Nathan_OR
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2003
- Messages
- 62
Couple things on turning your unbroken ground. Dunno if a food plot for hunting is different than a hay field, you know if you want it rough when you're done or whatever. But, if it's like working up a hay field, there's a couple things I can suggest to you.
First, you won't have a lot of fun trying to drop a tiller into unbroken soil unless it's already clean. No big roots (a good tiller will cut up the smaller stuff, up to you how hard you want to push it but I cut stuff less than my thumb with the tiller no problem). No rocks (even one the size of a softball can jam/break your tiller tines). And definitely no stumps.
If I were you since you don't want work up a new plot all the time, just this once, I would rent or hire out a real backhoe or excavator, and get all the stumps and big roots out first.
Then you want a subsoiler, or at least a breaking bar (it's like a one-tine subsoiler) through the whole thing to turn the dirt over and pull up the rocks. You then have the pleasure of driving around with your loader picking up all the rocks and tossing them to the side. When you're done, you've got a big lumpy mess of dirt clods, small roots, and grass root clods.
This is where the discs come in. They won't do a good job on unbroken soil but if you run them over the clods you'll break all the up into a workable soil bed.
At this point you can either keep discing until you're happy with the finish and then seed, or you can go all the way and till it up and then drag it flat with any old thing (a railroad tie works great, or even the back flap on the tiller is usually enough). You can roll it if you want a golf course lawn for the deer (I hear golf and big bucks go together).
Spread the seed out. Some people like to follow with a landscape rake or similar. Depends on the rain, wind, and birds. If you get a lot of rain you can spread straw over the top after you seed to keep it from washing into puddles of grass seed. I saw a funny lawn once after it rained hard on fresh seed... oh yeah that was mine
Anyway all of this I would do with a 4x20, except for the subsoiler, but the 4x20 will do a breaker bar if you're patient (think 100's of passes). If it were me I would hire the stumps out to a pro with an excavator. He'll get them out in no time if he's any good. And then I would see if I can borrow a nice heavy disc set.
Have fun, and get that grapple for moving slash and deadfall, you won't be sorry.
Nathan_OR
First, you won't have a lot of fun trying to drop a tiller into unbroken soil unless it's already clean. No big roots (a good tiller will cut up the smaller stuff, up to you how hard you want to push it but I cut stuff less than my thumb with the tiller no problem). No rocks (even one the size of a softball can jam/break your tiller tines). And definitely no stumps.
If I were you since you don't want work up a new plot all the time, just this once, I would rent or hire out a real backhoe or excavator, and get all the stumps and big roots out first.
Then you want a subsoiler, or at least a breaking bar (it's like a one-tine subsoiler) through the whole thing to turn the dirt over and pull up the rocks. You then have the pleasure of driving around with your loader picking up all the rocks and tossing them to the side. When you're done, you've got a big lumpy mess of dirt clods, small roots, and grass root clods.
This is where the discs come in. They won't do a good job on unbroken soil but if you run them over the clods you'll break all the up into a workable soil bed.
At this point you can either keep discing until you're happy with the finish and then seed, or you can go all the way and till it up and then drag it flat with any old thing (a railroad tie works great, or even the back flap on the tiller is usually enough). You can roll it if you want a golf course lawn for the deer (I hear golf and big bucks go together).
Spread the seed out. Some people like to follow with a landscape rake or similar. Depends on the rain, wind, and birds. If you get a lot of rain you can spread straw over the top after you seed to keep it from washing into puddles of grass seed. I saw a funny lawn once after it rained hard on fresh seed... oh yeah that was mine
Anyway all of this I would do with a 4x20, except for the subsoiler, but the 4x20 will do a breaker bar if you're patient (think 100's of passes). If it were me I would hire the stumps out to a pro with an excavator. He'll get them out in no time if he's any good. And then I would see if I can borrow a nice heavy disc set.
Have fun, and get that grapple for moving slash and deadfall, you won't be sorry.
Nathan_OR
