Turn a field into a yard

[gabeancounter]

I just started discing mine. Around 5 acres to be bermuda. The pines were cut back in 2001. Built the house in 2009. All the stumps have now disappeared leaving around 200-300 holes. This is after discing twice. I don't have pics after using the landscape rake but it works great.

I found that loading up the landscape rake and dragging the dirt back and forth worked great for leveling and filling holes. I plan to keep working the dirt until I get all the hills taken down and all holes filled.

I also debated heavly on purchasing a tiller (even after the first discing) but glad I didn't. Unless you have an extra $2k. I already had the cutting harrows.

Found a roller on craigslist to finish the job. I have around 10-12 hrs seat time in at this point. With a small 30hp tractor.

 

[MMagis]

Oh yeah, some advice on electric fences for deer. According to my brother who is an avid deer hunter, to keep deer out of your place, put the wire about 1 foot off the ground. He said deer travel with their heads down grazing and when they hit the fence with their nose, the may rip it out of the ground when they jump about 10 feet in the air, but the wont be back again. Depending on how many deer you have, I guess depends on how many fence repairs you have to do. He did say that if you put it up like you would for cows, they will see it and just jump over it.

No offense to your brother, but that's not going to work. Not even a little bit. Deer require multiple stands of electric if you hope to have any chance of keeping them out. And deer don't walk around with their heads down.

As for the yard, either tiller or disk would work fine. Personally, buying a tiller seems like a waste of money unless you plan to do a very large garden every year. If you're not sure and have never had a garden before, it's doubtful you want to do one on a large scale. I know it's a nice thought to grow some tomoatos and sell them locally, but is it something you've looked into? Do you know for sure someone will buy them from you? You'd be money ahead to rent a tiller if you go that way.

 

[bigbull338]

1st thing you prolly need todo is poisen the 10ac field to kill the volenteer soybeans an rye an weeds.an take a plowing disk an disk it up.then harrow it to smooth it out.

 

[MMagis]

1st thing you prolly need todo is poisen the 10ac field to kill the volenteer soybeans an rye an weeds.an take a plowing disk an disk it up.then harrow it to smooth it out.

There's no need to spend time and money on spraying herbicide when the dirt going to be turned over anyways. Plowing, in my opinion, is beyond overkill. The best soil is on top, leave it there.

 

[bigbull338]

There's no need to spend time and money on spraying herbicide when the dirt going to be turned over anyways. Plowing, in my opinion, is beyond overkill. The best soil is on top, leave it there.

have you ever tryed to seed notilled ground into grass before,esp ground that has been notilled for years.the ground gets compacted an hard.an i think it needs tobe disked to break the hard crust.using a pto tiller on it will just burn the tiller up in my opion.

 

[MMagis]

have you ever tryed to seed notilled ground into grass before,esp ground that has been notilled for years.the ground gets compacted an hard.an i think it needs tobe disked to break the hard crust.using a pto tiller on it will just burn the tiller up in my opion.

I don't disagree with the disking part, just the plowing and herbicide part. One big advantage of no till is the lack of hard-pan formation from plowing, as well as less crusting on the surface. Maybe our cold winters here have something to do with it, but I wouldn't worry about compaction with a no tilled field. But at the very least, the field will need fertilized and disked to get a good stand of grass. Crops use up most nutrients and they have to (should) be replaced every year.

 

[rookiefred]

rookiefred, sorry but I just have to ask the question.... why would you want to have to mow 10 acres of grass on a regular basis?? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for seat time but that just seems to be overdoing it. Have you thought about how much time it will take to keep 10 acres mowed, once or twice a week, depending on how much rain you get? What do you have to mow it with, assuming you get it growing nicely? I say fence it in and put some goats, cattle, or horses in there!

The field is in really rough shape. Lots of ruts, etc. I would only keep the area around the house finish mowed. I also have 5 grandsons that love to ride the mowers, tractors, dirt bikes and 4 wheelers. I don't have a disk harrow or tiller. I'll have to get something, just want to make a good decision. I think there is only a couple hundred dollars difference. I have a 6 ft Southern rotary cutter and just got a standard duty 6 ft box blade last week.

 

[MMagis]

I don't have a disk harrow or tiller. I'll have to get something, just want to make a good decision. I think there is only a couple hundred dollars difference.

A used 3pt disk can be had for less than $500. A used drag disk, often less than $100. A used tiller is usually going to cost you at least $1000.

 

[TripleR]

Lots of interesting information. I grew up farming with moldboard plows, disks and harrows and still like them for some things, plus we already own them.

I use a tiller to level and reseed my yard and we also use a 10' Great Plains no-till drill to plant all sorts of things including grass.

I am not sure there is any one "best way".

 

[pitt_md]

I would till it deep as you mentioned, then plane it smooth, seed it heavy with a broadcast seeder, then cover with a harrow and roll it.

Here is a pic of my lawn and the custom landplane with harrow.

I just hope my wife never sees your lawn (Nice Job). Ours is a gopher riddled mine field currently.