Field Leveling

[Hattereno]

I've been working with a landscape expert for over a year now tending to 11.5 acres of old farm land. He's cross plowing and used a harrow rack to smooth the majority of ruts out of the land.

However, the land still has many, many bumps and ruts. What else can I do to level out the property? I's like to be able to mow smoothly and have the kids run through the yard without twisting an ankle.

Thanks!

 

[AchingBack]

A field is always going to have ruts unless you stay off of it with heavy, mechanized equipment. Think about it.

 

[Richard]

I'm certainly no expert but have wondered this myself.

I dont know the definition of 'big' machinery so don't know if a utility tractor is considered big...

The field in front of my house looks nice, I keep it mowed. It however is rough from the perspective of little divots that will snag your ankle.

I've come to the (uneducated) opinion that if I wanted to really level this land and make it smooth... I'd need to get a tiller out and simply chop up the rough spots.

Again, I don't know if that's accurate, just my presumption

 

[flusher]

I've been working with a landscape expert for over a year now tending to 11.5 acres of old farm land. He's cross plowing and used a harrow rack to smooth the majority of ruts out of the land.

However, the land still has many, many bumps and ruts. What else can I do to level out the property? I's like to be able to mow smoothly and have the kids run through the yard without twisting an ankle.

Thanks!

After plowing, run a disc over the field several times. Tow some kind of heavy drag behind the disc to break up the clods and smooth.





That old Towner disc was a gift from a neighbor. The tires were freebies from another neighbor who was cleaning up his sheds. I added about 400 lb of concrete weight to get the disc to work better.

 

[kthompson]

Stay off of it when wet. Work when dry and crumbles. Do work in more than one direction, even when mowing. If you have access to a "field cultivator" or have a farming neighbor with one they do a good job smoothing out a field. Also working it with big equipment (wide disk and plows) normally gets a piece of ground more level than narrow equipment does. Overlapping often helps. Wet ground will not hold the load dry ground does and will rut.

 

[Hematite]

I would say that shallow tilling, blading, and rolling would smooth and firm the soil and make for a very nice lawn. That's an uneducated guess, however.

 

[AchingBack]

You can do all of the above, and obtain temporary success. The problem is, you aren't working with a pool table. Under ground there are burrows, tunnels, and runways inhabited by all types of creatures moving around, creating air pockets, loosening stones, shifting soil, etc.. My advice, beat this endless battle by living with imperfection.

 

[Baby Grand]

Just my opinion, but it's a field, for cryin' out christmas! Teach you kids that a field isn't a lawn and they have to think about it and treat it differently. Teach them to appreciate the field for what it is and what it can provide. You'll be teaching them something that they'll never learn in school. Tell them why you don't want an 11.5 acre lawn to maintain - either in terms of the time or the money that you'd rather spend with them. Let the field grow up a bit and take them for walk thru it and point out all the different plants, bugs and other critters that live there. Make note of how the field changes with the seasons. Look for trails, tracks & spoor. Having a field, even a small one, is a luxury that I would never trade for the sameness of more lawn. Your kids can learn a lot from a field 8^).

Enjoy,

Jim
(Out standing in his field)

 

[taborekle]

I would say that shallow tilling, blading, and rolling would smooth and firm the soil and make for a very nice lawn. That's an uneducated guess, however.

I've found with my reversing tiller, that as it tills it moves ahead of itself a pile of loose dirt that fills in small depressions and holes, evening out the ground. I have a field next to my yard with a drainage ditch between them that I have to muck out from time to time with my FEL. My FEL work leaves much to be desired, and the ground afterwards is rutted and stepped in places. Running the tiller over it set at a shallow depth tends to smooth it all out. If I had a roller for followup, I could easily make it yard quality smooth in no time.

Larry

 

[Farmwithjunk]

While I was still involved in the construction industry, we had the opportunity to build a few different sports facilities. (Inc one minor league baseball stadium that has since received numerous awards for the condition and appearance of the playing surface) They required EXTREMELY "level" (read SMOOTH w/SOME drainage slope) fields. Of course, all were sodded after grading, but the grading was done with a VERY critical eye.

Tilling will give you a bunch of loose dirt. You CAN level that short term, but nothing says that dirt will settle evenly. Discing, grading (w/ a box blade, ect) or even the beloved HARLEY RAKE can't give you a firm, perfectly level field ON A PERMENANT BASIS once Ma Nature takes over. The ground HAS to be a FIRM base. (Loose, fluffy soil such as would be the results of a tiller are NOT the best solution) Then graded with the proper equipment. A conventional "road grader" (with an expert operator) will give you great results. But when even better results are required, go with something simular to the item shown below....

