Tilling a field

[TigerfaninAR]

Moved to our new home this Spring and have large section to the side of the house I want as finished lawn. I would estimate it's about an acre and a half. Have a spot in the back that will probably just brush hog 3-4 times per year but both areas are very bumpy. Takes forever to do both areas because of this.

I've read about the many options from tilling to using a disc to getting a Harley rake. Even thought about renting a small dozer and then finishing up with my box blade. To my question, have a few local guys that advertise tilling with a 4 ft tiller and charge anywhere from 35-40 dollars per hour. For about 2.5 acres what would be an average time to till this? Ground is without rocks and very few trees.

 

[bigtiller]

With a 4 foot tiller it is going to take a long time. Depending on the type of tiller that is used and the horse power running it. Also the type of ground you have, how much it is compacted and all the surprises the operator will "find" that needs a shovel to get out of the way. I would think it would take at least 2 hours per acre with the best of circumstances.

 

[Western]

You must be in lower half of Arkansas, rocks every where where I grew up outside Harrison.

Only thing about tilling, if you can keep people off, large animals and vehicles like your tractor until it settles , you may have more bumps than before. Probably not, but I would try to just knock down the "hills.

Hard to say how long it would take, soil type, grass cover, tractor HP, operator all will influence the job. I would bet "long" on the price so your not surprised.

Do they have a minimum also?

What about a road grader? He can knock off the humps quick!
I would use a disc and drag it myself

 

[Reg]

I would approach it as a "lawn" project.
Much as tilling DEEP sounds attractive the fact is that the deeper you go the more you find.
I am thinking specifically of construction debris and you did say next to your new house.

So, a Harley Rake would be my weapon of choice and I would be cutting only a couple of inches.
According to how "bumpy" the area is and if I wasn't aiming for "flat" I would allow the rake to follow existing contours (top link in the slot) and just allow side to side leveling.
This would reduce "bumpy" to "rolling" and get some rocks up.
According to how results start to show I might repeat runs at 90 degrees, doing the Zamboni (ice rink) pattern lengthwise first, then across.

OTOH, if I wanted it "graded" and there were major mounds and dips I would probably do that with the box blade.
At least the first rough cut, then the Harley.
Remember that this would skim top soil from the mounds and dump it in the dips.
If you have contractor quality top soil there may not be enough of it to do this.

 

[Reg]

PS to last message;
Here is a little formula that Farm with Junk once posted.

Working width (of attachment) in inches x Speed in MPH /100 = acres per hour.
It works for mowing, plowing, whatever_all_else.

e.g. a 48 inch tiller at 1 mph could cover 0.48 acres per hour.
Add factors for multiple passes, overlap, turnaround, etc.

I figured it all through one time; a mile is 63360 inches, an hour is 3600 seconds, etc.
It is close, certainly close enough for estimating (-:

 

[Johndeere3720]

Is it just grass? I would tilt your box blade forward and use the teeth to rip up the ground. Then have it disked and rototilled afterwards. Will leave a nice finish. :thumbsup:

 

[Reg]

Something that Western said about keeping traffic off it until it settles.
If you can't do that you can ROLLER it.

If you do that just after seeding the seeds get pressed in and rain should run off more than cutting gullies if you get sudden rain storms before the root system starts.

 

[TigerfaninAR]

Appreciate all the responses. Will give one of the guys a call when get home from vacation this coming week. If 2 hours per acre is close I can have them do that in a section or two at a time. This is our forever home so in no hurry. If much more than that maybe I could use it as a leverage with the misses it buying our own tiller and use that and my boxblade/ratchet rake.

Will also check and see what rental rates for a harley rake would be.