Best implement to grade this?

[gcmiller]

Hi folks. My wife is heavily into dog agility, where dogs and their handler run timed obstacle courses. We have an agility field on our property that is roughly 120 ft by 200 ft. My wife practices for trials on this field and she also gives private lessons to her students on it. The field is mostly a mix of very course sand and soil from where the pond was dug out, but there is one area that is a very hard and compacted soil that sticks up just two or three inches and is roughly 15 ft around. I would have attached a picture, but the mound is so small in height and wide that it looks like flat ground in photos. Unfortunately, it is an issue for her and her students – both she and one student have tripped over the uneven surface while running.

My question is what is the best implement to level this out? I have a B2910 HST with FEL with a 4-in-1 bucket and a tooth bar. I’ve tried using both the 4-in-1 and the tooth bar, but I couldn’t make much progress – the ground is very hard and all I really did was tear the grass out. I’m sure a big part of the problem is my lack of skill, but I’m thinking there must be a better tool out there. Would a box blade or a rear blade be the tool I need for this job? Which one? Is there a better tool or multiple tools needed? Or is this something that requires a pro with different tools because of how perfect the wife wants it?

My hope is to rent the right tool, but I may buy it if I can find a deal on a used one. I doubt I will use it for more than this one project, so if I need multiple tools it may be better to hire it out.

Thanks in advance

 

[Lil Foot]

Hard to tell without a pic, but it sounds like a job for a box blade. Use multiple passes with the ripper teeth down to break it up, then grade it with the box.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

box blade WITH scarfiers(sp), go N-S, then E-W, then S-N, then W-E , it'll take longer to hookup the blade than do the work....
or...
put kid behind rototiller as it's only 15' round, size of where my pool was..

Jay

 

[dirtydeed]

Hard to tell without a pic, but it sounds like a job for a box blade. Use multiple passes with the ripper teeth down to break it up, then grade it with the box.

Agreed. Sounds like a box blade would be the ticket for this one.

 

[gcmiller]

Thanks everyone. Here are a few pics. The bare soil is roughly the center of the "mound" but it's wider than that.

It sounds like I have a good excuse to buy a box blade.

 

[Bmbbm]

Go ahead and get a box blade. You will find lots of other uses for it in the future. I use mine a lot and its great ballast when using your FEL.

 

[BigG]

I would rent, borrow or hire a tiller to break up the harden area and then drag it smooth with a piece of chain link or something similar to blend the surfaces together. It could be done with the box blade but even with the scarifiers it would be difficult to brake up the hard spot and then smooth it out evenly.

 

[DustyRusty]

I had a similar problem in my back yard, and I resolved it by using a York rake after the soil was loosened up. I mixed some sand and loam into the hard soil, and after a number of passes with the York rake, it was smooth as I felt that it needed to be. I then spread 10/10/10 fertilizer on the entire yard, and grass seed. The back yard was filled from removing a high spot on the land, and was mostly coarse gravel. The fellow that dug out the hill couldn't believe that I could get grass growing in gravel. As long as I kept it fertilized, the grass grew like it was a golf course. When I had heart surgery, I let it go, and now it is all weeds, but even weeds are green and look good from a distance if you keep them cut!

 

[mikester]

Power rake?
http://www.harleyrakesonline.com/

 

[gcmiller]

Power rake?
http://www.harleyrakesonline.com/

That looks pretty cool, but it's a bit more than what I need.

Definitely some good ideas here. I think I'm going to go with the box blade. The wife reminded me that we have a pile of top soil in the back of the property that I planned on spreading in the front, so that's two jobs I can use it for. Plus, it will probably make a better ballast than the finish mower.

 

[D2Cat]

I agree with BigG, till it to break up the hard material then add the dirt or sand. Won't take much to level it if you till it first.

 

[Freeheeler]

It sounds like I have a good excuse to buy a box blade.

We are great at spending someone else's money. By all means, you have an excellent excuse to buy a box blade.

 

[BX23S-1]

I agree with others on getting a box blade. So many uses for a box blade too.

 

[gcmiller]

I definitely got some good ideas here. I liked people’s suggestions of tilling and smoothing with a rake or a piece of chain-link fence, but in the end I decided to go with the box blade. I found a used Tarter 5 ft BB in great condition for $300, which I think was a great deal.

Between work, rain and my wife’s need to use the field, it may be a couple of weeks before I get around doing the work. I’ll post pictures in “What did you do to or on your Kubota today?” when I do. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Lencho]

Nice box blade, looks like it has hardly been used. It will be a good counter weight as well.