Box Scraper grading for large lawn areas

TerryMcQ · Jan 2, 2011

I'm new to having a few acres instead of city lot and I have a Kubota B2320. I need to know what attachment would be best for me to buy to do a lot of grading on gently rolling hills and some flat areas which all was grown over with brush/scrub from property being unused for several years prior to me buying it.
I am guessing the box scraper would be best but I may need to turn everything over before I can regrade and I may need to move large amounts of soil around or bring in a few semi loads here and there. Hopefully I am providing enough info for someone to give me some good advice. All will be greatly appreciated.

Egon · Jan 2, 2011

Till it up and make a drag to go over it to level all. Do it more than once or twice if you you are going to mow in comfort!:thumbsup:

nuffer460 · Jan 2, 2011

How many acres and how much time do you have? If you have an FEL and a box blade.You can move allot of ground. Just not very fast. You could move a tandem load of topsoil, to grade in two hours After you break up the ground with the box blade scarffers. I would rent a power rake for a couple of days. Power rakes can knock down high spots fast. Again, it comes down to area,time, and money.

TerryMcQ · Jan 2, 2011

Hey Egon, forgive me for being a city idiot but all my previous experience with tractors was a small bobcat using the front loader to grade after backfilling around repaired foundations. I need to know what to buy to do the work right on my land and I'm not sure if I need a tiller attachment AND the box scraper....anything else?
Is my little 23 horse enough to do the work? So far it seems like a good machine

TerryMcQ · Jan 2, 2011

I work from home so I'll find the time to do the work. Also, playing on the tractor and working my little 4.63 acrse in my spare time is the greatest therapy for me and I plan on enjoying this land for the rest of my life, unless I win the big lottery and then I'll have more land and bigger toys

TerryMcQ · Jan 2, 2011

I really do need to ask questions like a new guy. What do you mean "make a drag"? And what attachments should I buy. TSC should be able to get what I need and the prices are reasonable. Also, I'm patient and will buy what I need when I have the money

nuffer460 · Jan 2, 2011

Terry, Box blade (scrapper) is a very useful attachment. Tiller is also great and has many uses. That would be a great start. Some kind of a rear drag would be useful to. Just make sure the box blade, tiller are wider then your tractor. I made a great cheap lawn drag from a 8 foot length of chain link fence with a length of channel iron on both ends. Hook a chain on it and drag it around

nuffer460 · Jan 2, 2011

Tery, TSC has a good boxblade. Here is mine. Check Craigslist for what you want also.

TerryMcQ · Jan 2, 2011

nuffer, thanks for the info! Let me ask you, I understand the lawn drag now and I have a good workshop to fabricate such a tool but I don't mind buying new if new is significantly better than me making what you describe. Should I wait to tackle the start of this project until I have tiller and scraper at least? I might be able to buy them the spring. I have a creek splitting the property roughly in half and could work on the half with house on it first and take soil from north end but might have to hire larger loader and dump to bring it faster where I want it and then do the fine tuning with my Kubota

rdbrumfield · Jan 2, 2011

Something I do before getting serious is to just take the top sod off leaving nothing but fresh dirt to work, skim it off after tilling just the top. It will make the job so much easier in the end.
After tilling it up I like to take a 2X6 or 8 about 10 ft long and bolt it to the loader cutting edge and use that for a drag. By backblading the humps into the lows you can move a lot of material and the wider blade makes leveling a breeze. As you move the humps down to new ground, just till it again to loosen it up and move it. As you are moving the material to the lows the tractor will do some compacting. After you think you have it, till the whole thing again and relevel. It takes some time to do it to a finish, but this is what works for me. Good luck.

TerryMcQ · Jan 2, 2011

Egon, I certainly do hope to mow in comfort, even to the point of trading up as soon as possible to tractor with heated/air conditioned cab!

Wedgie · Jan 2, 2011

Terry-

I have established a number of new yards and renovated older yards as well.
If I am working with a yard that has grass I spray it with Roundup to kill the existing grass to make the dirt easier to work with. I then till in yard with a rototiller. Let it sit for a day or two, then go back and rototill it again and use the landscape rake to begin establishing the grade and smoothness I want. I continue rototilling and landscape raking until I reach the proper degree of levelness. I then plant and straw the yard.

George

TerryMcQ · Jan 2, 2011

Thanks George. Now I have more questions and hope you can help a former city fool. I've been told it's a waste to use chemicals including roundup during winter. When should I start this work? Is there certain regular temperature I need to wait for? And as for killing everything, that's fine because I have lots of poison ivy and unwanted brush I want to get rid of but how long after using chemical can I plant grass seed and I also have a couple hundred tree saplings coming in the spring that I will want to plant asap after receiving them. Any advice would be appreciated. I want to have a great looking piece of land.

inveresk · Jan 3, 2011

I sowed a couple acres lawn after tree felling. Here's what I did and what I did it with.

