Grading have you ever used your box blade to ...

[Moon]

I need to move our garden. I don't have a tiller, and for all I want to do can't justify buying one. I know I probably could rent one for a day, but I was wondering if anyone ever used their box blade to till up some dirt for a garden?

Seems you could work it back and forth with the tines down and tear up the ground pretty good. But, this is a back corner of our yard and I thought I'd check here to see if anyone else had tried this before I make a mess of things.

Thanks,
Moon of Ohio

 

[PineRidge]

Moon I suppose it could be done but I'm thinking for what it cost you might be further ahead to just rent a Troy tiller for a day.

I used to drag an old Dearborn 2 bottom plow followed by a disk but eventually went to a 3-point tiller and follow between the rows with a Troy built. A tiller will give you a nice pulverized fluffed up garden ready for planting.

 

[chatcher]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I need to move our garden. I don't have a tiller, and for all I want to do can't justify buying one. I know I probably could rent one for a day, but I was wondering if anyone ever used their box blade to till up some dirt for a garden?

Seems you could work it back and forth with the tines down and tear up the ground pretty good. But, this is a back corner of our yard and I thought I'd check here to see if anyone else had tried this before I make a mess of things.

Thanks,
Moon of Ohio

)</font>

If you remove the sod first I think you will have good luck with the box blade. Keep the rear edge off the ground to avoid moving soil. I don't have good luck using the scarifiers on grassy areas because the sod clumps on the teeth and clogs up the works. But then I may need to add some weight to mine. I don't know if you have a loader. If so, you could dig up the garden with it to loosen the soil.

 

[Freds]

It clumps the grass and sod on my BB, too. I had tried to use it to level some areas in my field and had the growth brush hogged down close first, but no good. Removing the sod first is a good idea as long as it doesn't take your top soil with it.

I have been checking into planting a little patch of corn and have been looking into tillers, but can't justify the cost for my uses right now. I'm going to be hitting the auctions and checking around for a 2 bottom plow and set of discs. I'm told that they can be had pretty cheaply in good condition.
A tiller would be nice, though...

 

[BB_TX]

I moved my garden this year also. I went to HD and rented one of their heavy duty rear tine tillers. It did a really good job. I think it was $49/4 hrs or $69/day. My garden isn't all that large and the tiller was fast, so I got out for the 4 hr rate. I think it did a much better job than a box blade and without compacting the soil under the tractor tires.

 

[PBinWA]

The sods the killer. If you get rid of the sod and just want to bust up the dirt it does work pretty well. It's better when the soil is on the dry side otherwise it too sticky.

I levelled a big area with my box blade. I would attack it every couple of weeks. After the third time it looked pretty good. I'm not sure it's really "garden" quality though. If you had a Middle Buster you could stir the soil a little deeper and then level it out with the box blade. The middle buster will cost you more than a days rental of a 3 PT Tiller which will get the job done much faster.

 

[MMM]

Never tried a BB, but I have good results with this method instead of removing sod.

Spray with postmerge, wait and spot spray anything not killed., then turn it under. Build rows and wait a few weeks and postmerge again for new growth that are sure to come from weed/grass seeds you bring to surface. Then when planting disturb only what soil is neccesary to plant. I usually start this the fall before I rotate to new spot while grass is still growing and responds to postmerge. Then build rows in Feb which gives ample time to spray emerging weeds and a few rains to make a nice crust over top of soil. This may work if you still have a while before the soil warms enough to plant up there above the Mason/Dixon.

 

[KiotiJohn]

This is how I cleared and area and dug it up. I could have used it for a garden, but I was just leveling it, and removing the weedy turf.
Adjust the rippers to just dig into the turf, with the rear inside blade adjusted to just skim that off. It will take a few passes, but you'll get all the grass and weeds off. Then, lower the rippers all the way down while raising the inside rear blade to where it doesn't touch, dig the dirt in a few directions and get your hoe out to make some rows. It'll work just fine, and you'll get several pleasurable hours on the tractor. John

 

[Moon]

Thanks for all the replies.
To wet here to even think about starting the garden, but better weather is on the way. 75 an sunny by Weds. Yippee.

I think I'll try to BB it, if that doesn't do well enough I'll bite the bullet and rent a tiller. The HD rental price sounded good. I"ll have to check with our local HD and see if they have the same rental price.

Thanks,
Moon of Ohio