Country Landowner

Got a few acres of grass paddock or pasture?

Want to avoid getting out the grass-mowing equipment each week, to cut it?

Here’s what a neighbour of mine does…

A neighbour has about three acres of grass paddock he doesn’t have an immediate use for.

I used to cut it for him with my tractor and grass topper, but then he found a better way.

He has made an arrangement with a local farmer, whereby the farmer puts sheep on to the land every few weeks.

The sheep quietly munch the grass all day. They get plenty of fresh grass to eat and the land is kept neat and tidy.

Both the farmer, and my neighbour are happy.

The farmer handles everything to do with the sheep. He moves them on and off the land, and checks up on them when they are there.

No money changes hands, as far as I know. My neighbour could perhaps charge a little, but the free arrangement seems to suit everyone.

The grass is nothing special - it’s quite rough in places. The land is fenced all around, however. This is important to keep the sheep where they should be.

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Here’s the piece of equipment you’ll almost certainly want to own, if you have a few acres of land. (Image: Ford 4000 Tractor Built 1973)

Some might say, it’s just a “Big Boys’ Toy”, but if you have an area of grass to control, you’re likely to find that a proper tractor, together with a good grass-cutting attachment, is not just useful but pretty much essential.

I bought this old Ford 4000 tractor several years ago for £1,600. It’s well over 30 years old now, but it’s still reliable and works well.

I got it from a local agricultural machinery dealer. From the same dealer, I also bought a paddock grass topper. This was new, not used.

I had learned from previous experience, that buying secondhand attachments like grass-cutters is often a false economy. Previous owners often work them hard and then sell, when they’re wearing out or giving trouble.

The new grass topper was made by Slewtic and it’s been excellent. With it attached to the Ford tractor, I can cut a couple of acres of grass in around 1 hour. (Image:Grass Paddock Topper By Slewtic)

The grass topper has a single, horizontal cutting blade that’s directly driven from a small gearbox, which is itself turned by the rear power take-off (PTO)of the tractor. I think this arrangement is good as there’s little to adjust, or in my experience, to go wrong.

Some years ago, I had a different type of grass topper which used belts and pulleys to drive three separate blades. Every so often, the belts would stretch, requiring frequent adjustment. Occasionally they snapped, which meant costly replacement.

The Ford tractor is a powerful machine. As well as grass-cutting, I’ve used it to plough some land. It did this well, although only using an old, three-furrow plough, not one of the monster attachments you see on modern tractors.

It’s important to get a diesel engined tractor. Some small, old tractors are petrol-powered machines, but these use more fuel per hour and are expensive to run.

But there’s an even better reason to go for diesel…

If you use a tractor on private land, you can run it on agricultural or “red” diesel fuel. This is much cheaper than normal fuel. It costs only about one-third of the price of diesel from the filling-station, that we have to use on the public roads, so it saves a lot of money.

Fuel merchants will mostly require a minimum order quantity of 500 litres and it’s best if you have a proper fuel storage tank, although they will often dispense into 200 litre oil drums, if necessary.

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