Grading [How to] level & break in new field

[oosik]

Well - a few observations. The last video shows that your land IS a lot wetter than would be indicated from the drone videos. Once your land dries up a bit that spring tine cultivator just might do the complete job. Or at least "break the soil" so you can successfully use other scraping implements to move it around.

The video from the drone certainly adds clarity to what you want to do. For being a "city boy" you are well on your way to becoming "implement poor".

I think you simply need to wait for the land to dry some - break the soil with either the spring tine cultivator, rototiller, chisel plow or sub-soiler - then move it around with a scraping implement and establish the grade you want.

 

[jenkinsph]

There is a big difference between leveling and smoothing. In the second picture I posted this two plus acre field is level from side to side +/- 3/4" and has a .250 degree slope away from the background where the water flows from the Alfalfa valves. If it isn't done right the water will not spread uniformly and cover the entire field. If you leave low spots the water will pond which can kill the grass. Having the right equipment for this type of work can save a huge amount of time.

For smoothing a field with some discrepancies such as old mounds and stump holes there are several tools that can do a great job in a short amount of time. I use an 8' land plane grader scraper after tilling for this work most of the time. I also use a 3pt spike tooth harrow and pine needle rake depending on the job to be done. Forty years ago I remember using a large tree top pulled behind a 3020 tractor and it did a fine job smoothing a 15 acre field, later replaced with a 10' two section harrow. Discing does a good job smoothing out any variations too and is commonly used for this purpose.

For laser grading and machine control I purchased a Topcon RL200 2/s laser, System Five 9164 0004 control head, LS b 110 receiver, LS b110w receiver with remote and a Danfoss two spool proportional valve. Putting all of this together as we speak on my Frontier box blade and building up the wheel assemblies. Need this for the current job I am on so it has to be finished pronto.

Lucky for me my work does not require gps based equipment, that would add a lot more cost. Laser based equipment is all I need for this field work I do.

 

[jenkinsph]

cat fever and MESSMAKER, thanks for the nice comments.

crmorse, long story short consider a land plane grader scraper to smooth and fill over the stump holes. Four hours time with a 7 or 8 foot wide unit should fix you up. About two hours per acre can yield excellent results.

 

[Btown]

Hey it's spelled Deerfield, I doubt the topsoil is 100 feet deep there, but it used to be and still is a flood plain for the Connecticut river. I live a couple towns away many my topsoil or organic layer is about 1-1.5 feet deep, but it is old farmland.

 

[Baby Grand]

My plan would be to fill in the stump holes, then smooth everything to match the existing contours of the land.

The lands form is what it is due to many years of shaping by natural forces and the top few inches of soil are where a lot/most of the good bacterial/fungal activity is already established. Flatness may not be a desirable quality, unless you need to irrigate. Drainage may be more important to good soil and crop health.

Fill your stump holes and other deep depressions with soil from a "borrow pit" of poor soil, not by plowing your rich topsoil into them. Add you amendments, mix it down a few inches, smooth it out without changing the landform too much, plant it to get some cover on the soil and keep the good stuff from washing into the nearest stream.

Then observe what grows, where and how much. Go out there - or drone out there - during a good downpour and take note of how the water moves or collects on the surface. Make gentle adjustments based on what you see. Plan on this as a development of several stages as opposed to a dig & done operation.

That's my $.02 and it's skewed to the conditions that I know and I work with, a bit south of the Deerfield area mentioned by Btown & CalG, but still part of the Glacial Lake Hitchcock terrane. My conditions are typical of the local lowland floodplain and different from some nearby areas with deep soil, up above the floodplain. I've got a good 18 - 24" of sandy loam, the top 4 - 6" of which is good for planting. Beneath that lies a layer of sandy soil that's lacking in nutrient & organic matter. That's all on top of about 60' of consolidated clay, so I have to play nice with the surface or I end up with a slick, muddy mess.

What do other folks in your area do to clear and prepare their land?

-Jim