Tilling ground

[Eric McCarthy]

I fist make what ever changes in the landscape needed then till followed by dragging. The dragging compacts and levels the soil.

That doesn't really add up unless your dragging after you put seed and fertilizer down. Even then after you till you want to keep the soil loose and airy and not compacted down. Which is why you aerate a a lawn seasonally, to loosen and de-compact the soil.

 

[Bulldog]

I think you have so much different info getting fired at you that everythings a blur. if you had the grass and weeds gone you have the best tool for the dirt already. It's hard to beat a box scrape in the dirt. It needs to be clean dirt though for anything to be able to get it smooth. Even if you had to burn just a small patch at a time that would make everything so much easier. If the cover was out of your way the box scrape would allow you to make the dirt be any way you want it to be. Earlier you posted that you needed practice with your bax scrape. Don't try to work the entire 4 acres at once. Try something like 100' squares and work thru it one section at a time. After getting some practice under your belt you can make dirt slick as glass.

Unless you have no other choice don't buy seed at Home depot, Lowes and places like that. I just bought kentucky 31 from my local feed store for $45 a bag. I have even seen it go on sale at Ace Hardware as low as $25 a bag. Home Depot is the last resort when it comes to seed.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Unless you have no other choice don't buy seed at Home depot, Lowes and places like that. I just bought kentucky 31 from my local feed store for $45 a bag. I have even seen it go on sale at Ace Hardware as low as $25 a bag. Home Depot is the last resort when it comes to seed.

Yeah I agree with ya there. I just went to Home Depots site for a quick reference and got some numbers. The final price tag is still going to be a few thousand in materials. He's going to also need fertilizer to get the seed growing.

 

[Iowan]

It might not not add up in your thinking, but it works great. The drag is made from
6' long 2" heavy wall angel iron, laid out like a ladder with heavy rails to tie them together. The front and rear are faced up to help float the rest face down ^^^ to cut. This thing will cut the high spots and fill the low ones and give you a nice seed bed when done.

One thing about seed, the last place I would buy seed is a big box store, the farmers co-ops ave seed in bulk or I use Earl May (brand name) grass seed.

 

[Bubbie Corrillo]

I think you have so much different info getting fired at you that everythings a blur. if you had the grass and weeds gone you have the best tool for the dirt already. It's hard to beat a box scrape in the dirt. It needs to be clean dirt though for anything to be able to get it smooth. Even if you had to burn just a small patch at a time that would make everything so much easier. If the cover was out of your way the box scrape would allow you to make the dirt be any way you want it to be. Earlier you posted that you needed practice with your bax scrape. Don't try to work the entire 4 acres at once. Try something like 100' squares and work thru it one section at a time. After getting some practice under your belt you can make dirt slick as glass.

Unless you have no other choice don't buy seed at Home depot, Lowes and places like that. I just bought kentucky 31 from my local feed store for $45 a bag. I have even seen it go on sale at Ace Hardware as low as $25 a bag. Home Depot is the last resort when it comes to seed.

Thanks Bulldog for your feedback...i think you are on to something, starting out small should give me a better handle on the project, and thank you for the seed suggestions on where to buy.

 

[Bubbie Corrillo]

It might not not add up in your thinking, but it works great. The drag is made from
6' long 2" heavy wall angel iron, laid out like a ladder with heavy rails to tie them together. The front and rear are faced up to help float the rest face down ^^^ to cut. This thing will cut the high spots and fill the low ones and give you a nice seed bed when done.

One thing about seed, the last place I would buy seed is a big box store, the farmers co-ops ave seed in bulk or I use Earl May (brand name) grass seed.

Thanks for the discription of the "drag" . Sounds resonable to get materials and weld it up at a resonable cost i would imagine. how many angle irons did you use? 72" wide x how long? then you added a three point hitch on one end and a single at the other?

 

[Iowan]

The drag is about 6' square with 4 sets of 2 cross bars, I spaced the bars in the pairs are 2" apart and like I said the first and last cross bars face up and the rest down. I use a triangulated tongue to pull it with and the other end I have set up so I can pick it up and move it around with my three point quick-hitch. I also have 150lbs of steal ballast to add to it if needed. Sorry I cant post pictures its in the back of the shed with two sections of chain harrow on top of it waiting for spring.

 

[lsmurphy]

Consider having someone hydroseed for you.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Consider having someone hydroseed for you.

Hydro seeding 4 acres is really going to be expensive. Hydro seeding price wise runs in the middle between traditional grass seeding and sodding.

 

[Bubbie Corrillo]

The drag is about 6' square with 4 sets of 2 cross bars, I spaced the bars in the pairs are 2" apart and like I said the first and last cross bars face up and the rest down. I use a triangulated tongue to pull it with and the other end I have set up so I can pick it up and move it around with my three point quick-hitch. I also have 150lbs of steal ballast to add to it if needed. Sorry I cant post pictures its in the back of the shed with two sections of chain harrow on top of it waiting for spring.

Thanx Iowan for the discription

 

[lsmurphy]

Hydro seeding 4 acres is really going to be expensive. Hydro seeding price wise runs in the middle between traditional grass seeding and sodding.

About $1000 per acre here.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

About $1000 per acre here.

And he still looking at $4,000 for his four acres to be planted in seed.

 

[Russell King]

Assuming the $77 for 50 pound bag that covers 10000 sq feet that was thrown out are correct numbers then it will only be about $1400 for the seed.

4 acres * 43560 square feet per acre = 174240 square feet to cover
174240 square feet/10000 square feet coverage in each bag = 17.5 bags
18 bags * $77 per bag = $1386 for the seed.

I know when I was looking to do something similar on my property, I wanted to use native grass seeds and they were much more expensive per square foot. You can just get the grass growing in one area and you can then harvest the seeds yourself and then do another area if the money is a problem. (assuming the grass you use seeds itself)

 

[skeets]

Ok how about this,,just a thought,, the ground is fairly soft and I am making the assumption the rocks can be pushed in the ground,,, So it you ran with the mower higher so as not to hit to many rocks and welded a hitch to the back of the mower and draged a roller behind,, It would take some time but every time y ou mowed the ground would get packed and the big rocks you could bar out and haul off,,, Just a thought

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Thats what I thought, I hate doing math at 4am...

 

[South 40]

Hey Bubbie,

First off a rock rake is not all that expensive and they work like a top.

Second, rocks will ALWAYS resurface, if you want to avoid having to constantly sharpen and replace bent blades on your mower then remove the rocks.

Even if you get the ground broke up nice and get all the rocks you can find removed within a few years more WILL come to the top, (or at least arund here they do).

What I do when I am working ground for a yard is first till, or disk the ground to break it up, then use the rock rake to gather the rocks into a smaller area so I can load and haul off, now the rake will also move some dirt around, so I have an angle frame welded together in a triangle 5 feet wide, and just deep enough to hold concrete blocks, then I drilled a series of 3/8 inch holes about every 4 inches along the width, and used grade 8 bolts 3 inches long bolted into each hole, then get a piece of chain link fence 5 ft square and use heavy wire to attach it to the back of the frame so it will drag along behind the frame with the concrete blocks on it, this will help to break up any more clods of dirt, and the fencing will do a great job of leveling the dirt, it will also help gather any more rocks.

Running this rig around the area severa time will give you a very nice smooth area, to plant grass seed on.

I would not use a roller to compact the ground, just cover your seed with a light coating of straw to keep it from washing away until it has time to sink in after a few rain showers.

The ground will naturally compact after some rain and you mowing it.

Best Regards

Paul