Turn a field into a yard

[rookiefred]

Advice requested.
I have about 10 acres that has been no till drilled forever and would like to turn part of it into a front yard around where we are going to build. Some think it needs to be turned, some think just disking will be good. I'm leaning toward tilling. It has some deep ruts and something needs to be done. I have the time to till, it does not all need to be done right away. Turning 8" is the recommended depth when I explained all this to the Kubota salesman. A good size tiller will do that or close to it. The most I'll probably do with the 10 acres is a garden and have thought about tomatoes (if I can keep the deer out) to sell to the local market. A salesman at Southern Farm Supply in Union Grove, NC heard that an electric fence with peanut butter works pretty good for deer. Any preferences on a brand of tiller? Southern beat every one for a Southern standard duty 6' box blade. They carry Howse tillers. Thanks for any advice.
Rookie Fred

 

[tawilson]

I've had better luck when I till shallow on the first pass to cut up the sod then go deep on the next one. I've got a Bushhog tiller I've pounded and rebuilt a couple of times.

 

[oliver28472]

I would disk rather than till. Tilling will take a lot of time. When you say it was no-tilled, was it for crops? Sow your grass seed around August or September. Doing it now will get you a stand but you won't have enough root to get through the summer heat.

 

[PapaPerk]

I would rototill it. Over all time is less because tiller makes such a good seed bed. I recommend King Kutter Heavy Duty tillers. They are gear driven. Have many tines (installed in a twisted orientation along the main shaft).

Going 8" down sound kinda deep. I would go around 5" deep with the tiller. Make sure to let the rain settle the dirt real well.

After you use the tiller for planting grass you can use it in your "mater" garden!

I have a KK 72" tiller that I run with my Kubota 3830. Works great!

 

[jenkinsph]

I would till it deep as you mentioned, then plane it smooth, seed it heavy with a broadcast seeder, then cover with a harrow and roll it.

Here is a pic of my lawn and the custom landplane with harrow.

 

[rookiefred]

I would disk rather than till. Tilling will take a lot of time. When you say it was no-tilled, was it for crops? Sow your grass seed around August or September. Doing it now will get you a stand but you won't have enough root to get through the summer heat.

The field has had soybeans and last year, rye. You're right about the heat, but I have the time to do it. I'm mainly concerned where they will be putting the septic field (in front of the house) and my guess it it's probably not a good idea to till over it after they get it installed. Won't disking require additional steps, such as possibly disking more than once and using a drag harrow? The neighbor across the road said he has lived there for 12 years and he does not remember it ever being turned, disked, etc.
Fred

 

[rookiefred]

I would till it deep as you mentioned, then plane it smooth, seed it heavy with a broadcast seeder, then cover with a harrow and roll it.

Here is a pic of my lawn and the custom landplane with harrow.

WOW! That's what I'm looking for! I can only hope what I'm trying to accomplish will look that good! Awesome job.
There's been posts about the plane in the Kubota area. I think Land Pride changed the name from a land plane to grading plane. Talk is the plane works well on gravel driveways. You gotta love a dual purpose tool.
Thanks

 

[kebo]

rookiefred, sorry but I just have to ask the question.... why would you want to have to mow 10 acres of grass on a regular basis?? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for seat time but that just seems to be overdoing it. Have you thought about how much time it will take to keep 10 acres mowed, once or twice a week, depending on how much rain you get? What do you have to mow it with, assuming you get it growing nicely? I say fence it in and put some goats, cattle, or horses in there!

 

[Gary Fowler]

I wish the previous owner of my place would have at least disced it up after row crop prior to pasture. It will just about beat you to death mowing across the rows or whatever plus the cows tramping in it didnt help. I am going to have to disc it several times and then drag a harrow over it to get the humps and valleys out of mine where I have taken in some pasture for a yard. NOT 10 acres but likely about 3. That is my next chore. Then of course have to pick up the new crop of rocks that turning up the soil will uncover. Since I dont currently have a harrow, that is another piece of equipment I need to buy.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Oh yeah, some advice on electric fences for deer. According to my brother who is an avid deer hunter, to keep deer out of your place, put the wire about 1 foot off the ground. He said deer travel with their heads down grazing and when they hit the fence with their nose, the may rip it out of the ground when they jump about 10 feet in the air, but the wont be back again. Depending on how many deer you have, I guess depends on how many fence repairs you have to do. He did say that if you put it up like you would for cows, they will see it and just jump over it.

 

[gabeancounter]

I just started discing mine. Around 5 acres to be bermuda. The pines were cut back in 2001. Built the house in 2009. All the stumps have now disappeared leaving around 200-300 holes. This is after discing twice. I don't have pics after using the landscape rake but it works great.

