Purchasing a new L3902 for our land in Humboldt, CA. The property consists of 15 acres of pasture land and 35 acres of redwood forest. It's my second Kubota and second tractor. But I'm really a beginner user of the tractor in Humboldt. The pasture land has not been maintained for 15 years and is overgrown and the pasture land is very uneven, I would like to smooth it out and reseed. All the opinions I read just make me more confused. For instance if I box scrape the pasture land I have read I will screw up the top soil for new grasses and alfalfa. Moving forward after I clear the land of blackberry bushes with a grapple the remaining work will be mowing, and cleaning up and leveling the pastures. Additionally maintaining the three driveways and the forest roads through the forest part of the property. So what's the best implement to purchase for leveling the ground? All the pasture land and lawns have shallow holes from not being maintained and all the rain we get (avg 46" a year).
Rake or Box Scraper or Grading Scraper
- Thread starter eddy20
- Start date
A grader scraper quickly becomes clogged with grass and debris. I've tried using mine to level ground. It seems to only work after you take the vegetation off. It is great to maintain gravel driveways/roads.
A grader scraper will continually discharge dirt, so you may be move the top layer, but it will come back out again. I don't think this will cause topsoil damage but will move it.
To smooth it out, I think you will need a rotary tiller.
I think I would mow it as short as you can and then use the rotary tiller.
A grader scraper will continually discharge dirt, so you may be move the top layer, but it will come back out again. I don't think this will cause topsoil damage but will move it.
To smooth it out, I think you will need a rotary tiller.
I think I would mow it as short as you can and then use the rotary tiller.
GreensvilleJay
Well-known member
Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
I would
1) run subsoiler N-S then E-W
2) plow N-S
3) disc N-S then E-W
4) disc + rolling baskets and/or drag 'smoothing chains
5) rotatill if needed (depends on crops...)
subsoiler breaks up the hardpan and gets water/air deep
plow turns/breaks up the packed soil
disc/bskt/chains break it down further
tiller creates a fine level bed
This has worked for me for 2 decades and 100s of acres.....
How well it works for you depends on type/condition of your 15 acres.
1) run subsoiler N-S then E-W
2) plow N-S
3) disc N-S then E-W
4) disc + rolling baskets and/or drag 'smoothing chains
5) rotatill if needed (depends on crops...)
subsoiler breaks up the hardpan and gets water/air deep
plow turns/breaks up the packed soil
disc/bskt/chains break it down further
tiller creates a fine level bed
This has worked for me for 2 decades and 100s of acres.....
How well it works for you depends on type/condition of your 15 acres.
Good day. Congrats on the new tractor. When you say level, do you mean level or smooth? If you just mean smooth, I’d agree with Jim above, that would smooth it, that’s a pretty big patch to till. I’d brush hog it close to ground first. Another option after brush hogging might be to disc it…either tilling / discing would have it ready for you to seed it. Depending on what you have in mind. I think tilling would maybe do a better job filling in places, but it would also leave the ground softer if you go too deep. I think the disc would leave the ground a little firmer IMO. If you truly meant leveling (instead of smooth)I am not sure.
I find if you run the brush cutter low enough, it levels fire ant mounds (and the occasional stump) pretty well. Maybe work for you; we don't have rocks. jk
i7win7
Well-known member
Equipment
BX2370, B2650 grapple, tree puller, trailer mover, 3 point hoist, mower, tiller
If you have a lot of woody materials to clear rent a forestry mulcher on a CTL. It won't do well with rocks. It will shave off uneven soil bumps pretty well. It will do a good job pulverizing woody materials and grasses.
Once you can see what you are working under the growth with you can decide on the type of blade you need. If you are filling low spots and shaving high spots a box blade with scarifier will be helpful. A straight blade is good for cutting slopes. The rake is good cleaning up for small rocks and sticks.
Get yourself a hydraulic Top-N-Tilt kit if you need to do a lot of grading work.
Once you can see what you are working under the growth with you can decide on the type of blade you need. If you are filling low spots and shaving high spots a box blade with scarifier will be helpful. A straight blade is good for cutting slopes. The rake is good cleaning up for small rocks and sticks.
Get yourself a hydraulic Top-N-Tilt kit if you need to do a lot of grading work.
Congratulations on your new machine, I own a L3901 and find it a great size for many tasks. I agree on the comment above about brush hogging the blackberry bushes first to really see the clear ground and what needs doing. As far as smoothing it out, it really depends on the ground and how bad it is. A disc will chop things up into lumps, you may need to do many passes, a rototiller will do a great job and will help you smooth things. A chain drag harrow is a cheap and excellent way to smooth out broken ground. Rake can also be used for smoothing broken ground. Box scrapper with scarifiers is a great tool to break ground or even just a scarifier ripper bar.
I mentioned a lot of attachments, can you rent any locally, I own all of those attachments and based on your post I would use the brush hog, rototiller and chain drag harrow. If you cannot rent or borrow attachments and cost is an issue, I would pay someone to brush hog and then buy a scarifier ripper bar and chain drag harrow.
Good luck with your project.
I mentioned a lot of attachments, can you rent any locally, I own all of those attachments and based on your post I would use the brush hog, rototiller and chain drag harrow. If you cannot rent or borrow attachments and cost is an issue, I would pay someone to brush hog and then buy a scarifier ripper bar and chain drag harrow.
Land Shark Compact Tractor 3 point Scarifier Bar Ripper
Land Shark Compact Tractor 3 point Scarifier Bar ripping dirt with or without another attachment connected SuperTuf shanks American Made Free shipping
www.everythingattachments.com
Good luck with your project.
bmblank
Well-known member
Equipment
2020 L3901HST, LA525 Loader, 66" Q/A Bucket, PFL2042 Forks, Meteor SB68PT Blower
Like others have said, you're going to need to till it. If you run over it with a disc a bunch it'll chop it all up and with a drag of some sort do a halfway decent job of smoothing everything out. If you really want to move things around after that, you can use a box, just make sure it's all chopped up.
The box does work well for driveways, though many people also just use a rake to go over the driveway. You won't be able to fix problems with the driveway, but if you're just trying to get the washboards out the rake does alright. You just need to go over it relatively often to keep it up.
The box does work well for driveways, though many people also just use a rake to go over the driveway. You won't be able to fix problems with the driveway, but if you're just trying to get the washboards out the rake does alright. You just need to go over it relatively often to keep it up.