Spreading topsoil

[MoArk Willy]

I live in the Ozarks and my "yard" has a lot of ledge rock that has slowly appeared in my lawn over the last few years.
Last year we had a sever drought and that killed off much of the grass that had been planted in the topsoil spread over the rock.
That took away anything that bound the dirt together and the spring rains has washed a lot of the soil away leaving a lot of bare spots of rock and gravel.
(Prior to my home being built, the ground was used as a catch all for builders and a lot of the surface has gravel 1-2 inches below the top soil.
So I want to re-create the yard that I bought by bringing in top soil and spreading it over the areas that need it for seeding a new lawn.
I have about 1 1/2 to 2 acres of a lawn that I want to repair.
Now for the question.....what implement(s) would you use to make this project more easily accomplished?
I do have a bucket for my tractor and a box blade, but other than that I'm wondering what will give the best results to work the yard.
I'm not looking for a showplace, just grass that will sustain the heat, the rains and resist the run offs that occur during heavy rains.
I can probably top dress some of the yard.

This is what it looked like a few years ago....

The last photo shows the type of damage the rain has done by washing away the top soil.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Windblown]

The challenge in that type of situation is deciding on how nuclear you want to go. You can improve things over-all a little at a time over a few years, you can spot fix the worst parts, or you can fix it in one fell swoop by bringing in enough topsoil/clay/etc to get a proper base for the grass to thrive. Where near the ridges of western VA the only places that have real "yards" are ones that had dump truck loads of dirt hauled in. Mine is not one of those places...

Spot repairs are straight forward - Grab a bucket full of dirt, a rake, and a bit of seed. Larger conditioning similar to overseeding can be done with loose dry dirt. Grab a tractor bucket full of dirt and slowly dump it when moving to spread it out some. Follow up with a light weight drag made of 6' chain link fence with a 4x4 across the back and middle and a piece of pipe in the front to attach to.

A full blown fix may require dump trucks of dirt, heavy equipment and a full seeding to make a new yard. Make sure it's a proper mix for your area and soil needs.

I'm not expert but I did work on the grounds crew at a golf course once a LONG time ago. Busting ass every day to keep the grass looking good for the golfers is why my "yard" still looks like crap all these years later. No one is paying me to make it look nice, LOL.

 

[CPTKILLER]

I had a problem in an area where my wife’s chicken flock had destroyed the grass. In my area, the ground can be rocky with clay. I put it in over a year ago after prepping the ground with only a rake. I watered it per instructions on the sack. The results were good and the grass took hold and grew despite some drought like conditions.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Scotts-10-lb-Sun-And-Shade-Lawn-Repair-Mix/1000042423?store=&cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-lwn-_-ggl-_-PMAX_LWN_000_Priority_Item-_-1000042423-_-online-_-0-_-0&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD2B2W-VonaOL-4xabx9UhtBg56P0&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqtDx05DajAMVfC9ECB3bHBn6EAQYAiABEgL71vD_BwE

This is a good time of the year to try some and see how it works there.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Seems to me you should also think about prepping for the next rain's that are coming. If you build it up it could possibly wash away again. Things like:

Running a subsoiler through it so water soaks rather than runs.
Creating drains appropriate for your terrain deflecting large run off rivers.
Stone filters to catch some of the earth run off.

If the areas in question are trafficky areas, you want to include grass that will allow for some higher traffic.

Also its a good idea to get a soil sample, you may be lacking some nutrients/PH etc that restricts good vegetation growth.

 

[2manyrocks]

Could take a surprising number of loads of dirt to add much cover to a big area.

 

[ruffdog]

Spreadable composted cow manure sure makes grass grow too.