Best way to clear a field of weeds???

[Steve_B]

Getting very very close to starting the build.... but before I do

The lot is in northern Georgia and the weeds are already chest height on the 1/3 of an acre and its only January ( very mild winters here ) and we got all knds of weeds and thorny plants that hurt like heck

What is the best and most reasonable way to clear out all the weeds before the build starts?

Burning the field is not allowed, and its way to big for the covering with cardboard trick

I can bush hog it down with a quick pass, but after that, how do I clear out a 1/3 of an acre of growing weeds?

[Rob_O]

Glyphosate

Bush hog it down, let it grow back a little and spray it

[JRR]

We had a similar piece of land that we built on in Tenn.  Not having the bush-hog available (well, I could have paid for the service, ...too cheap I guess), we attacked the weeds and bushes with mowers, brush cutters, ... even machetes.  The first-cut was gruesome, and it took the five-family members more than one day to complete.  But after that initial cut, we never let the weeds gain ground again ... we stayed on top of it by mowing every month or so.  Both riding and push mowers were used, but no raking or leak gathering was ever done.

Advance forward now some several years, and the entire area is covered with a nice carpet of lawn grass ... without a seed or fertilizer or other chemical ever being applied.

[mwhutch]

Three strands of electric wire and a few pigs.  They do an excellent job clearing, and you can eat them when they're done. That's what we did, works great if you have a little time.

[MountainDon]

Goats

[ScottA]

Bush hog. Chemicals don't work for long, the weeds just come back.

[MountainDon]

...hope you aren't having to deal with kudzu.

[kenhill]

Billy Goat, Swisher, or DR Brush Mower.  They cut woody plants upto 2 inches in diameter.  They are $2,000 - $3,000 to purchase.  Many rental places will rent them.

[Ndrmyr]

I have seen it done with goats, buy a couple solar electric fencers, run some wire, buy some goats at the sale barn and let em go.  Pigs are more beneficial in that there is net positive result: pork!
If you rent a brush cutter, then you might be able to keep it under control with a cheap lawn tractor by mowing weekly.  If you rent a flail mower, it will chop the debris finely enough that you won't have as much dead vegeatation to deal with.

[Don_P]

But do be aware that livestock and trees don't mix. If there is a tree in the paddock it is sacrificial.

"if it won't hold water it won't hold a goat" 

[MushCreek]

Change your focus, and declare the weeds a 'crop'. I've found that anything I've tried to grow intentionally soon dies.

[roadtripray]

My dad is bringing his DR brush mower Saturday to help me clear part of my lot.  He claims it will cut saplings up to 3" in diameter.  I'm not sure I believe 3", but if it will get rid of the thorns and the 1" saplings I'll be very happy.

If you're in an area where it's tough to mow with equipment on a regular basis you can use a swing blade, aka sling blade.  Tractor Supply or Lowe's (can't remember which) called it a "weed cutter" on the shelf tag, but it's a manual tool with a wooden handle and an angled, fixed blade at the end you swing back and forth.  It works pretty well for tall grass and weeds so I'll probably maintain mine with that once we use the DR mower to get rid of the thick briars and such.

Now some people refer to the curved blade bush-axe type thing as a "Swing Blade."  So I don't know, but here is a blog article with pictures of both.  The thing I am referring to is the one on the left in the picture:

http://jdeking.blogspot.com/2012/06/sling-blade.html

I have also thought about burning.  I realize you may not be able to burn the whole field, but I wonder if you used one of the big propane torches like they sell at Harbor Freight if you could burn up small spots at a time in a controlled manner?  Those torches have a rubber hose and a fitting that goes to a 20# propane cylinder.  My dad used one of those to clear some land.


Peace,
Ray

[Steve_B]

Does burning a field of weeds get rid of them permanently or just short term?

[MountainDon]

I think short term, but it may make it easier to get control. We've burned piles in many locations and those burn spots always get greened up by the next year. Same as when most forest fires burn through; the exception can be those forest fires that are so hot they incinerate everything and leave several inches of ash and nothing but ash.

[MikeC]

What will you do when the weeds are gone?  Do bordering properties share the affliction?

Burning would be the 1st choice - but goats will do a fabulous job.  Then plow/disc, wait for new growth starts - disc again - repeat once more to kill most starts from the dormant seeds.  Plant a cover crop.
Cross fingers.

[Steve_B]

The goat is a good idea, and I have read that one goat can cover several hundred square feet in a day.... will research this some more as it is a very rural area with lots of farms, so there may be one to rent or lease short term

For right now, the best approach may be to bush hog the whole thing, then to lawn mower it down every week to keep control of it, and slowly start weeding and spraying and perhaps burning

See how the first bush hog and lawn mowering goes and let you guys know here.... if a goat, then I will update as well

[JRR]

A bush hog will make quick work of it, but it just knocks things down ... very little mulching action.  Clumps of thick cuttings are left behind.  Or, at least, my experience has been this.

We choose mowers for the first pass, because we knew once we got through the first cutting ... everything would be good from then on.  Our neighbors thought we were crazy and were gonna "burn up the mowers"!  We made an effort to keep the blades sharp, ... we had several pre-sharpened to change out, to keep the engines free of clippings, and the engine oil fresh.  Even with these efforts the cutting progress was slow, and several times the engines would require restarting.  Our memories now differ on how many days it took us ... I think it was a total of about ten to twelve man-days of work.  Long days!  The work site is a bit remote for us ... so it took two weekend trips.  (Several snakes disturbed ... and several stinging insects disturbed us!) The area initially cleared was about one acre, maybe less ... of a 5 acre lot.  The cleared area today has been expanded to about 1- 1/2 acres.  At first there were few bushes large enough to require chain-sawing.  Today there are several planted trees.

After the area was under control, a local guy offered to do the maintenance cutting  ... for a very reasonable fee.  So he has been thus employed now for many years.  It's good to have his eyes helping us look after the place.

[NM_Shooter]

Hmmmm... I have a lot of nasty desert weeds behind my house.  I wonder if I can rent-a-goat?   

[Ndrmyr]

I'm seeing some marketing opportunities here:  i.e.  "You can't get my goat, he's rented!", call 1-800-Rent-A-Billy.

[Steve_B]

Can anyone confirm this...

I read a week or so ago that 3 goats left alone in a field can manhandle a full acre in one weekend.... is this true???

Are they that powerful???

[backattheshack]

i had six acres that was so thick you had to use a machete to walk through!i turned out 25 goats and three donkeys the first of march by the end of june it was cleared 7 feet high.

[roadtripray]

My dad brought his DR brush mower this past weekend, and that thing is impressive.  It really cut a swath through some thick weeds and small trees and handled anything flimsy enough to bend under the deck.  It's very easy to use, and the neat thing is that it is pretty compact -- there were some areas around trees where I could see how a bush hog on the back of a tractor would have been too much to maneuver around.

Peace,
Ray