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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 599
 
| I currently live on 5 acres with 3 horses, a nice barn, and a nice arena.
Winters are hard to keep the pastures grass - I just finished fencing in a sacrifice area today so that should help tremendously.
Summers, my husband spends about 3 hours every other week mowing the grass and dragging the arena and spraying for weeds.
A 60 acre property around the corner is for sale. No barn, no arena. But lots of flat grassy pasture. We’re going to look at it this weekend, but I’m wondering how much upkeep there would be. Would it be worth it? I wouldn’t be able to build a barn for a few years....I don’t feel I need an arena. It’s the maintenance that I’m wondering about! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 865
| Well it will be about 12 times the work from what you have now. That was just based on simple math??
Fencing, weed control {not sure your location with regards to weeds} not too mention improvements. However my motto has always been bigger is better when it comes to land or real estate.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 599
| I think that’s my struggle.
I feel more land is better. But is it worth the work? |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| I think it is. At first it will be more work, but the horses would have plenty of room to move and graze, you would have been Kentucky of room to ride, and you could fence some off and have your own hay field. Plus no neighbors too close if you have a house on it. All big pluses and don’t forget land prices only seem to be going up so it would be an investment if you ever needed to sell. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
 
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | If you like your place looking neat and clean it will be work, hubby and I have 80 acres and seems like I'm on the tractor all the time, I like my pastures to look groomed and weed free as much as possible, if we dont get good rain here in a few weeks my poor pastures will be dirt :( |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
Location: Kansas | More land does equal more work...however, if you lay it out right and plan ahead for any future building options (locations within the property) you would be money ahead, in my opinion. Yes there is more to mow in pastures but if you have access to someone wiling to put up hay on shares that is good. Pasture mowing will be a bigger tractor and brushhog mower eventually, but mowing two swaths around the perimeter and all fencing makes things look nice too. You could always hire someone who does pasture mowing and save on the tractor / mower purchase. If there are lots of trees plan on winters with tree trimming. I enjoy firing up the chainsaws (just wish I didn't have so many trees). Consider it inexpensive (other than your time) firewood. I think the best thing about more land is if you locate your housing away from the road you are guarenteed some privacy. The key is making sure you plan the layout for "future options".
?Edited to add: I would love to start from scratch on a blank canvas / property. I fight daily with the ill layout / design of my place, from the previous owner. If only they had really understood the flow chart of how things should work. And the fact that they put in a second stall barn that isn't even square to the rest of the buildings makes me crazy (and it's only about 20 degrees off kilter, but I see it loud and clear). LOL
Edited by runnin hard 2018-06-14 11:42 PM
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 Too Skinny
Posts: 8009
Location: LA Lower Alabama | You can make it "less" work by planning the property out correctly. It would be nice to have a blank slate but if you think 5 acres is tough you have a rude awakening coming. We had 5 acres and took care of it with a four wheeler and zero turn mower but I like that type of work and didn't mind it. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 599
| It’s not a blank slate - it already has a looooong concrete and asphalt driveway. There is a house on it, but the majority of the pasture is all down the right side of the property (bordered by a river).
On our current property, we hire a pasture maintenance company that tests our soil and seeds and fertilizes accordingly (it’s probably 2.5 acres of pasture). My husband mows it with a small kubota about every 2 weeks in the summer. The barn is a lot of work because my horses are inside every night, so we have someone who comes to clean stalls, feed, and clean the barn every day.
My thinking was that on the 60 acres, the horses could stay out 24/7 so the pastures wouldn’t need to be mowed as often, and we wouldn’t have somebody working every day in the barn (since there isn’t one). My horses use a run-in shelter now when it’s hot or raining and they’re turned out. I figured I could put a couple run ins instead of a barn.
At the 60 acre property, nothing is fenced in yet. There is a little fruit tree orchard, the house, and then woods bordering the river, so there’s approx (by eyeballing the play) 30 acres of flat grass pasture to fence in. |
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 Hugs to You
Posts: 7550
Location: In The Land of Cotton | I would try and get it. Nothing is better the pasture 24/7 for a horse. We have three sided run ins for ours to use. You can always use panels on the ed of the shelter if you have to keep one up to be treated etc. you wont regret more land |
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 The Vaccinator
Posts: 3810
Location: Slipping down the slope of old age. Boo hoo. | It will require quite a bit more time mowing in order to maintain good pastures. We mow pastures at least every two weeks -- keeping the pastures mowed to 4 - 6 inches keeps insects at bay and controls weeds. We also keep our fence lines mowed, and trimmed, as it's easier to monitor and maintain fencing. You will probably see a decrease in cost of feed / hay with such a large pasture. I would invest in a nice round bale 'cover' for winter use -- there are some on the market that cover the bale and provide 'holes' for the horses to reach in to eat -- they really stop waste and you can move it around to avoid mud holes/damage. So a run-in shed and perhaps a shed to store round bales...
We have about 15 acres and it takes a solid 8 hours a week for us to keep it looking the way we want it to look -- mowed, trimmed, tidy. This time includes our lawn and landscape work. We have a tractor with brush hog, but I prefer to mow everything with our commercial zero-turn mower. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 599
| 8 hours per week?!?!?!
