Best Way to Level Farm Ground

[PapaPerk]

For the size property your dealing with I would say the easiest and best way would be to hire a local farmer to come in and turn over the ground and disc it down. You can then work it a little more with your tractor if there are a few low spots you wanted filled in but then seed it down with what ever you want growing on there. Plowing will chase the woodchucks and other burrowing animals out of the field where as just filling in their holes will not make them leave. They will just dig it back out and you have the same problem.

what he said.

[Stick895]

A properly tuned .30/06 will take care of the deer trails. They move too fast for a roller to get them.

[cowski]

a breaking plow can remake the terraces .a light disc will level the soil out.

[SandburRanch]

Thanks for the replies.

The primary purpose for the farm is a pecan grove. While we will not be flood irrigating, we would like the land to be a little more smooth primarily for safety purposes. While the areas under the tree plantings will be stripped of sod, we will keep the rest of the acreage in a ground cover.

Attached are some pictures. We have removed approximately 150 junipers already. Lots of holes to fill.

That would be a shame to plow native grass that looks that good. Pull the cedars, fill the holes and leave the grass for prairie hay. Plant the pecans down by the river to the left.

[blueriver]

I just went thru this on an 80 that I rented ... first I contol burned it ... then I used the backhoe to hook out all those little cedar and scrub tree's. Burning it off cleaned it good so I could really see how bad it was.

It was real rough ... bad enough to bounce me around in the tractor, so I disked it one direction then the other direction and the last time at a slight angle with the drag behind the disc ... then I seeded it down with grass seed to get a cover crop ... its as smooth as can be now. When my new grass gets nice and tall I'll cut rake and bale it and then let the native grasses come on. If they don't I'll plant it to wheat this fall and reseed or sprigg it next spring.

[flusher]

We recently purchased 80 acres. The land was rarely farmed in the last 20 years and is quite lumpy from various varmits burrowing and such. We also have quite a few deer tracks worn into the fields. We do have ariel photos back to the 50's which shows that the land was originally terraced. There are quite a few low spots in the terraces which could also be graded better.

We have a MF 1652 4WD. What attachments would be the best to use to land down the lumps and fill in the deer trails? We were thinking rollers. We do not want to disturb the entire 80 acres, just smooth it out a little bit.

Thanks

Use a disc and drag combination. Rollers won't do the job you want.
Here's what I use on my 6-acre hayfield - 6-1/2 wide offset disc with a tire drag pulled by a Mahindra 5525 (54 hp engine, 45 hp pto, 2WD, gear tranny, power steering).



Get a 6-ft wide 3-pt disc so you can adjust the cutting depth as desired. Or get a wheel disc (aka transport disc) like this one I use. Bought it from my tractor dealer for $600.



Good luck.

[greasemonkeyok]

My mental image of successful pecan grove is usually associated with river bottom land. At least everyone I can think of in Oklahoma.

Have you had the soil tested for suitability?

Oh, I forgot. From first-hand experience, deer LOVE to eat the tender branches on seedlings.

[LazySusanFarms]

Thanks again for the replies.

The soil has been tested and should be fine for pecans.

Most pecan trees are found by rivers due to the need for water, not necessarily the soil type. Pecans, like most other nut trees, need a lot of water when filling the shell. When nut prices were lower, free water was a necessity. The pecan industry used to use flood irrigation primarily for water use. Conservation requires now that a better process be used for irrigation. We have drilled a well for most of our future water needs.

[Gary Fowler]

Those "cedar" trees will take over vacant fields but like everyone has said, you cant level land without tilling it up first. The degree of tillage might vary and you could possibly use something like a field cultivator to just create some loose dirt and pull a spike tooth harrow behind it to break up the soil and redistribute it a bit. This is not going to fill in deep areas though as these would need complete tillage to turn under all the grass and then a land plane. This is not cheap as it takes many passes with a land plane to completley level and if it is terraced, then you would have to follow the terrace lines rather than cut across them. A good land plane will be 30-40feet long and require at least 80-100 HP tractor to pull it effectively so this is best left to experienced land levelers with laser controlled equipment if you want it perfect. Otherwise if you just want some spots worked, disc it up and pull a spiked harrow or even an old railroad track or maybe both of these behind it to fill in the low spots.