1. Dug out tree roots with backhoe and evened out ground..
2. Made several passes with box blade with teeth down to break up sod and vegetation and tear up the soil.
3. Ran over the disturbed ground with box blade with teeth up to remove clumps of sod and large rocks and even out bumps and hollows. (All this stuff was piled at the edge of the lawn for disposal later).
4. Hit the area a few times with rototiller to try to get a finer tilth.
5. Ran over the area several times with home made harrow (made from a section of chain link fence stapled and chained to an old log).
6. Walked the area twice picking up any rocks big enough to be a problem for the mower.
7. Sowed pasture mix with a walk behind broadcast spreader.
8. Rolled the lawn to press the seed into the ground and push any remaining small rocks below the surface. I hauled the roller around with my ztr because ag tires on the tractor would have ripped the lawn area up again.

For two acres, I'd a helper and it took us about four days with a 32hp tractor, 6' box blade and 5' rototiller. On my ground the tiller was essential. I bought it used for $900. I'd a pile of rocks, sod and surface vegetation I had to dispose of that I placed in a hole vacated by the rootball of a windblown tree.

I didn't use any weedkillers. Work was carried out in spring when ground was firm but still soft enough to work easily and when conditions were right for germination. Results were good.

LD1 · Jan 3, 2011

A lot depends on just how smooth you want it. What are you going to mow it with. If you plan on mowing it with your tractor or a riding mower, it doesn't have to be as good as if you are getting a ZTR. ZTR's go sooo fast that you want it as smooth as possible. And it doesnt have to be perfectly flat either. gently rolling is still smooth to mow with whatever you use.

That said, I wouldn't want to use the tiller. It will take forever IMO and tilling hard ground is rough. And unless you plan on gardening as well, a tiller is going to be expensive for this one time thing.

I would use a box blade and run the rippers all the way down and toplink as short as possible. This will make the rippers dig the deepest. And I would look for a box blade that has as many rippers as you can get. This will break up the ground similar to what a tiller would do. Then raise the rippers and lengthen the toplink and use the boxblade like normal to move and distribute the dirt into the low spots. Then once "roughed in" go over it with a drag similar to what has been mentioned.

Another attachment that isn't too expensive if you shop c-list is a landscape rake. It will do a similar job as a drag, only it will gather a few more rocks and get them out of the yard for you. They do an excellent job for a finish grade if the soil is already broken up. Seed it and straw it. Then stay off of it until it hardens up or you will just rut it back up.

Egon · Jan 3, 2011

Hey Egon, forgive me for being a city idiot but all my previous experience with tractors was a small bobcat using the front loader to grade after backfilling around repaired foundations. I need to know what to buy to do the work right on my land and I'm not sure if I need a tiller attachment AND the box scraper....anything else?
Is my little 23 horse enough to do the work? So far it seems like a good machine

OK:
The tractor should be fine.

For myself the roto-tiller would be essential.

I'd prefer the home made drag over the box blade as it will be wider and do a better job of leveling. Use the loader to move dirt around with.

For the drag a baulk of lumber about 10 feet long and six by six or bigger would work well. Using two of them with opposing angles would even be better and weight could be added if necessary. For a deluxe drag look up the one Eddie Walker built!

Finish off with a harrow or landscape rake.

Roundup only works on growing vegetation. It's use would make the sod clumps much easier to break up.

Roto-tilling goes much easier in moist soil.

Try and do the preparation before the trees show up. They are miserable to work around.

Note: there are many other good ideas presented.

J_J · Jan 3, 2011

TerryMcQ,

I would recommend you go on YouTube and watch some box blade videos, and some Harley rake video, and other drag type implements.

YouTube - How to Use a Box Blade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7wRHccjr-A&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R-8ZhFlO5Y&feature=related

TripleR · Jan 3, 2011

All very good advice on which I can't improve as I have used all methods. Your tractor will do it, but when talking acres it will take a long time as it appears a lot of dirt will need to be moved. At some point you should consider renting something able to move more dirt. Having done all of this with small and big tractors, I prefer big though there will always be a place for the small ones.

JohninCT · Jan 3, 2011

If the land is gently rolling, do you really think you need to rip up, grade and replant everthing? It might be better if you got a rotary cutter and mowed down the brush and try to reestablish the grass that is already there. Brush too big for the cutter to mow down could be pulled out separately using the tractor. If necessary you could then rent an overseeder and augment the grass that is already there. This could get a decent mowable area back with a whole lot less work ripping and moving dirt around which depending on your location and soil conditions could result in a lot more work than you might think. Ripping and tilling dirt here in New England brings up LOTS and LOTS of rocks which are a pain to deal with (picking them all up or hitting them with the mower)

Maybe you could tell a little more about your soil conditions and the type of condition you're trying to achieve (golf course type lawn or reasonably smooth and mowable yard/field?)