Which attachment? Box Blade?

[RobA]

I've been 'reclaiming' some of my recently purchased acreage. Been using the Bush Hog to clean up future horse pastures that are densely covered with brush/bushes/saplings. The ground hidden underneath all of this mess is full of ruts most of which are 4-6 inches deep. Would a box blade be a good choice to try to level the ground? Seems like it would be easier than trying to use the FEL bucket. I will be cleaning up several 5 acre pastures (3 or 4 total).

What will the box blade do when it goes over all of the 2-3" sapling stumps? Get stuck? Rip them out?

How about a disk harrow?

 

[HuckBB62]

Rob, all I can say is what I'd do with my equipment. I have a box blade with rippers on it. I think it seriously depends on how big your "saplings" were but I would put as many rippers down as my tractor would pull safely and bust the roots out. If you want it really nice, you may end up simply pulling all of them. Rip the ground then finish it off with the box. I've done small amounts of this around the property. Getting rid of the larger roots and stumplets completely is the only way to make it really nice and smooth. I always keep my foot close to the clutch when I have the rippers in the ground!

 

[Jackrabbit_Slim]

I agree that getting them all up is the only way to really get a good surface and with your machine you shouldn't have any problem accomplishing that with the BB.

I just did something similar with a smaller machine, boxblade and landscape rake. The area I worked had been logged for fir and then was overgrown with alder. I didn't have any trouble with the alder root and stump, but some of those hidden fir roots were killers.

I didn't have the landscape rake for the first half of this project and I can't believe what a difference it makes for this kind of job. Don't know how I ever got along without it.

Slim

 

[Freds]

I bought a box blade thinking that was the implement of choice for reclaiming an old corn rowed pasture and smoothing it out. All I did was waste my time and money, but I'm sure it will come in handy if my driveway ever needs redone. All the BB was doing for me was loading up with the weeds I had brush hogged down and moving the top soil around. I suppose it leveled it some, but then I had all these piles of weedy soil I had to deal with.
When I got my tiller I did an area right next to the box bladed one, it might have been a month ago or so. Even for as slow as I was going with the tiller I was done in a lot less time and without all the criss crossing trying to get dirt from high spots to low ones. I just put some fertilizer down for a garden tonight and the area is smooth no matter which way the tractor is travelling.
I'm sure a tiller won't work on established saplings (don't know what it would do to spindly ones), but that thing is a monster when it comes to smoothing out a nasty, bumpy field.