Breaking up very hard dirt clods.

[Sportsman762]

When I worked grounds keeping for a college, we would keep our nice top soil in a shed. It had been their years and was very hard. We would load it with a backhoe into the dump truck. To spread it we used a Kubota BX2400 with a tiller. Spread it with the bucket, then use the tiller to grind it into a fine dust. Make sure your slip clutch is in good shape and go at it. It is a rough ride on the tractor as the tiller throws it around, and your bumping over clods. This is why the student (me) ran the tractor while the other groundskeepers supervised (set in dump truck and watched). If you do get too nasty of a clod, or a big rock masquerading as a clod the slip clutch or shear bolt will protect the tractor. Do not over think this, start tilling, its going to take some time.

But if we are going for overly complex answers then your going to have to rent a Royer soil shredder and load it with a rented skidsteer. This will provide the finest fluffiest soil you have ever worked.

Royer Industries, Inc. - Products

Royer soil shredders simplify screening, aeration & composting of organic materials through a single machine.

www.royerind.com

 

[jaxs]

There are clays,then there are clays that have little in common with other clays. I have lived and worked with black clay in N.Texas that will destroy your tractor and tiller before you turn clumps back to workable dirt,,,,,,,,,unless you go about it right. Assuming you are putting this in your yard,I'll tell you what works for my nasty black clay.
When wet it act's like bubble gum sticking to feet and tires until bulk weight literally "stop's you in your tracks". When dry,it shrinks leaving cracks 1"-3" wide and a few feet deep and become's hard as sorry concrete. The best way to pulverize clumps is to exploit the shrink-expand-shrink cycle. Use lawn sprinklers or alow rain to wet clumps and clods then wait until it dry's and cracks,at which point clumps will easily fall apart when desturbed. Use what you have (I like box blade) to begin placing soil where needed (not neccessarly leveling or smoothing). Why box blade work's well is that clumps can be rolled which help's to break them up. You will now have some well pulverized soil along with smaller clumps and clods which can be reduced to additional soil and even smaller clumps by repeating a wet-dry cycle. You can take more than one avenue here. (1) Attempt farthar busting with tiller (2) Sort everything larger than basketballs into piles and try tilling the rest. (3) Move usable dirt to fill selected area(s) that can be overseeded right away and continue processing clumps. Coming up on the wet season,it might become neccessary to tarp clump piles during rain to help them dry. If left til spring,the piles will break down but I suggest working it if it become's dry enough. Just keep in mind what I said about bubble gum when wet and don't mess with it. I suggest improving tilth by mixing compost,manure and wood chips as dirt is worked which will make final tilling much easier plus widen time window for moisture ussues.
Now,I have a rant. Everyone on TBN that own's a fel claim they can "back-blade" and do more and do it better than people with box blades. Construction operators do it every day and make it look easy but here's my challenge to weekend farmers. We put a pile of basketball size stones on one side of the lot then see who can move more to other side,back-blading fel or box blade. I'll spot the fel 5 secounds and loser pay's winner $5 each for differece in number of rocks moved within 10 minutes.

 

[LD1]

Where have you heard "everyone on tbn" say that they can do more with a. Fel and rear blade vs box blade?

They are two different tools that serve two purposes. Sure they both move dirt, but they move it differently.

 

[DJ54]

That looks like a good sized loader. I believe I'd have asked the operator if they could back drag off the pile, or get a few small bucket loads, then back drag with the bucket, breaking it up into more managable sized material you would be able to handle. If you would have offered an extra $10 to do that, more then likely they would have done it anyway, just for asking/offering.

 

[Egon]

There are clays,then there are clays that have little in common with other clays. I have lived and worked with black clay in N.Texas that will destroy your tractor and tiller before you turn clumps back to workable dirt,,,,,,,,,unless you go about it right. Assuming you are putting this in your yard,I'll tell you what works for my nasty black clay.
When wet it act's like bubble gum sticking to feet and tires until bulk weight literally "stop's you in your tracks". When dry,it shrinks leaving cracks 1"-3" wide and a few feet deep and become's hard as sorry concrete. The best way to pulverize clumps is to exploit the shrink-expand-shrink cycle. Use lawn sprinklers or alow rain to wet clumps and clods then wait until it dry's and cracks,at which point clumps will easily fall apart when desturbed. Use what you have (I like box blade) to begin placing soil where needed (not neccessarly leveling or smoothing). Why box blade work's well is that clumps can be rolled which help's to break them up. You will now have some well pulverized soil along with smaller clumps and clods which can be reduced to additional soil and even smaller clumps by repeating a wet-dry cycle. You can take more than one avenue here. (1) Attempt farthar busting with tiller (2) Sort everything larger than basketballs into piles and try tilling the rest. (3) Move usable dirt to fill selected area(s) that can be overseeded right away and continue processing clumps. Coming up on the wet season,it might become neccessary to tarp clump piles during rain to help them dry. If left til spring,the piles will break down but I suggest working it if it become's dry enough. Just keep in mind what I said about bubble gum when wet and don't mess with it. I suggest improving tilth by mixing compost,manure and wood chips as dirt is worked which will make final tilling much easier plus widen time window for moisture ussues.
Now,I have a rant. Everyone on TBN that own's a fel claim they can "back-blade" and do more and do it better than people with box blades. Construction operators do it every day and make it look easy but here's my challenge to weekend farmers. We put a pile of basketball size stones on one side of the lot then see who can move more to other side,back-blading fel or box blade. I'll spot the fel 5 secounds and loser pay's winner $5 each for differece in number of rocks moved within 10 minutes.

