Pasture Reclamation Project

[LarryBud]

I have about 7 acres of fescue pasture which was left undisturbed for 15 years or so. Last fall, I had a guy with a skid steer come in and pull / pile all of the volunteer trees. Currently, I'm burning the piles as I have time and weather.

As a result of the tree removal, the already rough pasture now is full of potholes and small dirt piles from where each tree was pulled. I've worked on some of it with the bucket but its a slow and less than exact process.

Next fall / winter, these 7 acres will be killed off and burned down to dirt prior to planting a pollinator mix. Then, left alone for 10 years. I'd sure like to smooth things out prior to seeding it into pollinator.

I have a 31 HP L3130 and no tillage equipment ( my neighbor has a small disc available for use ). Any suggestions on how to smooth this out over the next 12 months? I don't care about the current fescue but want to make sure I can get a good kill on it in late summer.

Thanks

 

[jimh406]

Neil Messicks did a video where he smoothed his field with a land plane. Btw, these are very good for gravel driveway maintenance if that will matter to you.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

you could run the disc with a big ibeam and few chains behind to 'fill and level'. Don't set disc for 'aggressive' cut, go easy to get the 'feel' of the setup, then, maybe get 'mild'. Try to do it when there's moisture in the soil,easier on everything.
Also start with say 1 acre( the one the wife sees.....),get it done the way you like it, then another and another...

 

[LarryBud]

Neil Messicks did a video where he smoothed his field with a land plane. Btw, these are very good for gravel driveway maintenance if that will matter to you.

Thanks. I do have a 6' Blade ( not the leveler above ) I could mess with. To date, I haven't had much experience with it and I'm not sure what it could do better than my bucket. It is readily available.

 

[D2Cat]

Larry, I have one of these you're welcome to use. It's a Gill soil pulverizer. You can drag it until you run out of fuel!!

 

[BigG]

I believe you will need to buy some equipment which you could resale at the end of your project. Without seeing the field this is a guess at best. I would use a rear blade, which may need some extra weight added to refill the holes the best you can.

After you burn the field I would use a moldboard plow to turn the soil so you bury any seeds that remain in the soil. Then disk the field to level it. Try to use a leveling disk as opposed to a 3 point lift disk. This would require 2 or 3 passes on the field. On the last pass drag a railroad tie or I-beam to smooth the field. Then plant whatever seed you wish. Depending up on what you plant you may need to drag a piece of chain link fence to improve the germination of your seed.

With your small tractor this may best be accomplished by hiring this out to someone with a larger tractor. The plowing would be the most difficult to do in a timely fashion. The rest of the work is doable with your tractor, slowly but doable.

As a kid we plowed and disked about 5 acres with a Farmall Cub. A single bottom plow and a 4.5 foot disk. My dad, brother and I took turns driving the tractor but it still was slow. We then planted it in corn with a hand corn planter. The worst was picking all that corn by hand.

So yes it can be done with a small tractor.

 

[NCL4701]

Started to say what BigG said and then noticed he already said it. Have done similar with a 9N Ford so yes, your tractor is big enough it will just take a while. The toughest part would be plowing a field that hasn’t been plowed in a long time or maybe ever. If you have farmer type neighbors, hiring the plowing out to someone with a large ag tractor who could knock it out in short order might be a consideration.

 

[LarryBud]

Thanks All.

It's never easy.

 

[jimh406]

Having it plowed is fine, but that leaves the field consistent clumps. I paid to have my 12 acre front field done. You will still need a way to smooth it out like with a harrow, blade, etc.

You should also be thinking about what you will plant especially if it has existing vegetation. Do think about the planting time window since rain, etc can vary. If you plant at the wrong time, you'll have a dirt field longer than you want and weeds could outcompete what you plant.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

BigG said it best.... plow,disc,harrow,done....
probably run a 2 furrow plow with your tractor ?, so day 1 is plowing,then rest for a day.
day 2 run the discs, first with the furrow, then 90*, mildly..
day 3 run the discs again, dragging big beam and chains(poor mans harrow)
This will get you smooth NOT level. For level you need some fancy computer guided machine, smooth means,well, smooth...looks real nice...
How much 'prep' you do before seeding ,depends on how you want the 7 acres to look. I'd expect it'd only take a week to get it ready though.