Grading Box Blade, TC30, and Church lawn filled with Grubs

fctadam · May 22, 2005

Well, I was asked by a neighbor to help his church with there grub problem in there cemetery.

There plan is to remove the first 2-3 inches of sod from the ground, replace with topsoil, then have it hydro seeded. I was originally going to use my bucket to remove the sod, then a york rake to spread the topsoil out.

However, I was wondering if a box blade with teeth lowered in to the appropriate position would it remove the sod in a level fashion? I was worried about using the bucket and making an unleveled mess. I have heard box blades can leave a finish like a dozer blade. I assume after the sod was removed, I could make small piles of topsoil the drag with the box blade for a nice even finish. Am I correct in this theory?

Any tips for a first time user of a box blade would greatly be appreciated. I assume to start you are to leave the box blade high hitting the small spots then filling in the low spots, then lower as one progresses for a level finish with removed sod. I then would take the bucket remove the sod, and repeat with soil.

I'm thinking a 5ft box blade for the TC-30...... I'm a little nervous, so feedback would be great.

PineRidge · May 22, 2005

Seems to me like stripping off 2-3 inches of topsoil is overkill in my opinion. Why not consider printing out this article on eliminating the grubs using some of the newer chemicals available today. I mean you could put down new topsoil and be right back where you are now in a very short period of time IMO.

grub control

fctadam · May 22, 2005

I hear you there completely, and made the same comments. I guess the parishners have decided to replace the lawn then chemically treat as needed.

Which brings my back to box blading.

KiotiJohn · May 22, 2005

( However, I was wondering if a box blade with teeth lowered in to the appropriate position would it remove the sod in a level fashion? )
Probably not, using the scarifiers. The only way I've ever been able to get a passable result removing sod was my only using the inside rear blade, and even then it wasn't what I'd call "level."
I set the top link longer so that the rear blade is digging in just the right amount to skim off the turf (not easily done), then when I had all the turf removed, I went over it all again, actually working to level what I'd torn up.
If you don't care about just removing the turf, but digging it all in and under, you can tear it up with the rippers and then go back an level it. Once again, not the easiest way. After you do a "rough" leveling, you can drag it with a chain harrow, weighted chain link fence, old bed springs, or similar, dragging around and around till you get a nice level surface.
It takes some practice, and I'm still trying to master the technique. I used to do much better years ago, but I spent many years not doing any of that so I'm having to practically learn all over again.
John

Bob_Skurka · May 22, 2005

I agree with PineRidge. Use a sprayer and spray down a chemical killer to treat the grubs. Or use a spreader and lay down a pellitized grub treatment. Tearing off sod is a big undertaking and is going to be a lot of unnecessary work and expense. Just the cost of hydroseeding will be much greater than the cost of the treatment.

Probably the best long term treatment is Bt it is an organic treatment and it some sort of nemotode that lives in the soil, you lay it down with a sprayer, they kill the grubs and are not a posion of any kind. Most of the damage to lawns is from a white grub with a black head that produces the Chamfer Beetle, which is a large brown flying beetle.

rbg60 · May 22, 2005

HELLO
My box blade peels sod up just about as good as a sod cutter.It cuts just below the roots and works real nice with the scarfiers up.My boxblade has a hinged back and weighs around 1400 pounds.The down side is its filled up in about twenty feet and its **** getting the sod back out.The sod is very heavy and twisted inbetween scarifiers.I agree with others on trying something else.One other thing about the box blade is you can get things flat but it doesn't happen over night.It takes most people many hours to be a good operator,only a few hours to get fair results.
I'm only saying this because you might not be aware that this is a huge job.
Good luck what ever you do. Rex

gabby · May 22, 2005

My advice is don't do it. Even if it makes sense to strip the existing grass and soil, which sounds crazy to me, you will end up with a big mess especially since you will be working among the grave stones.
gabby

Indydirtfarmer · May 22, 2005

My first thoughts are to skip the sod stripping. This is a problem best handled with a pesticide.

IF....there's no way to talk everyone into doing things that way, and it "strip the sod time".... I'd recommend taking a sod cutter to it first, then using a boz blade to push the sod off into piles.

We are currently re-sodding 14 of the 18 fairways on our golf course at work. That's how we're doing that (even on that big of a scale....right at 18 acres worth) It's faster in the long run, and will result in a fairly level sub-base to reapply the sod. (or in your case, the new top-soil)

I'd think that one over long and hard before tackling it with a box scraper.....

pmoon · May 23, 2005

So what do we use box blades for??? Help me! Trying to figure this out. Why do I need a Boxblade! I understand what it does...too rough/impresice of an implement to just take off the topsoil is what you folks are saying??? Yes? Good for driveway/ brush clearing?

Indydirtfarmer · May 23, 2005

( So what do we use box blades for??? Help me! Trying to figure this out. Why do I need a Boxblade! I understand what it does...too rough/impresice of an implement to just take off the topsoil is what you folks are saying??? Yes? Good for driveway/ brush clearing? )

If it was simply a matter of taking off topsoil, then there would be no better tool than a box scraper. HOWEVER....in this case, the issue is removing SOD... It's difficult for anything so light to accurately cut through the sod, without digging in or raising up out of the sod it's trying to cut.

Sod cutter or bulldozer..... One extreme or the other....

A box blade is "all that, and a bag of chips" when you're grading DIRT.... Sod is not jusy dirt.

A VERY HEAVY box blade, behind an industrial type tractor with hydraulic down pressure (on the 3-point hitch) would probably do a "fair job" of removing sod, but not an accurate one.

The issue here is what will do THE BEST JOB....