First to introduce the technology of Laser Land Leveling for Farm Fields in India. Level Master (also knows as Field King, Laser Land Leveler, Laser Leveler) is an Agricultural Machine used by Farmers worldwide to level the farm field using Laser Tec

We hired a sports turf installer to grade (using above equipment) and sod the fields. They were PERFECT when finished. From that point on, they required an occasional plug aerification followed by top dressing with a sand/soil mix to maintain that degree of consistancy. (Just like a golf course would do)

THere would be an additional source for info.....IF you play golf. Ask the local course superintendant how they maintain smooth and level fairways and greens. (after hackers like me get done destroying their course..... )

 

[Hattereno]

Thanks all for your advice. While I realize that it is a field, it is now my home and I appreciate a nice "golf course-like" lawn. I plan on keeping sections of it for naturalizing too, but not all of it.

 

[flusher]

But when even better results are required, go with something simular to the item shown below....

First to introduce the technology of Laser Land Leveling for Farm Fields in India. Level Master (also knows as Field King, Laser Land Leveler, Laser Leveler) is an Agricultural Machine used by Farmers worldwide to level the farm field using Laser Tec

We hired a sports turf installer to grade (using above equipment) and sod the fields. They were PERFECT when finished. From that point on, they required an occasional plug aerification followed by top dressing with a sand/soil mix to maintain that degree of consistancy. (Just like a golf course would do)

THere would be an additional source for info.....IF you play golf. Ask the local course superintendant how they maintain smooth and level fairways and greens. (after hackers like me get done destroying their course..... )

Yep. That's the kind of equipment my neighbor used to level and slope his 30 acres of irrigated alfalfa. His scraper box was about 10-ft wide so he pulled it with his D-7 Cat.

 

[charlz]

Around here flood irrigation it how the majority of crops are irrigated. The farmers spend a lot of time getting their fields smooth and with the correct slope. A 'land plane' similar to what FWJ linked to is what you see around here. I don't believe they use lasers but the land planes are something like 50' from tractor to tail with probably a 20' wide blade. Once in a while you can find a old 8', 3pt model that basically is a rear blade with 'wings' to help hold dirt and a long 'tail' that goes back to a flat 'glide' blade. All this is done after the field was rolled so you are not leaving ruts.

Here is an example:

 

[TimboTractor]

Anyone know of a company in the USA that sells those laser box blades used to level fields?

 

[Degolyerent]

Just google laser level box blade
John

 

[crazyal]

A laser level would be for leveling a field. If you were building a football, soccer, or baseball field you would want it to be smooth and level. If you are just trying to smooth out a field there are other options that would work well and not cost as much.

 

[jenkinsph]

Anyone know of a company in the USA that sells those laser box blades used to level fields?

The electronics and fast response valves are where the cost is, for a good setup such as Topcon with dual control (tilt and elevation) is about $15000.00 I am piecing one together now, trying to find some like new stuff, making my own cables and installing it myself for $10,000 plus. Lesser set ups start around $7500 and you can spend $50k easily.

 

[TimboTractor]

I don't need to smooth the field, I need to level it so all of the rainwater doesn't run off.
The pull scrapers with machine control start around $13k.... Too much. Has anyone mounted a laser receiver on their box blade and leveled a field? I've seen laser receivers for this type of application starting around $600. Apache 3+ laser receiver looks like a decent receiver which can also hook up to a control box and remote display... For around $1000.

What about a land plane? The really long kind, anyone use one of those?

 

[jenkinsph]

You can buy a receiver and mount it to your box blade for an indicate system but I would recommend you get one with a remote display. If the receiver is above the cab's roof for a clear sight line it would be hard to view in a tractor. I am looking at the Topcon LS B 110w which seems to be a good receiver from my research so far.


The long land plane works well for smoothing a field but you would still need to have a way to control grade in order to properly level. If your field is close to the grade you need and just needs smoothing up to remove high and low spots a land plane can help with that.

Right now I am working on drawings to add the wheels and tow bar setup to my 3pt Gannon box blade. It will be able to function as a 3pt and towable when finished. Also working on a good roller for packing the surface too. My concern with all of this is if there is enough work out there to make economic sense. For a small land owner and we have a lot of these in my locale it is cheaper to hire this work out. I am trying to do this commercially for these people.

 

[TimboTractor]

Jenkins, sounds like you're making what I want. I see lots of those draw bar scrapers with a receiver mounted on top in INDIA, and one or two companies here that make them and they're not cheap.

I was wondering how long it might take me with a six foot box blade to level a 12 acre field with about a 24" off benchmark grade to level, about 50/50 above and below my desire benchmark.

Am I crazy for even thinking about doing this with a box blade?

Here is what I would like: Used Tractors, New Tractors & Other Used Farm Equipment Machinery For Sale at U.S. Farmer


Then I could mount my receiver on it and manually control the grade.