Help a newbie plan for planting grass next spring.

[ishiboo]

I just purchased a Kubota L3650 (40hp 4wd), and in the spring will be using it to level some ground and plant grass over about 1 acre as an extension to my current yard. It's currently farm field and is relatively heavy soil with lots of clay. There is not substantial leveling to do, it just has the ups and downs from being plowed/etc. in the process of farming.

1. My tractor unfortunately has 6'6" wide rear wheels, and the rims are just as wide. There is no adjustment. I believe that being only about 2700 lbs (plus the FEL), I cannot use a box blade or attachments that cover my wheel tracks, or it'd be too much for the tractor/traction. Is this likely accurate? I'm guessing I might want to find some narrow rims/tires before I go purchasing accessories, it seems that 6' accessories would be just about perfect.

2. What attachments should I have for leveling the ground and smoothing it to plant grass? It will be yard area so I want it as smooth as possible. I already need a box blade for maintaining the driveway, but I get the feeling that will "clump" instead of leaving the dirt smooth.

My initial thought was to use a rear blade or box blade to get things mostly level, and then drag some weighted chain link to get it smoothed out and ready for planting.

Thanks in advance for all your help and advice.

 

[jenkinsph]

Putting in lawns from scratch is what i do for fun and part of my living. It has been rewarding to see the results of the efforts the last few years and my work is ever increasing through word of mouth. Helps defray the cost of all the green tools too. That said below is an explanation of what tools I use primarily and what I have found works the best in my area. You may wan't to do all of this or just portions of it but at any rate good luck with your new lawn.



PREPARING THE SEED BED
I would rototill the entire lawn area first. Next add any amendments still needed and incorporate into this loose soil (rototill once more). Then run a landplane/grader to smooth out any mounds and depressions the wider the better for this. Make many trips across the lawn area in alternating directions. You will be able to easily see the results of this and then be able to fix any areas left that need more passes.


SEEDING
I then broadcast the seed with a spin spreader at a very heavy rate of 400lbs/acre for a new lawn using Fescue varieties. Your grass and seed type may vary for your locale but do seed it heavy. I recommend you put out starter ferilizer with this seed. After this I run either a spike tooth harrow or pine needle rake to cover the seeds. Last trip across is with a heavy roller to press the top layer against the seed. Any remaining ridges from running the harrow will smooth out in time on their own.


WATERING
Watering is needed to germinate the seed, I water every six hours enough to keep the top 1" layer damp. This watering doesn't need much time or volume after the initial wetting down. You should have a good stand within three weeks and any bare spots should be reseeded. Other than the bare spots I would then run water three times a day for the next week ot two. Then a week watering twice a day. Then two weeks watering once a day. By the time 3 months have passed I am watering the grass twice a week or every 4 days. This is independent of any rain, if you have rain you can delay your schedule accordingly. You are starting off dependent on soil with frequent watering intervals in small amounts to keep the seed damp, as the roots grow down you decrease the frequency or watering interval and increase the watering depth slightly. As the roots grow deeper you need to water less frequently and apply enough water to soak into the ground. If you over water frequently the roots will not grow down deep enough.

In my dry climate I water after initially soaking the ground well on this schedule with large gear head sprinklers:
4 x a day for 15 minutes
3 x a day for 20 minutes
2 x a day for 30 minutes
1 x a day for 60 minutes
every four days for 120 minutes
rain delays vary according to amount.


SOIL CONDITIONS AND FERTILIZING

I recommend you get a soil analysis right away to find what amendments you need to put out, contact your local county agent USDA office for a free sample analysis. Some of the amendments need time to work, so adding them now can be very beneficial to the growth of your lawn in the spring. Getting the ph balanced may take some time to do and can change over time as the lawn grows and you fertilize it. I therefore recommend you continue with the soil analysis each year to see what needs to be done.
i find that in my locale I get alot of benefit by using winterizer fertilizer applied in the late fall, really helps promote root growth over the winter. While the grass may appear dormant the roots can continue to grow and good roots make for better grass and result in less weeds too.

Here's a pic of my lawn after the first year of growth, this use to be a rough area with scrub brush and mesquite trees lots of debris. Did I mention the debris?

 

[jenkinsph]

Here is another project i did that was on top of a mountain with piles of rocks in the backyard close to the septic (the result of digging for the field lines). Wish I had taken some pictures of this prior to starting the project.

Basically I made a berm on the low edge inside the property line with all the surface rock. Then hauled in a 3 to 4 inch layer of good topsoil and planted with both annual rye and Tall Fescue. This is a work in progress and water use is very limited, more water would yield better results.

 

[teg]

Do you have a photo of your tractor (to see the tires)... do you have R1- Ags., R4 - industrial or R3 - Turf tires???

You should be able to handle 7' wide BB, you might not be able to be aggressive with it (besides it doesn't sound like you need to be aggressive).

I bought a Tractor Pulverizer, Yard Tool 60" Model 51, Single Roller for finishing my grass areas but you might be able to rent one from a rental place... Where are you located? or Do you have any rocks that you need to deal with?

