Extremly flat lawn beds

[JMER817]

The harley rake will level like a box blade, pulverize any clumps and collect rocks/sticks. I had a small part-time landscape business for a couple years. Started out using a rototiller, box blade and york rake. Finally invested in a harley rake and was amazed at the performance. Just an awesome tool. I think there are some videos on youtube if you do a search for "harley rake"

 

[john_bud]

Chain drag with the tines pointed "backwards" would work. Then cultipack if you can. Easier to spread onto a flat level and firm area.

jb

 

[Beavis]

A york rake with gauge wheels really helps. The best tool would be a harley rake. You can should be able to find one to rent. Run about $200 a day, but you will be amazed at the job it does.

Holy Cow, that looks AWESOME !!!!!!!

 

[flusher]

I need to get my backyard even grade for my new lawn. I want to get the dirt as close to even as possible before I spread my loam so I don't waste any. I've got york rake a rear blade and a box blade. I can't seem to get it as even as I'd like with an of them. I'm thinking a chain harrow would work well but figured I'd seek the advice of the TBN guru's before getting the harrow. So any thought on how exactly to get the results I'm looking for would be great.

Matt T.

Here's what I did to landscape my backyard:

Plow the ground using my Kubota B7510HST and a $140 middle buster plow from TSC

Rototill using the 7510HST and a $300 used Yanmar RS1200 rototiller (48" wide)

Plowing first makes rototilling go much easier. Made two passes with the rototiller at right angles.

Use my 18 hp Huskee riding mower to pull a tire drag back and forth until the clods are broken up and the gound made smooth and level.

The mower has turf tires which the Kubota lacked.

Use a simple carpet drag to smooth the surface

Finally, use the water-filled roller to compact the surface

Took a while, but the results were pretty good for a landscape amateur.

 

[3RRL]

Hey, you guys are cheatin'.
From those photos, you've got all that flat land all around to start with! No wonder you make it look easy.
From his avatar, I'll bet Mark's land is much like mine. There's not a level or flat surface 10" apart to start with.
There's hills and slopes and rocks and trees and roots and ...shees.

 

[RedDirt]

The pallet idea is interesting I was thinking of using some large 8x8 timbers in the same way. I'll try it this weekend and see how it turns out.
Matt T.

I'm not sure the timbers will work as well as a pallet. With timbers you'll get a little leveling side-to-side but not will take out any dips in the direction of travel. The pallet engages more square feet to the ground but more importantly, since it is a flat plane, it levels side-to-side as well as front-to back. The cross members of the pallet will shave off the highs and deposit excess material in the lows. As a member posted above the bigger the pallet the better but I just used a 4'x4' junker I had and it worked great. It may take a little experimentation to get added weight distribution correct but it does not take long to find the sweet spot. As I recall my rig favored weight toward the rear of the pallet. If weight is too far forward the pallet will want to dig in the leading edge.

Now if you took three or four of those timbers spaced a foot or two apart and tied them together with 2x4's on top and added a diagonal brace you might come up with a quite superior leveling implement.

 

[rox]

I'm not sure the timbers will work as well as a pallet. With timbers you'll get a little leveling side-to-side but not will take out any dips in the direction of travel. The pallet engages more square feet to the ground but more importantly, since it is a flat plane, it levels side-to-side as well as front-to back. The cross members of the pallet will shave off the highs and deposit excess material in the lows. As a member posted above the bigger the pallet the better but I just used a 4'x4' junker I had and it worked great. It may take a little experimentation to get added weight distribution correct but it does not take long to find the sweet spot. As I recall my rig favored weight toward the rear of the pallet. If weight is too far forward the pallet will want to dig in the leading edge.

Now if you took three or four of those timbers spaced a foot or two apart and tied them together with 2x4's on top and added a diagonal brace you might come up with a quite superior leveling implement.

