Land smoothing/leveling rock root hard soil conditions

[Denis Campbell]

Hello,

Im looking for an attachment to help smooth level very rocky and root (wild grape) ridden land. Was thinking box blade. Would love to see something with serrated scarafers if that’s even a thing, that would cut roots.
l4060 cab,

thanks

 

[Lil Foot]

I worked with a guy who had land like you described, (mesquite, palo verde, and creosote roots?) and he used a peanut grinder to put a very sharp edge on the scarifier teeth of his box blade.
It cut roots very well, but the edge didn't last long in the dirt & rocks.
I think he went through lots of cycles of sharpening, digging, & re-sharpening, but he eventually succeeded.

 

[Denis Campbell]

I worked with a guy who had land like you described, (mesquite, palo verde, and creosote roots?) and he used a peanut grinder to put a very sharp edge on the scarifier teeth of his box blade.
It cut roots very well, but the edge didn't last long in the dirt & rocks.
I think he went through lots of cycles of sharpening, digging, & re-sharpening, but he eventually succeeded.

I wonder if I can put a ripper on the tow bar?

 

[fc1]

I wonder if I can put a ripper on the tow bar?

Three-point.

 

[RCW]

I wonder if a subsoiler might be worth a try, followed by a box blade as @Lil Foot describes?

At least a subsoiler is a single point. 6 scarifiers on a box blade might be a challenge to pull even with an L4060.

Sounds like a tough spot

 

[Lil Foot]

If I remember right, he made lots of shallow passes, a little deeper each pass.
Ford 9N I think.

 

[jimh406]

I think I'd try a flail mower with hammers or disc attachment. I'd use a land plane after instead of a box blade. The difference is that a land plane will automatically drop the soil.

Do mow it short before you disc if that's what you will try.

 

[Denis Campbell]

I wonder if a subsoiler might be worth a try, followed by a box blade as @Lil Foot describes?

At least a subsoiler is a single point. 6 scarifiers on a box blade might be a challenge to pull even with an L4060.

Sounds like a tough spot

Subsoiler. thanks now I got some ideas.



It’s going to have to have much better teeth than this though. But yeah I can see how this might work, I already have stumps dug out. I can just back drag the bucket on float to finish after I pass a few times with something like that.

 

[Denis Campbell]

I think I'd try a flail mower with hammers or disc attachment. I'd use a land plane after instead of a box blade. The difference is that a land plane will automatically drop the soil.

Do mow it short before you disc if that's what you will try.

Its cleared. I have tons of ”pot” holes left from digging up big blue stone rocks and out crops, clearing trees and stumps. I have backfilled and floated But it’s still a bouncy ride. This is the finish work to fill in and level off so I’m not bouncing around. Tons of rock and lots of those wild grape vine roots. Man I hate those %@#@%%&%$

Also would be great to condition the trails I keep brush hogged too. Then I may have to get a box box blade.

 

[D2Cat]

Make a rake similar to this.

 

[Denis Campbell]

Make a rake similar to this.

View attachment 138403

Now we’re talking! Love the wields on the teeth that act like serrated blades. Nice touch.

 

[D2Cat]

Now we’re talking! Love the wields on the teeth that act like serrated blades. Nice touch.

That weld is for wear.

 

[mikester]

rent this first

then this

 

[NCL4701]

Partly depends on how big an area you’re dealing with. If it’s not large (less than a few acres) you can likely get it done with about anything with scarifiers (boxblade, land plane, subsoiler followed by a blade of same sort, root rake grapple, etc.). Small area, you can make a bunch of passes and fiddle with it until you get it the way you want it.

If it’s a large area, you might consider something like a disc plow (example: https://www.fieldkingusa.com/products/whole-goods/plows/mounted-disc-plow/). That kind of mess is tough to work with a moldboard without it plugging every ten feet, even with a coulter. For a large area, ideally I’d want a disk plow to rough cut and turn it at least a couple times plus a disc harrow to chop the roots further and level further.

 

[Denis Campbell]

It’s isn’t much area at all less than 2 acres, so box or land plane might be best and just start very shallow and make multiple passes. My driveway is paved and I just have trails or I would say box blade. Now for what kind. Titan Landpride or used

Partly depends on how big an area you’re dealing with. If it’s not large (less than a few acres) you can likely get it done with about anything with scarifiers (boxblade, land plane, subsoiler followed by a blade of same sort, root rake grapple, etc.). Small area, you can make a bunch of passes and fiddle with it until you get it the way you want it.

If it’s a large area, you might consider something like a disc plow (example: https://www.fieldkingusa.com/products/whole-goods/plows/mounted-disc-plow/). That kind of mess is tough to work with a moldboard without it plugging every ten feet, even with a coulter. For a large area, ideally I’d want a disk plow to rough cut and turn it at least a couple times plus a disc harrow to chop the roots further and level further.

 

[Denis Campbell]

It’s isn’t much area at all less than 2 acres, so box or land plane might be best and just start very shallow and make multiple passes. My driveway is paved and I just have trails or I would say box blade. Now for what kind. Titan Landpride or used

picked up a land pride gs1560 today. 1750 had a small dent doesn’t effect use. Just ran a few passes with scarifiers just a hair below blades. So far so good. Only one root stoped me dead. Also acting like take and cleaning up stuff and have a nice dump area in the passes. Also picked up a heavy steel fence post. Man I took so much crap out of the rock walls and other areas. Knock on wood no flats. But scares the hell out of me. Hate the way people would use their own property as a dump.

Worked well on trails too. Just going to keep going over and over it.

Going set the scarifiers down one more setting and work on the area that is just dirt and rocks to see how it’s fairs filling in holes and leveling(smoothing) things out. I appreciate everyones input very helpful.

I opted for the 5’ and not 6 as I didn’t care if it covered rear wheel tract wanted to have more power to operate. It’s only just a few inches on either side anyways.k

Setting scarifiers down really is working now. But found that pile of buried steel fence posts. low and slow because you can run into stuff and don’t stop quick can turn into nightmare. But man what a difference now.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

Im looking for an attachment to help smooth level very rocky and root (wild grape) ridden land

I read that and immediately thought ‘this guy must be in Pacific Northwes’, where Oregon grape is everywhere. But no, you’re out east. I didnt know you had your own version out there. You found your answer, but i also use a box blade with rippers down to tear out oregon grape. There maybe better methods but i have that tool, and it does a decent job.

 

[Denis Campbell]

I read that and immediately thought ‘this guy must be in Pacific Northwes’, where Oregon grape is everywhere. But no, you’re out east. I didnt know you had your own version out there. You found your answer, but i also use a box blade with rippers down to tear out oregon grape. There maybe better methods but i have that tool, and it does a decent job.

Northeast upstate NY helderburg mountains (hilltowns).

Wild Grape (alias; Vitis Spp) Wild Grape is the most common invasive you will find in the Hudson Valley. Although it is technically not an invasive since it is native to this area, it is still a notorious killer of trees.

I considered a box blade as well. However I read that the land plane of the same width requires less HP and weight than the land plane and the plane has more area for material to disperse and not build up as much. I also downsized to 60” when I could have gone to 72” but I have more power to tool ratio now as well not as susceptible to catching trees.

 

[Denis Campbell]

So wanted to share my update with some pics to close this out and also to thank everyone for their suggestions. Some before pics:

And a couple after:

 

[Denis Campbell]

The attachment