leveling rough ground

[musselmark]

I recently cleared 2 acres of forest and had a dozer in to stump it and roughly level it. What attachment is typically used next to smooth out the ground before spreading grass seed. There is one of these for sale locally for $250.00, would it do what I want, I have a TN-75 (75hp 4x4) tractor

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

That's called a spring tooth harrow. If the ground has already been plowed with a moldboard plow, chisel plow or disc harrow or if it has been tilled, the spring tooth harrow will do a fine job of smoothing it out. But it is a secondary tillage tool, not a primary tillage tool.

Also, some of it depends on what type of soil you have. If you have sandy soil or a sandy loam, it will work better than in the thick, black, gummy, hard-as-concrete clay we have here. But even in poor soil it will work fine as a secondary tillage tool if the soil is dry and has been plowed as I described above.

For $250, I'd buy it. Understand, however, that it is a drag-type implement, meaning that you just drag it where ever you want to use it and you drag it through the field to use it.

 

[whis]

I would use a disc and then a section harrow and if needed a box blade

 

[Rustyiron]

had a dozer in to stump it and roughly level it.

It depends on your above deffinetion of "roughly". Are there just some minor dozer blade "winrows" or are there still some depressions that will hold water where the stumps were. Are all your roots gone? Then there's your intended use. A hay field, pasture, home site etc? That harrow might be fine or you may want to actually have it "finish graded" and that might warrant another dozer session. Either way, get the harrow!:thumbsup:

 

[CCWKen]

A tiller, box blade, land grader or rake would probably work better if you're grass seeding. Use one of those then use a chain drag to make it smooth. I don't see a need for that cultivator if you're going to have grass (lawn).

Post a pic of the lot so we can see what it looks like now.

 

[Ken45101]

As others have said, it depends on how rough it is and the soil type. I had a deeply rutted field (10" tractor ruts made in mud but dried up). I first disc'ed it, then drug a old piece of chain line fence with a section of telephone pole chained on it. That worked but was slow. I bought a used landscape rake with gage wheels and that worked better.

If you have stump holes, etc. probably either finish dozer work or a box blade would be my starting point.

 

[jenkinsph]

I recently cleared 2 acres of forest and had a dozer in to stump it and roughly level it. What attachment is typically used next to smooth out the ground before spreading grass seed. There is one of these for sale locally for $250.00, would it do what I want, I have a TN-75 (75hp 4x4) tractor

Pictures of the land would be a good starting point, much easier to offer advice if we can see what it looks like. What implements do you have now would also help. In the picture below I built the spike tooth harrow for $250 with some stuff I had on hand. Depending on your starting point that may be all you need.

When I cleared my rear lots that were over grown with trees and brush I stumped the whole thing as you have done. To smooth and grade it I used a box blade and built both a land plane grader scraper and a 3 point spike tooth harrow. Mine was rough when I started the finish work, holes and erosion ditches from a 100 years of neglect. This required the box blade to correct lots of problems. The land plane worked well for basic smoothing behind the box blade and really made the ground smooth and flat. When I was satisfied with the grade work I tilled it about 6 inches deep. Several passes with the spike tooth harrow and I had a very smooth seed bed ready to plant. I broadcast the Fescue seed followed by a pass with the harrow and packed with a small water filled roller.

Pictures of the harrow, land plane and lawn.

 

[downsizingnow48]

Nice looking implements and lawn.

 

[Egon]

Seventy five HP. In front of that spring toothed harrow and any serious snags may cause some damage. If you work the ground first that harrow will help.