I like it Smooth (bumpy yard)

[redman135]

Bite the bullet and cultivate. It will cost dollars but the end result will be satisfaction and a smooth pasture you can bale hay on.

 

[Cherokee140]

Bite the bullet and cultivate. It will cost dollars but the end result will be satisfaction and a smooth pasture you can bale hay on.

Everything that eats is now gone....this is the first year we are not going to bail everything....that is why I am out in this field on a mower and really learning just how bumpy it is.

The "back" area is a real mess...this is really the first time I walked back there after I had brushed hogged everything (we did not even bail back there before, the tractor would fall in the holes and then the ends of the mower would hit the ground = bucket of not good. So this area has really just been left for over 20 years. I kid you not, there are areas back there that look like the ground was pushed up to a little mountain then right next to it, a deep hole, then another high point....between you could put your foot and the bumps would be over your ankle....I am betting 6" deep at least. You can see the tops of some of these little "mountains" where the brush hog has hit and taken the top of it off....so it was higher.

This is pretty bad....I am really thinking that the box blade is going to be where to start back here....My new android OS just eats my phone battery or I would try some photos...but it was dead...perhaps later today.

The rest of the "yard" has been bailed for years. And on a tractor it was never that bad....on all my mowing machine (BX, JD650, 54" craftsman, 48" john deere) they are all pretty bad, but with the 650 being the best I think because of the wheel base. Someone suggested I run the air pressure down in the BX and try again...they have high pressure in them because of the loader loads.

There is always a finish mower option...I do have an 8N and a JD 70 , The JD 70 is not a mowing machine unless you own Standard Oil, so I could do the finish mower on the 8N and go that route....I can stand on the 8N and that takes a great deal of the shock out of things.

Then there are the regular mowers with a suspension....perhaps that is why those things exist...for like me......Mowers like the Ferris and the Simplicity have suspensions but I have no idea how they work....For the costs of some of those mowers....some of the Ferris are over $10k, I would want a demo on MY land then I would wright the check if I think it worked.

 

[jeff9366]

Do not compensate for your rough field by spending a lot of money on a mower with suspension.

Fix the field.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Do not compensate for your rough field by spending a lot of money on a mower with suspension.

Fix the field.

I really don't know where this comment came from, the OP wasnt considering that and none of the post suggested it either.

From the OP description, I don't think anything with or without suspension or even air ride seat would smooth out that ride, maybe a hovercraft would traverse it ok.

 

[CalG]

I really don't know where this comment came from, the OP wasnt considering that and none of the post suggested it either.

From the OP description, I don't think anything with or without suspension or even air ride seat would smooth out that ride, maybe a hovercraft would traverse it ok.

Gary

Did you read the last two paragraphs of post 12?

 

[Cherokee140]

I actually was thinking about a suspension mower....you also have to have the info that I have been hit pretty hard. All kinds of metal holding me together....all kinds of battle damage....if I was a car it would not be just the miles...I am only 48, but think of that car being driven by a teenage girl. Or a Marine in Iraq the first time around....there are some extra holes that got poked in that car...they have been welded up but the car is never going to be the same. That is the reason behind the mower with springs....the "main yard" could be ok for folks that did not stop soviet metal with their body, but for me....it will pass my threshold and I have to stop....I just can't go on.

I am going to try to fix the "back" part of the pasture....this is where it is so bumpy you can't drive a tractor back there without tearing stuff up....very bumpy...I will try to take pics tonight and show you....this is the area that really needs help and I am thinking I will at least start with the box blade.

Now the rest of the "yard" that is where I really needed the help....and the problem is I don't really know if anything will help ME if I can't get it golf green smooth.

I think I am going to try to rent one of those "Harley rakes" and see what that will do in a small-ish part of the yard. If it works back there on about 1ac then I can always rent it again and do the rest.

I really thank you all for your help.

 

[jeff9366]

Have you read five SIMILAR THREADS in the blue box at foot of this page?

 

[BHD]

If your want to save the grass that is there, then some type of dragging harrow, disk, and harrow, something to pull some dirt, haul in dirt and fill, possibly roll it and push it down and out,

but just a little at a time and then time for grass to recover between passes, this could be a few year process,

the other is to tear it up and level it and replant it and if it is sod it will take a lot to tear it up and may take a month or so the sod is workable as well, able to level it with dragging all the dead plant material around.

one last thought, cut the sod off if you can follow the contours, set it aside and level it and roll it back out,

the top method may take a few years to do, the bottom will take a few years to get the grass stand back unless you have plenty of water or irrigation, and over seed it, (it take thee to five years to establish native grasses here).

 

[BHD]

is some of the problem (clump grasses) grass that grow in clumps or bunches with space between them the field can be smooth and the grass is what is rough, in that instances, and if it is clump grasses then removal of the clump grasses and replacement of the lawn type that make a field type or lawn type look,

 

[pcl]

I agree with using a harley rake they're short money to rent and do an awesome job smoothing thing out. You can also angle them and make wind rows with all the rocks it picks up.