Leveling and smoothing very uneven prairie

[mtburr]

I want to turn a former pasture into a yard and airstrip. The previous owner (my late father in law) had started plowing the land 50 years ago and found it was too rocky and so he gave up, leaving behind a bunch of plow ruts that have since overgrown with prairie grass. He used this land for a pasture for many years, and for the past 15 years it's been our residential acreage -- mostly useless for anything besides pasture because it's so rough. It's impractical to fill in these plow ruts; it would take many truckloads of dirt. The overall plot is 10 acres but I'm looking to smooth out about 3-4 acres of it for recreational uses including an airstrip for an ultralight aircraft. So ... how do I turn this rough prairie (with plenty of rocks and boulders beneath the surface) into smooth land without bringing in truckload after truckload of dirt? I have a 2WD 48 hp tractor (Ford 661 Workmaster) that may pull a small box blade, but probably not through overgrown turf. Should I be looking at a harrow or disc? Or maybe a rotary tiller and land plane? (I don't want to repeat my FIL's experience hitting boulders with a plow, and I don't need to turn it over that deeply, just smooth out the surface.)
P.S.: I searched the archives for smoothing-related discussions and failed to find an answer for my situation.

 

[Diggin It]

Disc, disc and disc again, cross disc and re disc.

Hire someone with a bigger machine if need be.

May need a different tool to remove whatever rocks are left on the surface.

 

[dusty3030]

Hire out a bulldozer to make the air strip. Otherwise you're just wasting fuel and time trying to do anything with a small tractor.

 

[Mtnmnstr]

I have 90% same issue, less the rocks. watching with interest. I also am putting in a runway.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Personally, I would find a guy with a bulldozer and root rake. Rake it through to pull up roots and rocks, then use the blade to smooth and make the runway. You can follow up afterwards with a disc and box blade or whatever to do the final smoothing and shaping. Then reseed.

 

[Thomas]

Personally, I would find a guy with a bulldozer and root rake. Rake it through to pull up roots and rocks, then use the blade to smooth and make the runway. You can follow up afterwards with a disc and box blade or whatever to do the final smoothing and shaping. Then reseed.

Bingo.