Grading Smoothing newly acquired land.

[Nashville]

I have 2+/- acres of ridge top (view), pasture/tree-cleared property on a 17 acre parcel. The pasture (really, a meadow) has never been tended at all. It's gently rolling but seriously uneven in terms of walkability. You just about turn an ankle if you step off the Gator. It's too rough to be cut with rider or ZTR because you'd be skinning the ground every few feet. I have my 2012 JD 4520, an OLD disc harrow left on the property which works and weighs as much as a Buick, a box blade, and a chain harrow. I'm a newbie tractor owner, but I figure some combo of these will do the trick. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Thomas]

Grapple might be useful than bucket clearing rocks,roots,stumps.

Post some action pics.

 

[gwdixon]

You have everything you need for renovation. (A plow would also be nice but the disc will do.) There are many posts on this subject as it is a usual task. You may want to do a search or look at the suggested posts at the very bottom of this whole page.

>First, disc, then cross-disc, then disc again - maybe more. Get the soil to as close to dust as you can.

>If what looks like places with buried elephants still show then use the box blade to drag those flat in all directions thus spreading out the humps.

>Disc again.

>Then go over it with a chain harrow. It will end up looking like a soccer pitch.

(People will be tired of looking at the oft-posted photo, but this is how it could look.)

 

[jenkinsph]

You should be able to use your boxblade and chain harrow to smooth it out. I built this landplane for my 4520 and this would work extremely well for your purpose. If you need more loose dirt to smooth with then run the disk harrow over the ground too. Here's pictures of the landplane and my rear lawn I used it on.

 

[Nashville]

Great pics! They are motivational. I can only hope. Thanks for the info!

 

[nybirdman]

Spray with (generic) roundup first,then have at it with your disc.

 

[bigtiller]

I'm guessing that the ground in your meadow isn't frozen yet and everything is dormant, so yes, try the "Buick" first and see how you like it. If it needs more work, that would be a great project to learn how to be an expert box blade operator.

 

[Nashville]

Nah...ground doesn't really freeze down here. The grass gets crunchy a few times per year...maybe a dusting of the white stuff occasionally. My farming friend eyeballed my ancient disc harrow and agreed that it was about the heaviest thing he's ever seen for its size. I tried to pick the tongue up and was convinced it was bolted to the earth's core. It's really amazing how heavy it is.

I'm guessing that the ground in your meadow isn't frozen yet and everything is dormant, so yes, try the "Buick" first and see how you like it. If it needs more work, that would be a great project to learn how to be an expert box blade operator.

 

[OldMcDonald]

I am with gwdixon on this one. I have brought a lot of land into cultivation that has never been worked before, including clearing big trees, big rocks and piping seasonal creeks running through - in England, Australia, Scotland and Portugal, so I claim a little knowledge. Only work the land when there is moisture in the ground. Pulverising dry ground is bad husbandry. I had some heavy pipe lying around when I bought here and made a simple drag out of it. It cost nothing except a few welding rods and a bit of chain and was particularly good at bringing dirt into a gently sloping area both sides of a shallow ditch. I do not have a box blade, but use the tpl box in a similar fashion.

 

[john_bud]

A quick tutorial on the disc. Start on the virgin soil with the disc gangs adjusted so the discs are straight forward. It won't do much, but if the soil is soft, it will cut the sod (if it really is heavy as a Buick!). The when you sort of get the hang of dragging it around, increase the gang angle until the tractor struggles to pull it. It will tear up the ground more as the gang angle increases. The tractor will pull it easier after it is tore up some, but it will really work the machine. Expect it. In fact, keep adjusting it to maximize the amount of effort as that will be the most effective discing action.

After you disc it and run the harrow around, you will still have to drag something to pull dirt from the high spots to the low spots. And old I-beam works well, the wider the better.

 

[OldMcDonald]

Very good advice there from JB too, by the time I read down the thread I had forgotten you said you were a newbie - maybe others had too. It would be nice to have a button on the forum where readers could just give a thumbs up (or down) to advice like this, so that the OP would know an idea had the support, or otherwise, of multiple TBN users.

 

[jenkinsph]

Very good advice there from JB too, by the time I read down the thread I had forgotten you said you were a newbie - maybe others had too. It would be nice to have a button on the forum where readers could just give a thumbs up (or down) to advice like this, so that the OP would know an idea had the support, or otherwise, of multiple TBN users.

Landplanes work alot better than makeshift drags because the skids and blade assemblies are ridgid and made to true up the ground in its path. When I didn't have anything to work with years ago I have pulled a full fresh cut tree behind me and that worked pretty well too but not as effective as an implement made for the specific job at hand.

 

[gwdixon]

Landplanes work alot better than makeshift drags because the skids and blade assemblies are ridgid and made to true up the ground in its path. When I didn't have anything to work with years ago I have pulled a full fresh cut tree behind me and that worked pretty well too but not as effective as an implement made for the specific job at hand.

