Best Attachment to redo my grass

[Roxburyeric]

I live in CT and my yard needs so help. I have about 1/2 acre that needs to be fixed. The grass doesn't grow well due to having too little top soil, it is compacted probably too much and I really can't water it (well issues). I would like to redo the yard and I am thinking that I will need to have quite a few tri-axle trucks of top soil brought in. Should I rip up the current lawn or just add an inch or two of new soil on top? I have a Kioti CK20s TLB right now. Which attachment would be recommended to help me with this project? Thx

 

[RosseauK]

I plan on doing the exact thing to my yard also this spring. I was thinking of using my bb rip the ground up with just the scarifiers then once loosened, thinking a couple passes different directions, use the box and loader to remove the sod. Then grade and smooth with the box blade and add topsoil. That's my plan not sure If it will go as directed but time will tell

 

[tractchores]

Good question, I'm interested to hear what the experts on here think because I'm doing the same thing next spring with my lawn (thin topsoil, rocky). My initial thought was to scrape off the top couple of inches with the FEL and then back-fill with loam and use the bucket in float position to spread and level it.

 

[jenkinsph]

I live in CT and my yard needs so help. I have about 1/2 acre that needs to be fixed. The grass doesn't grow well due to having too little top soil, it is compacted probably too much and I really can't water it (well issues). I would like to redo the yard and I am thinking that I will need to have quite a few tri-axle trucks of top soil brought in. Should I rip up the current lawn or just add an inch or two of new soil on top? I have a Kioti CK20s TLB right now. Which attachment would be recommended to help me with this project? Thx

What can you do about the water issue? It would seem to me that would be very important to put in a lawn. Getting the seed to germinate requires frequent watering in small amounts, enough to keep the seed damp. After the grass has had a chance to root deeply you could get by with rainfall in your locale.

As for the ripping and smoothing of your lawn area I would suggest a small landplane/grader that has adjustable rippers. This can rip and smooth the lawn area and would be my best choice for applying a thin layer of top soil.
If you use your fel to distribute the top soil as best you can the landplane will smooth it up ready to seed.

 

[Roxburyeric]

I can water a little bit - say about a half hour every 6 or 8 hours or so. I get 1/2 gallon per minute recovery on the well with a 600 ft well. Just need to be careful. If I rip up the current grass with just a ripper blade or box blade aren't I going to have lots of chunks of old grass/roots so it won't be smooth even with new soil? I don't mind buying a box blade or some other attachment - but would a roto tiller be a better tool? The roto would be too much $. Being in New England there are many rocks near the surface to deal with also. Thanks for your help.

 

[jenkinsph]

I can water a little bit - say about a half hour every 6 or 8 hours or so. I get 1/2 gallon per minute recovery on the well with a 600 ft well. Just need to be careful. If I rip up the current grass with just a ripper blade or box blade aren't I going to have lots of chunks of old grass/roots so it won't be smooth even with new soil? I don't mind buying a box blade or some other attachment - but would a roto tiller be a better tool? The roto would be too much $. Being in New England there are many rocks near the surface to deal with also. Thanks for your help.

I agree that ripping can cause problems bring the rocks to the surface but the other problem is cost of top soil. The best solution is to have enough money to add a thicker layer of top soil, say three inches. On a half acre thats alot of top soil about 200 yds. In my area that would cost about $5,000.

About the water, when I am germinating seed I like to water avery four hours for about 10 minutes during the day and every 6 hours overnite. Sounds doable in your case. You only have to keep the top surface damp to begin with as there are no roots there is nothing to gain by soaking deeper. As the roots grow over time watering deeper with longer intervals between encourages deeper root growth.

 

[tractchores]

I can water a little bit - say about a half hour every 6 or 8 hours or so. I get 1/2 gallon per minute recovery on the well with a 600 ft well. Just need to be careful. If I rip up the current grass with just a ripper blade or box blade aren't I going to have lots of chunks of old grass/roots so it won't be smooth even with new soil? I don't mind buying a box blade or some other attachment - but would a roto tiller be a better tool? The roto would be too much $. Being in New England there are many rocks near the surface to deal with also. Thanks for your help.

I used a rototiller to redo part of my lawn a few years ago (it had gone to brushy scrub). It actually worked pretty good, my soil is rocky to the extreme and that caused some excitement when the walk-behind rototiller would jump forward 5 feet on rocks, but it worked ok. The biggest problem is it brings rocks to the surface and you still would need to add top soil. In my case I tilled it, raked out a million roots, rocks and clumps by hand, raked it level, seeded it and then used a lawn roller to smooth and level it and then seeded again. It actually came out pretty good considering I didn't add top soil, but it grows new rocks every winter.

For water you want to keep the new sprouts moist or they'll die. I usually just put sprinklers on a timer and run for a few minutes serveral times a day. Once it starts to grow then you want longer watering fewer times per day to encourage deep root growth. In CT if you plant in the spring you might be ok with minimal water or doing some setup with a rain barrel or something to save the well.

 

[flusher]

I live in CT and my yard needs so help. I have about 1/2 acre that needs to be fixed. The grass doesn't grow well due to having too little top soil, it is compacted probably too much and I really can't water it (well issues). I would like to redo the yard and I am thinking that I will need to have quite a few tri-axle trucks of top soil brought in. Should I rip up the current lawn or just add an inch or two of new soil on top? I have a Kioti CK20s TLB right now. Which attachment would be recommended to help me with this project? Thx

Compaction: get a $150 subsoiler/middlebuster from Tractor Supply to loosen the soil.



Spread topsoil with your TLB--use the FEL bucket to even it out.

Incorporate the topsoil with a rototiller. With only 1/2 acre, you could do this with a walk behind rototiller. Or find a used rototiller on eBAy or craigslist.



Smooth it out, if necessary, with a simple drag and/or roller towed behind your riding mower.



I used a middle buster behind my 2005 Kubota B7510HST along with a $300 Yanmar RS1200 rototiller (48" wide) that I bought at my local grey market tractor dealer.

 

[sam5570]

when you get ready todrag and you have alot of rocks the best thing i ever seen used to collect the rock is a set of bed springs so be on the look out for some just put a couple cinder blocks on top and the rocks will get traped in the springs works well.

 

[Roxburyeric]

Thanks for the help. Flusher - did the rototiller and new top soil take care of the chunks of grass and roots after the middlebuster? or did you have to clean them up?