Small debris cleanup advice/implement?

[jeeperjoe]

I have researched this topic but posts aren't for my issue. I had 3 acres cleared near my house. More work than I had time or machinery for so I paid someone to excavate/pull stumps, burn, grade etc.
Last step was the famous Rock Hound which did pickup most rocks but doesn't get all the 0-12" pieces of old root/branch etc.
Landscape rake leaves rough tracks in fresh grade and drops alot.
Is there an attachment for my FEL or 3pt to pick up this stuff and leave the finish grade sort of intact? I plan on seeding grass (not a PGA turf lawn) and need it as clean as possible.
Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
Joe

 

[MSWoodlot]

I understand you are trying to remove rocks and other debris so that you will eventually have a smooth, grassy area around your house. Although you do not indicate where you live--North, South, East, West--did you consider having "topsoil" trucked in and spreading it over your prepared area? That might save a lot of time rather than trying to remove all the 0 to 12 inch rocks.

MSWoodlot

 

[jeeperjoe]

Im in central Virginia. The problem is root and branch debris not rocks anymore. Lots of pieces the size of a man's forearm everywhere. I thought about toping it but 3 acres at even 4 inches of cover would be over 100 yards of soil which goes for about 25 dollars a yard screened and delivered in my area.

 

[PSDStu]

No easy answer for the remaining roots and branches. Best thing is plan on going ahead and picking up whats left by hand and starting a burn pile to get rid of them. If you have a small utility trailer they can be useful, or the bucket on a loader. I would pick up as many as you can and the rest of the small ones can be disced up and left in place to rot away.

Good luck!

 

[jeeperjoe]

Thanks for the second opinion on picking it up, I expected it but didn't want to hear it. We haven't had rain in quite a while so after a good rain settles the soil and everything is more apparent I'll start picking up.
Thanks for the input.

 

[laurencen]

for my yard I got a old rusty bucket, cut the bottom out and welded 1 1/2 x 3/8 flatbar 2 inches spacing, it works great for sieving the junk, only used it for rocks, if you scoop a load by the time it is moved 10 yards its shaken and sieved, it worked so good I plan on making a new bucket out of flatbar, sure it helps having a ironworker to do the cutting, it took a wile to weld it up as the thing was rusted out, came from a potash mine and the salt is a killer but proved the concept

 

[EddieWalker]

I cleared about 4 acres for a pasture on my land. After taking out the trees and burning them, I had a mess on my hands. The bigger stuff was draged out, but then I was left with thousands of small branches and pieces of branches. My solution was the landscaper rake.

It took awhile, but I just started on one side and pulled the rake in a straight line untile it was full and stuff was falling out the sides. Then I left that pile there and did it again right next to the previous spot. When I had a long line of branches, I used my FEL to scoop them up and haul them to the burn pile.

I just kept doing this until I removed about 90% or more of the sticks. Then I picked up about half them by hand and left those that were too small to bother me. No I mow it with my finish mower and it looks amazing.

If the little ridges bother you from the landscape rake, you can easily remove them with a drag. Just about anything heavy and flat will smooth out your dirt for you when draged behind your tractor. I have two drags. One is a heavy oak log that's 7 feet long with cyclone fence wraped around it so that some of it drags behind the log. The log breaks down the high spots and fills iin the low areas. The fence makes it all nice and smooth.

For bigger, more aggresive draging, I use two massive forklift forks. I was gonna put them on my loader bucket, but they are just too big to be practical. So now I pull them around to take out the dozer tracks, or finish smooth an area that I worked on with my dozer.

Good luck,
Eddie