can I do it with my tractor?

[youngoilguy]

Hi all,

I have a Kubota B7510, its about 23 hp and 16 at the pto (or there about). I'm building a house on a 4 acre lot. not a tree in sight. it used to be a hay field (for about 50 years). There is a good amount of topsoil. Since its all timothy now and bumpy (from old farming ruts) I need to make it smooth to transform it into a yard. I have a 50" Befco tiller and a back blade. Do you think it is possible to till about 3" deep and then use the back blade to smooth it out? Am I taking on too much? The excavator wants $2,000 to finish grade the lot, thats without grass of course.

Input?

Suggestions?

I need both.

-Mike

 

[jeff9366]

With the right soil moisture you should do very well with the B7510 + Befco Tiller (highly regarded implements) + back blade.

You will probably have to till, redistribute with back blade, till, redistribute, till etc.

To wet or too dry and all you will have is frustration.

Get a soil test and amend specifically for grass you will grow. A cheap test plus soil amendment will pay big dividends for the next 10-12 years.

Grade so rain and roof runoff moves away from the house on all sides.

Let settle through several rains, hopefully gentle. Ultimate grade before seeding. Roll in seed.

HAVE FUN.

 

[BeezFun]

I tried grading the floor for my arena, which was about 1/4 acre, and ended up hiring someone. Maybe your skill level is higher than mine, but it takes a fair bit of skill to get things flat over large distances. You could try doing a small area and decide if you get the result you're looking for, that would also let you estimate how much time this is going to take. You might check around for prices on excavating. I think a landscaper might have equipment more suited to the task than an excavator. For reference, I paid $60/hour for the machine and $20/hour for the operator. The machine was about 100hp Takeuchi skid steer, which would be way overkill for what you're trying to do.

 

[dave1949]

You can smooth the ruts out with the tiller and after tilling, dragging something that will carry a bit of dirt--like chain link fence with maybe (two) 2" pipes tied on top of the fence. Personally, I think that would work better than the back blade for smoothing.

I don't think you will accomplish much in the way of changing the grade (overall slope) over a large area with your tractor. For one thing, it means moving a lot of dirt from one area to another. If you want to try you could choose a small test area. Fasten a level on your tractor that reads level when on level ground, set a target bubble range like 1/4 of the bubble outside the level marks and see if you can work to that slope keeping the bubble in the same position. I think it would be easier with a FEL bucket than a 3pt back blade with no down pressure to use.

 

[SPIKER]

it can be done BUT with a LOT of work and TIME. If you have the house done then work on just the house area & do it in sections you may be happy or hire it done by a landscaper who has proper equipment. The Back Blade would not be best for leveling, use either a Box Blade or Land plane. Any section you till will end up slightly lower once it settles than the dirt right next to it left un-tilled. I know this from experience when I tilled rows for trees which the rows ended up 2" lower in middle than each side.

Also you MAY want to spray and kill existing grass and burn it of FIRST, as tilling grass always leaves a LOT of root clumps that get spit out of the tiller no matter how slow you go. Getting everything tilled the same depth also it hard unless you can set draft control on your machine which I don't think it has>?

Mark

 

[HEC]

I like the idea of the tiller , probably going over it a few times . I would then hire a good dozer operator as he will do the job of leveling in no time compared to TRYING with a back blade .

 

[Msamt]

+1 on the landscaper. Had someone with a harley rake come in and nice up a pit i had filled with all kinds of dirt, he had it done in an hour, would have taken me at least 4.

 

[zing]

Smoothing out a bumpy hay field can definitely be done with what you have, although after you have tilled it and backbladed the chunks flat the final conditioning would be easier to do with a ring conditioner than a backblade. If you know anyone with a ring you may be able to borrow one, because basically everyone with a riding ring has some version of one. You simply can't maintain your ring without one.

I would suggest you do it in batches though, of 1/4 to 1/2 acre. It will make the job more manageable, decrease erosion, make it easier to seed, etc. You also may find that one you have two acres done, that you have enough mowing and may not want to have to mow the whole 4. Nothing wrong with having a couple of acres of wildflowers to keep the bees happy, and then just bushhog it once a year to keep out the alders, instead of having to mow it every week.

If you are in a hurry to get a place for the kids to play than hire a pro, but if you are not in a hurry then have some fun with your tractor and get 'er done at your own pace.

 

[oldnslo]

Wouldn't a landscape rake with gauge wheels be a better choice than rear blade. I have a 6 footer on my 2400H and it works much better for smoothing and removing clumps, clods, etc. than the box blade.

 

[sdef]

Filling in ruts and finish grading are too different things. Ruts are easy and finish grading takes a lot of skill, experience and the right equipment. I believe you can fill in the ruts okay but need to add a good landscape rake to your equipment list (with wheels). I would not attempt finish grading for a home site.

I just put in a driveway that went up a hill, then flattened out and curved around to the area the house will be. I have many hours in it, along with more and larger equipment than you have mentioned. I got pretty good with the ROBB and landscape rake (with wheels) using the TNT hydraulics and the driveway is graded exactly like I wanted. I have received comments the job looks professional.

I am leaving my home site grading to professionals after I cut down the trees and have a mini-x dig up the large stumps I can't remove.

I can't emphasize enough how important wheels are (to us folks who do not have professional level box blade and landscape rake skills) on a heavy landscape rake to spread the loosened soil- evenly.

I would not attempt to finish grade 4 acres or 1 acre for a house. I think your equipment is too small and there is not enough of it.