Need help with land leveling project

[Legdoc]

I need some advice on a land leveling project. The project is approximately 110 acres of open, flat black land. The problem is fire ant mounds. There are areas of more than 200 mounds per acre. Some are over 18" tall. All have grass growing in them.
I am involved in a fireant control project with TAMU utilizing two products in 5 acre plots. The product was applied last week and Half of each plot was box bladed(7 ft.) twice with a 16' chain harrow pulled behind the box. This worked relatively well on the highest elevation area but were the mounds were still moist on the lower area the mounds do not crumble and just fill the box. I tried slicing them with the FEL but again the bucket fills and the mounds just fall to the side.
I am needing suggestions to tackle the 110 acres. Anything with wheels ahead of the blade may not work well due to the front wheels rolling over the mounds.
I would like to have a single pass solution without destroying the forage. The cattle can graze it low, then proceed with the project. Suggestion are appreciated.
Legdoc

 

[the6shooter]

give this a look, Everything Attachments - 3 Point Hitch Attachments, Tractor Attachments, Skid Steer Attachments
look at the leinbach utility grader, some call it a landplane.
hope this helps
david

 

[Tig]

Gauge wheels may work if the ground is firm enough for them to roll. If it is too soft for a wheel take a look at this idea which I got from another member. I modified my BB for use as a grader. Instead of a wheel out back I have a tail or skid. If I tilt the BB up I can create a gap between the ground and the blade allowing material to fall out at a fixed rate. I think the tail idea would work for you.

 

[FL4400]

After we burn our hay fields in the winter the ant beds are really bad so we took 6 semi tires and chained them together in a pyramid and pull them behind the tractor. It does really well at knocking them down in one pass.

 

[ToadHill]

Try the bucket in the full down position about 6" above the ground, it won't fill and will knock the hills to about ground level and the box glade can level them.

 

[BayouMan]

I saw a farmer working on a very large pasture in South Louisiana a few months back. He was dragging a piece of I beam that must have been 12 to 14' long. Looked to be at least 10-12" beam. He was pulling it with a dual wheel tractor, that looked to be in the 100 hp range. Looked like he had a chain attached to each end that came up to his drawbar, in a V shape. His field was looking great.

We used to get red ant mounds everywhere a cow patty landed. Started using the box blade several times a year to break up the paddies and any ant hills that had formed. Helped to keep the big mounds down.

Good luck on resolving this problem. Those big mounds can choke a big tractor down when you run over one with a bushhog.

Mike

 

[Egon]

For 110 acres the drag seems like a good solution.

 

[Renze]

For flattening cow patties, mole heaps and to re distribute rough straw manure 2 weeks after spreading, we use this:

Prijslijst Ned
or this:
Prijslijst Ned

The frame is round tubing, but it has an angle iron mounted with 2 legs down, like this: /\ to flatten mole heaps and scrape off cow patties.
Normally i run it with the angle iron scraper above the ground, but when the spots get rough, or the corners where the horses dump all theirs, i lower the bar to scrape more agressively on the go.

It seems to be in fashion these days, to use these pasture drags in combination with an electric drive seed broadcaster, to seed clover and grass.

Box blades dont really work well when you just want to work the rough spots and leave the grass alone.