Lawn rolling - industrial style

[bczoom]

I was considering borrowing the neighbors paving roller to roll the lawn. Haven't seen it in awhile but I'd say it's about 4' wide and weighs 6000#.
The yard will probably need to be pretty dry to avoid sinking.
I understand I'll have to do a lot of aeration afterwards.

Does anyone see any issues/problems with this approach?

Thanks
Brian

 

[Mrwurm]

This is commonly offered as a service in my area. But, they typically use smaller compacting machines, only about three feet wide and easily towed by a pickup.

 

[samission]

Used a 3' wide 3300 lb. vibrating asphalt roller when it was dry here in SW Ohio, didn't do much to help the lawn bumps. I think I will try it again when the ground is a little damp.

Steve

 

[bczoom]

samission,

That's one thing I'm not sure of (how wet the ground should be for this size roller). It needs to be wet enough for the bumps but not so wet as to get the roller stuck.

The yard has some hills as well as some soft spots either from springs near the surface or from fill I put in last year. A lot of what I need to do is flatten out where some dump trucks hit those soft spots and left some depressions of varying depth. He actually sunk in more than a foot in spots. Those, I've re-filled.

 

[have_blue]

It'll work, but is highly dependent on the soil moisture. It has to be just right.

Problem is, it will eventually spring back ofer time, at least partially.

The ultimate solution (if your yard isn't too big!) is to spread 1/2" to 1" of clean white sand on it. The grass will easily poke up through the sand. The sand will wash into the low spots after a good rain or 2, and make your yard smooth as a table top. I did that to my bermudagrass road, now it's almost too nice to drive on. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[bczoom]

have_blue,

At about 2 acres, my yard is too large and probably too hilly for sand.
I'm going to see if I can borrow the roller during his off season so it can stay a week or so and I can try during varying moisture conditions.

 

[Varmintmist]

It'll work. I did ours as a kid with a little one ton. Family owned blacktop biz.

A 4ft wide 3 ton is most likely articulated, and high. I'm guessing about 5.5 foot to the top of the water tank. Be careful on the hills, they can tip, been there done that. Cost a new pair of shorts and the price of getting the right side fwd/rev lever rethreaded when some loose fill walked out from under me. I wasn't the only guy on the crew to throw it over either. About a month after I had my butt chewed on for a week, the boss (Dad) put her over the edge of a parking lot. Once they get going, they are going.

You can have some moisture, not sloppy wet though. If the grass is wet, leave it parked, you wont do anything except spin and dig one side in (refer to flipping part) I wouldnt run a 3 ton over the septic tank. It should hold, but why take the chance.

 

[bczoom]

Thanks for the response.
What you've described is what I believe he has.
How long would you think it would take a roller this size to do a couple acres? The terrain may be similar to what you may have (I live about 15 miles from you, other side of Zelie).
Sounds like for the first time, let the guy that brings it do some rolling so I can see how he does the hills and his comfort factor. I'll avoid the septic tanks. Probably should avoid the leach bed as well.

Brian

 

[Varmintmist]

How long it takes depends on how hard you want it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
You can roll it and then cross roll it to get it beat down but it all depends on what you want. A 3 ton machine might be a little overkill so one pass would probably be ok, but it depends on what you want and how rough it is to start. Most of those rollers can move out pretty well when you crack the throttle so time wise depends on how much open area you can cover. Just take it easy on the fwd/rev levers at the ends of the passes, ease up early and change directions slowly, and take it slow until you get the hang of it. Dont turn sharp, take it in little changes on each pass. Use very little direction control, a little bit at each end will put your wheels on new dirt using long passes.

The leach bed should be ok the pressure would be spread by the earth and the pipe is surrounded, I was just worried about the concrete on top of the tank. If it is perfect, then there would be no problem. If its flawed, then you might end up with a roller in @#$% soup, or ruin your lid.

Terrain wise, well, I wouldnt put a roller on my back yard, yard being used loosly here, but the front no problem. Its probably a 1' to 10' rise or a little steeper. Cross rolling that wouldnt be a problem. Up and down the slope is really only limited by traction.

Hope this makes sense to you. Just like any other piece of equipment there is a learning curve. Start in a flat area till you get the hang of it.

 

[bczoom]

Thanks Varmintmist,
Being overkill and in not too bad of shape now, a single pass may just do it. At 3 tons and the yard being 360' long, I would expect we should be able to go faster than you would with a tow-behind roller. I'm going to see if I can keep the owner around for a bit and see if he'll do it in whole or part. If it takes an hour, he'll probably take a 30 pack or 2 as payment in full.