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bobodude
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 32 Oakley, Calif and Garnerville, Nv
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2004-08-03          92613

I have a BX23 on 3 acres of gently sloped land. It has emerging small sage brush, cheet grass and some weeds. Due to high fire danger in our west central Nevada area, the home owners association is recommending that homeowners keep a 20 to 30 ft fire break around the property. What attachment would you use to keep such an area clear? I would like to keep it fairly smooth and don't want to "mow" it every month. I am leaning towards a rotorary tiller. Opinons please.

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2004-08-03          92614

The only alternatives to mowing I see are to kill all the vegetation with herbicide or to pave it over. If you till it you'll just bring up all the seeds and provide better soil for it to germinate in. You could rent a cutter and mow it once, then buy a sprayer and spray it regularly to keep the growth down. There are soil sterilization herbicides (Triox comes to mind, not sure if it's still being sold) which pretty much prevent anything from growing for months or years. If you go with herbicide you need to pay attention to groundwater. ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2004-08-03          92616

As Ken stated, there really is few choices, spray, cut or uproot.

Spraying is the down & dirty way although you then have an area of dead dry material that may be flamable, that would need to be cleaned up, same as cuttings.

I would think in the long run, once you get the material cleaned up, a set of chain harrows or a pulverizer would keep the area clear of new growth and looking nice also.

Maybe our friend Mark (DRankin) will chime in on this thread, that is his neck of the woods.

Best of luck. ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2004-08-03          92619

Bobo, you should stop by and look at my chain harrow. It might do the job for you. ....

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2004-08-03          92620

Maybe I'm missing something, but if bobodude doesn't want to regularly drag a cutter over his fire break how would dragging a chain harrow over it be an improvement? ....

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bobodude
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 32 Oakley, Calif and Garnerville, Nv
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2004-08-03          92642

KWSCHUMM you hit it right on the nail head, nobody wants to spray due to ground water. I know my neighbors wouldn't appreciate it for sure. The water table is down at 180 ft but the HOA would have a cow. Most in the area hire low cost labor to literally pull or hoe the sage out of the ground. I just can't believe that a box blade couldn't do the job of removing the vegetation and keep it clean for a reasonable amount of time. Besides to cover a 1/2 acre with Triox would be might expensive. I have used sterilizers before and you really have to soak it good and then its only lasts for maybe a year at most. Anyone else want to give their 2 cents? ....

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2004-08-03          92644

Since your HOA is having a cow anyway.... you could build a dirt bike track around your house and have races every weekend. That should keep the regrowth down LOL ....

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Archdean
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 279 Oklahoma
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2004-08-03          92645

Tether the HOA's cow in the firebreak....
Don't blame me , you asked for my 2 cents worth and that's it!!!!

Dean ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2004-08-03          92650

He has to drag something over the firebreak. Or drive on it a lot. There are only 3-4 months of the year that things are green and growing here without supplemental water.

A lawn mower will make a fire break here if the ground isn't too rough. I've done that too.... ....

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grassgod
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 566 ct
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2004-08-04          92657

I'm with Ken on the dirt bike track! Infact let me know where you live bobo & i'll be over there to break it in! ....

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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2004-08-04          92659

The HOA's recommendation sounds like a good idea. They likely are passing on the recommendations of a fire service.

If the recommendation didn't say exactly what a fire break is it might be good to figure out what it means, and I'd get details from a fire protection agency rather than the HOA. At least here in a forested area a firebreak doesn't necessarily mean a swath that's maintained free of vegetation. Could be that cutting or dragging once a year meets fire protection recommendations.

If there's much vegetation, a scraper would fill up pretty fast and would have to be dumped frequently. There'd be a bunch of piles that would have to be turned over or removed. ....

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yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2004-08-04          92662

I don't know the size of stuff you're trying to control. What about using a disk? A disk will knock over foliage and chop it up. Several passes a week or so apart (give it time to decay) will get the larger size plants into smaller pieces. If it is that dry, does it decay very quickly or does the lack of moisture petrify it? Repeated passes will chop it up into small particle sizes indiscernible at a distance. Depending upon the growing conditions you may only need to till it occasionally. That's a small amount of tractor time. Some of us find excuses to get the opportunity to ride around! ....

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Iowafun
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 955 Central Iowa
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2004-08-04          92690

I've read articles about the use of goats to keep the brush down. They are fairly low maintenance but produce fertilizer. Another option is to work the fire break using a box scraper or such to kill off the vegetation (or use Roundup) and then landscape it with rocks over a vegetation barrier. That way it looks nice and is low maintenance. Not sure how big you need it to be so it could be a big expensive.

