e.myers
Silver Member
Have cleared 6 acres of land that was previously planted in pine trees.
Trees were row planted and grew for around 12-15 years.
Stumps were removed by a large excavator and buried below the surface of the ground. The dirt that was removed was backfilled on top of the stumps to allow for settling.
Land is a combination of sand and clay. The dirt that was dug from the trenches when piled on the stumps is ALL orange.... clay but sand clay.
When the stumps were pulled, they loosened up alot of the site, but there are areas that are hardpan (primarily where the original "deck"- the area where the first thinning took place and the cleared debris was stored to decompose).
Roots and debris are still all over the property, but other than raking the property, it really does look clean (very little plant material) and I think the guy operating the excavator went way above and beyond.
Stumps are not an issue. If there are any, I'd say there are few.
What I'm trying to accomplish...
Want to plant Winter Rye on the property to build up organic matter and stop erosion and weed growth.
Property is not level and there are dips, valleys, and sloped areas... partly due to the topography and partly due to the "landscaping".
I want to till up the land, fill in the voids and plant the rye.
My original thinking was I'd try and disc up the land with an old disc I have lying around (may or may not be functional), dragging a beam behind it as I go, and just leave the roots and stuff there to decompose. Then use a broadcast seed spreader and either come back and disc lightly to cover the seed or drag a piece of fence etc over it. Then, maybe I need to cultipack the seed... anyone know about rye? Sure would be nice not to have to purchase that.
But I'm also thinking that I want to get down deeper into the soil than a disc will penetrate (especially in the hardpan areas I mentioned), so thought it might make sense use a (chisel plow?) before I disc etc.
Then I started thinking of using a rotary tiller vs the disc (maybe even dragging a beam behind that).
Part of the reason for the questions is that this property will be farmed and it will also be a MX track for my boys.
I will need to be able to maintain the track with various implements and I think ultimately, I'll need both a disc and a rotary tiller. The chisel plow is an unknown.
The HP tractors I'm looking at are 35 - 45 hp, leaning right in the middle at 40. I want to be able to pull a disc & rotary tiller wide enough to cover my tracks and the widest chisel plow my to be purchased tractor can handle in clay soil. A 6' flail mower is what I'm thinking so any of the HP should be OK for that. However, Don't know if I want to make hay or not, so if I do will I need a rotary cutter also? If so, I'm thinking the 35hp tractor might struggle with a 6' rotary cutter (but don't know).
So, what do you think about
1. My proposed method of getting this done.
2. What tools do I need and/or bypass for the tasks at hand
3. The HP of the tractor. Am I correct in thinking the biggest drag on HP for me is going to be the chisel plow? How big of a chisel plow can I pull and how deep with a 37 - 45 hp tractor?
Trees were row planted and grew for around 12-15 years.
Stumps were removed by a large excavator and buried below the surface of the ground. The dirt that was removed was backfilled on top of the stumps to allow for settling.
Land is a combination of sand and clay. The dirt that was dug from the trenches when piled on the stumps is ALL orange.... clay but sand clay.
When the stumps were pulled, they loosened up alot of the site, but there are areas that are hardpan (primarily where the original "deck"- the area where the first thinning took place and the cleared debris was stored to decompose).
Roots and debris are still all over the property, but other than raking the property, it really does look clean (very little plant material) and I think the guy operating the excavator went way above and beyond.
Stumps are not an issue. If there are any, I'd say there are few.
What I'm trying to accomplish...
Want to plant Winter Rye on the property to build up organic matter and stop erosion and weed growth.
Property is not level and there are dips, valleys, and sloped areas... partly due to the topography and partly due to the "landscaping".
I want to till up the land, fill in the voids and plant the rye.
My original thinking was I'd try and disc up the land with an old disc I have lying around (may or may not be functional), dragging a beam behind it as I go, and just leave the roots and stuff there to decompose. Then use a broadcast seed spreader and either come back and disc lightly to cover the seed or drag a piece of fence etc over it. Then, maybe I need to cultipack the seed... anyone know about rye? Sure would be nice not to have to purchase that.
But I'm also thinking that I want to get down deeper into the soil than a disc will penetrate (especially in the hardpan areas I mentioned), so thought it might make sense use a (chisel plow?) before I disc etc.
Then I started thinking of using a rotary tiller vs the disc (maybe even dragging a beam behind that).
Part of the reason for the questions is that this property will be farmed and it will also be a MX track for my boys.
I will need to be able to maintain the track with various implements and I think ultimately, I'll need both a disc and a rotary tiller. The chisel plow is an unknown.
The HP tractors I'm looking at are 35 - 45 hp, leaning right in the middle at 40. I want to be able to pull a disc & rotary tiller wide enough to cover my tracks and the widest chisel plow my to be purchased tractor can handle in clay soil. A 6' flail mower is what I'm thinking so any of the HP should be OK for that. However, Don't know if I want to make hay or not, so if I do will I need a rotary cutter also? If so, I'm thinking the 35hp tractor might struggle with a 6' rotary cutter (but don't know).
So, what do you think about
1. My proposed method of getting this done.
2. What tools do I need and/or bypass for the tasks at hand
3. The HP of the tractor. Am I correct in thinking the biggest drag on HP for me is going to be the chisel plow? How big of a chisel plow can I pull and how deep with a 37 - 45 hp tractor?