Repairing Yard..best methods and attachments

tomcatg · Mar 3, 2023

Hey Folks,

I need to do some lawn and road repair. I have 22 acres and I had a new barn built last year. In building the barn everyone had to drive through my yard daily to get to the new barn location. So it is about 1000 feet back from the road. About 500' or so is the "yard" and then it goes to field. All the traffic made some ruts through the yard portion and that's what I am trying to fix. I have a Kubota L3901 and I have a box blade. I was thinking that I would get some topsoil and use the box blade to spread it. I wondered if I should rent a lawn roller and try to smooth it in or what. I just bought the box blade last year so don't have much time with it so not really at finesse level with it and don't want to do more damage if I can help it

Thanks

ddbackhoe · Mar 3, 2023

In my area, topsoil is now at a premium so I would fill and compact the ruts to 2-3” low then add 2-3” of uncompacted topsoil, rake, seed, mulch and water.

2manyrocks · Mar 3, 2023

Pictures are always welcome and usually helpful.

Based on what you've said, I'd suggest you bite the bullet and use your box blade to grade the ruts as smooth as you can get them. You'll get the hang of it quickly. Dont worry. Reseed after you work it back to level. The issue will be clumps of dirt and grass until it all settles back together. You may not need to buy topsoil.

RustyA · Mar 3, 2023

You'll be amazed at how much final finish work you can do with an old heavy pallet drug behind an ATV or garden tractor. Breaks up the clouds and spreads the grass seed around.

Egon · Mar 3, 2023

With 22 acres you should be able to find some dirt that could be dug up and moved to fill your ruts.

2manyrocks · Mar 3, 2023

RustyA said:
You'll be amazed at how much final finish work you can do with an old heavy pallet drug behind an ATV or garden tractor. Breaks up the clouds and spreads the grass seed around.

Or dragging some chain link fence to break up the clods.

riptides · Mar 3, 2023

2manyrocks said:
Or dragging some chain link fence to break up the clods.

With a nice big railroad tie on it, that has rebar sticking out of it. Medieval looking thingy.

Stonehaller · Mar 3, 2023

See if you can rent a Harley rake. If you cannot find a 3 point Harley rake to rent for your tractor, then rent a skid steer with a power rake. You can repair the yard and have it ready to seed in a day.

nybirdman · Mar 3, 2023

A little learning curve with the box blade but the right tool for the job;must be dry.

airbiscuit · Mar 3, 2023

You might want to consider a drag harrow. An old bed spring will also work, but any project worth doing is a good excuse to buy another attachment,

i7win7 · Mar 3, 2023

airbiscuit said:
any project worth doing is a good excuse to buy another attachment,

Hoelscher Commercial Products - RB Scraper

Hoelscher is a Bushton, Kansas hay baling equipment and earth moving equipment manufacturer.

www.hoelscherinc.com

m1garand762 · Mar 3, 2023

The box blade should be able to do most of the work. If the ruts are really deep you malt need to rent a tiller which at least around here is a hundred bucks for the day. Final smoothing can be achieved by dragging some old chain link fence strapped to a pallet or an old old fashioned box spring. Tue latter is highly sought after in my area for this task with our moderate clay soil it works perfect for smoothing the surface to plant grass

tomcatg · Mar 5, 2023

Thanks for all the replies folks. 2manyrocks mentioned that pics would help so I took a few so you could get a better idea.

tomcatg · Mar 5, 2023

My road through the field and up to the barn is in much rougher shape but I can fix if pretty easily with the box blade..my question is how to keep it from constantly rutting out. I would think cutting a ditch on one side or the other would be the way but I am not sure which side it should be on..or how to decide that. This is new ground for me...pun intended

and I threw in a picture of the new barn....I wanted one for years and very happy with it.

airbiscuit · Mar 5, 2023

If possible, I would crown the road (higher in the middle) with ditches on both sides. If there is a place for the water to drain out of the ditches at the lowest point, you're done. If there isn't a place for the water to exit the ditch, cut in a swale (depression) for the water to go.

Fixastuff · Mar 5, 2023

tomcatg said:
Thanks for all the replies folks. 2manyrocks mentioned that pics would help so I took a few so you could get a better idea. View attachment 787039 View attachment 787040

Grass clumps is going to be the most annoying part of working that with a box blade.

DMW · Mar 6, 2023

Any dirt you spread will be washed away. Get control of the water runoff first. Now that buildings are up, walk the property during/after a rain. Look for where the water is flowing.

Smokeydog · Mar 6, 2023

Going to have get the water off the road. Some old road paths may have to built up with gravel from erosion to get proper drainage. Some soils really benefit from geotex fabric under the gravel. Box blade will work but does take time to figure out adjustments. From your pictures a box blade should work fine.

I would use gravel, not top soil to fill the ruts in the yard. Grass will grow over and you will have a better more forgiving surface if you ever have to drive over again. Gravel is easy to smooth. Several road paths around my buildings are done this way.

My grader blade and box blade sit unused after getting a EA land plane.

Rockbadchild · Mar 6, 2023

first and second picture I would just add soil not much of a ruts there at least from what I can tell from the picture's. The one with the hill and the wash out I would make a ditch on both side crown the road and restore the vegetation or add A gravel or better 2inch minus... but if one or the other is not done you will always have to deal with this but in all cases you need to restore the vegetation or add materiel that will compact and keep the water out from the roads to keep it from happening.

ddbackhoe · Mar 6, 2023

tomcatg said:
My road through the field and up to the barn is in much rougher shape but I can fix if pretty easily with the box blade..my question is how to keep it from constantly rutting out. I would think cutting a ditch on one side or the other would be the way but I am not sure which side it should be on..or how to decide that. This is new ground for me...pun intended and I threw in a picture of the new barn....I wanted one for years and very happy with it.

The yard ruts arent what I was thinking they would be. For those, I would just use a rake or chain drag to smooth. The field road, I marked in red because, IMO, the water source is somewhere higher up. The water source needs to be diverted away from the road. From what I’m seeing in your picture, the area marked in orange is sloping away from the road. IMO, I would slope the road (blue arrows) to the right and cut a ditch (green arrow). I would not crown this section.
Another picture looking from the gate to the top?

A problem area, IMO, is anyone using this path will be tempted to single track(use the same tire path) over and over. This leads to ruts and potholes.