>>> The collection and transport of the hay from the field is probably the
>>> most time consuming part of your problem. Maybe the ride-on mower
>>> provides the least manual labour for the removal of hay but how much can
>>> be cut before the the collection box is full?  In the past how much hay
>>> (weight/volume) was baled and removed?
>>
>> Just leave it to rot
>
> From the OP:
>
> "My thinking is the ideal is to cut the grass once or twice a year and
> remove the hay to keep the soil unfertile and maintain traditional
> meadow type flora"
>
ive been rough cutting half an acre of wildflowers for a decade and
never removed anything - it still has flowers.

> Were there any wildflower meadows before we started creating them? Who
> removed the hay before we did?
>
worms mostly. I regard te cutting as simply smashing off the tops of
large perennial weeds, stopping trees and scrub growing and that's it.
The grass dies in winter and rots anyway. I guess originally meadows
were grazed. But horse grazing stops all flowers anyway by and large.
Wildflower meadows are simply cut once a year. What you do with what you
cut doesn't seem to be much of an issue

Meadows round here cut for hay dont grow wildflowers

--
Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have
guns, why should we let them have ideas?

Josef Stalin

On 25/07/2021 10:10, Nick Maclaren wrote:
> In article <6kjvsh-os1v2.ln1@esprimo.zbmc.eu>,
> Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
>> Jeff Layman <jmlayman@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>> "My thinking is the ideal is to cut the grass once or twice a year and
>>> remove the hay to keep the soil unfertile and maintain traditional
>>> meadow type flora"
>>>
>>> Were there any wildflower meadows before we started creating them? Who
>>> removed the hay before we did?
>>>
>> Meadows are essentially a human creation as far as I understand
>> things. They have to be mown or grazed every few months to keep them
>> in their 'meadow' state.
>
> Yes. They exist in the wild, where deer etc. are the grazers,

deer do not eat grass. they eat shoots leaves and tree bark.

but
> are neither common nor large.

Bloody are in my back garden. I'd be delighted if they ate the grass

> The best solution here is grazers,
> which could be a huge rabbit warren, regular visits by sheep or a
> cow or two, or whatever. Not horses.
>
Doesn't matter how many hares and bunnies I shoot, they always go for my
new plantings and leave the grass alone. Ditto the deer.

I now appear to have a badger sett in the garden as well. Or else its a
bloody huge fox.

>
> Regards,
> Nick Maclaren.
>

--
New Socialism consists essentially in being seen to have your heart in
the right place whilst your head is in the clouds and your hand is in
someone else's pocket.

On 25/07/2021 06:42, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 24/07/2021 19:05, alan_m wrote:
>> The collection and transport of the hay from the field is probably the
>> most time consuming part of your problem. Maybe the ride-on mower
>> provides the least manual labour for the removal of hay but how much
>> can be cut before the the collection box is full?  In the past how
>> much hay (weight/volume) was baled and removed?
>
> Just leave it to rot

The recommendation for a meadow with the greatest variety of plants is a
poor soil requiring the hay to be removed or grazed. The OP realises
this in his first post.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 25/07/2021 18:38, alan_m wrote:
> On 25/07/2021 06:42, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>> On 24/07/2021 19:05, alan_m wrote:
>>> The collection and transport of the hay from the field is probably
>>> the most time consuming part of your problem. Maybe the ride-on mower
>>> provides the least manual labour for the removal of hay but how much
>>> can be cut before the the collection box is full?  In the past how
>>> much hay (weight/volume) was baled and removed?
>>
>> Just leave it to rot
>
> The recommendation for a meadow with the greatest variety of plants is a
>  poor soil requiring the hay to be removed or grazed. The OP realises
> this in his first post.
>
>
That's theory. I am talking practice.

--
When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over
the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that
authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.

Frédéric Bastiat

On 24/07/2021 12:23, TimW wrote:
> I have an acre (4000sqm) of paddock/meadow for which I have no
> particular use. I have planted a dozen young fruit trees in one corner.
> I need to do some maintenance to keep it attractive and to prevent it
> turning to scrub. I don't want livestock. My thinking is the ideal is to
> cut the grass once or twice a year and remove the hay to keep the soil
> unfertile and maintain traditional meadow type flora, but the absolute
> minimum is to cut once a year and leave it.
>
> Normally someone can be found who is enthusiastic about having a bit of
> extra hay and promises to do the job but doesn't turn up. Last year it
> wasn't cut at all and I am wondering if we are going to see the bloke
> with the tractor and small baler this year so I am wondering what
> equipment I would need if I was to the minimum cut-and-leave on an acre
> of very long grass myself.
>
> A bit of a browse tells me (in order of cost) I might have to buy one of
> the following:
> A scythe                £10
> A petrol strimmer            £200
> A wheeled topper-like brush cutter    £800
> A ride-on mower                £4000 or more
>
> Considering the infrequent use and that I am fit but middle aged and not
> short of time, but hate to spend money, where should I stick my pin?
>
> TW

Get a scythe, and cancel your gym membership :)

You may want to get some yellow rattle. I've put some in our (rather
smaller) wildflower patch, and it's really knocked the grass back.

