Buying Advice Is the BX2380 capable of doing what I need v. Land prep for seeding

[darrylgmc]

My experience in Florida:

I twice had my yard professionally sodded with primo quality St. Augustine grass @ $3,500 each time. It mostly died within thirty months. Against some advice I overseeded with Argentina Bahia pasture grass, which is gradually displacing the St. Augustine. St. Augustine has 2-1/2" roots, Argentine Bahia has 8" roots. They do not look very different. The big difference is that Argentine Bahia requires 50% more frequent mowing because it is so vigorous. I am happy. (My lawn is irrigated.)

After the careful soil prep you are planning I would seed rather than sod. Most landscapers will tell you seed takes longer to establish than sod but is more durable. You can hire a service to hydro-seed if you wish. I cast seed by hand then roll in the seed. Poly rollers are cheap at Lowes, Home Depot and Tractor Supply.

Thanks, I would be very disappointed if I spent money on sod (twice) and still had to seed. I would love to get the soil corrected then seed myself. Any tips on soil chemistry test kits?

 

[darrylgmc]

I just turned over some soil, and it doesn't look bad..however I don't know what I'm talking about.

edit: I'm doing a jar separation test now.

 

[jeff9366]

Tree spade weights 380 pounds. With a tree or dirt in the bucket a BX will not be able to lift the load, much less prize a rooted sapling out of the ground.

Many use a Three Point Hitch mounted, PTO powered Auger to create tree holes. I use a bucket spade but the bucket on a BX is not heavy enough to withstand bucket spade torque. The photos show bucket spade on a Kubota B3300SU tractor-loader package. Bucket Spade weighs 110 pounds.

A soil test is money well spent. As you can add N-P-K through fertilizer pay most attention to soil pH and micro-nutrients. Rather than attempting to change soil pH, try to find lawn seed mix optimal for the soil pH you have. What you need in NY will be completely different from what works in Florida.

If you do not think BX is enough tractor, look at the Kubota L2501/HST. More weight, minimal emissions controls, good price.

 

[newbury]

That looks like more rocks than dirt. I would cover it up with good dirt and be done. If that's not an option I would till it up ( preferably after you pick up most of the big rock by hand). Then pick up the rock which is going to require a lot of manual labor with anything short of a Harley rake. The other option would be to hire someone with a Harley rake.

If the OP's soil is similar to most of the northeast he should be growing a bumper crop of rocks every year. Covering with several inches of good soil might be the best. This would avoid tilling up all the roots I see in the pictures.

Thanks, I would be very disappointed if I spent money on sod (twice) and still had to seed. I would love to get the soil corrected then seed myself. Any tips on soil chemistry test kits?

If you are only doing it for once or twice either take it to your place where you will be buying seed and fertilizer or MAYBE send it to your State (in Virginia they started charging $10/sample).

For my soils (I'm working on getting a square mile but only up to about 400+ acres) I use Lamotte Complete Soil Test Kit.

 

[sd455dan]

It's funny you mention the spade directly to the FEL, as I was just looking for such a product. I also have ~ 100 trees to plant when I saw a "tree scoop" attachment.

FFC 42" Tree Scoop Attachment | Skid Steer Solutions

Since I'm new to all this, would that attachment work on a bx2380 FEL? But now I'm also questioning if the BX2380 is enough tractor since the lifting capacity is only around 600lbs.

Pretty sure the Bobcat skidsteer shown in that picture weighs at least 6000 lbs.
The ad does say they (build to order), just a guess but a BX probably needs a smaller scoop that is about a 1/3 the weight of the pictured one. and no need for .375 thick construction for a BX.
Kind of surprised no one offers a light tree spade for ssqa subcompact tractors. If that unit was mounted to a BX it would leave an anemic 220lbs. of lifting force?

 

[4570Man]

Thank you for mentioning the dirt quality. I've heard confilcting information from landscapers, so I don't know which way to go..maybe I should post on a landscaping forum to get tips on what I should do first, then decide which tools I need.

If I get 3-4" of top soil delivered, that will cost about $7000-9000, at that point sod would be a cheaper option. Do you think sod would be a better option after I rake out the surface rocks?

How big of an area are you covering? It looks like a lot less dirt than that based on a load of top soil delivered is around $300 here for a tandem axle truck.

 

[darrylgmc]

How big of an area are you covering? It looks like a lot less dirt than that based on a load of top soil delivered is around $300 here for a tandem axle truck.

If I do the whole yard including planting beds, I'm looking at about 20,000 sq ft, at 4" deep we're talking 6666 cu ft or 250 cu yard. Last time I believe I paid about $30/ cu yard delivered = $7500

 

[darrylgmc]

If the OP's soil is similar to most of the northeast he should be growing a bumper crop of rocks every year. Covering with several inches of good soil might be the best. This would avoid tilling up all the roots I see in the pictures.


If you are only doing it for once or twice either take it to your place where you will be buying seed and fertilizer or MAYBE send it to your State (in Virginia they started charging $10/sample).

For my soils (I'm working on getting a square mile but only up to about 400+ acres) I use Lamotte Complete Soil Test Kit.

Thanks, good info. I've had a few trees removed which is why there are so many roots. I figured they would just eventually decompose.

 

[darrylgmc]

Skid Steer Solutions web site is down this morning.

Many use a Three Point Hitch mounted, PTO powered Auger to create tree holes. I use a bucket spade but the bucket on a BX is not heavy enough to withstand bucket spade torque. The photos show bucket spade on a Kubota B3300SU tractor-loader package. Bucket Spade weighs 110 pounds.

A soil test is money well spent. As you can add N-P-K through fertilizer pay most attention to soil pH and micro-nutrients. Rather than attempting to change soil pH, try to find lawn seed mix optimal for the soil pH you have. What you need in NY will be completely different from what works in Florida.

If you do not think BX is enough tractor, look at the Kubota L2501/HST. More weight, minimal emissions controls, good price.

The L2501 looks very nice. Why do you recommend it over the B2301?

 

[darrylgmc]

Pretty sure the Bobcat skidsteer shown in that picture weighs at least 6000 lbs.
The ad does say they (build to order), just a guess but a BX probably needs a smaller scoop that is about a 1/3 the weight of the pictured one. and no need for .375 thick construction for a BX.
Kind of surprised no one offers a light tree spade for ssqa subcompact tractors. If that unit was mounted to a BX it would leave an anemic 220lbs. of lifting force?

I'm seriously contemplating a L2501 now. At least it has a 2000 lb lifting capacity