Smoothing large area

[bikewhisperer]

It's a large area to me anyway, probably not to many people here! I've had my tractor for a whole 5 days and this is the big job I need to accomplish before 1500 seedlings die.

I installed a geothermal system last fall and in doing so pretty much destroyed a 300' x 100' section of our new property. The guy who backflled did a poor job in my opinion, but what do I know. The end result is I need to smooth out this area and get it ready for tree planting.

There were 4 trenches, 5' wide x 100' long and spaced 10' between them. What little topsoil existed was not saved, a mistake that will not happen again. The surface is now hard dried up clay with lots of rocks from 1/2 inch to 18 inches. The 10 foot strips of untouched ground are visible in some spots and under 18" of clay in others, but I do know where they are as the trenches were marked. Much of the fill from the top got moved downhill and I need to move it back to the top to expose the soil underneath.

My question is what methods should I use to accomplish this task?

I've tried my box scraper, but my inexperience and all the dips and rises make for a slow process.

My best progress has so far been using the FEL and carefully exposing the untouched grass between the trenches. The plan after that is to put the topsoil where it's needed, then til the entire area, and drag something over it to smooth it out. I've considered smoothing it all out "as is" by dragging 6 large truck tires over it and ordering 300 yards of topsoil for the whole area, but since 40 yards would cover just the trenches it seems like a waste.

Any thoughts/suggestions? Am I on the right track my using the FEL? As it gets closer to smooth I'm sure I will make better use of the box scraper.

Darren

 

[bikewhisperer]

Here's the pics that I forgot to attach on my previous post.

 

[dangerdoc]

It's a large area to me anyway, probably not to many people here! I've had my tractor for a whole 5 days and this is the big job I need to accomplish before 1500 seedlings die.

I installed a geothermal system last fall and in doing so pretty much destroyed a 300' x 100' section of our new property. The guy who backflled did a poor job in my opinion, but what do I know. The end result is I need to smooth out this area and get it ready for tree planting.

There were 4 trenches, 5' wide x 100' long and spaced 10' between them. What little topsoil existed was not saved, a mistake that will not happen again. The surface is now hard dried up clay with lots of rocks from 1/2 inch to 18 inches. The 10 foot strips of untouched ground are visible in some spots and under 18" of clay in others, but I do know where they are as the trenches were marked. Much of the fill from the top got moved downhill and I need to move it back to the top to expose the soil underneath.

My question is what methods should I use to accomplish this task?

I've tried my box scraper, but my inexperience and all the dips and rises make for a slow process.

My best progress has so far been using the FEL and carefully exposing the untouched grass between the trenches. The plan after that is to put the topsoil where it's needed, then til the entire area, and drag something over it to smooth it out. I've considered smoothing it all out "as is" by dragging 6 large truck tires over it and ordering 300 yards of topsoil for the whole area, but since 40 yards would cover just the trenches it seems like a waste.

Any thoughts/suggestions? Am I on the right track my using the FEL? As it gets closer to smooth I'm sure I will make better use of the box scraper.

Darren

If you have a regular blade, put the rippers down on your box blade to create some loose material you can move or bring in some black dirt, then use the regular blade turned backwards. It will smooth out the soil but with the cutting edge turned backwards, it won't dig in as much.

A rock rake works too but I've had better luck with the regular blade.

I've never used a blade with gauge wheels but I've heard that works well.

 

[MarkV]

You may want to till it now to loosen the dirt up and make it easier to work. A number of passes with a tiller will go a long way towards smoothing out the area also.

MarkV

 

[bikewhisperer]

You may want to till it now to loosen the dirt up and make it easier to work. A number of passes with a tiller will go a long way towards smoothing out the area also.

MarkV

My concern if I til now is that I mix the clay with the topsoil and then I may need to put a new layer on top. This area is on top of a large hill that has been beaten by the wind, maybe 2 inches of topsoil there.

 

[MarkV]

I understand your concern although if it were me I might still till at a shallow depth to help loosen the soil and knock down the high spots. It sounds like you will be mixing in the clay eventually anyway.

As far as the box blade goes it is pretty normal to find it hard to work when you are just getting the hang of it. What helped me was to go slow and make shallow cuts. You often have to use the position control to raise the box in low areas and lower it for the high spots. If you don't, as the front of the tractor rises on a high spot the box digs in deeper making a low spot lower. After a few passes of knocking down the high spots it becomes easier to do a finish grade.

Good luck with the project, enjoy the new tractor and welcome to the forum.

MarkV

 

[Soundguy]

boxblade and drag harrow looks like it will do the job.

soundguy

 

[Reg]

I would guess that there is already quite a bit of top soil and clay mixed; too bad and too late, I wouldn't sweat too much about trying to separate them now, or try to plough in money in the form of hundreds of yards of new top soil.
I think I would at least rip it with the box blade to get enough loosened dirt to shove around.
You will lose your trench markings, so take sightings/bearings of those before you start.
If you have little/no skills with a blade or bucket the next step might be to improvise a drag and for this relatively small area the simplest/cheapest is probably a few pallets tied together face down with their top boards at some angle to the direction of pull, say 30 degrees or so.
"Make like the Zambozzi at the ice rink" with overlapping circular patterns, i.e. don't drive in rows. You can't back up with pallets on ropes anyway.

 

[Egon]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/141756-my-super-duper-drag.html

Check out this thread. It shows a type of home fabricated drag that would work very well for your situation.

Using this type of drag for initial leveling, then till and then drag some more. After this you could bring in the topsoil and then drag again.

With this type of drag if you angle it it may leave a windrow of rocks that could be removed with the loader.

Angling the drag would just involve how you hook the chains up.

 

[theboman]

Any large humps kinda level down with whatever you have like a tractor, shovel, etc.

If you can get a tiller that will work but just scar the top 1-2". Then drag and drag....

Or just drag and drag. Use an old wood pallet, chain link fence, old box springs...whatever you have. Drag and drag.

Clay is good soil, but needs some help!! Add compost material, shredded leaves, top soil, some sand, and toss out lime too!

It'll work and anything is better than you already have!