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I have one guy I talked to that will lease me 10 acres of his pasture
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Is this 10 acres fenced? You're not planning on "sharing" the land with the cattle, are you?
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I have one guy I talked to that will lease me 10 acres of his pasture
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Is this 10 acres fenced? You're not planning on "sharing" the land with the cattle, are you?
No.... [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
He has a back section with a gate I can close and lock up...
Otherwise I think the cows would see my trees and think SNACK!! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Have you had experience with a venture of this magnitude? How long will your lease be with the rancher? Will either party be able to get out of the lease, within a certain period of time? Will the lease payment be based on your gross return (i.e. when the money starts coming in)? Do you have a plan to control theft (I see similar nursery farms with extensive security fence and alarms, as these potted trees are valuable and easily get 'legs' at night)?
I wish you luck, as I like to see adventuresome people, and a good business is healthy for our economy. I also think your wife may have good reason to be nervous at this point. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
The owner (old family friend) said I could have a 10 year lease and I could cancel my end any time with 60 days notice.
He would give me the right to buy those acres at the end of the lease as long as I keep up my end. Plus I would have first right to buy if he wanted to sell, (Set price of $30,000) including the well on "my" property A new owner would have to sink his own well.
It is pretty secluded... I talked to a security guy, and he told me about these deer feeder cams that work at night and one model that will page you with any activity ...
My lease payment will be due first of every year...($100.00 per years, small expense) and well expenses would be due monthly. He said he would pay the well expenses for the first this year to help me get started...
He is independantly wealthy and ony raises cows as a hobby and to get out of the house once in a while...
The money is not as big of a deal to him as just trying to help someone else to get started...
I have been looking at tree shovels and spades that go on a tractor or a Bobcat (skid steer)... attached
Has anyone ever used one like this?
Or a regular tree spade?
What about the difference between a bobcat and a regular tractor?
I can get a John Deere 40hp for about $12,000 with a front end loader and brush-hog ....?
Frontend loader? $15-$20k...
When I worked at a nursery, they used tree spades mounted on Bobcats (actually Case Uniloaders). I think they're more manuverable in the rows and typically have a good lift capacity versus their size. In reality having both a skid steer and a tractor would be nice. If you can only afford one or the other, I'd probably take the tractor first.
I have a tree shovel (spade) for my Bobcat. It works fine on smaller trees (less than 1.5" caliper), but I have since given up on the idea of planting trees in the field to be later removed with a spade, but rather using the Rootmaker bags, and thus will pull them out with a strap and retain almost all of the roots.
I have used that spade for digging trenches more than digging trees, so far.
:: D A V E
:: g a t o r b o y
<font color="blue">Otherwise I think the cows would see my trees and think SNACK!! </font color>
Yep! [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
One other thing to worry about is that even if you can keep the cattle out, you will have a hard time with the deer who may be interested in your plantings. Not sure what trees are palatible to those critters, but do know that they just about destroyed a friends peach and apple orchard when he first planted his trees (small). He had to resort to high fence to keep them away. Might want to talk to a TPWD biologist to see what they think of the trees you're going to be planting and if you will have any trouble with deer.
First Good Luck, I am 1 year into starting a tree farm. I dabbled for a couple of years before I went in. I still work full time though. I live in your area just south of Sherman. I do like it. There were a couple of things I learned on the fly I will try to give you what little I learned.
I grow Oaks (Live, red, ect....) & red cedars, & Leyland Cyprus trees. Go talk to the people you are selling the trees to or going to & ask if you can buy his old containers this will save MAJOR $$$$$. If they will not then start calling nurseries. Just make sure you clean them out before you use them.
Next make sure you get into drip irrigation. This is some money up front but will save a lot over time. Time is needed to get the drip system going. When you make the individual lines to each tree make sure you make them longer than you need so when that tree needs to move and another moved in you will not have to redo the line.
The nice thing about a drip line is that you can get an inline fertilizer. Just turn it on/off major time saver here.
Next thing is to consider weeds in the pots and around them. I created an area with the greenhouse landscape fabric (had to order it form a greenhouse supplier) and put Pea gravel on top of it to help protect it more from rips. Weeds are a big waist of time. Put mulch in the pots to keep them away.
You can get free mulch if you buy a chipper (cheap old one) and ask some people in your area with a lot of trees that you want to clean up some dead brush in your area. Do this only if you know the tree did not die from a disease. Or get it delivered in bulk from a sand/gravel place.
Soil you use – this is a heated topic – everyone will give you there advice of what to use, but I will say you get what you pay for (usually) But some testing I did I do have good luck with half sandy loam & half compost (finished compost). But will I go to it???? Research this!!!
Labor – this is a big one – like someone said – repotting is a lengthy process, as I only have night’s weekends for now (hopefully).
Go ask someone if you do not know how to prune the trees you are growing. My wife learned & taught me, as a bad looking tree will be planted at your land and not sold!!
Find a good cheap supplier of bamboo for stacking, or grow yours. In doing this invest in a good tree ribbon tier, as this will save you time. If you need help finding one I can find one online & send a link.
Hope this helps as I am learning also. I will help if I can.
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