How to smooth a lawn?

[MadJack]

Look up a "Harley Rake" [I think]. It's a "one pass bed prep" kind of roto-tiller that tears up the upper 2" or 3", then feathers the top soil to a smooth finish ready to seed then roll. I don't know who makes them but someone in your area must have one.
The one my neighbor has is 6' wide and runs off his 3-pt-hitch. He is a professional landscaper.

Check 'er out here... Order Harley Rakes Online!

[paulemar]

12000 sq ft isn't that much, but it is big enough to be quite a job to fix. I've got a field of around 2 acres that was previously used to train a horse in the Spring when everything was still wet and soft. The horse left foot print impressions, some about 4 " deep, all over the place. I've been trying to think of a way to smooth it out a bit more ever since I tried filling the bigger holes with soil. It's still too bumpy when I mow so I am going to drag my core aerator behind the mower every time I mow the field. (Old JD 210 garden tractor and Brinly core aerator) I figure that pulling up plugs of soil for the rest of spring, summer and fall might pull up enough soil to settle in the remaining shallow depressions as I mow and over the winter. However, it is a field even though it is treated as a lawn and may make a mess that would not be suitable in your situation. If I'm lucky maybe it will work, but I haven't been able to come up with anything else short of a complete makeover which isn't worth the trouble.

[Garybake]

I have a JD 770 tractor with ag tires, a cultivator, a blade, a disk and a chain harrow. I suspect I don't really have the right equipment.

I suppose I could rip out the lawn and start over, but at 12,000 sq. ft., that would be quite a job and I have a long list for this summer already. Besides, what would I do with the sod I ripped out?

So, what's a good, easy way to smooth out the lawn?

I would tackle half of the job as a reseed and use your chain harrow to fill/smooth soil onto the other half to repair after cutting it short. After reseeding half you can decide if next year you have to repeat with the other half. Or a fraction therof, try a third reseed.