Can I rototill this?

[WELD]

So the dirt is pretty free of rocks and all the heavy brush was cleaed but them the weeds grew. a little over a month of growth. I don't have a mower attachment. all I have is a box blade with scarifiers and a RTA42 Rototiller for my B7610.

I have not been having luck finding a decent mower/ bush hog in my area and I'm thinking of tilling right through all the weeds? Is that crazy talk or would it handle it?
It was all dirt a little over a month ago. I do have a simplicity with a mid mower deck but i'm afraid it will just push everything over and not actually cut it.

Should i scrap the idea of tilling it or wait till i find a mower?

 

[bucktail]

Let us know how it turns out if you decide to try it. I've been thinking about getting either a rototiller or a disk and have been leaning towards the disk mainly because of stuff like that. My guess is that it's going to wrap up on the shaft.

 

[D2Cat]

I'd just imagine if you used a tiller on that, the weeds would be wrapped about as tight a going through a feed lot where they twine was left on the ground!

 

[sheepfarmer]

Tilling won't work, trust me I've tried it. But if you hike the deck up as high as it will go and bite off a little at a time you mignt be able to knock it down with your mower. I have tidied up parts of my pasture with my old Ingersoll, 48" deck belt driven MMM. Feels a little like mower abuse, but if you're careful and don't hit rocks it will be ok. I have tne safety cover off the exit chute so it will be less likely to clog the blades. I also when desperate have taken stuff like that down a peg with a weed whacker and then mowed or tilled.

 

[skeets]

Sheepfarmer got it,,put the deck up as high as it will go and just like eating and a whale, one little bite at a time,, you might get some rag weed stocks wraped around the blades bu thats easy cleaned off,, slow and steady and dont take to big a bite and you will do fine

 

[08quadram]

After you mow it, the round up the area. Once dead, then till it up.

Mike
2014 Chrysler 300
1970 VW beetle
2006 Ford Freestyle
2008 Ram 1500 5.7 Hemi
2013 Passport 2920bh GT
BX2350
and a bunch of other crap

 

[WELD]

Thanks guys I figured it was a bad idea but about 5 degrees cooler today and i would have probably tried it out. I guess i will try mowing it with the mmm first. I feel like it will just stall it out but i guess we will find out.

would tilling over all those weeds just help them re-plant and they would just grow more?

 

[eipo]

would tilling over all those weeds just help them re-plant and they would just grow more?

Depends on if you get the roots all turned up. Which is not likely considering the shear quantity.

Id knock it down with the mower as mentioned. Cut it as short as you possibly can, right down to the ground. Wait a few days for it all to just start growing again and then spray it all with roundup or some other non selective herbicide. Once it all browns out, till it. It would be best to plow it but if that's not an option, till it.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Another thought, those look mostly like annual weeds, so if you mow before they can spread their seeds, that will help. Looking out the window where the walnut leaves are already starting to fall, you could skip the roundup and they will get killed by the frost on its way. Were you going to seed with something this fall or wait until spring?

 

[RonBoyBX25D]

Another option would be to get a Ratchet Rake and it would clean that area up nicely. I just used one to clean up an area by my fire pit so I could seed. Does a nice job of pulling the roots and all leaving a nice layer of topsoil for seed.

 

[jnldr]

Another option would be to get a Ratchet Rake and it would clean that area up nicely. I just used one to clean up an area by my fire pit so I could seed. Does a nice job of pulling the roots and all leaving a nice layer of topsoil for seed.

Ratchet Rakes Rock!!!!


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[RCW]

It's hard to tell how much area there is, but a good weed-eater will knock it down, then follow with round-up, or leave it after knocking it down until spring.

In the very early spring, you'll have some other options with tractor attachments.

 

[Alphonse]

There is already a seed bank established, by which I mean the soil had the seeds from time ago.
Once you get the plot prepped you would need to either plant a choke crop (your neck 'o the woods, this time of year, buckwheat would be good) or till in another couple weeks and then sow. Several rotations of the cover crop would get rid of a lot of weeds and improve tilth.
You will still get some weeds, unless:
You solarize the plot, essentially cover w/black plastic for several weeks.
You use a weedkiller of some description.
Everytime you turn earth, weeds have an opportunity.

I too think tilling will be a nightmare. If you went through w/a weedwhacker and cut from the top down so the bits get cut up short, then you could till it.
Presently where I live, mowing wouldn't work. There is so much moisture at ground level that green things (grass, weeds etc.) just fold over, and unless raked off, the overburden makes it impossible for the mower to get where you want it.

If your FEL has teeth you could use it as a rake and rip most of the roots out. Or the scarifier teeth. But then you either have to gather up, or let rot for some time. Some time allows weeds to start!
What do you intend to do there? There are other strategies but I'm long winded.

 

[FrozenInTime]

As tall as that looks, I'd find a neighbor with a tractor and sickle to cut it down. Wind-row it, burn it. When it starts to come back up, if it does, hit it with some 2-4-D. Till it under next spring before it starts up again. Or, neighbor cuts it, burn or rake it and plant a good winter cover. I've done buckwheat, still have that coming up all over as the birds eat the seeds then deposit seeds with fertilizer. This year I've planted clover as a cover crop.

 

[WELD]

Thanks for the advise.I just picked up a woods RM59 today with some new blades. Ran it over everything as soon as i got it home. Im going to have to hit it a few more times because i was limited on time today.
I still had some finish grading to do before it got grown over so im hoping to finish that up once it is workable.

The ultimate endgame is to actually spread some seed and plant grass. Whether i wait till the spring or do it now i guess depends how far I get.

 

[bucktail]

Rye has a natural herbicide in it and used to be grown in for weed control back before herbicides.

 

[WELD]

would rye be a good idea to plant this fall if my main goal is to plant grass?

 

[clay45]

would rye be a good idea to plant this fall if my main goal is to plant grass?

While it probably wouldn't hurt it would only delay getting your grass in now. Cut it. Apply Roundup. When browned solid (about 2 weeks) till it up. Let set a bit and seed it. If you are lucky it will rain some and will germinate in a couple of weeks. Roots will continue to develop over winter and in Spring you'll have healthy grass good to go and any good remaining seed will germinate and fill in even more.

 

[bucktail]

would rye be a good idea to plant this fall if my main goal is to plant grass?

Not if you want to plant it this fall or next spring.

 

[WELD]

While it probably wouldn't hurt it would only delay getting your grass in now. Cut it. Apply Roundup. When browned solid (about 2 weeks) till it up. Let set a bit and seed it. If you are lucky it will rain some and will germinate in a couple of weeks. Roots will continue to develop over winter and in Spring you'll have healthy grass good to go and any good remaining seed will germinate and fill in even more.

Thanks, thats kind of what I was hoping to do if time allows.
the roundup wont hinder the germination of the new seed if i plant this fall?