Ever use a 2720 with a disc and a plow or a rototiller to remove sod?

[snohobigdad]

Looking for suggestions to rework a field that has become rough to the point of being somewhat painful to manage. I have the 2720 and the rototiller so wondering if I can borrow equipment to augment what I have to rework the area.

 

[boomer1025]

Not sure how big your field is, but I would spray it with RoundUp, wait 2 weeks then plow, disc then harrow or rototill it. If you rototill you want to let it sit for awhile since the dirt will be fluffed up. Depending on what your planting, say grass seed I'd till it about 3 inches deep, then plant the seed then roll it.
It's hard to tell someone how to work up a piece of ground with out seeing it and knowing what they plan on planting

 

[Fallon]

My pasture was overgrazed weeds & packed dirt when I moved in. Plowed it with a subsoiler before running a tiller through. It ended up being a bit rough because I didn't have a culdipacker to roll it afterwards & tried using the tractor tires.

If you go to slow with a tiller (usually due to low HP), you turn the dirt to powder & have problems.

 

[snohobigdad]

Thanks Fallon and Boomer. Sounds like disc, plow and if I use tiller I definitely need to roll it afterwards.

 

[jenkinsph]

Looking for suggestions to rework a field that has become rough to the point of being somewhat painful to manage. I have the 2720 and the rototiller so wondering if I can borrow equipment to augment what I have to rework the area.

I would use the rototiller and a simple drag for a low one time equipment investment. The tiller will work well for you just don't overtill it. The drag could be a piece of fence or old chain link gate. Better would be a drag harrow with teeth which are reasonably cheap to buy.

For lawn areas and small fields a poly lawn roller will help smooth and pack seeds down with good results. A small one is good enough since you can roll quickly and then won't need it again for a long time.

You should be able to put together a drag and lawn roller for a few hundred bucks.

 

[snohobigdad]

Awesome. Sampling first. I have a drag and tiller. Just need a roller. Should be able to rent that!

 

[Clay45]

I would use the rototiller and a simple drag for a low one time equipment investment. The tiller will work well for you just don't overtill it. The drag could be a piece of fence or old chain link gate. Better would be a drag harrow with teeth which are reasonably cheap to buy.

For lawn areas and small fields a poly lawn roller will help smooth and pack seeds down with good results. A small one is good enough since you can roll quickly and then won't need it again for a long time.

You should be able to put together a drag and lawn roller for a few hundred bucks.

I tried this approach last year. After tilling the field looked great. Using my UTV I mounted a broadcast spreader, drove around slinging seed, and then using a drag harrow to stir it all up. Looked great until the first rain. The wheel tracks from running my UTV all over it showed thru and ultimately didn't sprout the grass seed as well as the places not driven over.

Trouble with my seed slinger and my drag harrow is I can't turn it off, stop, and back up when in use. I have to keep driving forward and use my old tire marks as a guide for where to run in ever tightening turns until I just either give up or go over certain areas multiple times in order to line up to hit some spots only once.

Not happy with the results and at a loss how to remedy. If you find a solution I hope you share it!

 

[kthompson]

Never have done a lot of such seeding but still a few acres and have always had decent success. To me think people tend to bury seed to deep is the reason they don't get the stand they want or they use something to cover that will move too much dirt and leave the seeds pulled together.

I over plant winter rye grass buy just over seeding it and get good results. One trick if you want to call it that is to set spread light and make multiply passes at 90% to each other to get really good cover. Then I like for field use a "field cultivator or disk" set light to just cover. That does not pull dirt like you can with saw a rake which has tendency to pull high spots to low areas.

If the area just needs reseeding take a disc, set the blades as near straight as possible, cutting say one inch deep and then spread over it. You will get better stand than you expect.

 

[jenkinsph]

I tried this approach last year. After tilling the field looked great. Using my UTV I mounted a broadcast spreader, drove around slinging seed, and then using a drag harrow to stir it all up. Looked great until the first rain. The wheel tracks from running my UTV all over it showed thru and ultimately didn't sprout the grass seed as well as the places not driven over.

