new homeowner

[bennyG19]

here are some pics during one of the only snows this year (click to enlarge):

[bennyG19]

here are some pics today (click to enlarge):






i bought some new mower blades but haven't tried them out yet. so far i've put in lots of work with the husky 323L trimmer and the little john deere that could. i changed the oil in the mower yesterday. i also bought a lawn sweeper at lowes that i tow around behind my mower to pick up grass/leaves. it was the most difficult bastard ever to put together, but it works great. any advice on what to do next? if you can see the steep bank in the last picture...i'm thinking about putting blue rug junipers on it to help keep it from eroding and to cut down on maintenance. i have another steep slope that i don't want to continue using the trimmer on, but i don't know what to do with. my boss told me to put some crown vetch on it, but i don't know if that's a great idea. any advice? thanks in advance scott, i think you're the only pro that ventures this far down into the forums.

[FSully]

Wow......where in Tennessee? I've been looking at property using I-40, 75, and 24 as borders. That is just an awesome piece of property.

[bennyG19]

jonesborough. i'm not in your area of interest, but i suggest you expand it. northeast tennessee is the best part of the state. i think we have one of the lowest costs of living in the country. if you are looking to buy property, lots of people from florida are buying property in roan mountain. i'm a civil engineer, and i've worked on a few subdivision designs in that area. i lived in knoxville for 7 years and chattanooga for 1 and i couldn't wait to get back to the hills in NE TN. i'm 45 minutes from ski slopes, 5 hours from the beach, not in a big city, no smog/crime/traffic. i love it.

[hardboiled]

That's an awesome place Benny. I envision a nice deck off the slope where you cut down the pear, with a winding stairway to the pond, that swings by a lower deck by the old fire pit. Love that barn too. God Bless your aunt!

[Seascape]

Thats a paradise. All i would do is mow it constantly. I might hone in on some scrubby areas but only small ones and other than that i wouldnt cut anything down. I would run a app program on about 20k of turf right up by the house ,,, other than that just mow.

Food plots would be everywhere!

[Hydro DRIVE®]

Unless you want to go out and buy a commercial mower your best bet would be to employ a qualified lawn service (this might not be available in NE TN).

A commercial mower would easily get that back into shape with just two passes on a sunny afternoon.

[Seascape]

Unless you want to go out and buy a commercial mower your best bet would be to employ a qualified lawn service (this might not be available in NE TN).

A commercial mower would easily get that back into shape with just two passes on a sunny afternoon.

I personally would not come cheap on that property. Your talkin very slow mowing and no matter how slow and aware you remain you will hit something sometime.

I would ask somewhere around $1000 and id put about 16 man hrs on it in 1 day. I would have on my person 2 sets of xtra blades per unit and back up belts. Any down time for blade swaps and belt maintenance would be done on those 16 hrs.

[bennyG19]

i couldn't afford a qualified lawn service, nor a commercial mower. at this point, i think i'm going to save up for an atv and get a pull behind rough cut mower and a pull behind finish mower. this stuff is just too steep for a riding mower. i don't know about commercial mowers, i've never had one. would they be able to handle the slopes better than my little john deere?

[Hydro DRIVE®]

Nobody owns a tractor and a brush hog for hire in your area?

[greenC]

my grandfather has over a 100 acres in tenn. he mows it with a 1920 something Alice&chambers tractor with a side sickle. he has water in the tires to keep from flipping it over. He only flipped it once in about 10 years and he mows everyday. picked it up cheap at an auction. old hand crank to start it.

[bennyG19]

my dad has a big new john deere tractor and a bushhog, but i don't want to keep hassling him to bring it over here so i can use it. i'd rather have my own equipment to take care of my own place. i may check for an old tractor, i've been keeping an eye on the classifieds. i still think i might go with the atv and pull behinds. thanks for all the helpful ideas.

[MAD MOWERS]

Keep mowing my friend and look to plant some orchard grass in the areas you don't want to mow every week or two. I would put phlox on that steep bank in various colors, that should be a knock out in the spring. The crown vetch is a good idea for very steep areas(look on roadway banks) but I am told it doesn't mow well.
Know where you are, we pass through the area on the way to Boone NC at times. You have done a good job cleaning the place up! A lot of folks would spend big cash to buy a place like yours close to the moutains and DOLLYWOOD! HA!

[GeeVee]

Check into a gray market Yanmar Tractor, or Isuzu or Mitsubishi. 17-19 hp would be all you need to drag a 5' mower deck off the pto. or a box blade for driveways. At least for the rough stuff, 2500 beans. .

[buster57]

What I did when I bought my property, and it had essentially been abandoned for years as well, was go to the local John Deere dealer and rent a compact utility tractor with a front end loader and rotary mower. For a through first pass I suggest you do the same. I also made sure to buy the insurance for an extra $15. The Deere dealer provided me with an underpowered JD-855, but I still was able to clear out all the unknown debris...until I hit a cement framing iron. The mower deck blew up. I have never seen anything like that happen before or after!

Like I said-get the insurance!

After you clear up any possible land mines, I would then suggest you buy a full size compact utility tractor. That means 25 HP at the PTO or more. The reason you want the 25 PTO is because anything less and you may not be able to run a 60" or larger rototiller. It will take forever to roto till your land with a smaller unit.

I would also go with one of the big three manufacturers, New Holland, John Deere, or Kubota. Parts and service is what you need as well as the tractor and these three manufacturers are all proven. Kioti is getting there. I do not recommend grey market tractors unless you can fix them your self.

I own two Kubota diesels. A full size multi use and a sub-compact used just for mowing. Both were expensive but both are very tough machines that are extremely reliable and capable of any of my demands.

Good luck with that beautiful property!