Getting the Yard Ready

[tc4020]

I'm in the process of building a new house on five acres and want to get my lawn levelled out and prepped to plant grass. About half the lot was torn up pretty good to build the pad and the other half is an old bermuda pasture.

I have used my box blade to get the torn up part pretty level. Now I want to get it really level so I can plant. I think I need to run the tiller over it first to deal with any compaction from the heavy equipment. My first question is, after I do that am I going to need to relevel the ground? Should I use my box blade again or would it be better to use a chain harrow (which I have)? Once I get it turned and levelled I assume I'll need to rent a roller to roll the ground, then do I run back over it with the drag to prep the seed bed or just seed then use the drag to turn the seed in?

On the bermuda pasture I'm planning to run over that with the tiller and till in the bermuda. A friend told me that that would tend to level out all the little bumps and holes in the pasture to get it smoother. Then I was planning to use the BB to pull dirt around to level out big holes and bumps. Followed by rolling to finish smoothing and eliminate any pockets. When finished hopefully the bermuda will pop right back up but I won't have to bounce around quite some much when brush hogging. Does this process sound right or have I missed a step?

For what it's worth I've got a Branson 4020 with FEL, BB, Befco tiller and spreader and a chain harrow with lift frame to get this done with. Have access to a basic rake if that helps.

Thanks for any advice!

Tony

 

[KiotiJohn]

Sounds to me like you have the process pretty well down.
Till the roughest areas from different angles and then run your harrow around and around which should fill in lose spots.
If you don't want to roll it, you could just let it rest for a while, let it rain on it some which will settle it a good bit.
I'm not really sure at that point if you should harrow just before seeding and then harrow again or if you can just sew the seed and then harrow lightly to barely cover it.
There are more experience lawn guys on here that will probably chime in, but I think you have the leveling idea pretty much under control.

 

[EddieWalker]

I was out at a guys house the other day and he said he was using his tire drag on his neighbors yard to smooth it out before planting grass.

Since I'd never heard of a tire drag, I asked to see it.

He used six tires he got for free from the tire shop. They are from big diesel trucks.

He looped them all togeher with 5 foot lengths of cable creating a triangle shape laid out flat.

The tires are then draged behind a tractor. As you drag them, they fill up with dirt and get even heavier. The result was golf course smooth.

I have a log with some cyclone fence wrapped around it to do the same thing, but the results from the tires was MUCH better!!!

 

[Highbeam]

It seems like we've all got a stash of tires dumped on our properties. I know I can come up with six.

Farmers have been known to get very creative with drags. I know of one fellow that aquired an old section of rail from the railroad. He has it somewhat shortened and attached so that it drags sideways. The weight knocks down the manure heaps real well.

The other guy works here at city hall and picked up the old solid jailhouse door after the rebuild. It is ridiculously heavy and he drags his gravel driveway with it.

My personal drag is a heavy 8' long section of I-beam with a 6" flange and a 12" web. The I-beam is chained from the web so as you pull it sideways the I-beam stands up on the flange a bit and pushes a row of material out front. I even drug this aroun with the pickup for a smooth grade.

 

[DDT]

Neat idea about the tires. I use to use a metal bed spring, add some weight. It worked so well I made a 3 point hitch for it with a place for suit case weights. It covered a lot of ground before she wore out.

 

[Varmintmist]

If you have ANY stone, get a york rake (landscape rake) if you cant rent or borrow one, buy it.

I just got done with the large open areas of my yard, finished seeding at 930pm, and I borrowed a 8 foot york rake. They are wonderful things.

I rough graded with the back blade and then took after it with the rake. You are a lot ahead with the tiller.

 

[Cdash]

May want to consider renting a soil conditioner. I rented one last weekend to fix some things up. It is essentially a beam on it's side with spikes front and back at 6 inch spacings offset from each other, followed by a spiked drum that breaks the clods. It left me a very smooth surface, much better than I had expected.

The combination of this and a landscape rake (if you have trash - roots, rocks, etc, that needs removal) couldn't be beat.

It only cost me $35 to rent it overnight.

 

[Jrrcorp]

Another implement that the Pros use is a Power Rake. Once you level the area you go over it with the power rake and you get a surface ready for planting. Also, after you seed it, roll it and then cover the whole area with straw or hay. This will keep the moisture and heat in and incubate the new seed. You'll have grass coming up in as little as four days.