Grading Smoothing newly acquired land.

[Nashville]

I have 2+/- acres of ridge top (view), pasture/tree-cleared property on a 17 acre parcel. The pasture (really, a meadow) has never been tended at all. It's gently rolling but seriously uneven in terms of walkability. You just about turn an ankle if you step off the Gator. It's too rough to be cut with rider or ZTR because you'd be skinning the ground every few feet. I have my 2012 JD 4520, an OLD disc harrow left on the property which works and weighs as much as a Buick, a box blade, and a chain harrow. I'm a newbie tractor owner, but I figure some combo of these will do the trick. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Thomas]

Grapple might be useful than bucket clearing rocks,roots,stumps.

Post some action pics.

 

[gwdixon]

You have everything you need for renovation. (A plow would also be nice but the disc will do.) There are many posts on this subject as it is a usual task. You may want to do a search or look at the suggested posts at the very bottom of this whole page.

>First, disc, then cross-disc, then disc again - maybe more. Get the soil to as close to dust as you can.

>If what looks like places with buried elephants still show then use the box blade to drag those flat in all directions thus spreading out the humps.

>Disc again.

>Then go over it with a chain harrow. It will end up looking like a soccer pitch.

(People will be tired of looking at the oft-posted photo, but this is how it could look.)

 

[jenkinsph]

You should be able to use your boxblade and chain harrow to smooth it out. I built this landplane for my 4520 and this would work extremely well for your purpose. If you need more loose dirt to smooth with then run the disk harrow over the ground too. Here's pictures of the landplane and my rear lawn I used it on.

 

[Nashville]

Great pics! They are motivational. I can only hope. Thanks for the info!

 

[nybirdman]

Spray with (generic) roundup first,then have at it with your disc.

 

[bigtiller]

I'm guessing that the ground in your meadow isn't frozen yet and everything is dormant, so yes, try the "Buick" first and see how you like it. If it needs more work, that would be a great project to learn how to be an expert box blade operator.

 

[Nashville]

Nah...ground doesn't really freeze down here. The grass gets crunchy a few times per year...maybe a dusting of the white stuff occasionally. My farming friend eyeballed my ancient disc harrow and agreed that it was about the heaviest thing he's ever seen for its size. I tried to pick the tongue up and was convinced it was bolted to the earth's core. It's really amazing how heavy it is.

I'm guessing that the ground in your meadow isn't frozen yet and everything is dormant, so yes, try the "Buick" first and see how you like it. If it needs more work, that would be a great project to learn how to be an expert box blade operator.

 

[OldMcDonald]

I am with gwdixon on this one. I have brought a lot of land into cultivation that has never been worked before, including clearing big trees, big rocks and piping seasonal creeks running through - in England, Australia, Scotland and Portugal, so I claim a little knowledge. Only work the land when there is moisture in the ground. Pulverising dry ground is bad husbandry. I had some heavy pipe lying around when I bought here and made a simple drag out of it. It cost nothing except a few welding rods and a bit of chain and was particularly good at bringing dirt into a gently sloping area both sides of a shallow ditch. I do not have a box blade, but use the tpl box in a similar fashion.

 

[john_bud]

A quick tutorial on the disc. Start on the virgin soil with the disc gangs adjusted so the discs are straight forward. It won't do much, but if the soil is soft, it will cut the sod (if it really is heavy as a Buick!). The when you sort of get the hang of dragging it around, increase the gang angle until the tractor struggles to pull it. It will tear up the ground more as the gang angle increases. The tractor will pull it easier after it is tore up some, but it will really work the machine. Expect it. In fact, keep adjusting it to maximize the amount of effort as that will be the most effective discing action.

After you disc it and run the harrow around, you will still have to drag something to pull dirt from the high spots to the low spots. And old I-beam works well, the wider the better.