Which impliment

[fried1765]

If were me, I would rip it with a plow. Then I would use a pto powered tiller (this will make it much easier on the tractor and tiller)). The you can level it by using a box blade and/or back dragging it with a loader. Definitely plow it before you till it, you'll be surprised at how much easier it tills.

Plowing in sandy/light soil would be an unnecessary step.
I have the same type soil.
Roundup/Glyphosate, followed two weeks later by rototilling, as suggested by Jeff, is absolutely the way to go.

 

[BigBoyToys]

Power till to mix up the soil. Rough grade with the bucket, then finish grading with a York Rake. Optionally you can use a Harley Rake after that to fluff it up. Finish by hand with a landscape rake to remove small rocks and such.

This past spring I had 90 yards of screen loam to work, the landscape rake with gauge wheels did a great job with the finish grading. Having the wheels is key! It's a very useful implement to have around. I built mine, but they can be had for reasonable money.

 

[jeff9366]

Power till to mix up the soil. Rough grade with the bucket, then finish grading with a York Rake. Optionally you can use a Harley Rake after that to fluff it up. Finish by hand with a landscape rake to remove small rocks and such.

All this for 1.5 acres, presumably less the area occupied by OP's house?

 

[Phillip w]

I must be missing something. I got a 6 ft king kutter tiller. It isn't worth 3 cents at the flea market if you are in ground where grass is established. If the ground is not been broken up, the tiller is not going to do much more than scratch the surface. Putting a plow to it will cut in 6-10 inches deep, turn/roll the grass under and the tiller will tear the grass and soil up real nice without laboring the tractor or the tiller. We do it all the time and it works great. Why would you want to till it 2-3-4 or more times like some have suggested when tilling soil where grass is established.

 

[Piston]

. Optionally you can use a Harley Rake after that to fluff it up. Finish by hand with a landscape rake to remove small rocks and such.

The wonderful thing about a Harley Rake is that you skip all those other steps you mentioned. There is no other tool or work necessary. No tilling beforehand, no grading with a rake (or anything) beforehand, and no hand raking to remove stones afterward.

It's Ana all in one tool, and unlike many all in one tools, it excels in all of those tasks at the same time.

If you can rent a power Rake, forget the tiller altogether. (And every other implement as well)

If you can't rent one, or already own other implements, then it's a different story.

 

[Wagtail]

I must be missing something. I got a 6 ft king kutter tiller. It isn't worth 3 cents at the flea market if you are in ground where grass is established. If the ground is not been broken up, the tiller is not going to do much more than scratch the surface. Putting a plow to it will cut in 6-10 inches deep, turn/roll the grass under and the tiller will tear the grass and soil up real nice without laboring the tractor or the tiller. We do it all the time and it works great. Why would you want to till it 2-3-4 or more times like some have suggested when tilling soil where grass is established.

Strange... I'm not questioning your personal experience with your tiller, but (and there's always a 'but', eh?) the opposite is true of my JD 655 tiller.

I've recently completed a couple of 'volunteer' jobs for the local community where they asked me to till two 3/4 acre food plots for a Community Garden. The ground was ex-horse pasture, packed but slightly sandy, with established grass. Two slow passes with the skids fully up, in opposite directions and the job was done. The tractor & tiller worked very smooth and so was the tilled ground.

If I'm asked to re-till for them next Autumn, I'm sure that the ground will come up even finer.

 

[Phillip w]

The wonderful thing about a Harley Rake is that you skip all those other steps you mentioned. There is no other tool or work necessary. No tilling beforehand, no grading with a rake (or anything) beforehand, and no hand raking to remove stones afterward.

It's Ana all in one tool, and unlike many all in one tools, it excels in all of those tasks at the same time.

If you can rent a power Rake, forget the tiller altogether. (And every other implement as well)

If you can't rent one, or already own other implements, then it's a different story.

I'm not saying yea or nay on this Harley rake, don't know exactly what on is. I'd like to see it tie into some ground seeded down in brome grass. I'm not saying it won't cause I'm not sure what it is. If it will tear up a brome field I'm sold. You got to have a pretty good horse of a tractor to pull a plow through a brome field. Do you have any pics of this thing.

 

[Wagtail]

The wonderful thing about a Harley Rake is that you skip all those other steps you mentioned. There is no other tool or work necessary. No tilling beforehand, no grading with a rake (or anything) beforehand, and no hand raking to remove stones afterward.

It's Ana all in one tool, and unlike many all in one tools, it excels in all of those tasks at the same time.

If you can rent a power Rake, forget the tiller altogether. (And every other implement as well)

If you can't rent one, or already own other implements, then it's a different story.

How is it for handling surface tree roots, not only around the edges of a paddock but on a compacted fine-gravel driveway (tree-lined)?

 

[Phillip w]

Strange... I'm not questioning your personal experience with your tiller, but (and there's always a 'but', eh?) the opposite is true of my JD 655 tiller.

I've recently completed a couple of 'volunteer' jobs for the local community where they asked me to till two 3/4 acre food plots for a Community Garden. The ground was ex-horse pasture, packed but slightly sandy, with established grass. Two slow passes with the skids fully up, in opposite directions and the job was done. The tractor & tiller worked very smooth and so was the tilled ground.

If I'm asked to re-till for them next Autumn, I'm sure that the ground will come up even finer.

If I don't roll mine over with a plow, my tiller beats and bangs and just has a terrible time. I blew up 2 hand tiller before I bought a plow and tractor tiller. I've been putting a lot of manure with it, that seems to be helping. It is good black dirt, but it is tough to break up. Alot of guys have hauled sand into their garden plots.

 

[Egon]

I must be missing something. I got a 6 ft king kutter tiller. It isn't worth 3 cents at the flea market if you are in ground where grass is established. If the ground is not been broken up, the tiller is not going to do much more than scratch the surface. Putting a plow to it will cut in 6-10 inches deep, turn/roll the grass under and the tiller will tear the grass and soil up real nice without laboring the tractor or the tiller. We do it all the time and it works great. Why would you want to till it 2-3-4 or more times like some have suggested when tilling soil where grass is established.

How many passes after plowing to break up the sod?