Ripping a small field...

[Egon]

That looks really good!!

"Use what you have", has always been my mantra, but the way I redo pastures and old fields is to use a turning plow and turn the soil over throughout the entire field. Then I attach a cable to the widest, biggest log I can pull SIDEWAYS and drag that through the field. The longer that log is, the smoother the field is because it fills and cuts over a wider swath. Of course the heavier it is, the less the log rides up over hummocks and has more dirt it fill the dips. It takes quite a few passes, but the more you drive over the field, alternating directions like going lengthways, then diagonal, then legthways again, really makes for a nice field. This method also pushes rocks into the soil. I usually pick any of the bigger rocks that the log fails to push down, then make a final pass with the sideways log to smooth things up.

To sow down, I use a trailer with a homemade broadcaster. Using a U-Bolt, I connect a 1/2 inch drill to the trailer, then put my portable generator on the trailer and power the drill with that. To broadcast the seed, I use a length of threaded rod bolted to the top of a 5 gallon bucket where 2 pieces of angle iron are bolted to act as vanes. As my wife drives the tractor and attached trailer, I scoop into the seed with a coffee can and shake it onto the spinning homemade broadcaster.

Last year I did a 10 acre field using this method and it worked well. Again not saying the way you did so was wrong as it obviously wasn't, but just saying that a person only has to use what they have creatively to get a good result!

(The first photo shows the end result, a field of clover/timothy and oats. The second shows the homemade broadcaster, and the third shows me pulling a log sideways to really smooth the field up. A skidder is not required, I just happen to have it and it could pull a heavy, longer log).

That seeder is neat. Logs work well for levelling.

 

[DJ54]

I hate to be a naysayer, but to me, that was way over aggressive, for what needed to be done. That appears to be a pasture, and if it is the only pasture she has, it will probably be June, before she can turn those horses out on it. If she has another pasture so she can turn them out, until this one heals, you'll be OK. Other wise, hope she has plenty of hay.

Without the option to rotate pasture here, I inter-seed using 3 methods. One is a slit seeder, which in the picture, you can see it disturbs very little of the existing grass. A no-till drill will pretty well do the same. No need to buy either, as they can be rented by the hour, or acre. Around here, a new slit seeder like pictured is $175 a day rental. No-Till drills can be rented from the local Soil Conservation Office. A buddy of mine rented one last Fall to plant a cover crop on some vegetable crop land, and I'm thinking it was $15 or less per acre. But, those require a 50 hp. tractor. And, you're done in one pass.

The other option, is scuffing the surface with a disk like below. I used this to re-seed my hayfield last Fall with Timothy. The soil needs to be just damp enough to cut the surface, down through the existing growth. I ran long ways with the field, then crossways. And, used my broadcast seeder, to seed it. I then took my 6' pull type disk, set nearly straight, with cultipacker, to set the seed. And done just before a nice 1/2" to 3/4" rain, to really set it in. We actually had 3 rains amounting to at least 1/2" after that within 5 days. After 10 days, I had a chance to have a look. I was pretty happy to see a very thick cover of 1" sprouts popping up all over, and pretty even.

Most grass seed only needs to be planted a 1/4" or so deep. So where it's likely you'll get some washing, inter-seeding is a great way to go. Usually with pasture, or hayseed, unless it's a straight crop, there is a grass in the mix with deep roots, that will grow, even with the compaction you'll be getting with either animals, or, multiple passes when making hay. Even at that, I have a 3 pt. 6' core/plug aerator I run over both, towards the end of April, when the soil is damp, but not wet. With the added weight, it will take out plugs 3" deep, down in the root zone. This is a big help getting the Spring fertilizer application down to where it's needed. After a couple rains, you'll never know you ran the aerator over it. On the pasture, none is needed, as the horses provide that. You've really got to be careful if you have a lush pasture in the Spring, if you're turning horses out on it. Lush Spring grass, will have a protein content of 21%, and can cause laminitis/founder, if you just turn them out on it, and let them graze. If they don't get the exercise, as like a race horse, or work horse, you'll get founder. Don't ask me how I know.

There is one other option, but, being in California, doubt it's possible. It's called Frost Seeding. Here, it's done the last 2 weeks of Feb, or first 2 weeks of Mar. when the soil is at the freeze/thaw stage. Frozen enough to run a tractor with broadcast seeder over it, and soil looks honeycombed on the surface. Basically, you're mimicking Mother Nature, spreading seed on the honeycombed ground when it's frozen. When it thaws, the honeycomb will close, pulling in, and covering the seed. I've had very good results with that too. Problem here, is getting a March day, without 15-20 mph. winds, and blowing the seed all one direction. That's the reason I bought the slit seeder, if I decide to do a Spring touch-up.

What you did, does look good for the tooling you have, and the soil looks great. I really hope it works out well.

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

That looks really good!!

"Use what you have", has always been my mantra, but the way I redo pastures and old fields is to use a turning plow and turn the soil over throughout the entire field. Then I attach a cable to the widest, biggest log I can pull SIDEWAYS and drag that through the field. The longer that log is, the smoother the field is because it fills and cuts over a wider swath. Of course the heavier it is, the less the log rides up over hummocks and has more dirt it fill the dips. It takes quite a few passes, but the more you drive over the field, alternating directions like going lengthways, then diagonal, then legthways again, really makes for a nice field. This method also pushes rocks into the soil. I usually pick any of the bigger rocks that the log fails to push down, then make a final pass with the sideways log to smooth things up.

To sow down, I use a trailer with a homemade broadcaster. Using a U-Bolt, I connect a 1/2 inch drill to the trailer, then put my portable generator on the trailer and power the drill with that. To broadcast the seed, I use a length of threaded rod bolted to the top of a 5 gallon bucket where 2 pieces of angle iron are bolted to act as vanes. As my wife drives the tractor and attached trailer, I scoop into the seed with a coffee can and shake it onto the spinning homemade broadcaster.

Last year I did a 10 acre field using this method and it worked well. Again not saying the way you did so was wrong as it obviously wasn't, but just saying that a person only has to use what they have creatively to get a good result!

(The first photo shows the end result, a field of clover/timothy and oats. The second shows the homemade broadcaster, and the third shows me pulling a log sideways to really smooth the field up. A skidder is not required, I just happen to have it and it could pull a heavy, longer log).

Now that's what I call Yankee ingenuity.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Now that's what I call Yankee ingenuity.

Thanks for your kind words.

It sometimes irks me that today people think to farm, it takes expensive equipment. That is not the case at all. I would NEVER be profitable if all I did was buy equipment so I have learned to build my own equipment or learn to improvise.

Growing up we used to use a disc harrow to level fields, but while it did level the field out, it also kicked up rocks. I hate picking rocks, so I thought this is stupid, we disc...pick rocks. Disc..pick rocks...rinse and repeat. I was originally worried that the rocks pushed down into the soil would pop back up by frost action, but that is not the case thankfully. The key is to use a turning plow and really get the soil loosened up so those rocks can be squished into the soil.

 

[Thomas]

Heck of lot better than I could have done.... nice. :thumbsup: