Grading Smoothing out a lawn

[JOHNTHOMAS]

If it's not got a lot of rocks in it I would second the harley rake. One day and it'll be flat and loose enough for grass to regrow. I don't think hard clay would even slow it down. If you look on the net, I can't remember the name, there's a company that makes them that has videos of them in action. Around here it's what all the landscapers use when they are starting from scratch.

Here's a video of a walk behind Harley Rake.
Harley Walk Behind Power Unit
This company Everything attachments has some great videos.

 

[Egon]

From the sounds of things it might just be easier to start from scratch on the lawn.

Soil test
Cultivate and work up the ground, add fill materials?, smooth with equipment available, add required chemicals, work in chemicals and smooth again. Then seed grass of choice.

A large rough lawn is very difficult to smooth out without adding topsoil or working up the area. Just ain't no quick easy way.

A wide drag that can be angled may be about the best for smoothing. Something like several six by sixes set at slight opposing angles and separated buy three or four feet will do a nice job of moving the dirt around and leveling the area. It will take more than a couple of passes from different directions to get things into real nice mowing condition.

 

[AHNC]

Until I watched the video I wouldn't have known a Harley Rake if one fell on me. Seems a very capable piece of equipment but wouldn't a tiller be as useful here and more versatile going forward. If you are looking to put the gypsum and lime into the ground, level out the yard, and reseed then the tiller with its greater depth capability would seem as good or better. I'm a rookie, so that is a question. How hi/lo is the yard?

I was real pleased with my tillers performance on my yard and I went deep enough to level...as best as I could with the bucket. There is definitely a box blade in my future, but not right now.

 

[beenthere]

AHNC
Until recently, I would have agreed with going the tiller route.

But I've a friend with a new house, and last fall wanted to work up the rough grade which had turned to weeds over the summer and he wanted to get it seeded down.
I had recently bought a used tiller and I was going to till it for him. Rain and time kept that from happening.

Over the winter, he was looking at renting a Harley Rake after watching the HR videos.
So this spring, I showed up with the tiller and he ran the rented HR. Turned out, he was able to better, faster, and with smoother results than the tiller. He could move rocks and debris out of the way (either windrow or push across to the other side) whereas the tiller meant picking up the rocks as they were tossed up.
Made a believer out of me. The HR even handled the crop of weeds along with the rocks. Ended up with a couple acres ready to seed down in less than one day (8-2) of work.

 

[EE_Bota]

The other part of your question was whether to get a box blade that is larger than your manual says because it is a great deal. I wouldn't if I were you unless you have very soft soil. You said you have blue clay. I have never heard of blue clay, but I presume that is hard.

Stick with a 48" box blade.

 

[AHNC]

AHNC
Until recently, I would have agreed with going the tiller route.

But I've a friend with a new house, and last fall wanted to work up the rough grade which had turned to weeds over the summer and he wanted to get it seeded down.
I had recently bought a used tiller and I was going to till it for him. Rain and time kept that from happening.

Over the winter, he was looking at renting a Harley Rake after watching the HR videos.
So this spring, I showed up with the tiller and he ran the rented HR. Turned out, he was able to better, faster, and with smoother results than the tiller. He could move rocks and debris out of the way (either windrow or push across to the other side) whereas the tiller meant picking up the rocks as they were tossed up.
Made a believer out of me. The HR even handled the crop of weeds along with the rocks. Ended up with a couple acres ready to seed down in less than one day (8-2) of work.

I just spent some time on Everythingattachments.com. I just love that site. Helps me a lot. I'll be doing some business with them in the future. Having said that, it sure won't be buying a Harley Rake, given the cost. Rental is the only way to go on that for very occassional use. I'll have to suffer along with my tiller...but that isn't bad!

 

[asylum575]

When I did my lawn a couple of year ago, I pulled the box blade to level out areas where I pulled stumps. Once I got it close to what I wanted, I pulled the landscape rake over and over until it was smooth. The tines left nice grooves for fertilizer and seeds. I seeded in late September and by November1 I had green fuzz everywhere.
By late March-early April, I had a nice thick lawn.

Note, this method rips everything out, but I found it easy on the back and had nice results

 

[heehaw]

harley rake seems to be a heck of a tool: but looks like a tiller would do the same thing if you don't have much grass an other stuff on the ground?
heehaw

 

[TripleR]

I agree that Harley rakes really seem nice, but I didn't want to spend the money to buy and didn't really want to go rent something, so I lowered the teeth on my 7' BB, tilted it all the way forward with my hydraulic top-link and went over my yard a couple of times and then tilled it with my 3-point Land Pride.

As mentioned by others, I live in the country and have a "yard" not a "lawn". Tractors, cars, trucks ATV/UTV and other machinery cross it, so "smooth" doesn't last long. If I had a "lawn", I might have gone with a Harley rake.

 

[KeithInSpace]

I performed a complete lawn 'rehab' on about 1 acre. I started by going around the property with my box blade, scarifiers set shallow. That did a good job of getting up the 'junk' and starting with the fill process. Remember with a box blade, it isn't a 'back and forth' process, but a 'every which way' process. Drive around like a drunkard looping EVERYWHERE for best results.

Then I spread my 60 CY (4 tandom truckloads) of SCREENED (very important) topsoil where needed, either for fill or to smooth stubborn areas. Don't get refuse topsoil...you'll go batty getting out clumps and sticks.

Again with the box blade.

Going back, I wish I had a York Rake. Would have made removing debris and old thatch much, much, much, much easier. Strongly encourage a York Rake purchase.

I also look longingly at a disc harrows set. TSC makes an "XB" version for sub-compacts and I think that would do a spectactular job of 'chopping up' the top couple inches for amendment and smoothing. It's a few hundred bucks, though, so I haven't been able to justify.

I started with the tiller thing and it is unnecessary. Great for a garden, but just downright painful for lawn rehab.

Get the right starter fertilizer and seed for your situation. Pay extra...don't go to a Big Box. Go to a proper nursery.

I didn't do any lime or other amendments. I did have a 9-zone sprinkler system installed, though, which was critical to getting the seed up. Hit it 3 times a day for a few weeks and it worked like a charm.

The attached picture shows my lawn the spring after my rehab. The grass in the foreground was 'forest floor' when I moved into the house. 3 years and with painfully little care, it still looks nearly as good. I'm overseeding this fall, though.

As far as stability, I just pulled my 5,500# travel trailer onto an area where I filled 18", tires on the ground for 3 days without wood or other support. Didn't even leave a dent.

I hope this is helpful. Don't get too hung up on saving any of your existing grass...just start fresh. That way everything matches.