Failed attempt to smooth property, how to correct?

[Dynasty]

That is WAY too much ground to mow with a riding mower. Sell it and get a machine with larger wheels. You didn't say where you were located but my guess is that you have gophers, moles and frost heaving. Those are natural things that take an entire grounds crew to eliminate. You also didn't say what sort of seed you planted, but I bet it was rye. Cheap but not a good choice for a lawn of six acres. Bluegrass would be the way to go.

The zero turn I use is a 60" Z900 commercial series from John Deere. It's built to withstand heavy usage and mow acreage. Rear tires are 24x9.5-12. No suspension seat. I am looking into suspension seat options. Freeze and thaw cycles must have come into play to make it this rough. I'm mowing at no more than half the machine's capacity and I bounce off the seat.

The grass seed used was a mixture of 30% fescue, 25% bluegrass, 55% rye.

 

[airbiscuit]

Does anyone use a tow behind mower with their ATV or UTV? I am looking into the Encore Tracer 72" rear discharge tow behind finish cut mower to use with a Polaris Ranger to mow a few acres of lawn. I'm curious what is your overall opinion of tow behind mowers?

The OP may have answered his own question. He has started 11 threads and only has 22 messages total. It's good to be curious, but I think the OP is considering a wide range of tasks he faces and questions he has, and hasn't settled into a real focus (including, do I need a tractor?). It's okay to be excited about new property and have lots of questions. It woud be helpful if he responded to all the feedback he's getting.

Here is his own pic of what the field looked like before the farmer smoothed it.

 

[Dynasty]

The OP may have answered his own question. He has started 11 threads and only has 22 messages total. It's good to be curious, but I think the OP is considering a wide range of tasks he faces and questions he has, and hasn't settled into a real focus (including, do I need a tractor?). It's okay to be excited about new property and have lots of questions. It woud be helpful if he responded to all the feedback he's getting.

Here is his own pic of what the field looked like before the farmer smoothed it.

Yes, having some land has been a long dream of mine. Now that I have a little piece, I am trying to see what equipment makes most sense for my application. The funds for a tractor aren't there right now, so I'm using multiple pieces of equipment to accomplish tasks. Right now it consists of a zero turn for the lawn and a UTV for snow plowing and other miscellaneous things.

The ideal situation would be to have the land smooth that the zero turn handles the mowing without rattling my teeth out. I thought that would be the case after the land was sorted out by the farmer, but as mentioned earlier, that is not the case. If the land can't be improved by a land roller or something, (starting from scratch is not an option), then I will probably end up selling the zero turn and getting a tow behind mower for the UTV.

I apologize for asking so many questions. I like to ask questions to those more experienced and knowledgeable than myself in hopes of absorbing some information to apply in my world.

 

[DB Pilot]

Your Problem is something I have been working on for about 8 years. The land I bought was formerly a grape vineyard. I have a land plane from EA. It is useless on grass, perfect for the driveway. I've tried skimming the high spots that are in rows, with a little but, very little success. I also have a 3pt.. 66" rototiller again from EA. That did the best however as things settled down the furrows of the vineyard were still there and that's after several passes. It is smooth enough now to pull a lawn roller and aerator over it each spring. The best relief for the back jarring bumps were to mow with tires no smaller than 24"(bx2200) and 6' finishing mower on the L3800.

The soil here is clay, after 80+ years of tractors going up and down the rows I guess it will take a while for the land to even out. Anything else I could do would tear up the lawn again and cost a lot of time and fuel. Again it's not a perfect solution but tolerable and economical.

I think having the local farmer plow, grade, rototill or rake? was a good idea to start. But not a suburban landscaping job. I roll and aerate each spring and slowly each year is a little better.

Good luck.

 

[airbiscuit]

I apologize for asking so many questions. I like to ask questions to those more experienced and knowledgeable than myself in hopes of absorbing some information to apply in my world.

No worries on the questions. The occasional response helps others know if we're on the right track. Pics of the current state would help. I do think it will get better with repeated mowings.

 

[darinstambaugh]

Please don't bust the farmers chops. He's a farmer not a landscaper. At this point the roughness could be patchy grass coming in or erosions from wash outs.

And you don't have to tear it all up and redo it, it just needs rolled, not an asphalt roller but a heavy heavy yard roller this spring when ground is nice and soft but the tractor doesn't rut.

And fill the erosions

And slit seed the areas where it is patchy this spring.

Call a landscaper for more details but you got what you paid for with the farmer and it was probably a good start. I built golf courses here in Ohio for years and there is always more to do Ohio are you in? I am in North Central Ohio.

 

[TGM5040]

maybe the problem is the grass is a clump forming grass, rather than a sod forming grass.

 

[redobbin]

Pictures would be helpful for sure. Background, I grew up in a family that owned a nursery and we ran a landscape business as well.

You will constantly deal with freeze/thaw cycle heave and rodent tunneling. Without seeing the area, I would say if you can get a true plug aerator that removes a plug from the ground and deposits it back on the surface start there. If you have heavy clay soil add gypsum to break down the clay a bit. Fill any eroded areas and seed/straw. Then overseed the remaining areas with a grass that creeps (growth by sending out stolons) like bluegrass or centipede does - but, ensure the grass you select is good for your zone. And finally, at some point you may need to top dress (depending on soil makeup you might be able to use sand). You can have a soil analysis done via your county extension agent.

OSU should have some good information and recommendations on what would be the best turf grass to use based on your intended usage for the land - this should be free by the way.

just my thoughts...

 

[PILOON]

Lots of asphalt, green seal coat

Artificial grass!

LOL, reminds me of a neighbor in suburbia once.
He groomed his lawn to a fine finish but made his child play in the ditch so as to not spoil his manicured lawn.
One spring I treated a patch of his lawn to a healthy dose of high nitrogen fertilizer.
LOL, he never could realize what had happened to that one spot.

 

[ZTMAN]

The zero turn I use is a 60" Z900 commercial series from John Deere. It's built to withstand heavy usage and mow acreage. Rear tires are 24x9.5-12. No suspension seat. I am looking into suspension seat options. Freeze and thaw cycles must have come into play to make it this rough. I'm mowing at no more than half the machine's capacity and I bounce off the seat.

The grass seed used was a mixture of 30% fescue, 25% bluegrass, 55% rye.

I got rid of my JD ZT 830A because it did not have a suspension seat. Heavy duty mower but would bounce you out of the seat if you were not careful.

Got rid or the JD and got a ZT with a true suspension seat, no more issues. Upgrade to a true suspension seat, not those little spring plate kits they sell as a suspension seat.