Compost spreading with York rake

[SuburbanMD]

I've got a 5' York Rake with gauge wheels, and a JD X475AWS subcompact. And I'm going to have around 14 yards of compost, to spread 1.5" deep over 3000 square feet (for subsequent tilling). I'm planning to move measured amounts of the compost in a wheelbarrow, to measured squares on the land, and then spread it with a hand rake. Seems silly to do all that work, but my experience tells me that I won't be able to spread it evenly enough with the York Rake. I have a feeling I'll end up with plenty of bare spots, and compost piled higher in places. If I were spreading like material on like material (i.e. adding more dirt on top of dirt) I wouldn't be worried, but this is different, and it really has to be precise. The 3000 sq ft includes plenty of trees and obstacles, and is hemmed in by pavement and a fence, so it isn't like I can rake it entirely into submission before spreading the compost. What do you experts think?

 

[jeffinsgf]

Is this a one time deal, or a recurring theme? There are spreaders designed to lay down very precise amounts of bulky materials. I bought an old Turfco Mete-R-Matic and rebuilt it. Earthway makes a very nice unit for about $2000. If you are topdressing, and you plan on doing it a couple times a year, you might want to investigate the machinery options available.

 

[jbrumberg]

SuburbanMD:

Since you are going to till the compost in anyways I would think "eyeballing" your rake spread with a finishing hand rake would be sufficient. I eyeballed my "composted manure drop" on my 40'X27' garden and then tilled the composted manure into the garden. Subsequent soil analysis from different garden sites were similar. Jay

 

[bncsauve]

my philosopy is "never let my back do work that the tractor can do" I would think the rake would do a fine job of spreading the compost and your back will appreciate even more!

 

[lawn_king]

Pure organic compose is light as a feather, spreading a couple of inches over 3000 sq. ft. is easy.

 

[SuburbanMD]

With the gauge wheels fully lowered, and the hitch jacked up to horizontal (not hitched to the tractor), the teeth are a little less than 1 1/2" above the ground. Maybe I can get them a little higher when the rake is hitched to my little tractor. So that's good.

I'm trying to visualize how to do the spreading. Say I've got the big pile of compost somewhere on the work area. Do I just back into the pile with the rake raised, lower it to grab what it can, drive off somewhere to spread it, and repeat until it's all gone and the area is covered (which hopefully happen at the same time?). Thanks.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Couple of thoughts based on my current exercise of spreading tub grinder mulch. This stuff is anything BUT uniform (anything from little chips to 12" sticks) and actually locks together easily and makes uniform spreading a real trick even w/ a hand rake.

1. If I hold my mouth right, I can spread a fairly decent 3"-4" layer with the FEL, tilted fairly shallow and rocking the curl function constantly. Shaking it out seems to be the key. Sometimes I can get this to work, sometimes not.

2a. I tried my back blade with gauge wheels but couldn't get it to stop clumping. Never tried the rake because sticks usually get trapped in the tines, so no experience there.
2b. I successfully used my 6' springtooth (field cultivator) to spread a 40' circle area (~12 cu yd). The tine spacing is 6"-8" I think and is about right. This method requires constant quick lifting and lowering to overcome clumping. Works pretty good. If or when I care, a little hand raking would make a bit smoother finish ... but so does driving on it.

I have a 100 cu yd stockpile of the mulch so I'm dumping 3 yd piles from my dump trailer at each location. Quickest way, maybe not the best, to distribute it is plow thru it w/ the FEL and drag w/ the springtooth at the same time.

I definately wouldn't mind hearing of a better way to do it, but this mostly works.

If I had to use my rake, I'd probably remove every other tine or maybe more.

 

[SuburbanMD]

Oops, should I have started this thread in Attachments?

I'm going to buy commercial LeafGro compost (made by the State of Maryland) which ought to be uniform. But come to think of it, just raking out from a central location, with gauge wheels fixed in place, can't work. That is, unless the gauge wheels can push their way through the compost and roll on solid ground. Otherwise I'll end up with too much compost near the pile. I've had plenty of tilling and raking fun on this particular plot of land, but now my time is up -- need to amend the soil so it'll hold water uniformly and I can finally get some ornamental seeds growing there.

 

[Diesel-ME]

SuburbanMD,

You may have better luck keeping the wheels up and using your hitch position coltrol to set the height of the rake. Maybe pull all the material over the area a bit thick, then lower the rake a little and push material backwards to acheive the desire coverage. I think it would be hard to get any utility out of the guage wheels with such light material on tilled (?) soil.

Your mileage may vary

~paul

 

[SuburbanMD]

SuburbanMD,

You may have better luck keeping the wheels up and using your hitch position coltrol to set the height of the rake. Maybe pull all the material over the area a bit thick, then lower the rake a little and push material backwards to acheive the desire coverage. I think it would be hard to get any utility out of the guage wheels with such light material on tilled (?) soil.

Your mileage may vary

~paul

It's firm ground, raked a lot since it was tilled. Most recently raked to smooth out some trench mounds, after waiting almost two years for them to settle on their own.

By hitch position control, do you mean the hydraulic lever, or the manually-operated screw on the hitch that controls how far it can drop?