Grass Seeing Acreage (see pic)

[saxon11]

I'm dealing with clayish soil here in MN. I went ahead and seeded a large area (about an acre), my first time using tractor to do so. Here are my steps, let me know if think a good process.

1. I have a 6' rototiler I ran over weedy former farmland (mostly dandelions) - last farmed in 2018, left for weeds since then.
2. I hooked up this harrow rake behind my lawn mower and it smoothed it out a little bit
3. Applied 3 - 25lb bags of landscaper's mix grass seed with my walk-behind spreader
4. Then back over it again with the harrow rake

 

[hosspuller]

Consider the seed bank ... Seeds that are in the soil waiting for conditions to germinate. Some can be viable after decades. Every time you till soil the weed seeds are available to sprout. If your test acre is too weedy, next time kill everything with Roundup, then notill drill your seed into the dead weeds. Side benefit is the dead weeds prevent erosion while your grass is starting.

 

[DJ54]

Once your grass is tall enough to mow, keeping it mowed will eliminate a lot of unwanted weeds from going to seed. The heavy seeding rate will also choke out a lot of the unwanted weeds, except the Dandelions, those suckers will come up in a crack of concrete.

Like hosspuller mentioned, you have to consider the seed bank already there. Even with a total kill with Roundup, you have a lot of viable seed left to sprout for years. And the deeper you till, the more weed seed you bring to the surface. Heavy seeding rate like you did, and mowing often will help a lot, choking out the unwanted weeds.