Best way to make "land" a "yard"

[extrakt0r]

In the process of transforming approx 10 acres into a new home, I have to also transform land into a "yard" for my kids to play in, etc.

The property is an old Christmas Tree farm that has never been built on, and has been overgrown for approx 5 years.

I am cleaning it up now. I am relocating approx 500 down Xmas trees into piles I will later burn over time.

In a normal suburban yard I would go out there with a rake and some brown bags and bag it all up and dispose of it.

I know I can get a landscape rake for my Kubota, but wonder if this is the best way to clean up all the little sticks everywhere.

I was thinking of doing a "man line walk" and pick up the big stuff and toss it into the pile and then use the rake to get all the other stuff.

At some point I also need to get grass growing and not weeds, but that is 2-3 years away.

Here is a pic from today - I was able to get about 1 acre cleaned up a little bit.

What TBN recommend?

 

[Robert_in_NY]

If your looking at 2-3 years before you need to worry then just start mowing the property. Pick up anything real big but small twigs and such will be mulch in a couple years. If the ground is rough you will need to work it up but to just get rid of the weeds and brush in 2-3 years time then mowing alone will accomplish more then most people realize.

 

[two_bit_score]

2-3 years out?

What Robert said. ^

 

[Ken45101]

How are you getting rid of the trees? Cutting them at ground level? That will leave stumps which will be a pain for most other operations. If you dig out the stumps, then you will have holes that need to be filled.

I agree, don't worry about the small stuff, keep it bushhogged and it will disappear in a few years.

A landscape rake is great for raking dirt or gravel, but not very good for raking sticks and twigs. It builds up and gets stuck in the tines.

Ken

 

[wcampbell47]

A landscape rake is great for raking dirt or gravel, but not very good for raking sticks and twigs. It builds up and gets stuck in the tines.

Ken

I can vouch for the above. I thought a rake would work great cleaning up downed limbs and such. I have tried pulling and pushing the rake. It will gather up a few then float over the pile. Works great with sand or gravel. It will actually move dirt and at the same time let some of it filter out between the tines.

I recently acquired a Ratchet Rake. If you have a FEL this may be an option for you. It took me a little practice but I learned to push a lot more trash with this than I ever drug with my rake.

Ratchet Rake, LLC - Tractor attachment, Bucket attachment, Loader, Skid loader, Kubota, Skid steer, Landscape rake, Brush remover, York Rake, Harley Rake, Rock Rake, Tractor rake attachment, Construction attachment, New Holland, Bobcat, Fire safety,

Then again a set of bucket teeth may do the trick.

At some point you want a yard ... smooth, level. My tool of choice is a land plane. Similar to a box blade but with two angled cutting blades open in the back. Works great on smoothing out drives and parking lots. Some models have scarifiers to aid in breaking up the old to spread it around.

Just saying if money is no object you should have these......

 

[Army grunt]

Its what I did here.Leave the small stuff it will rot.What you need to do is have a few loads of sand delivered an spread it with a drag an a aireator an sow grass seed an some fertilizer.Theres alot of ways to smooth it out. **** just pulling a wood pallet with a 2x6x8 ft. with some cement blocks for weight, the trick is to always pull the aireator so as to keep the dirt/sand mix loose.
There are commercially sold units out there,I know I have seen a box blade looking thing that had a deal with lots of spikes that dug up the ground an you pulled as a dragg.
Army Grunt

 

[Smallplot]

If the stumps are gone already I myself would run over it with a rototiller after spreading some lime and fertilizer then broadcast some grass seed and get ready to mow.

If you have that many stumps you may be money ahead to hire a dozer to come in.

 

[echoman]

I have turned a lot of pasture feild into yards .Yes buy all means keep it mowed. this will keep most weeds out becuase they wont grow enough to seed. the every spring you will want disc it ,just run over it once or twice in a criss cross patern.more in the rough spots, you dont want to rip up the sod alot . this will show you all the high and low spots .It will also help chop up the sticks .Then overseed with a contractor mix of grass seed .Looking at your pic I think I see sagebrush ,this would make sense since there were pines growing there ,I would spreed lots of lime.This will get rid of the sagebrush ,help the seed gernimate and help any fertilizer work better and its cheap

 

[smstonypoint]

Looking at your pic I think I see sagebrush ,this would make sense since there were pines growing there ,I would spreed lots of lime.This will get rid of the sagebrush ,help the seed gernimate and help any fertilizer work better and its cheap

I think the poster means broomsedge rather than sagebrush.

It would be a good idea to take soil samples to determine the appropriate lime and fertilizer application rates.

Steve

 

[Ken45101]

If the stumps are gone already I myself would run over it with a rototiller after spreading some lime and fertilizer then broadcast some grass seed and get ready to mow.

I don't think a tiller would be good, it will leave it too rough and clumpy and will destroy any grass that might be there. Lightly discing it may be better, if necessary. It all depends on how rough it is. If it's really rough, a power rake (Harley Rake, etc.) may be worthwhile.

Years ago we bought a lot that had 5 acres of really, really rough and rutted ground. I did a lot of smoothing with a disc and a box blade, and then final smoothing by dragging a section of chain link fence weighed down with some sections of telephone pole. That worked well but I got a lot of seat time in the process....and stirred up a lot of dust.

Ken