I jsut got an idea! We don't have a box blade but we do have plenty of pallets. Do you think we could use the pallet idea to smooth our our driveway? It is starting to get dips and hollows in it. It is gravel and appears well constructed most of it is almost like concrete so it appears the previuos owner built the driveway with all the right types of stones in the right order. Do you think the pallet idea couls smooth our our driveway?

 

[Blagadan]

The cross members of the pallet will shave off the highs and deposit excess material in the lows..

Yup, Thats what I found as I pulled the pallet around. I could clearly see each individual board on the pallet was shaving a little at a time. When I'd get to a low spot, all the soil shavings would drop. The wider the pallet, the better the levelling effect. Weight to the rear of the pallet gave us the best result too.

I tried using an old railway sleeper first but that wasnt as effective. It had only one cutting edge and tended to ride up on the high spots.

You guys probably have seen these too, over here, they sell 3 point land levellers with the same principal as the pallet. Basically a heavy rectangular frame with 4-5 lengths of 3x3 angle iron as the shavers. Pull it around and it does the same thing. Very popular with horsey people for levelling sand arenas.

I just got an idea! We don't have a box blade but we do have plenty of pallets. Do you think we could use the pallet idea to smooth our our driveway? It is starting to get dips and hollows in it. It is gravel and appears well constructed most of it is almost like concrete so it appears the previuos owner built the driveway with all the right types of stones in the right order. Do you think the pallet idea couls smooth our our driveway?

Its worth a try... I dont know if it would bite into the compacted gravel but what the heck, it'd be worth dragging a pallet around to see?
My first method for levelling my gravel drive consisted of using a light spring tine rake with an 4ft piece of 9"X3" chained onto the back of the rake. The rake would cut in and loosen the compacted gravel and the wooden board would level things out behind. It worked very well.

I normally have a 3pt transport box fitted to the back of my tractor and I tend to use the bottom of that to level the drive these days. It is almost as good as the rake with the added benefit of carrying a load of gravel in the box as I drag it along just in case I need to fill a low spot some place...

 

[RedDirt]

I just got an idea! We don't have a box blade but we do have plenty of pallets. Do you think we could use the pallet idea to smooth our our driveway? It is starting to get dips and hollows in it. It is gravel and appears well constructed most of it is almost like concrete so it appears the previuos owner built the driveway with all the right types of stones in the right order. Do you think the pallet idea couls smooth our our driveway?

Rox,
The pallet works great for loose material but too weak and light to move tightly compacted stuff. If your drive is as solid as you say the pallet will probably just ride up on the surface. If there is loose gravel on top, the pallet should drag it into the dips. But a loose gravel "frosting" over a hard compacted surface will not stay in place either. In time you'll have the same dips. The proper fix is to scarify (rip) the surface then regrade it. This is what you need to do to repair pot holes and washboards otherwise they just return.

That said, go ahead and try the pallet. Nothing to loose and it only takes a few minutes to rig one up with some chains. You'll know in the first pass or two if it will do you any good.

An implement like Blagadan shows would work better on stiff material but it is doubtful if it would break up a well compacted gravel road surface.

 

[LBrown59]

[
The problem with the tire drag and the carpet drag or anything else you might drag is the chain ; meaning you have to make a large arc or large turn at the end in order to go back the other way.
That's why I rigged my Pallet drag so I can lift it and lower it with the 3 point at the end of each pass.
No wide arches or large circles that way.

L B
quote=flusher;1477555]Here's what I did to landscape my backyard:

Rototill using the 7510HST and a $300 used Yanmar RS1200 rototiller (48" wide)

Plowing first makes rototilling go much easier. Made two passes with the rototiller at right angles.

Use my 18 hp Huskee riding mower to pull a tire drag back and forth until the clods are broken up and the gound made smooth and level.

The mower has turf tires which the Kubota lacked.

Use a simple carpet drag to smooth the surface

Finally, use the water-filled roller to compact the surface

Took a while, but the results were pretty good for a landscape amateur.[/quote]