Trouble with my seed slinger and my drag harrow is I can't turn it off, stop, and back up when in use. I have to keep driving forward and use my old tire marks as a guide for where to run in ever tightening turns until I just either give up or go over certain areas multiple times in order to line up to hit some spots only once.

Not happy with the results and at a loss how to remedy. If you find a solution I hope you share it!

I use a 3ph broadcast spin spreader for new pastures and lawns in most cases. Works well enough for me. Wheel tracks will usually be where the grass comes up first due to the compaction and better seed contact with the soil. I divide the seed up so that I can make three trips across the field for more uniform seed application. Pictures below.

I don't use drags myself but are good if on a tight budget. I built a 3ph spiked tooth harrow for about $250 pictured below. I also built an 8' land plane grader scraper for smoothing lawns and fields pictured below. I also use a pine straw rake to cover seeds with good results too.

For fields and pastures I frequently grade the area with a box blade and laser set up for flood irrigated land then plant as above.

A few pictures of my work after the grass has grown up.

 

[Fallon]

Grass came up on my ruts, much less in the uncompleted ares. I also pulled some fence around as a drag to smooth the ground & cover the seed.

Field is pretty nice & green, but you can still see the grain from the tires. It sucks driving in any direction other than the pattern I drove when seeding & dragging.

 

[Mechanos]

Rent a Harley rake.

 

[snohobigdad]

Wow such great ideas. I am working with a slope that I have to make my turns carefully unless at top or bottom. I do have a box blade and am intrigued by the land plane idea. You guys are awesome. Thank you so much!!!

 

[jeff9366]

TractorData.com John Deere 272 tractor information

Four posts in this thread and you still have not told us how large your field is.

Roto-Tillers and Disc Harrows are two forms of soil mixing tillers. Your Deere 2720 is only heavy/powerful enough to pull and Disc Harrow with 18" diameter pans, the MINIMUM weight of Disc Harrow which is effective. Skip the Disc Harrow; the PTO powered roto-tiller will work better.

Smoothing seems to be your primary objective. After roto-tilling the soil will be loose. As recommended by JENKINSPH a Land Plane or Spike Tooth Harrow would work. I have a Ratchet Rake FEL bucket attachment which will work too, perhaps a somewhat more aggressive grader. I also have an ETA Landscape Rake with gauge wheels, which is also good for finish grading when used on an angle. Landscape Rake is less aggressive than the Ratchet Rake, about equal in aggressiveness to a 1/2" chain harrow.

A Cultipacker is good for rolling in seeds but is is not great for grading type smoothing, as I interpret your need.

As you have a Box Blade, why not use it? Box Blades take quite a while to learn to use well but it should suffice for your need. You will not get the field perfectly smooth with a Box Blade but you can succeed the Box Blade with a Spike Tooth Harrow, Chain Harrow, Ratchet Rake or Landscape Rake with gauge wheels.

You can buy a Ratchet Rake from the T-B-N store, button at top of this page.

 

[snohobigdad]

Jeff,
It is just a couple of acres. To so many here that is nothing. To me it is a fair amount. I just heard from someone about a barrel rake. It sounded a bit like the harrow tool, but it could also do some leveling.

 

[Fallon]

A Harley rake. They are bad ***, kind of a combo between a box blade & a rototiller. They have a spinning drum with 1-2" carbide nubs on it instead of the shaft & tines on a tiller. It will push a pile of dirt in front of it to smooth & level things as well as screening out rocks & debris. It doesn't go that deep like a tiller does, but makes for great surface prep for seeding.

 

[snohobigdad]

Fallon,
That's what he described. That is wicked.

Harley rake - YouTube

 

[snohobigdad]

That's it Fallon

Harley rake - YouTube

 

[jeff9366]

For two acres your Roto-tiller and a $350 Ratchet Rake bucket attachment should be ample to smooth everything up in one day or less.

 

[snohobigdad]

Thanks Jeff. I appreciate your patience and suggestions!!

 

[Fallon]

Ya, those are sweet, $8k new for a 3pt one or so though. :-0

I had a crack at a $2.5k used one a while back, but was short on cash & it was a 4 hour drive away.