leveling yard

[riverhunter]

I am looking at a landscape rake or tine harrow but dont know which one will work the best. I am going to till up my side yard that has a gentle slope. Previously it was full of trees and I had then shoved down 2 years ago. The stump holes have settled where it is pretty rough. I am looking for something to level it out after tilling and then sow grass. Thanks

 

[Gavman]

I would get a box blade. As to what size, it depends on what size tractor you operate, etc. I think you would find it most useful. With some practice you can make your yard look nearly as smooth as you could with a landscape rake, but you can do a lot more with a box blade than you can with a landscape rake. I would also look into getting hydraulic cylinders to replace your top link and side link, if you have available remotes on the back of your tractor. This makes your box blade, and many other attachments much more useful. It all depends on your specific needs + your budget. Good luck

 

[RonMar]

For leveling with a rake, you might also look at gauge wheels. The gauge wheels will allow the tines to dig into high spots, and pass straight over low spots allowing material to be deposited, much like a road grader does. Without them, the tines bite into the earth will be constant if you float the 3PH so no carried material will be dropped into the holes and the tines might even dig in more in the holes. If you set a specific height with the 3PH, the tine bite will really be effected by the tractor angle. IE: if the front wheels of the tractor go into a depression, the rake will lift off and dump a pile of material. If your front wheels go up onto a rise, the rake will dig in more and leave a depression. Gauge wheels and a floated 3PH prevent this and more smoothly move the high spots into the low spots.

A box blade can accomplish the same thing as it rides on it's sidewalls and shaves off the highs and fills in the lows.

You will also find that the rake tends to separate rocks and bring them to the surface.

Good luck.

 

[Barnboy]

I have a rake and box blade. Both are very usefull. I have used my rake with gage wheels for leveling tilled soil and it works great. The box blade works good with untilled soil scraping the high spots. If i was going to be leveling my yard and could only use 1 I would choose the rake but thats just my 2 cents. Others have had great results with a box blade.

 

[Egon]

Make a drag about 10 feet long that can be angled. Then go drag the area many times with different angles and from different directions till its smooth.

 

[riverhunter]

Thanks to all. I have looked at landscape rakes with wheels but pretty expensive for no more than I will get to use it. Homemade drag sounds good. Again Thanks for yalls replys.

 

[Grapeman]

I had a neighbor who wanted to level his garden. He was the thrifty type and his solution was to get an old set of bedsprings, hooked it up to a garden tractor and dragged it around till things leveled out. It came out pretty nice. You probably could throw a little weight on top if needed. You mentioned that you were going to till the area first and if you don't have a lot of rock this might work fairly well. If not, you can't lose much other than a little effort. Good luck!

 

[dqdave1]

Rent a Harley rake; this one piece of equipment will do all thsat you need. Rent it.

 

[12VOLTMAN]

I put my yard in when money was pretty tight. I used an old box blade to move dirt around and take out any big humps. For the final grade and finish, I took some old wooden pallets from work, chained them face down behind the tractor and used cement blocks for weight on top of them. I drove around for awhile and the yard was ready for seed!
Necessity is the mother of invention!

 

[N80]

I find that a box blade is not too good a leveling unless you actively adjust its height. In other words, if you just set it to float, it just scoops dirt as you go along regardless of whether you are in a high spot or low spot. Gauge wheels might help with this. Maybe.

Now, if you actively work it you can let it float across the high spots and then lift it a little so it lets material drop into low spots. This works, but takes a bit of finesse.

Of course, there is leveling and then there is leveling. For just knocking down little bumps and filling little holes the BB is great. But if your talking about leveling wavy highs and lows, it takes more than just floating a BB.

Oddly, I have found that a disk harrow actually levels large areas nicely. Don't ask me why.