Bush Eater / destroyer ?

Anyone else get caught out with the topics heading

Can we get a photo of the problem area Macro?
Say from up on one of your hills looking down , I'm curious

Macro, macro, macro.

Those clumps in the photo would take about 3 seconds with a 50hp tractor and a slasher.

Then wait about 3 months (depending on rainfall) and spray the re-growth with Grazon (Lantana 600 is better but they stopped making it about 7 years ago). Wait another 3 months and reapply - and job done.

Grazon is expensive. But it works. Don't try a Chinese weedkiller from the net. Just get Grazon. Add a surfactant as well. You need very little surfactant, but it makes the Grazon 100% more effective.


The grab system only works removing lantana when on an excavator. It is much slower, but you can get on steeper hills especially when the lantana is so dense you can't actually see just how steep the hill is. You also then have to burn the piles of it.

The tractor is also no good when you come across a fallen tree. Usually a wattle. You need the excavator to stack the timber and burn it when the trees are too big for the tractor to push.



But - most important is not to try to remove the lantana. You need to view it as getting pasture to grow, not as removing lantana. The most important thing is to replace the weeds with something - or they just grow again.

You won't need it for those photos above (there is enough surrounding pasture), but if you clear an area that has no grass then re-seed it with grass.

For SE Qld / Northern NSW clear in August / September. Seed in October/November ready for the summer rains. When you seed use a smudge bar afterwards to go over it to bed the seed in and level out any divots from roots or whatever.

Before you ask : 4 parts annual rye seed (about $30 / 20kg), 4 parts perennial rye (about $60 / 20kg), 1 part Rhodes grass (about $250 / 20kg). Your local CRT bloke is the cheapest. Grass Seed Online.com is OK for the rye (minimum 100kg order). Mackay Grass Seed.com is too expensive for large qtys.

Keep cattle off it for 12 months after seeding. Mow it regularly (each time any weed flowers appear and before they set as seed).

I'll take some photos tomorrow of my tractor, modified lantana slasher, excavator with grab, spray rig, seeder and smudge bar.

Chainsaws, appear risky but safer than driving a car. Needs less skill, be aware of kickback, use steel capped boots and chaps. Don't use a top handle saw, if you need two hands to balance it you'not inclined to cut off fingers. Hedge trimmers are OK up to finger sized stems but then you need a chainsaw for the stumps. A painters plank is handy to throw on light stuff. Gets the twigs out of your face. Walk the plank cutting stems either side with the saw. Long cutter bar on a small saw so you don' t have to lean over. You'll throw chains every now and then and hit old barbed wire. Tree loppers working at height can sharpen saws once a week they tell me. The wood's clean up there , down in the dirt expect 2 or 3 times a day for a touch up sharpen.

With good access you can probably come up with a better way. Can you just drive over it with a tractor a couple of times to access the main stems?

My seed mix is just a general purpose all-round pasture fill-in-the gaps type thing. It isn't a cattle specific thing.

If you have local advice don't listen to anything I say. I have 250 acres but I don't really farm it. I just don't like neighbours. So my opinions are just from trial and error from the last 10 years or so.


Kikuyu is popular for cattle around us, but I get the impression it needs more management / maintenance input, grazing rotation etc.

I just want something that is not too expensive, easy to germinate, low on-going maintenance, smother the weeds and OK for horses to turn my lantana cleared hills into pasture. I am not looking for maximum weight gain in beef cattle or anything technical.

I figure the rye is cheap. The annual rye germinates fast and stabilises the soil, but if you seed in October it will be dead by January. The perennial rye germinates slower but lasts "forever". Rhodes has a deep root system so good for hilly areas to help stop erosion. It also looks 'lush' to me and grows pretty quick here, it tends to out grow the rye in some areas, but the seed costs much more per kg. Note however they recommend you seed at a much lower rate per hectare, so the per hectare cost comparison is different to the kg comparison.


I wouldn't get rid of pasture to replace with pasture. If you want to replace it I would just overseed with something. I'd suggest a spike type aerator with seeder box and drag chain behind to overseed. Google "berends aerator" or "agrifarm aerator". I want one, but they are pretty expensive second hand and not many around.

If you overseed once a year for a few years you will eventually replace the pasture without ever having any bare ground. You should still keep the cattle off the seeded areas for a while (6 months ?). They pull the new growth out by the roots.

I get the impression Lucerne is fantastic, but higher maintenance than just rye or something. I did look at having a small Lucerne area and making mini hay bales with it some time ago. Check out the Lucerne hay cost in the ag store or pet store. If I farmed full time I might try it.

I tought that I will try today last easy piece of equipment designed to cut and clear bushes.

Well, could be good for a small garden to clear some bushes but absolutely not for acreage and definitely completely useless for bigger plot infested by lantana like mine.

I don't think it's right to use goats to clear lantana. Lantana is poisonous.

Thanks for letting me know about the Chinese tractors. I have a small acreage and am thinking of putting it to productive use in the future. It's a long way from where I live though.

Isn't farming the area where lots of people get injured in really bad ways from machinery? Quad bike rollovers, post hole diggers?

I think it would be a good idea to stick to something already on the market, just so that you don't injure yourself.

That's terrible Macro , not one Akubra
Wonder how this would go ?