Newbie Lawn Establish Questions

[anojones]

Hey- I've been lurking as a guest for awhile. We have 10 acres and are finishing building a home which should be done sometime in October. Most of the property used to be farmed many years ago- it is now almost entirely serious weeds (up to a 1/2 inch thick and as 5 feet tall in places) as well as a few undesierable grasses. We are planning on seeding a nice (but not perfect) lawn around the house and overtime would like to kill off the weeds and plant some pasture grasses that we could mow once or twice a year on the rest of the property. We are considering a JD 2210 with a deck mower, FEL and box blade- which would just about tap us out financially. Would we be able to tear up the weeds and rough up the ground enough in the two acres around the house to seed with just the box blade? Would there be a better way to tear up these weeds? It would be nice if we woudn't need to till. We can collect top soil with the FEL from other places on the property as needed. Am I dreaming that I can get this done with the equipment described? Any thoughts appreciated.

A Jones

 

[Typhoon]

In my opinion, here is how you need to tackle it (if you are striving for a nice lawn). Bush hog it first. Then spray it with round up. Give it a couple days then either plow and disk it, or use a tiller and till it. That will prepare your seed bed. Also, soil testing is important as well as proper fertilization. I dont think a boxblade is going to yield the results you are looking for. My biggest mistakes in the past have been planting during the wrong time of year, and not fertilizing properly. Also if you are planting on any steep areas, it wouldnt hurt to throw down some wheat to hold the soil until the grass is established. Wheat is an annual so you dont have to worry about it coming back. It comes up and holds soil faster than anything you can plant. Good luck!
-Brad

 

[have_blue]

Hi Jones,

Don't know what you mean by "deck mower", but if it'a a mid mount, be aware they ruin the versatility of your tractor. They mow great, but they restrict you when doing other tractor work. They're best for dedicated lawn tractors that do not have a FEL or other attachments.

A rotary cutter (also known as RC or brush hog) works great on weeds, and if you keep the blade sharp and adjust the deck carefully, it does a pretty fair job of finish mowing. 10 acres needs a 5 or 6 footer around here, but grass and weeds may grow slower where you are. I have to cut every 2-3 weeks in prime growing season. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I would get a cheap disk harrow and the biggest RC my tractor could comfortably pull. Cut the entire 10a, disk up the yard area, let it dry, and disk it up to powder. Spray it with pre-emergent herbicide and let it rain. Bust it up again and fine it, then seed it. In my zone, you can plant bermudagrass mixed with permanent grass like Centipede. The bermudagrass grows fast and will protect from erosion. The centipede will totally overtake the bermudagrass in 2 years or less. That's just an example. Adjust to your climate and preferences.

Hint: If your home is set back from the road, consider a ROUND yard. They mow up to 2x faster than a rectangular yard, depending on size. You can put your riding mower in top gear and really make the grass fly. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Soundguy]

Here's my take from a been there and done that. Our back 10 ac pasture used to be watermellon umpteen years ago.. and was 7' tall ragweed and dog fennel.. briars, and other woody brush.

Also... the construction of out house in the front pasture left it devoid of grass.

I mowed the back pasture down to the ground and then disced the heck out of it. Planted it in grass seed.. pasture mix.. and used a flexible drag harrow to smooth it out.

I wouldn't use your box blade to rip around the house for planting... use a drag harrow or other similar means.

Also.. the more you cut.. the better grass will look, and the fewer weeds will pop up. I had blackberry come back after discing, and asked my extension agent about it. He said that I could use chemicals on it.. but that would take out grass in huge patches. he instead said to mow it often.. very often.. and never let it go to seed. I've been doing that for a couple years now and have almost eliminated the briars.

A rotary mower will do a decent job on pasture, and extended lawn areas.. just keep the blades sharp, and cut often. For the finished lawn look.. get a cheap riding lawnmower. Some like a finish mower with a tractor.. but I don't like getting my tractor right up around my house... seems like an expensive accident waiting to happen.