 

[jenkinsph]

Here are pictures after the grass was up this summer on the above project. The remaining pictures are of a separate project on the edge of a golf course. We built the patio with paver extention and laid the block first then smoothed up the lawn and berm around the patio. The landplane grader greatly reduces the amount of hand work raking.

 

[jenkinsph]

With a 40 hp tractor you should be able to use implements which will cover your tracks easily. For driveway maintenance I would suggest the landplane over the boxblade. Usually maintaining the gravel driveways requires a rearblade too, this enables you to work over the edges for ditches and maintain the crown for proper side drainage of rain water.

You can buy a landplane/grader with scarifier teeth which may work to break up the surface of your lawn area too. While not as good as rototilling it would be a good combination tool that you could get alot of use out of.

As far as purchases I would look around for a simple and inexpensive rearblade about 7' wide used. A 7' landplane with rippers teeth may be hard to find used but this size should be about right for your tractor. A small tow behind spin spreader for seed and fertilizer, need this on a regular basis so I would buy it. I prefer a spike tooth harrow to cover the seed as it is less prone to moving (or bunching) the seed enough to create bare spots the way a drag will do.

For a one shot deal I would see if I could rent a tiller and a roller for the seeds.

 

[murphy1244]

Hey Teg I put that company on my favorites bar.. They got everything..
And great video's too:thumbsup:

 

[teg]

Hey Teg I put that company on my favorites bar.. They got everything..
And great video's too:thumbsup:

...and they are an Advertiser here on TBN. Have only heard good things about them. Their videos are top notch!

 

[ishiboo]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll look into a land plane/etc. instead of the box blade. There are some areas I would need to build up and cut down, so I'll probably get a box blade anyway. I also have some areas that are mixed lawn/gravel, I plan on scraping off a couple inches using the box blade tines to loosen, and then grassing those areas as well.

Here is another project i did that was on top of a mountain with piles of rocks in the backyard close to the septic (the result of digging for the field lines). Wish I had taken some pictures of this prior to starting the project.

Basically I made a berm on the low edge inside the property line with all the surface rock. Then hauled in a 3 to 4 inch layer of good topsoil and planted with both annual rye and Tall Fescue. This is a work in progress and water use is very limited, more water would yield better results.

Looks fantastic! I have decent skills planting grass by hand, the issue is leveling and preparing such a large soil bed with the tractor.

Do you have a photo of your tractor (to see the tires)... do you have R1- Ags., R4 - industrial or R3 - Turf tires???

You should be able to handle 7' wide BB, you might not be able to be aggressive with it (besides it doesn't sound like you need to be aggressive).

I bought a Tractor Pulverizer, Yard Tool 60" Model 51, Single Roller for finishing my grass areas but you might be able to rent one from a rental place... Where are you located? or Do you have any rocks that you need to deal with?

Thanks for the advice, my concern is the box blade sizing recommendations I've seen, it seems the tractor is too small, perhaps even just from a weight standpoint? Not sure.

I'll grab some pics, but they are R3 turf tires which measure in at a 6'6" rear width. The front tires are about 6' wide, and the loader bucket is like 5'6" or something silly. It's an odd set up, but I believe it was primarily used for distributing sand on a golf course.

I'm located in Wisconsin. I will check into rentals, few places have 3-point attachments but I'll take a look. The field is well worked so I don't think there will be a big rock issue.

With a 40 hp tractor you should be able to use implements which will cover your tracks easily. For driveway maintenance I would suggest the landplane over the boxblade. Usually maintaining the gravel driveways requires a rearblade too, this enables you to work over the edges for ditches and maintain the crown for proper side drainage of rain water.

You can buy a landplane/grader with scarifier teeth which may work to break up the surface of your lawn area too. While not as good as rototilling it would be a good combination tool that you could get alot of use out of.

As far as purchases I would look around for a simple and inexpensive rearblade about 7' wide used. A 7' landplane with rippers teeth may be hard to find used but this size should be about right for your tractor. A small tow behind spin spreader for seed and fertilizer, need this on a regular basis so I would buy it. I prefer a spike tooth harrow to cover the seed as it is less prone to moving (or bunching) the seed enough to create bare spots the way a drag will do.

For a one shot deal I would see if I could rent a tiller and a roller for the seeds.

I'll definitely be getting a rear blade,and I'll look into a land plane. I think perhaps a 3-point spreader would be the way to go?

Even with turf tires, however, with the soil being clay which is wet part of the time, I get the feeling the tractor will be too heavy and leave ruts... may leave the spreading to a little tow-behind so I can use it behind my riding mower.

 

[Mark Page]

All good advice. The most important thing is getting the seed into contact with the soil, next would be a soil sample and getting the proper ammendments down. There is a local landscaper that has a 5 ft. slit seeder. In the past I've burned the existing vegetation down with Round Up, waited a week or so and then had the landscaper come in with his slit seeder. The biggest advantage is that by not disturbing the soil you won't promote weed growth from the existing weed seed bank.