Pasture preparation after Clearing

[WhiteRock]

I have been clearing my property with plans to establish pasture. There is a lot of over growth bushes up to 3". I have mowed all this down. I would now like to prepare the soil for planting grass seed.

I now have roots, rocks, and small stumps. The soil is probably pretty hard. Should I use a chisel plow or ripper to tear it up?

What attachments do you think would be best to prepare the soil?

 

[KiotiJohn]

I recommend a good strong boxblade with rippers. You can rip the roots out, and use the back blace to drag it all into piles. This requires changing the pitch of the box occasionally, but it's easy to do usng the top link. The leveling afterward can also be achieved with the boxblade.
Also, a good landscape rake can help you a lot with the cleanup, but they're not so great for really getting the roots out, but great for making piles to haul off or burn. John

 

[cowboydoc]

Before you can run a chisel plow you're going to have to get the "mess" cleaned up. It's very difficult, if not impossible, to run a chisel plow through a mess like that. John gave some good suggestions there.

At the same time you are cleaning up run some soil samples. Depending on what the soil is like you may have to do some soil prep like lime, fertilizer, etc. to bring your soil condition up to the conditions for the grass you want to plant. Once you know your soil sample it will be $ ahead to plant something that will grow in that soil type. Certain grasses do better in one soil type over another.

Once you get it cleaned up then yes a chisel plow would be great to start out with. I would follow that up with a disc and then a good harrow. Then you can use a three point broadcaster or a good pasture seeder. Usually you can rent the good seeders from your local coop. A good broadcaster followed by a light harrowing will do an adequate job too.

 

[WhiteRock]

Would a hydraulic top link make the box blade work more productive? Or would I not have to change the pitch very much?

Also, if I hit a stump or rock with the box blade rippers, do I have to worry about damaging the box blade?

I had been looking at a chisel plow with spring releases on each chisel is the reason I ask. If I hit something with one prong, its a lot of force. I have no idea how it will hold up.

Cowboydoc, when you say difficult, do you mean to pull or stress on the chisel plow?

Thanks guys for your help.

 

[Holzster]

How big are most of the stumps?

 

[WVBartMan]

White Rock: The hydraulic top link really makes production increase with a box blade. By shortening the length of the top link and having your scarfiers (rippers) at the lowest position, you can really clean up the sub-soil of small stumps, roots, rocks and other debris. Once the ground has been opened and the debris carried to the surface, you can then use a Rock Rake to help gather the material for disposal.

The only issue would be larger stumps, they may require a backhoe or in the old days, a little dynamite. If you purchase a hydraulic top link, you may as well purchase the whole top and tilt kit. This will allow you to tilt the implement as well to create slopes or angled cuts.

 

[WhiteRock]

The stumps vary in size from 4 " to maybe 10". These are from previous clearing. I do all my clearing by just ripping the tree out by the roots. No stumps, just holes. So far I haven't encountered a stump that I can rip out with the loader. Sometimes when I find one that only has a couple inches sticking up, its a little harder. I find if I bump it a little, I can see the ground break at its root ball. I just stick the bucket in the ground there an rip it out. Its usually a one pass effort.

I just don't know what happens when I hit one with a 3pt implement with a little speed. I guess I will start looking for a really heavy duty box blade and find out. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I don't have a backhoe, sounds nice.

 

[WhiteRock]

Looks like you have some high HP tractors, do you have top N tilt for a CATII? I tried to do a search on the forum, but didn't find any CATII info. I'm probably not a proficient searcher... I'll try google.

I assume I need 2 hydraulic services for top and tilt?

 

[WVBartMan]

White Rock: Yes, you do need two hydraulic services/spool valves for the top and tilt kit. I have the top and tilt kit on my Kubota L5030, CAT II three point hitch. I bought it from the dealer, it came with everything including the spool valves for $1,200.

You made a very wise comment when you said the words "heavy duty box blade". I had a medium duty 6' box blade that only lasted about 6 weeks until I got tired of welding it back together. The heavy duty 7' footer I have weighs about 1,400 lbs and has no cracks or damage and has been in operation for 2 years now. I even pull it behind the NH TS135A.

 

[KiotiJohn]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Would a hydraulic top link make the box blade work more productive? Or would I not have to change the pitch very much? )</font>
As others have already said, the hydraulic top link will increase productivity. Being able to change the angle of the rippers/blades quickly without having to get off the tractor an manually do it saves a lot of time. I don't yet have it, but having done so much manually, I can see the great advantage. I've been putting it off because of other needs, but it's coming soon.
You do need two circuits for top and tilt, but just adding the top is going to help you greatly.
I have a standard duty boxblade and haven't had any issues so far with breakages, but then I have a backhoe that I get the bigger stuff out with first. A HD box will probably be in your best interest, but a medium duty may do if you don't go so fast. I'm not an advocate of doing much of anything with a tractor too fast. Brush cutting is about the only thing I do with any real speed. John