My wife likes the goat idea. I'm glad I don't need a fire break. I'm just on a hill and lose shingles every spring. ....

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2004-08-04          92691

I'd like to have goats graze our septic field area, but they don't seem to live long around here because coyotes eat them. ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2004-08-04          92694

Keeping goats or sheep from becoming a coyote's pot-belly is simple.

Put a donkey, or two if it's a large herd, out with them. You won't lose any goats but I'll bet you find lots of dead coyotes.

Best of luck. ....

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yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2004-08-04          92697

If you keep goats, always remember to never bend over to pick-up a newspaper, stick or anything without checking your backside. Goats love to give you a little bump. Someone I know had several goats and one would follow him around everywhere. If he spun around to check if his back side was clear, the goat would spin around as well to keep in his blind side. He would think the coast was clear and bang, he would get slammed. Happened all the time! ....

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bobodude
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 32 Oakley, Calif and Garnerville, Nv
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2004-08-04          92699

OK ok I give. Cows? Goats? I am starting to wonder about this thread! These things don't drive the ecomomy. I need to be buying more toys to support my habit and keep the little woman mistified with my ugh ugh image. How can I tell her we need the Ringling bros circus when I just bought a $16k dirt moving, weed killing, gravel pushing, man eating machine? I'm talking cold steel here boys. I see my mission. Seek out and destroy these invading lifeforms with whatever means necessary, even if I have to buy one of each damn implement on the market. I'll use em all sooner or later! Your opinons are all taken with sincerity and a can of BEER. ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2004-08-04          92701

Sounds like what you really want is the standard issue Klingon Death Phazer for the front of that bad tractor.

Seriously, if 'mechanical intervention' is your method of choice then all you need is a good solid box blade with scarifiers. A couple of passes with the scarifiers down to loosen anything not scared out of the way, then a little dragging with the blade and you will have a first class fire break.

Just be sure to save the beer for the 'admire the finished job' phase, alcohol & diesel don't mix very well.

Best of luck. ....

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bobodude
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 32 Oakley, Calif and Garnerville, Nv
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2004-08-04          92731

Murf.... No I had to sell the Phaser on Ebay to aford the tractor. Thanks for the advice. It seems like the probable solution. Now just have to decide whether it will be a Landpride, Kubota or King Kutter blade. BTW I cracked up on your #14 pix. Now thats the way to store beer. Regards.. ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2004-08-04          92745

Since we are neighbors and all I will let you in on the straight track. If you have any sense of quality, and I suspect you do, you won't much like the KK products.

That leaves Landpride, Kubota and Gearmore in our area. If you drive past Smith Valley Garage about 10 minutes, there is a Deere/New Holland dealer that can offer lines not available where you bought your tractor.

There are also three places to check out in Fallon, including the Big R, which is sort of a big box farm supply. But you probably know that if you are looking at King Kutter stuff. ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2004-08-05          92758

Bobodude, there are certain advantages to living in Canada, like having good beer available, and an easy way to keep it cold.

Of course storing it that way in the winter is bad, it slushes up too fast, but in the summer like that it works good.

You should see how we make ice cream, the cows don't even seem to mind much........


(;-p>


Best of luck. ....

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Chief
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee
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2004-08-05          92767

I agree with the idea of cutting it periodically with a rotary cutter. You can go over and touch up any trouble areas with glyphosphate. Eventually, any vegetation capable of supporting a fire of any consequence will be gone and perhaps some type of native grass you can sew. I doubt much of anything would grow well in that climate; hence the suggestion for sticking with a native cover vegetation. I would strongly suggest checking with your local agricultural extension agent or NRCS representative for some assistance and recommendations. ....

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brokenarrow
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1288 Wisconsin
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2004-08-15          93611

There are a few products out there that are safe to use
around water that kill everything they touch and if your only doing a 1/2 mile of fire lane it wont cost you an arm and a leg. I own a KK box scraper, have only about 8 hours on it but have used it to rip up a acre field with many rocks and small boulders (1-2' dia.) in it. Also grading my drive which in one corner is nothing but field stone under the gravel (which I was down to after trying to crown it) Have had NO damage to the KK yet infact I was really impressed with it not even a dent in the blades or scarifers. I would recomend it to anyone that dont have a pocket full of money to spend on a beefyer model. I think it would work just fine for what you plan on using it for a few times a year. ....

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