11 acres previous cow pasture smoothing bumps

[jayyk42]

So I have about 11 acres of pretty descent grass but it was previous to 1970's was part of 100's of acres of cow pasture. I tell ya I mow it with a 4' Toro Zero Turn and I take quite a beating! Lol! To make it worse the northeastern PA soil is basically all rocks too. My question is how can I smooth this out and to do it without leaving ruts everywhere from my tractor pulling whatever I have to use to fix it. I have a 5' box blade and I use my '88 Ford 1720 to pull it. I wonder if I can pull a big heavy roller on my 4x4 atv? That doesn't leave ruts like the tractor. Any ideas would be great, thanks!

 

[Wagtail]

I'd till it first, if possible, keeping in mind the rocks... followed by rolling.

A roller is bloody heavy and an ATV really wouldn't be up to the task. That's tractor work IMO.

 

[jaxs]

I just had this conversation with a grandson and we came to two conclusions. #1 Next Feb-March he will put rippers down on box blade and smooth it out some then broadcast first application of fertilizer. He has Bermuda and it loves being disturbed right before green-up. #2 I loaned him my flail to try out with his tractor and he couldn't believe how much nicer grass looks than when rotary mowed with tractor. I have the same advice for you.

 

[jeff9366]

Ford 1720​

1987 - 1995 Twenty Compact Series Compact Utility tractor Shibaura built

Ford 1720 Power
Engine (gross):	27.7 hp 20.7 kW
Engine (net):	26.5 hp 19.8 kW
PTO (claimed):	23.5 hp 17.5 kW

Mechanical
Chassis:	4x2 2WD (?)
	4x4 MFWD 4WD (?)

Dimensions
Wheelbase:	65 inches 165 cm
Length:	121.2 inches 307 cm
Width:	55.2 inches 140 cm
2WD Shipping weight:	2491 lbs 1129 kg
4WD Shipping weight:	2690 lbs 1220 kg

 

[jeff9366]

I have about 11 acres of grass. Prior to 1970's it was cow pasture. Northeastern PA soil is basically rocks. How can I smooth this out?

I would hire someone with a Disc Harrow with 24" diameter pans to disc this field when the soil is MOIST. A Disc Harrow with 24" diameter pans will exert at least 100 pounds of implement pressure on each pan/disc. Such a disc will require a 5,000+ pound bare weight, 4-WD compact tractor to pull it. A Disc Harrow with 24" diameter pans is sufficiently heavy duty not to be adversely affected by your Pennsylvania rocky soil. Every contract plowing business will have this equipment.

It would take this rig eight hours to complete two (2) disc passes over eleven acres. MOIST soil can be mixed 9" deep if you wish. It will take your grass two years to recover.

In Florida, a commercial hay field would then be rolled with a 4,000 pound roller, 96" wide, so tractor + hay implements could be operated at 5-mph over smooth hay field producing three or four hay harvests per year.

Smoothing out a field ideas

So we have about a 3 acre field that is currently a mixture of grass and weeks that we mow at 3.5” high. Problem is it’s a old tobacco field that still has some of the ridges left in place from the previous owner. They are not terrible but enough we need to mow slow or it makes you sick going...

www.tractorbynet.com

10 acres Tiller or Disk Harrow?

Morning, This has been asked before but it seems not to this large an acreage. I have about 10 acres of corn field on a property I recently purchased that I would like to try to start farming. I have the agronomy background and large farm experience to do the job, but this will be my first time...

www.tractorbynet.com

ADJUSTING Three Point Hitch Mounted TANDEM DISC HARROWS

If you are considering the acquisition of a Disc Harrow, first read this LINK covering Disc Harrow selection: LINK: Disc Harrow Selection For 18-45 Horsepower Tractors (Revision 2b) The Three Point Hitch mounted Tandem Disc Harrow is a secondary tillage implement. The Disc Harrow is a...

www.tractorbynet.com

(( Lordy, this is my 12,000th post on T-B-N! ))​

 

[Hay Dude]

Alternate idea: Have topsoil delivered and push it into low spots, then roll over it, re-seed.
A mid size dozer with straight blade rental worked great for me. I chopped off the high spots and pushed that into the low spots.

 

[mikester]

Plough, disc/cultivate, roll smooth

 

[jayyk42]

Alternate idea: Have topsoil delivered and push it into low spots, then roll over it, re-seed.
A mid size dozer with straight blade rental worked great for me. I chopped off the high spots and pushed that into the low spots

Yes this is most likely what I will do over time. For some reason my tractor leaves horrible ruts, even worse than my neighbors JD 310d which is probably double the size and weight. Might be the way the tires are on mine, thin and filled with ballast. Not sure but I try to keep my tractor use on the grass to a minimum. Most of the ruts on this old pasture are from the previous owners Kubota l3400.

 

[jayyk42]

I would hire someone with a Disc Harrow with 24" diameter pans to disc this field when the soil is MOIST. A Disc Harrow with 24" diameter pans will require a 5,000+ pound bare weight, 4-WD compact tractor to pull it. Every contract plowing business will have this equipment. A Disc Harrow with 24" diameter pans is sufficiently heavy duty not to be adversely affected by your Pennsylvania rocky soil.

It would take this rig eight hours to complete two (2) disc passes over eleven acres. MOIST soil can be mixed 9" deep if you wish. It will take your grass two years to recover.

In Florida a commercial hay field would then be rolled with a 4,000 pound roller, 96" wide, so tractor + hay implements could be operated at 5-mph over smooth hay field producing three or four hay harvests per year.

Great info here, thank you! Maybe a route i take in the future if I decide to start from scratch! I might actually consider it as I have some French drainage work to do around the property and also some other stuff to fix so it might make sense to fix the yard after I finish it all.

 

[Hay Dude]

Yes this is most likely what I will do over time. For some reason my tractor leaves horrible ruts, even worse than my neighbors JD 310d which is probably double the size and weight. Might be the way the tires are on mine, thin and filled with ballast. Not sure but I try to keep my tractor use on the grass to a minimum. Most of the ruts on this old pasture are from the previous owners Kubota l3400.

Must be wet/soft/lowland? Usually a tractor won’t do that.