Shmoozing out the yard

[igpoobah]

I have a very uneven, bumpy, rutted yard. It's basically forest that they cleared just enough to plop a house on.

I'm trying to figure out what implement(s) I will need to smooth it up and get it to where I can plant some grass and wind up with a nice, smooth yard.

Any suggestions?

I am working with a JD 2320; 24 horse with a FEL and 5' box blade right now.

My soil has a lot of clay. It goopy and sticky when wet and hard as a rock in the summer when dry.

I'm thinking either a tiller or a plow and disk, either of which would need to be followed up with a chain harrow for smoothing out.

Is this about right or am I barking up the wrong tree?

What I don't want to do is buy a half dozen implements trying to figure out which is the right one.

Help?

 

[Johndeere3720]

A disk would work good for loosening the soil out and by extending out the toplink for your boxblade, you can more of blade the area rather than scrape and dig it up and make a mess. just my :2cents:

 

[jenkinsph]

I have a very uneven, bumpy, rutted yard. It's basically forest that they cleared just enough to plop a house on.

I'm trying to figure out what implement(s) I will need to smooth it up and get it to where I can plant some grass and wind up with a nice, smooth yard.

Any suggestions?

I am working with a JD 2320; 24 horse with a FEL and 5' box blade right now.

My soil has a lot of clay. It goopy and sticky when wet and hard as a rock in the summer when dry.

I'm thinking either a tiller or a plow and disk, either of which would need to be followed up with a chain harrow for smoothing out.

Is this about right or am I barking up the wrong tree?

What I don't want to do is buy a half dozen implements trying to figure out which is the right one.

Help?

I think you are on the right track with a tiller and harrow.

I would till the yard as deep as possible
pick up any surface roots and debris
use the boxblade to smooth up the yards as best as you can
plane the yard smooth (more on that in a minute)
retill the yard perpendicular to your first pass
run the plane again if needed
harrow the yard smooth
seed heavily
roll in the seed with a rental roller
Be prepared to keep this area damp with light watering several times a day
for good dermination of seed. You don't need a lot of water at one time, just enough to keep the seed damp.


About the landplane, for a one shot deal I recomend you get two pieces of 4" channel iron about 60" length. Install these on your boxblade with the flat side of the channel against the boxblade. The ends should be rounded to prevent gouging. See the pic of my plane to understand this. I would use 1/2" bolts to fasten the skids to the sides of the boxblade while on a smooth surface (concrete). Adjust the boxblade where the blade is just touching the floor and sitting level, mark your holes for mounting the skids. Allow enough room between the front of the skids and your rear tractor tires for clearance. In effect you are adding guage skids to your boxblade temporarily. This will enable you to smooth out the tilled soil averaging out the high and low spots. These skids can also help with your driveway if needed. The steel for this will cost about $30 to $50 and you will need some bolts and nuts, use of a 1/2" drill and bit.

While this is not as good as a dedicated landplane grader it will certainly improve the results most people can get with a boxblade. A little adjusting of the toplink to set the skids running level while moving forward is about all you have to do. Understand that adjusting the top link correctly is important and that the 3pt hitch can be lowered down all the way. This allows the implement and hitch to float up and down freely while holding the box as close to level as possible. Any small grooves or tracks made by the skids will be easily wiped out with the chain harrow.

Enclosed are pics of a fixed 3pt harrow I built that is 8' wide with about 60 teeth and the landplane I built which is 8' wide and 950 lbs. Notice the rounded edges on the ends of the skids, I rolled the edges of the beams up to prevent gouging. On some designs these are simple straight angles either way will work I am sure.

 

[KPark]

If your box blade has scarifiers, use them to break loose roots and such. That might be easier said than done seeing as it was forest.

If root removal is feasible, after getting rid of the roots you can tilt your box blade back with the top link (if you have a back cutter as well as front) so that the box will smooth the ground and not cut in. You might find that acceptable, but if not you can disc it first.

If root removal is NOT feasible, think about bringing in the soil you need and smoothing over the top of what you have.

The only implement you would have to buy/rent would be the disc.

 

[dave1949]

Besides getting the soil cleaned up, smoothed and leveled, now is the time to amend your clay soil before you spend money and time on seed.

If you can till in several truck loads of yellow sand and a few truck loads of cow manure, you will improve your soil considerably. You will have better growth and better moisture retention.

Dave.

 

[jenkinsph]

Besides getting the soil cleaned up, smoothed and leveled, now is the time to amend your clay soil before you spend money and time on seed.

If you can till in several truck loads of yellow sand and a few truck loads of cow manure, you will improve your soil considerably. You will have better growth and better moisture retention.

Dave.

I agree with Dave on the amendments these are often overlooked and could be added and tilled in from the start.

 

[forgeblast]

I third the amendments, our local recycling center sells composted newspaper real cheap. When i was working for a landscaper we would till this into all our planting beds.

 

[peterssj4034]

I used a single bottom plow, disc, boxblade, and a drag to level out large sections of my yard. Worked really well.

 

[igpoobah]

Thanks for all the replies. One thing is for sure - I have my work cut out for me!

 

[rambler]

A plow, disk, and harrow will do the heavy, medium, and light tillage you need to work up 5-10+ acres of land to a nice finish. Plows work well in long straight rows tho, not so much in small tight spots.

For working around buildings, small spots, around trees, etc. a tiller and landscape (aka York) rake will be much more manuverabe, & perhaps more useful to you in gardening and driveway mainteinence in the future. The tiller will be slower if you are looking at 5+ acres, but this is a onetime job, so no big deal.

End of May and clay - you are past the good time of year to be doing this, perhaps you are looking ahead to August which again is a good time for this job. Plows like to make big chunky lumps out of clay.

I'd lean towards the tiller & landscape rake. Could easily use a harrow instead of the rake; your box blade will come in handy as mentioned for some light root ripping & leveling as well.

--->Paul