Back blading is not the best way to level. Moving forward with the bucket for levelling will work much better. The thing is you have to make a level spot to start from. Thereafter it is not hard.

kinda silly trying to move large rocks by back blading. Going forward will be much easier and even allow one to load and lift rocks.

 

[TractorGuy]

Get some tiger teeth for the backhoe bucket. I put the single point type on mine. Come straight down on the clumps and they don't stand a chance.

 

[SPYDERLK]

In my area, good black dirt has been hard to come by, the last few years. I was able to get a few loads, free. It is not ideal, but will work. However, it was pushed up with a large dozer and the chunks are quite large. Some are so heavily compacted my Kubota BX (with MMM and backhoe attached) bucket edge can’t cut into them. I just lift my tractor up, on top.

I have a rear mount reverse spin tiller, but I’m concerned about the logistics of safety keeping the machine on top of the large clods. I think I’m going to try it, but thought I would see what other plans I should make.

One of my thoughts is to water it, heavily, but I don’t know if it’s the best way.

Here are some pictures:
View attachment 716316

View attachment 716317

View attachment 716318

Anybody close to you have a big AG tractor? A few minutes driving back/forth over that oughta fix it to the point you could work it easily with your tiller.

 

[nikerret]

Thanks, for the replies. It’s supposed to rain, tonight, and the next few days. I’ll see what it looks like, after that.

There is some clay, in it, but there is a lot of topsoil. It’s just new topsoil that hadn’t been exposed to sunlight, in at least 100 years. The part of the pile I pulled from is the first parts that were stripped off, to make a pond. The further to the right (in my picture, in the loader), the more clay it was, as they got deeper. I didn’t take a picture, but I delivered two loads to a house demo I worked on. Putting this dirt on top of all clay was a huge difference.

Here are some closer pictures, you can see the grass, from the pasture it once was:

Is it ugly? Yes. For my application, it should be perfect. I’m using it to fix the drainage, around my house. After I get that graded out, I will put a liner over it and some nice white (is actually got multiple colors) rock over it. What I have left over I’m going to use to regrade parts of my yard where grass will be grown. The main focus, though, is around the house.

I finally had to just do it. I do dump trailer and tractor work commercially. Until now, every time I could get dirt I sold it. I’ve done drainage work at a lot of houses, but without the dirt, there is no job.

That looks like a good sized loader. I believe I'd have asked the operator if they could back drag off the pile, or get a few small bucket loads, then back drag with the bucket, breaking it up into more managable sized material you would be able to handle. If you would have offered an extra $10 to do that, more then likely they would have done it anyway, just for asking/offering.

The operator is an idiot who doesn’t know what he is doing. I was the operator. The loader was a John Deere 444C that has more hours on it than most of the parts have life. A few days prior to this, was my first time using it. It was also my first time in articulating equipment. Getting the dirt in my trailer and not breaking anything was all I hoped to accomplish.

 

[DJ54]

Anyone that operates quipment, had to start and learn somewhere. I learned a lot watching some really good operators, when I was one of the ground crew. A good operator will make it easier for his ground crew, if they make a job a lot easier for them, just doing the little things. I did the same for mine, when I was at the controls.

 

[nikerret]

Anyone that operates quipment, had to start and learn somewhere. I learned a lot watching some really good operators, when I was one of the ground crew. A good operator will make it easier for his ground crew, if they make a job a lot easier for them, just doing the little things. I did the same for mine, when I was at the controls.

Unless I’m hired out to run my dump trailer, I’m usually the ground crew and the operator. There is one good thing about doing stuff alone. No one can see how bad you are!j