Do get a box blade though.. it is like a swiss army knife of tractor implements. That drag harrow I spoke of is 'realitvely' cheap.. say 300 bucks.

They are good to rough up ground.. or they can be flippe dover for a less agressive attack.. so to bust up maneur clods.. etc.

30 hp is right around a decent tractor for 10 ac.

Soundguy

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Consider renting equipment like a tiller instead of buying. I would agree with others that a box blade is not going to do the trick. Cut it, kill it, disk/till it (a couple times) and then plant it. Also relized that the mid mount finish mower is not a brush hog and you can really tear up your blades if you rough cut woody, thick stemmed weeds with a finish mower. The mower will likely cut it, but you will probably end up replacing the blades, or at least doing a very extreme regrinding of the cutting edges and may throw off their balance.

Have_Blue gave some really good advice, and the concept of a round yard sounds odd, but should be expanded somewhat by saying that when you & the lovely wife do your landscaping, make sure that your flower & plant beds have nice wide radius curves to them so that you can mow around them without having to stop the tractor, back up & turn and start up again. Much of the time mowing is spend slowing down for turns, or doing 3 point turns around objects. Your landscaping can actually help speed up your mowing chores if you design them properly.

I would agree with soundguy that 30hp is more likely what you need rather than a sub-compact for your 10 acres. However, if you are planning on maintaining only the yard area and the remainder will be left natural, then you could get buy with the mini-JD tractor but I think in the long run you will regret such a small machine.

 

[anojones]

Thanks for all the advice- this has been a great forum. It sounds like I should forgo the MMM and get a RM instead (I could add a MMM later- or buy an inexpensive lawn tractor in the future). Mow all the stuff down, spray it, disk/till it and maybe level it with a box or harrow before seeding. Can somebody explain to me the advantages of a brillion seeder (our contractor has reccomended this as a good way to go)? Also, when performing the disk/till portion of this project can I disk in the weeds or should I clear and bury them or burn them? Any advantage to a tiller over a disk? I was out walking the fields last night- it appears to be mostly briars and thistles but there appears to be some grass underneath it all- if the weeds were mowed down and then watered what do you think the likelhood of having some of the pasture grass come back would be? Sorry for so many questions- but I'm starting to get excited.

A Jones

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Most of my lawn is reclaimed pasture. Mow, mow and mow some more. Eventually the grasses will take over. It works better if you can seed it too. But realistically, you can reclaim the land my mowing it and keeping it mowed, eventually the prairie grasses will take over. As far as watering, I've never watered mine!

There are areas where I prepared a yard, in some areas I disked, in others I tilled. I like the results of the tiller better. Both get the job done eventually. I would not go through the trouble of hauling any of the cuttings away after cutting, tilling them in worked for me. But then again, so did just cutting it down and letting the native grasses grow.

 

[Soundguy]

Briar, thistle and grass?

I'd mow the heck out of it.. and Not disc it. There's gonna be alot of buried thistle seed that will sprout if turned over with anything less than plowing.

Mow mow mow mow mow... eventually you will have just grass..

Soundguy

 

[anojones]

I like the sound of mowing and mowing and mowing... Now, I guess I'll really have to consider a bigger tractor. Will probably have to rent or borrow for a bit before having the funds to pay for a bigger rig. Again, thanks for the help and ideas. Around the house I think the original plan of mow, spray, till and seed for a nice flat lawn and in the pastures will just start mowing the heck out of it and see what happens over time.

 

[ByronBob]

I've built on old corn field. Lots of hills and valleys to dela with. And rocks galore. Been picking rock for most of the year. I'm going to hire my local farmer to come in and disc harrow my property however many times he needs to so it levels out. He has the right equipement to do the job. I won't break my tractor doing it and the lawn will be good to go.

He said my yard is "sod bound". Don't know what that means but he worked the property before I built on it so he should know what he's talking about. At 50/Hr with his equipement the job should be easy. Best money I'll ever spend

You may want to consider what I mentioned as another idea to get your yard up to snuff quick.