Grading box blade or disc it

[mthiel]

I have 2 acres to rip up and prepare for grass seeding. I have a 4' box blade with scarifiers to rip up the ground and grade. I want be able to work in some fertilizer to prepare the soil bed. Can this be done with a box blade or do I need a disc? I do not have a disc. Is it worth getting one, or just work a little longer with the box blade?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I am planning to do the same thing with my box blade for a garden spot. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[BB_TX]

A box blade is not really intended for that purpose, but would work I suppose if you have lots of time. Your 4 footer probably has 4 scarifiers about 10" apart. That will take lots of passes to fully rip up 2 acres. A disc would be faster (and in my opinion better) if your soil is not too hard for the disc to dig in. You might check out rental places to see if they have tillers or other turf implements available. There are special turf implements for preparing soil.

 

[CTyler]

You may want to look into renting a power rake, Harley rake for example.

 

[chrisjbell]

<font color="blue"> You might check out rental places to see if they have tillers or other turf implements available. </font>

I've rented implements a few times. The big rental places usually have larger tillers - the smallest one that United Rentals (one of the biggies around here) had was a 60". My little B7300 was not at all happy with that /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. So we wound up taking it back to them and got the dealer where I bought my tractor to rent a 38" to us. Nice deal (although I need a tiller again and I'll be breaking even on the cost of buying one if I keep renting - at least, that's what I'm trying to tell my wife /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif).

I don't think I've ever seen a disk for rent. I think a tiller would be a better way to go, though. It'll do a fine job of ripping up your pasture, and if it leaves things uneven (you might get some "rows"), following up with your box blade will smooth it out beautifully...Chris

 

[JeepOne]

I totally agree with Chris. A tiller and box blade combo would give you an excellent finish.

Ken

 

[chrisjbell]

Thanks, Ken. I knew that would work - that is how I put my lawn in and it turned out nice and even. Until my neighbor's bull got in there a couple of months ago and but a bunch of hoof holes in there /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. Not sure how I'm going to fix those - maybe aerating will help...Chris

 

[cowboydoc]

No doubt you need a disc. You can go over it with the boxblade to help tear the soil up but you need a disc to really work the fertilizer into the ground. Then go over that with a good harrow. Put out your seed, harrow again and watch her grow /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Well, as I said I would report my findings on using a box blade to prepare my garden plot. It seemed to work well, although it did take a few passes to account for the spacing of the rippers.

The problem a harrow would overcome is dead grasses and weeds piling up in the box itself. I could keep the rippers into the soil enough to keep dirt out of the box, but would have to lift up to get out piles of grass.

I now have watermelons up and growing, just in time for this late frost we're getting! Oh well, more planting time ahead.

 

[TC18guy]

I just finished seeding the front 1/2 of my 2 ac. last fall. I killed off the existing vegetation with Round-up and then roto-tilled (with my JD 210) and graded with my FEL and a 6' landscape rake. I seeded and watered the living #%@! out of it and had a pretty good turnout. I was told by a local landscaper not to fertilize for a while. I've got a pretty bad rock problem though. The best thing I found for that was a 5 gallon bucket and a pair of gloves.