Thanks everyone - this is a lot to think about.
A longtime friend of mine has 8 acres with no barn or arena. She told me she’d gladly forfeit some land to have a barn and arena. Does anybody else feel this way?
We’re seeing it in person tomorrow - the seller and their agent will be there to show us around. It’s very possible that I may not even like it! We’d be leaving behind a nice house with a lot of amenities. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| We have 100 acres and we like to keep it shredded looking groomed. We have 30 cows, 5 horses and still have to shred it about once a month in the warmer months. It takes about 12 hours with a 15’ shredder-which I do over 2 days. |
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  Keeper of the King Snake
Posts: 7617
Location: Dubach, LA | Keeping fence clean on 80
acres will be a full time job. I hope you are proficient with a weed eater and a chain saw. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | dRowe - 2018-06-15 8:33 AM It’s not a blank slate - it already has a looooong concrete and asphalt driveway. There is a house on it, but the majority of the pasture is all down the right side of the property (bordered by a river). On our current property, we hire a pasture maintenance company that tests our soil and seeds and fertilizes accordingly (it’s probably 2.5 acres of pasture). My husband mows it with a small kubota about every 2 weeks in the summer. The barn is a lot of work because my horses are inside every night, so we have someone who comes to clean stalls, feed, and clean the barn every day. My thinking was that on the 60 acres, the horses could stay out 24/7 so the pastures wouldn’t need to be mowed as often, and we wouldn’t have somebody working every day in the barn (since there isn’t one). My horses use a run-in shelter now when it’s hot or raining and they’re turned out. I figured I could put a couple run ins instead of a barn. At the 60 acre property, nothing is fenced in yet. There is a little fruit tree orchard, the house, and then woods bordering the river, so there’s approx (by eyeballing the play) 30 acres of flat grass pasture to fence in.
From what you said here. I would think that 60 acres would be significantly more work than you would be willing to take on.
My husband and I have 20 total. 10 is fenced pastures. 5 is wooded. 5 is open around the house/barn/shop with about dozen large oaks. Every single weekend we try to tackle at least one couple hour long project to keep our place looking decent. Otherwise the work just becomes overwhelming. For example: Spraying fence rows with roundup. Spraying pastures with Grazon. Mowing. Picking up limbs.
The mowing is the most time consuming. We break it up into sections. The 5 acres around the buildings has to be cut 2x a month during the summer and takes approx 4 hours. We cut the pasture 2-3 times a year and it takes approx 8 hours. We trim as needed and pick up limbs 2-3x a year beacuse the trees are so beautiful but they're work too keep them looking nice. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 599
| I’m realizing that - I’m glad I asked on here because my thinking was clearly inaccurate!!!!!!!
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 That's White "Man" to You
Posts: 5515
| I have a simple rule I follow. The more land and the more horses the better. More work?? Yes. More fun?? Yes. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 599
| Whiteboy - 2018-06-15 12:21 PM
I have a simple rule I follow. The more land and the more horses the better. More work?? Yes. More fun?? Yes.
Lol!!!!!!! That was my rule, until I started reading how many hours these dedicated people devote to their land!!!
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| I think it depends.
We have 80 acres between ours and my inlaws who live next door.
I would guess around 55 acres of pasture, 8-10 of alfalfa/grass hay, and the balance in our houses, barns, arena etc.
There’s always something to do, don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot of nights I ride and pony horses while my husband works on the mower or the tractor.
Fence - do it right the first time. If you have access to hedge posts you’ll find yourself replacing far fewer rotten posts in your lifetime. Our pasture fence has been up for 13 years and we have a little wire we need pull right again before we turn cattle out on it in the fall, but everything else looks good. Clean your fence lines well, keep trees cut back and you’ll have fewer fencing emergencies.
Don’t skimp on quality weed control, it’s worth paying to have the whole thing professionally sprayed every few years and then spend some time in April/May on the side by side with a hand held sprayer. It’s been a few years since we sprayed the whole thing, but we were diligent last year about nipping what did come back and baled some of the nicest grass hay I’ve seen off it this spring.
We have a tidy place, it’s not gorgeous Kentucky stud farm manicured, but it’s tidy and kept.
I wouldn’t not want to have it, let me put it that way :) |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
| I don't feel like it's any more work and I'd almost argue its less. We spray all the fields the same time every year for weeds, and the fence line with round up. Then only spray if necessary through out the summer. We burn them every few years. We have enough room that we rotate pastures and never worry about over grazing. We do irrigate but that's the norm for where we live, I'm assuming you won't be so you won't have to worry about that. 8 hours a week on maintenance for just pasture land seems a bit much! Brush hog in the fall and spread manure then. If you build your fence correct the first time you shouldn't be repairing it for a long time. It's not like a small piece of property where you worry about over grazing and picking up manure on a daily basis.
I think it's definitely worth it!! Three horses on 5 acres, the amount of hay to supplement for the lack of pasture, the maintenance to keep it from being over grazed, and having the horses be confined to a few acres. I'd choose the 60 in second!! |
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 Peecans
| Grass cattle 
We have a farm but I only "tend" to the yard I feel like 5 acres would be more work, not big enough to pasture the grass off so I'd be forever mowing lol. |
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