Lawn Mowers vs lava rocks

[Rene Siracusa]

Goats perform better when the grass is really tall, because they browse. Sheep graze, so that means shorter grass, and they take it down closer than goats do. I use tie-out stakes to prevent them from eating my garden plants. Sometimes I take them for grazing strolls on a leash. I have 9 acres of grass to control and 6 sheep. They can't keep up with the work, but hopefully I will have lambs this year.

[KeaauRich]

I've found that over the years, I've shaved the tops off most of the offending rocks enough to give me clearance. But I swear other rocks are pushing up, waiting to give me and the John Deere a good jolt. Meanwhile, some friends of ours have just built a spectacular home with gorgeous grounds and expansive walls of solid glass. When I asked him how he was going to prevent his mower from flinging rocks at the glass, all he could say was "Oh s***, I never even thought about that..." I bet he things about it a lot now

[DanielP]

How about riveting flaps of leather or rubber around the edges of the deck?
Or, put the Bigga wheels on the right side of the mower and mow counter-clockwise around the house?

[csgray]

Does anyone here rent goats to bring in for short term contract grazing?

On the mainland in the Pacific Northwest there were contract goatherds who rented out their herds to do short term grazing on steep hills along freeways, abandoned industrial sites and other places where people needed goats to do short term intensive grazing. We have lost the battle on our back half an acre and I would love to have some goats spend about 3 weeks grazing it back to a doable level. Our fences are good, although it would need a temporary electric cross fence to keep them away from the house.

Carol