Rutted/bumpy pasture.....the fix?

[MotorSeven]

I just finished hogging 2 of my 3 pastures for the first time-about 12 acres. Half of the west pasture and part of the middle were really rough, i mean rutted. I was mowing in mid range, but had to back off the throttle alot and crawl over the bad areas to keep from losing a kidney and the occasional vertebrae. Where it was smoth i could run at full mid range speed. You could not tell the surface was rutted because the grass hid them well.
I suspect that the previous hay-ers have been in the fields when they were wet. Also, the creek floods a couple of times a year putting the pastures under anywhere from 0 to 3' of water, would this cause a rough pasture surface?
So what is the fix? What attachments are designed to smooth out an established pasture, or do i have to rip everything up and start over?
Sorry if the question is silly, i have hogged a bunch of pasture in my day, but never experienced this much of a ruff ride!
RD

 

[5030tinkerer]

I've had good luck just filling in the low spots and using rollers, but that could be incredibly time consuming on a parcel that size.

 

[Soundguy]

For the bad spots, I'd disc it to powder, then drag, seed.. etc..

Soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I just finished hogging 2 of my 3 pastures for the first time-about 12 acres. Half of the west pasture and part of the middle were really rough, i mean rutted. I was mowing in mid range, but had to back off the throttle alot and crawl over the bad areas to keep from losing a kidney and the occasional vertebrae. Where it was smoth i could run at full mid range speed. You could not tell the surface was rutted because the grass hid them well.
I suspect that the previous hay-ers have been in the fields when they were wet. Also, the creek floods a couple of times a year putting the pastures under anywhere from 0 to 3' of water, would this cause a rough pasture surface?
So what is the fix? What attachments are designed to smooth out an established pasture, or do i have to rip everything up and start over?
Sorry if the question is silly, i have hogged a bunch of pasture in my day, but never experienced this much of a ruff ride!
RD

If your appraisal is correct, and the prior owner did "hay" the ground when wet, there are other issues besides the roughness. Traffic on wet ground will compact most any soil. Plowing and/or discing may level it, but those steps don't do much to remedy the compaction. That takes a different approach. Maybe a chisel plow or a deep ripper or maybe a subsoiler. Also, there's a specialized tool called a pasture renovator. Those are horsepower eating beast's, one and all. The subsoiler is probably the least demanding of the 4.

After the ground is broken up, then a disc or better yet, a field cultivator can prep the ground for seeding. This is also a great time to incorperate lime (if needed) and fertilizer (as needed).

All the above is "in a perfect world" scenario stuff. Do a combination of these steps and you'll have some prime pasture land. There are many shortcuts that will get you "level", but why not get it right on the first try?

If you have rock only inches under the surface like some ground we have here in Kentucky, get used to bouncing along. Hard to "un-compact" solid limestone.

 

[CDsdad]

I had a similar problem, except mine was rough from watermelons having been planted and trucks in and out of field. I did what Soundguy said with one difference. I turned it over with a 2 bottom plow first, waited a couple of days for grass to die, disc to powder, dragged it smooth. I don't have to seed anything, coastal bermuda and bahai grass never go away.

 

[have_blue]

I had the same problem on 7 acres, and I appreciate your problem! Mowing can be pretty boring, and that's bad enough without having to endure spine-crushing ruts. Ruts can also cause your tractor to bounce, and that can't be good for the drive train.

Here's the coward's way out, which I naturally took. If there are only ruts and no ridges, just dump a little sand in them. No need to smooth it, just dump close to the proper amount. Sand packs immediately, and after a rain or 2, the sand will self-level. No need to wait or pack it as you would with dirt. The down side is, you can mow again immediately as long as the ground is firm. So no excuses for not mowing right away.

If you have ridges and ruts, you can box or back blade lightly, and shave the ridges off flush. That often partially fills the ruts, and it may be enough to save your internal organs. If not, a little sand will finish it.

I think it took 20 yards of sand to fix my ruts, and surface a narrow 400' lane. There are other (and cheaper) ways to do the job that I won't mention, because they involve too much work for a man with missing vertebrae.

Good luck!

 

[Highbeam]

I have some clay type soils that I will assume you also have since you are near that creek and in a gentle sloped valley bottom. I had some not so smooth ground which wasn't too bad in the spring but when the summer weather dried out the clay it seems to make the bumps way worse. Maybe the ruts receed faster than the ridges as the clay shrinks. I was bouncing all over the place to get the fileds mowed.

It seems logical that we could wait until the ground is somewhat wet again and roll or drag the ridges into the ruts. Maybe just a nice spike harrow to knock off the tops. If you want it smooth like asphalt then I think Soundguy's pasture rennovation method is the best course.

Farmwithjunk: I have compacted my fileds by working when they were wet. Will a single shank subsoiler destroy the sod? Can I run a SS through the ground every few feet in rows to encourage drainage without completely tilling everything up? I am hoping for nice slots to be cut with maybe a surface bulge but still allowing the sod to survive.

 

[sandman2234]

I don't have the answer, but thought of an idea that might work, might not.
Since the field was probably rutted during a wet spell, why not wait till it gets wet again, and level it? While waiting on the rains, you have time to locate and purchase a very large, very heavy roller, or better yet, time to build one. Just make sure it is heavy enough to roll out the ruts, wide enough to cover the tractors (hopefully 4wd) tracks, and large enough in diameter not to want to sink into the gound as it is being pulled.
Now, will somebody correct me, as it couldn't be this simple?
David from jax

 

[MotorSeven]

Thanks for the ideas, I don't have a disc or a plow, just the heavy BB, so it sounds like more implements are in my future .

Farmw/junk,
All of my pastures are bottom land, so i have no rocks at all, however, the west pasture(8-9ac) had an old sawmill operation on it and some very interesting things got buried over the years. 2 years before i bought the place i watched a dozer work the old piles of saw dust into the pasture over a 100x50yd area. He did a pretty good job covering most of it, but there is a 50x50' area that even bone dry, it is like a dry quicksand requiring me to raise the hog and hit 4x4 and the diff lock. No bumps in that area though ! I also have to admit i have done zero research on compaction issues, so i guess i need to start googling.

Soundguy,Cdsdad,
I was fortunate enough to get a local guy to start haying the whole place. He promised to spray for weeds if i could get everything hogged, so it is done. He did hay the middle pasture(9 or so ac) and took 44 wheels off of it. The other two pastures had gone several years fallow, so they need some attention to start producing better grass. Btw, it is all johnson and fescue grass, so attempting to seed anytheng else would take a huge amount of time and money. I understand that it would all be for naught the first time the creelk flooded and re-spread the hardy J & F. I talked to a local wildlife biologist who said getting attempting to eradicate fescue may cause insanity !

HB,Sandman,Haveblue,5030,
I like the roller idea and the sand leveling, but i have to look into the compaction thing first so i don't compound the problem.

Thank goodness my neighbor has a "big" tractor so i can attempt to ignore the little voice saying, "You need a bigger tractor" Here are acouple of pasture pic's:

RD

 

[jazzbiker]

I have the same problem only on just 3 acres. I've had parts dozed 2x just to have the loose dirt rained on right away and harden'ed so the ground was as bad or worse than before.

A neighbor (farmer) suggested a roller for the minor problem areas and spreading some manure he has over the badly pitted areas. This would be done now while it's dry (and not so smelly..) and then in the spring when the ground is moist, go thru it with a drag to even it out.

Anyone know the correct term for the drag implement in question? (He reffered to somthing like a horse drag)

Thanks,
Dave