Box scraper vs grading blade

[RoyKing]

picture large rolling fields you'll find areas the farmers never clear and never try and plant in, the bogs. Unless you can drain the bog you leave it alone. Or call it nature's retention pond. In Florida now they are declared wet lands and are protected because of all critters that need the water. Our pine tree stands are littered with small bogs that have ponds that come and go. Get plat map of area and check the elevation of that piece.

 

[oosik]

WoW - that's a beautiful pasture. If it were me, I'd be very happy and just leave it alone. You will be a long time attempting to level/flatten with your new tractor. It's going to take a large piece of equipment to do that job.

Even my Kubota M6040 @ 10,100 pounds and my 1100 pound Rhino rear blade would have trouble with that land- because of the sod.

That pasture will have sod as the top layer. Anywhere from 4" to 8" thick. It will not respond well to any type of leveling activities. You will end up with ginormous rolls, wads and clumps of sod. If you were to bring in topsoil and fill the depressions, that would be the easy way.

If your plan is for one big smooth continuous pasture. Better find somebody with the equipment to chop, pulverize the sod and then start the task of regrading the entire area.

 

[ukrkoz]

I'd be happy to leave it alone myself - except that it looks like crap if not mowed and is VERY hard to mow thereafter. We just closed on 3 years in the property and year one, it took me 3 month to get through it all. Including weed whacking and scythe use. grass will get regular riding mower engine cover height. plus, most of it is some sort of very thick blade clumped grass that likes wet areas, it's basically mowing 1/8th thick tubes, clumped into 6-7 inch thick wands.
Pretty it is but killing to maintain.
Also, you are allowed to bring only 500 yrds of topsoil - once - in but you have to buy permit to do so. Then you get under county radar.

 

[ukrkoz]

That's all I can legally grade, or fix to reasonable condition, in that beautiful meadow. See attached. I think, slowly but steadily, taking hill tops off one at a time, will do the job. Like I said, I am in no rush.

 

[ukrkoz]

So be it known, I actually listened.
I decided to go with 30hp tractor. I am assured it will handle 48 BB just fine. Now working out who to go through. SO far, JD has 31hp with mid mount mower and others don't.

 

[RoyKing]

From the last pic looks to me like that meadow is drainage area and from your description of what is growing there you should not be mowing it. That thick grass's job is to evaporate water and survive when covered with water, grass can't do that. I say that hill you want to flatten was put there as a boundary. So don't know if you have lived there long enough to know how wet that field stays on a rainy year. I bet after a heavy rain that field stays wet much longer than elsewhere, that because the high lots are draining there through the topsoil.

 

[kthompson]

I understand trying not to raise red flag with the government but think you need to find someone who knows the rules as it would apply to your land. We were told there is some filling of wetlands on a home site by the county itself. Now I know there is limits to what can be done on a house site with the wet lands.

I have read each post since my first one and think each one is correct in their concern about you grading with sod establish on it. If you are going to do it with your tractor spray with round up (or generic) at least two months in advance of working an area so it dies and is rotting before you hit it your equipment. Also if you decide land plan is way to go or any other piece of equipment buying used is often a smart idea. If you buy a used land plane or other grading equipment right then you should be able to sell it near what you paid for it when done.

When you were talking about another person cutting it with tractor and rear mower...if that suits you when not buy a rear mower (rough cut or finishing mower which suits what you are mowing) and use it over a true mower. Larger wheels on tractor will handle rough or ruts much better than smaller tires of a lawn mower.