BamaDude
New member
I'm a home builder/contractor. I just bought a Kubota L-48 so I could start doing my own site prep work & save the money I've been paying other contractors. It has a 3-pt hitch when you disconnect the backhoe attachment.
I've seen what a Harley power rake can do by pulverizing old grass, weeds & clayey soil into a fine bed of mulched soil to lay sod upon, similar to what a bed of lawn sand will give me as a bed for sod, but without having to buy any lawn sand. On a typical lawn that may need 3 tri-axle loads of lawn sand as bedding, that's appx $600 saved on 1 job.
However, power rakes are very expensive; even used ones are $3,000+. As a result, I'm considering using a tiller or disc harrow or maybe a pulverizer/yard tool to try and accomplish the same thing for less money & also be able to do more than a power rake can do. I have no experience using a tiller, disc harrow or pulverizer because I'm a dumb city boy.
My research tells me that a tiller will dig deeper & can handle the highly-clay soils we have here in Central Alabama vs a disc harrow or pulverizer. We typically don't have any big rocks in the soil that can tear up machinery like you might see elsewhere. I'm read that a harrow doesn't go very deep & doesn't handle dense soils as well as a tiller, but I don't need to go very deep for sod, just 3" to 4" maybe, like a thin bed of lawn sand would provide. I've also read that a pulverizer doesn't do much other than break up clods of dirt/clay & doesn't chew up the grass/weeds or the original in-situ ground well. I didn't mention a box blade as I've seen those in action many times & they don't do a good job of that either, though I am buying one for spreading small piles of dirt around & leveling off my house pads & sod bedding.
So I'm leaning toward buying a tiller to chew up & pulverize the soil to create a 3" to 4" minimum loose bedding, then box blade it to level it out, as I need it smooth for sod.
Any experienced comments/advice on this would be appreciated. I'll answer your home building/contractor questions in exchange if needed.
I've seen what a Harley power rake can do by pulverizing old grass, weeds & clayey soil into a fine bed of mulched soil to lay sod upon, similar to what a bed of lawn sand will give me as a bed for sod, but without having to buy any lawn sand. On a typical lawn that may need 3 tri-axle loads of lawn sand as bedding, that's appx $600 saved on 1 job.
However, power rakes are very expensive; even used ones are $3,000+. As a result, I'm considering using a tiller or disc harrow or maybe a pulverizer/yard tool to try and accomplish the same thing for less money & also be able to do more than a power rake can do. I have no experience using a tiller, disc harrow or pulverizer because I'm a dumb city boy.
My research tells me that a tiller will dig deeper & can handle the highly-clay soils we have here in Central Alabama vs a disc harrow or pulverizer. We typically don't have any big rocks in the soil that can tear up machinery like you might see elsewhere. I'm read that a harrow doesn't go very deep & doesn't handle dense soils as well as a tiller, but I don't need to go very deep for sod, just 3" to 4" maybe, like a thin bed of lawn sand would provide. I've also read that a pulverizer doesn't do much other than break up clods of dirt/clay & doesn't chew up the grass/weeds or the original in-situ ground well. I didn't mention a box blade as I've seen those in action many times & they don't do a good job of that either, though I am buying one for spreading small piles of dirt around & leveling off my house pads & sod bedding.
So I'm leaning toward buying a tiller to chew up & pulverize the soil to create a 3" to 4" minimum loose bedding, then box blade it to level it out, as I need it smooth for sod.
Any experienced comments/advice on this would be appreciated. I'll answer your home building/contractor questions in exchange if needed.
