Dealing with Sod

[Cherokee180]

I am getting ready to undertake the project I bought the BX24 for....landscaping my back yard. My first project is to remove a bunch of grass/sod along the perimeter of the yard. I see a couple of options:

1) I can round up the area to remove, let it die, then use the tiller to break it up and FL to remove the remnants.
2) I can till the live grass/sod and repeat as in 1.

The BH seems like it would be a pretty slow and messy proposition, but I am willing to listen to anyones suggestions before I begin.

Thanks for all the wealth of info on this site....I love my little orange powered wheel-barrow.

 

[Wolfy]

Mow those areas super short, then rototill and use the loader and maybe a landscape rake. I see some people put a tarp over unwanted grassy areas and wait a week or two to move it.

 

[Mac25]

I would just till it and use FEL to remove. Round up is too expensive and I dont think would give you an advantage that you would notice.

 

[Egon]

If you are removing the sod just use your bucket.

 

[oakwoods]

My wife and I recently put in a 20' x 20' garden at a local camp for kids with chronic illnesses. The sod was extremely thick and I considered trailering my BX 24 there to remove the sod with the FEL. My trailer won't handle the BX and I couldn't find one to rent, so we rented a sod cutter. The job couldn't have been easier. We had the sod cut and loaded in my trailer in about 1.5 hours. Here is a link to the machine I used:
HUSQVARNA SC18 - Sod cutters

 

[the fat kid]

How many acres you talkin? How much sod do you need to remove? If it's just a little use the fel. If a lot I'd get a toothsaw to dig it. BH is for digging a hole and it sounds to me like your just gonna scrape off the topsoil. A toothsaw on your loader would do just that and save on you bucket and save you tons of time! A sod cutter would work if it's a not so big area.

Just FYI I just did this same type of project 3 weeks ago and it went fine with just a bucket and I've got 4 acres.

 

[RippySkippy]

When I and two other neighbors built our homes (a new development) we had a mix of grass and weeds, roughly 14 acres between the three of us.

After mowing it REALLY short, we applied roundup, let it lay for a couple weeks, then disced a couple of times, followed by tilling. I think one of the successes was that after we disced, we let the clods air out and dry. Then when tilling, the sod clumps were just ground up into the soil. After the grass came up, you wouldn't know they were even there.

 

[radioman]

If you are just needing to clear a small area, you can use the bucket. Just make sure your rear tires is on thee "same plane" you want thee final outcome of scraped sod. I have done it. I put it in low, 4 wheel drive and take your time when cutting sod 2 ft at a time and flip over. backup and repeat. this method works good for my on my BX.

 

[Cherokee180]

Thanks for all the advice. It is a 10 foot by about 200 foot swath. I will give each method a try as suggested and see what happens. Good way to continue to get to know my tractor better.