While a very legitimate point about landplanes, the OP stated what he had to work with to try to get the job done. Some of the advice herein was given within those parameters. He should be able to get good results with what is available.

The price of a landplane for very occasional use might be prohibitive for some (even for an attachment hound like me!).

 

[OldMcDonald]

jenkinsph, Your tree idea is standard practice here in Portugal. I am not sure what you call them in the US (to me they are a scarifier) but everybody uses a cultivator with strong springs holding the legs in position and goes as deep as their tractor allows - very small compacts are normal on the small holdings that people have. Olive trees at random spacing make it impossible to follow straight lines so the implement has to follow the tractor around corners.

 

[Carl_NH]

I with GWdixon and Johnbud as to the approach and end result. Done this many times on the farm.

One thing with the disc it sounds like it's been sitting for a while, so it's likely rusty and if the gangs roll when you pul it great. First get yourself a grease gun and several tubes of grease, and pentrating oil - PB blaster or WD40 and grease all the gangs and then the gang adjustment might need some persuasion to move back and forth.

Once you get it rolling take a lap around the field and grease again.

Good Luck and you will have a nice lawn in the spring.

Carl

 

[Gator6x4]

I with GWdixon and Johnbud as to the approach and end result. Done this many times on the farm.

One thing with the disc it sounds like it's been sitting for a while, so it's likely rusty and if the gangs roll when you pul it great. First get yourself a grease gun and several tubes of grease, and pentrating oil - PB blaster or WD40 and grease all the gangs and then the gang adjustment might need some persuasion to move back and forth.


Once you get it rolling take a lap around the field and grease again.

Good Luck and you will have a nice lawn in the spring.

Carl

You forgot the gloves and a bar of soap. The soap will be needed for mouth wash if the disc has been setting and everything is rusty, especially when one start changing the bite angle on the disc gangs.

 

[jenkinsph]

While a very legitimate point about landplanes, the OP stated what he had to work with to try to get the job done. Some of the advice herein was given within those parameters. He should be able to get good results with what is available.

The price of a landplane for very occasional use might be prohibitive for some (even for an attachment hound like me!).

Well I considered the fact that he bought a brand new 4520 to work with and has a gator or similar machine to ride around on. Didn't get the impression that the OP couldn't afford another implement for his new tractor. Before i built my landplane i had always used a disk and spiked tooth section harrow to smooth up fields and with enough passes you can get the ground pretty smooth. Let me tell you this, the landplane is a heck of a lot faster with better results. btdt

 

[Chilly807]

I'm thinking a landplane might be in my deck of cards for the future too... Did you use hardened steel (grader blade) for the cross pieces, or mild steel? I think I'd have to use I-beam for the whole thing, then bolt cutting edges to the crossmembers. The problem I've had with floating drags is that they try to follow the existing contour instead of flattening humps and filling hollows. The landplane should reduce or eliminate that, although the tractor it's hooked to follows the contours too.

The disc should loosen the ground to start with, and will level to a certain degree. Box blade will work but plan on taking some time to do the job. The advantage of the landplane over the BB is the extended rails to keep from digging too much in a small area.

Anyone tried extending the feet on a box blade? If I thought I could use it as a landplane too I'd just buy the BB, then build some extended rails I could attach for that use. The ripper teeth would be handy under some circumstances, but not always needed.

Sean

 

[jenkinsph]

Sean,
If I were going to build a landplane for your Kubota in the avatar it would be a six foot wide with six ft long skids. The skids would be 12"x3"x1/4" rectangular box tubing with a 3"x1/4" flatbar wear strip to wrap arond the bottom and close in the ends. For the frame I would use the 4"x4"x1/4" square box tubing. The blade carriers would be 5"x5"x5/8" angle iron and the blades i recommend are the double edged reversible 6"X72"X5/8". My latest build has Canadian blades and seem to be real good. The larger landplane has similar blades I purchased from the Cat dealer which are very good too. There are some additional pieces needed to attach the blade carriers to the rectangular tubing so that you can make the skids adjustable.


I use my two landplanes quite alot in my jobs and feel the rectangular box tubing works better for the skids because the rocks don't have crevices and ledges to ride on. i found that using the wide flange beams worked well enough but carry too many rocks that can easily fall off on the roads and lawns where they are not desirable. i should add that with the higher steel costs today you can buy all the blades, hitch pins, plow bolts, paint and steel for around $800 to $1,000 US. If you can scout around and find some deals on drops which is what I have done you can save some money likely get it down to $600.

Here's some pics of the 48" and 96" landplanes I built.

 

[Chilly807]

Thanks! I've got a source for some grader blade, I've been meaning to get some replacement edges for my rear blade anyway. I might pick up a couple more pieces while I'm there, enough to build a landplane with. As for the rest, I'll probably end up buying new steel if I can't find it at the scrap dealer near me. If I do build one it'll be a summer project, in the queue along with a QA for my loader and a dump cart for the ATV. Doesn't look like I'll get much time for golf next year

I hope the X749 in your picture has 4-wheel steering, if not that looks like it might have hurt!

Sean