Best attachment for smoothing soil

[Bamacummins]

I have two objectives here. Leave as much grass as possible, but rake the soil so that my Kubota 2260 ride is much smoother. This would also loosen the dirt/grass for reseeding this fall.

My 5 acres is rough in places and makes the ride uncomfortable on a compact tractor. Trying to avoid the box blade because the grass would be totally gone. Didn't know if a landscape rake would do the trick or not.

Any suggestions?

 

[tmajor]

Unfortunately, I'm afraid you are going to have to bite the bullet and start from scratch. I had the same thoughts. You could fill in the holes, but it ends up looking pretty unsightly, until the new grass comes in.

 

[Egon]

The previous post states it all. :thumbsup:

You can try other methods but will not get that real smooth surface unless you start from scratch.

 

[drivadesl]

Starting over sounds a little drastic to me. At least worth trying something else first.

Consider filling the holes with soil, tamp, fill, then light drag with harrow or fence section. Plant seed, rake, cover and water.

I think meets your criteria.

 

[tmajor]

There is one implement, which "could" provide an improvement, depending on the soil, it's moisture content and amount of irregularity ... a good sized, heavy roller.

I kinda had something, like this in mind!

 

[Will_C]

I am trying to smooth up a 9 acre field where I plan to build soon. I'd vote for starting from scratch to get the best, quickest results-but the time and expense for 5-9 acres is substantial. I am slowly improving the field by rolling every spring and fall. I think after the house is built and that area reclaimed, I'll probably plan on working up 1/2 acre or so a year, if the rolling does not do the trick.

Filling the holes is a good option, but the amount of dirt it would tke for a multi-acre property is immense. I used 10 yards last year to smooth up around 2,000 sq. ft. of the roughest areas-I had the dirt from what was stripped to put a drive and pole barn in.

Will

Will

 

[jenkinsph]

I have two objectives here. Leave as much grass as possible, but rake the soil so that my Kubota 2260 ride is much smoother. This would also loosen the dirt/grass for reseeding this fall.

My 5 acres is rough in places and makes the ride uncomfortable on a compact tractor. Trying to avoid the box blade because the grass would be totally gone. Didn't know if a landscape rake would do the trick or not.

Any suggestions?

I have reworked a few lawns with mounds and depressions, most were tilled and smoothed then reseeded for best results.

I have used my landplane grader with the blades set even with the skids and shaved off the mounds and filled the depressions. This leaves the majority of the grass intact which will recover within a few weeks. I have also added wooden slats to the bottom of the plane about 1/2" thick, then used the loader bucket to dump mulch over the plane and spread a 1/2" layer of mulch to the soil.

 

[newbury]

Ive only had one lawn renovation done but have had lot's of "spot fixing" done.

One thing to be very careful of is SLOPE. If it's FLAT, no problem doing it anyway you want. But if it's got some slope leaving the present grass there may be the easier solution.

I can remember spreading what seemed to be a ton of clean straw to ensure that the tilled lawn did not wash into the creek.

 

[Bamacummins]

Starting over sounds a little drastic to me. At least worth trying something else first.

Consider filling the holes with soil, tamp, fill, then light drag with harrow or fence section. Plant seed, rake, cover and water.

I think meets your criteria.

Don't really have holes to fill in, just typical field type conditions and depressions from the gulley washer rains we had this spring. I've already smoothed, seeded and covered with straw this past fall (got no rain), did it again in one area this spring (got the gulley washer rains), but have some grass/crabgrass in those areas now. Concerned I put all that work into it again and get the washout rains.

So I know rolling want help, much to hard and rocky for that. Guess I will just use the box blade again and start from scratch. Thanks for the help and suggestions.

(oh and my post should have said, BX2660)

 

[Farmwithjunk]

First off, let me say this doesn't always work in all instances, maybe even not in MOST cases, BUT, it worked for me.

This was more of an experiment on my part than anything else. I was mimicking what I saw done on a golf course I play on from time to time.

A few years ago, I did a rehab on my yard. I bought a surplus used top dresser (from a turf supply company) Just like this one.... Top Dresser, Turf Truckster, Grass Machinery, Turf Equipment

I made my own mix of "engineered soil", using screened top soil, sand, some peat moss, a bit of lime, and fertilizer. About once a month, for several months, I'd put on an application of that mix, followed by dragging the lawn with a section of chain link fence. Dragging would pull some of the soil off high spots and deposit it into low spots. After a while, the low spots started filling in and the grass never "went away". Once completed, I rented a Ryan self propelled core aerator and went over the entire yard with that. The next spring AND next fall, I power seeded, treated for weeds, and then fertilized again. The lawn now has that golf course appearance we all strive for. Smooth as a pool table, green and lush.

Must be noted there were no severe rough spots before starting, just a bunch of choppy bumps and holes. Any severe areas would have probably needed spot repair before starting the top dressing.

In the end, over a 2-acre area, I used approximately 5-1/2 cu yds of soil mix. Not all that much in the grand scheme of things.

This was a LOT of time consuming work, but what the hey....It's worth it when completed.