Best Attachment to redo my grass

[GreatWhitehunter]

Google Harley rake, that's what you need. You also need to incorporate quality topsoil and do soil sampling. Send the soil to Umass Amherst and follow there recommendations. Where in CT are you located?

Matt

 

[Carl_NH]

HI Roxburyeric,

I have done the same thing many times over the last 15 years here in rocky NH - I pull up the bigger surface rocks that I can with the BH then spread the loam sorta roughly to grade, then rototill (with a walk behind tiller) then rake / level this out and seed. If you tear up the grass before you spread the loam it will make a mess and lots of clumps to deal with. I find its better to work in new loam with existing soil after the rough grading is done with new soil, then level it out.

We reclaimed an acre + of forest over the last two years due to hurricanes and microbursts taking down trees - its mowable right now after about 100 yards of compost material from our local dump but far from a nice lawn, so got 60 yards of unscreened loam delivered last week for $300 that while the ground is frozen and planning to spread over the high/low spots tomorrow (0-3" over existing grass and boulders) then york raking in the spring and reseeeding. I just want to cover the subsurface ledge/rocks - you know the 3-5' variety that dont move...

The harley rake is a great tool, but if there are any rocks near the surface like we have in NE it will not work that well - it's best in my opinion to leave the sleeping rocks sleep.

Carl

 

[Tags]

I live in CT and my yard needs so help. I have about 1/2 acre that needs to be fixed. The grass doesn't grow well due to having too little top soil, it is compacted probably too much and I really can't water it (well issues). I would like to redo the yard and I am thinking that I will need to have quite a few tri-axle trucks of top soil brought in. Should I rip up the current lawn or just add an inch or two of new soil on top? I have a Kioti CK20s TLB right now. Which attachment would be recommended to help me with this project? Thx

If it is compacted it absolutely needs to be loosened up weather it is by rototiller or ripper teeth pulled by your machine. After you have demoed the existing lawn a Harleyrake would be best for leveling ,grading, and removing most rocks, but this might not be an option as your Kioti may not have enough PTO hp to power a 6 foot rake. A York rake with gauge wheels and a drop down blade would be my second choice and could probably be rented from Ruet Sibley in New Milford or in Torrington. After it is rough graded and most of the rocks and debris is removed then I would have screened topsoil delivered and spread. Rake with a Harley/York rake, fine rake by hand, seed, fertilize, hay, and roll the entire area.

As far as watering it goes, do the work as early in the spring as possible, not so early that it is still muddy from frost, but early enough so you have the weather on your side. Typically the ground should be at least 50 degrees to support germination and typically you'll get best results between April 15th and June 15th.A lawn that establishes itself with minimal water will generally only require minimal water to thrive. After all the work is done put yourself on a maintainance plan of fertilizing and aerating yearly.

 

[Roxburyeric]

Thanks for all the help. Not all the lawn is compacted so maybe I will just loosen up those areas. I do realize that the biggest issue has been the lack of enough good topsoil/loam so I will need to spend some money for that. I was also using this project to maybe buy a new toy (attachment) so not sure if a box blade, rototiller, rake, middle buster or harley rake would be the one. Unfortunately the harley rake is way too much $ and I might not even be able to power it. The rototiller is pricey also but could be used for a garden down the road. Help me spend a little money? Thx

Eric

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

Where abouts in CT are you? I've got a harley and would be willing to rent it to you or rake it for you if your close enough. PM me if you'd like.

Matt

 

[jenkinsph]

Here's a project I worked last year on a mountain top, mostly rock with a thin layer of dust on top. Moved some rock piles and built a berm on the lower edge of the property then hauled in top soil and smoothed it out.
Most of this work was done using a boxblade on the 4520 and a small landscape rake on the x749.

 

[Roxburyeric]

I'm in Roxbury (lower Litchfield County) between Waterbury and Danbury. I'll get back to you on it - thanks

Eric

 

[sawduster98]

I put my lawn in last year and I was in the same position as you, very rocky and hard clay. I was given lots of advice on the 'right' way to do it so I experimented on plots about 50x100 to see which worked best.
Far and away the best results came from the patch I rototilled to a depth of 4".
The tiller brought up loads of rocks but never showed any adverse effects. It bounced over any that were too big to bring up. Took about 15-20min to till.
I used a york rake and eventually a landscape rake to clean out the rock and stones. Seeded, then overseeded 4wks later. Turned out very nice by the end of summer. Oh, I also dragged with a weighted 12' section of chain link fence to smooth the area and then again unweighted to bury the seed a bit.

On another patch I used the york rake to 'scratch' the surface, seed and bury. That patch was anemic and I eventually went back and tilled it.

Those were the 2 methods that had any success at all. I did find that the second method worked much better in fall. With the late summer, I scratched and seeded in Sept. and had lots of new growth by Oct.