Lawn prep ideas, again

[StrangeRanger]

Hi all,

My back "yard" needs work. A lot of work. It is clear of trees etc., has been power raked (very poorly) and some grade to it. The guy that "power raked" and seeded it did a shoddy job or simply gave up.

It was power raked and seeded 2 summers ago, so the soil is very settled. But since it has settled a lot more rocks have sprouted up (look ma, I'm a rock farmer!). The rocks range in size from < 1" to larger than basket balls. But you don't realize how big some of them are until you hit them.

I've screwed around w/ the box blade, but all it does is clog up w/ rocks. So I'm looking for suggestions. I'm not worried about soil or seeding at this point. I simply want to get rid of the rocks. Spring and dry soil is still a few months off in this area, but I've got to start priming the wife for equipment. At least to rent.

But I don't know what the proper equipment would be to handle the task. Landscape rake, power rake, plow, tiller??? Please, I need some advice.

Thanks,

 

[jeffinsgf]

See if you can find a "Rock Hound" or equivalent in the area for rental. You will more than likely need to rent a skid steer with it, I have not seem them on a tractor. Unlike a Harley rake, the Rock Hound collects the rocks (rather than windrowing them). My yard is about an acre, and I pulled a couple of dump truck loads of rock out of it with a Rock Hound in two (hard) days. I then used a landscape rake on it to create the final contours and remove the last of the pesky rocks. In your shoes, I would rent a Rock Hound and buy a landscape rake.

 

[Buckeyeman]

jeffinsgf - Who makes this Rock Hound? Do they have a website? I am in the same situation, I have to put in my lawn this spring (3 acres) and I'm starting to feel like Fred Flintstone with all the rocks that surface every spring. I have all clay soil too.

 

[wushaw]

RockHound Attachments

 

[StrangeRanger]

jeff, is this the critter you're talking about Rockhound Rake?

 

[ampsucker]

i've never found an attachment that worked good for this. unfortunately, i've always done it the old-fashioned way which while hard, works well. basically, you get a trailer and start chucking rocks into it. if you have kids in the area, get them to help. when i was little, i was the kid doing it and cleared 4 acres that hardly has a stump or rock in it now. started with ozark forest. a couple of years back, i did almost a half mile of country lane. anything bigger than about 2 inch went high on the other side of the ditch on either side. now when i grade the top of the road, it is all instantly driveable and the fines stay in place.

it took us a couple of seasons to get all the rocks and occasionally a new one will frost heave to the surface, but it never takes more than an hour or so in the spring to collect them all up. one nice thing about doing it by hand is you get the chance to size and grade them if you want to stack them in different areas for later projects. we made a nice rock garden/pond area with the larger limestone chunks and keep the smaller ones in a pile for fill or small projects.

i know, it's no fun doing things by hand on a tractor forum. but, like i always heard when i was a kid: with the time you spend figuring out all the ways to make a job easier, you could have had it half done by now!

ha!

amp

 

[crazyal]

Getting a head start on that back yard, lol. You still have at least a foot of snow covering it. At least this winter has been warmer than normal so the snow might (lets hope) be gone sooner than normal. My best advise would be to either rent or find someone with a small dozer and a root rake. A few years ago I saw a guy with a Case 450c with a slip on rake over the front blade that look sweet. When I looked into the cost I just couldn't justify one.

What ever you do try to get seed down as quickly as you can. Unless it's flat the rain will wash the loose dirt away. Secondly I'm having issues with one place where I left some rocks the size you're talking about just under the topsoil. The frost is bringing them up to the surface and leaving holes as it thaws in the spring.

 

[sixdogs]

I lived in Maine for 25 years and here is my experience. Our farm had been in production for maybe 150 years with nice rock walls and all but the rocks kept growing. You can never pick them all up. Just bury them where they are.
I used a five ft rear rototiller and worked the ground thoroughly at slow speed. Then get a Brillion seeder or some kind of heavy "packer" or roller and pack the dickens out of it till it is level and flat. Seed before you pack or pack, seed and pack again. A Brillion seeder leaves little dimples in the soil that helped with seeding and leveling.
This was the best method for me and rocks up to the size of a baseball could be pressed back below the surface. My lawn and fields were flat as a pancake. If the ground had been tilled and then rained on I used to drag it with a rock (landscape) rake to level further and then till and pack again.
The above method worked vey well for me because of the soil type. It doesn't work as well in the midwest clay. It sort of does but the soil here is so soft I need to spike harrow it after tilling to get the air out or it will leave big tire tracks.

 

[rdsaustintx]

i've never found an attachment that worked good for this. unfortunately, i've always done it the old-fashioned way which while hard, works well. basically, you get a trailer and start chucking rocks into it. if you have kids in the area, get them to help. when i was little, i was the kid doing it and cleared 4 acres that hardly has a stump or rock in it now. started with ozark forest. a couple of years back, i did almost a half mile of country lane. anything bigger than about 2 inch went high on the other side of the ditch on either side. now when i grade the top of the road, it is all instantly driveable and the fines stay in place.

it took us a couple of seasons to get all the rocks and occasionally a new one will frost heave to the surface, but it never takes more than an hour or so in the spring to collect them all up. one nice thing about doing it by hand is you get the chance to size and grade them if you want to stack them in different areas for later projects. we made a nice rock garden/pond area with the larger limestone chunks and keep the smaller ones in a pile for fill or small projects.

i know, it's no fun doing things by hand on a tractor forum. but, like i always heard when i was a kid: with the time you spend figuring out all the ways to make a job easier, you could have had it half done by now!

ha!

amp

Outstanding post. We've sorted rocks every imaginable way. I'm talking HUNDREDs of yards...

Boulders: Flagstones: Rip Rap: Driveway Gravel / BH: FEL: Box Blad: Landscape Rake (respectively)

Sometimes it feels like after you sort out the rocks, there isn't any dirt left...

 

[StrangeRanger]

i've never found an attachment that worked good for this. unfortunately, i've always done it the old-fashioned way which while hard, works well. basically, you get a trailer and start chucking rocks into it. if you have kids in the area, get them to help. when i was little, i was the kid doing it and cleared 4 acres that hardly has a stump or rock in it now. started with ozark forest. a couple of years back, i did almost a half mile of country lane. anything bigger than about 2 inch went high on the other side of the ditch on either side. now when i grade the top of the road, it is all instantly driveable and the fines stay in place.

it took us a couple of seasons to get all the rocks and occasionally a new one will frost heave to the surface, but it never takes more than an hour or so in the spring to collect them all up. one nice thing about doing it by hand is you get the chance to size and grade them if you want to stack them in different areas for later projects. we made a nice rock garden/pond area with the larger limestone chunks and keep the smaller ones in a pile for fill or small projects.

i know, it's no fun doing things by hand on a tractor forum. but, like i always heard when i was a kid: with the time you spend figuring out all the ways to make a job easier, you could have had it half done by now!

ha!

amp

I've got no problem w/ this method except for the fact that i don't want to hand dig or shovel the rocks out of the ground before picking them up. I want to loosen up the first few inches of soil, hopefully loosening up the burried rocks in the process and then pick them up. I know if might be an exercise in futility, but I need to try something.
j