Long story short this spring I'm going to have about an acre of lawn that will need smoothed, seeded, and strawed. This is a farm, not a neighborhood, so my goal is to just get it good enough to be able to mow quickly without bouncing out of the seat and to not scalp half of the yard with my 72" deck.
That acre is going to be graded by a friend with his dozer, then it's up to me to get it ready to plant. There's also about another 3 or 4 acres I mow that I would like to get better, I currently have a 'pattern' I have to follow to avoid scalping. That ground was previously cut with a brush hog monthly, I started using a mower a few summers ago when I got a bigger mower.
I have a 32 horsepower 4wd compact tractor, a 70 hp 4wd John Deere with a front end loader, and a Farmall M at my disposal. I'm thinking that a box blade might be the best way to do it, but I don't know. I've never ran one, just watched some youtube videos.
The small tractor is a John Deere 2720, and is about 4 1/2' wide. The larger one is almost 7' wide. If I decided to go with a box blade I'm not sure what tractor I would plan to pull it with. The small one, obviously, is much lighter and more maneuverable. The big one pulls a lot harder, but is heavy and not as maneuverable. I won't be rushed for time at all, but I don't want to **** around all month and beat the **** out of the small tractor trying do the job. I would think that the small one will do a better job, assuming that it can actually do the job.
The areas that are already seeded but rough I'll probably dump a few buckets of dirt around then just drag it around a bit. The unseeded area will need a lot of attention, I'm guessing just keep running over it until it's right. I'm planning on using the blade after I'm finished to touch up the driveway, probably run through it every spring or something. There are a lot of hills and high spots here, smaller equipment would be an advantage.
What do you think? Big box blade, small one, or something else? Thanks.
That acre is going to be graded by a friend with his dozer, then it's up to me to get it ready to plant. There's also about another 3 or 4 acres I mow that I would like to get better, I currently have a 'pattern' I have to follow to avoid scalping. That ground was previously cut with a brush hog monthly, I started using a mower a few summers ago when I got a bigger mower.
I have a 32 horsepower 4wd compact tractor, a 70 hp 4wd John Deere with a front end loader, and a Farmall M at my disposal. I'm thinking that a box blade might be the best way to do it, but I don't know. I've never ran one, just watched some youtube videos.
The small tractor is a John Deere 2720, and is about 4 1/2' wide. The larger one is almost 7' wide. If I decided to go with a box blade I'm not sure what tractor I would plan to pull it with. The small one, obviously, is much lighter and more maneuverable. The big one pulls a lot harder, but is heavy and not as maneuverable. I won't be rushed for time at all, but I don't want to **** around all month and beat the **** out of the small tractor trying do the job. I would think that the small one will do a better job, assuming that it can actually do the job.
The areas that are already seeded but rough I'll probably dump a few buckets of dirt around then just drag it around a bit. The unseeded area will need a lot of attention, I'm guessing just keep running over it until it's right. I'm planning on using the blade after I'm finished to touch up the driveway, probably run through it every spring or something. There are a lot of hills and high spots here, smaller equipment would be an advantage.
What do you think? Big box blade, small one, or something else? Thanks.