Andy

On 24/07/2021 19:05, alan_m wrote:
> On 24/07/2021 12:23, TimW wrote:
>
>>
>> A bit of a browse tells me (in order of cost) I might have to buy one
>> of the following:
>> A scythe                £10
>
> an estimate of man hours in the hands of someone skilled(?) in using a
> scythe ...
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02dbIDRwy2Q
>
>> A petrol strimmer            £200
>
> Hard work for that area
>
>> A wheeled topper-like brush cutter    £800
>> A ride-on mower                £4000 or more
>>
>> Considering the infrequent use and that I am fit but middle aged and
>> not short of time, but hate to spend money, where should I stick my pin?
>
> As other have said a ride on mower can be a lot cheaper than your estimate.
>
> The collection and transport of the hay from the field is probably the
> most time consuming part of your problem. Maybe the ride-on mower
> provides the least manual labour for the removal of hay but how much can
> be cut before the the collection box is full?  In the past how much hay
> (weight/volume) was baled and removed?
>
>
I have a 2 wheel tractor thattakes a variety of atachments including a
reciprocating cutter bar
I use the rotovator, rotary plough and cutter bar a lot.
https://ibb.co/sQtD3gs
You should also be able to hire somethingh similar.

On 25/07/2021 19:13, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 25/07/2021 18:38, alan_m wrote:
>> On 25/07/2021 06:42, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>> On 24/07/2021 19:05, alan_m wrote:
>>>> The collection and transport of the hay from the field is probably
>>>> the most time consuming part of your problem. Maybe the ride-on
>>>> mower provides the least manual labour for the removal of hay but
>>>> how much can be cut before the the collection box is full?  In the
>>>> past how much hay (weight/volume) was baled and removed?
>>>
>>> Just leave it to rot
>>
>> The recommendation for a meadow with the greatest variety of plants is
>> a   poor soil requiring the hay to be removed or grazed. The OP
>> realises this in his first post.
>>
>>
> That's theory. I am talking practice.

Introducing yellow rattle will slow the grass down and give other stuff
more of a chance if you don't care about the hay yield.

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/yellow-rattle

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 26/07/2021 10:34, Martin Brown wrote:
> On 25/07/2021 19:13, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>> On 25/07/2021 18:38, alan_m wrote:
>>> On 25/07/2021 06:42, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>> On 24/07/2021 19:05, alan_m wrote:
>>>>> The collection and transport of the hay from the field is probably
>>>>> the most time consuming part of your problem. Maybe the ride-on
>>>>> mower provides the least manual labour for the removal of hay but
>>>>> how much can be cut before the the collection box is full?  In the
>>>>> past how much hay (weight/volume) was baled and removed?
>>>>
>>>> Just leave it to rot
>>>
>>> The recommendation for a meadow with the greatest variety of plants
>>> is a   poor soil requiring the hay to be removed or grazed. The OP
>>> realises this in his first post.
>>>
>>>
>> That's theory. I am talking practice.
>
> Introducing yellow rattle will slow the grass down and give other stuff
> more of a chance if you don't care about the hay yield.
>
> https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/yellow-rattle
>
I've got that there anyway...

Look, the difference between taking a day to scythe or strim it and
another day to collect it all up and do whatever with the residue,
compared with the hour it takes to smash the perennials back and part
mulch the rest on a ride on, is significant.

Essentially I don't think that it is worth silage or composting what's
there - and the more wildflowers and the less grass, the less point
there is.

My beat up 19 year old ride on has most of the inessential bits missing,
or broken, and most of the essential bits bent or blunted, but the
Briggs and Stratton 14hp soldiers on. Its never had oil drained - I just
add new. Its on its original spark plug, and it never fails to start.

If you offered me £200 for it Id probably take it if I didn't need it to
carry on smashing weeds flat.

--
“Progress is precisely that which rules and regulations did not foresee,”

– Ludwig von Mises