I found that loading up the landscape rake and dragging the dirt back and forth worked great for leveling and filling holes. I plan to keep working the dirt until I get all the hills taken down and all holes filled.

I also debated heavly on purchasing a tiller (even after the first discing) but glad I didn't. Unless you have an extra $2k. I already had the cutting harrows.

Found a roller on craigslist to finish the job. I have around 10-12 hrs seat time in at this point. With a small 30hp tractor.

 

[MMagis]

Oh yeah, some advice on electric fences for deer. According to my brother who is an avid deer hunter, to keep deer out of your place, put the wire about 1 foot off the ground. He said deer travel with their heads down grazing and when they hit the fence with their nose, the may rip it out of the ground when they jump about 10 feet in the air, but the wont be back again. Depending on how many deer you have, I guess depends on how many fence repairs you have to do. He did say that if you put it up like you would for cows, they will see it and just jump over it.

No offense to your brother, but that's not going to work. Not even a little bit. Deer require multiple stands of electric if you hope to have any chance of keeping them out. And deer don't walk around with their heads down.

As for the yard, either tiller or disk would work fine. Personally, buying a tiller seems like a waste of money unless you plan to do a very large garden every year. If you're not sure and have never had a garden before, it's doubtful you want to do one on a large scale. I know it's a nice thought to grow some tomoatos and sell them locally, but is it something you've looked into? Do you know for sure someone will buy them from you? You'd be money ahead to rent a tiller if you go that way.

 

[MMagis]

1st thing you prolly need todo is poisen the 10ac field to kill the volenteer soybeans an rye an weeds.an take a plowing disk an disk it up.then harrow it to smooth it out.

There's no need to spend time and money on spraying herbicide when the dirt going to be turned over anyways. Plowing, in my opinion, is beyond overkill. The best soil is on top, leave it there.

 

[bigbull338]

There's no need to spend time and money on spraying herbicide when the dirt going to be turned over anyways. Plowing, in my opinion, is beyond overkill. The best soil is on top, leave it there.

have you ever tryed to seed notilled ground into grass before,esp ground that has been notilled for years.the ground gets compacted an hard.an i think it needs tobe disked to break the hard crust.using a pto tiller on it will just burn the tiller up in my opion.

 

[MMagis]

have you ever tryed to seed notilled ground into grass before,esp ground that has been notilled for years.the ground gets compacted an hard.an i think it needs tobe disked to break the hard crust.using a pto tiller on it will just burn the tiller up in my opion.

I don't disagree with the disking part, just the plowing and herbicide part. One big advantage of no till is the lack of hard-pan formation from plowing, as well as less crusting on the surface. Maybe our cold winters here have something to do with it, but I wouldn't worry about compaction with a no tilled field. But at the very least, the field will need fertilized and disked to get a good stand of grass. Crops use up most nutrients and they have to (should) be replaced every year.

 

[rookiefred]

rookiefred, sorry but I just have to ask the question.... why would you want to have to mow 10 acres of grass on a regular basis?? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for seat time but that just seems to be overdoing it. Have you thought about how much time it will take to keep 10 acres mowed, once or twice a week, depending on how much rain you get? What do you have to mow it with, assuming you get it growing nicely? I say fence it in and put some goats, cattle, or horses in there!

The field is in really rough shape. Lots of ruts, etc. I would only keep the area around the house finish mowed. I also have 5 grandsons that love to ride the mowers, tractors, dirt bikes and 4 wheelers. I don't have a disk harrow or tiller. I'll have to get something, just want to make a good decision. I think there is only a couple hundred dollars difference. I have a 6 ft Southern rotary cutter and just got a standard duty 6 ft box blade last week.

 

[MMagis]

I don't have a disk harrow or tiller. I'll have to get something, just want to make a good decision. I think there is only a couple hundred dollars difference.

A used 3pt disk can be had for less than $500. A used drag disk, often less than $100. A used tiller is usually going to cost you at least $1000.

 

[TripleR]

Lots of interesting information. I grew up farming with moldboard plows, disks and harrows and still like them for some things, plus we already own them.

I use a tiller to level and reseed my yard and we also use a 10' Great Plains no-till drill to plant all sorts of things including grass.

I am not sure there is any one "best way".

 

[pitt_md]

I would till it deep as you mentioned, then plane it smooth, seed it heavy with a broadcast seeder, then cover with a harrow and roll it.

Here is a pic of my lawn and the custom landplane with harrow.

I just hope my wife never sees your lawn (Nice Job). Ours is a gopher riddled mine field currently.