I like it Smooth (bumpy yard)

[Cherokee140]

We have decided to stop bailing our property and now it is really going to be one big yard. The only real bad part of this (aside from fuel costs to keep it nice) is the land is VERY BUMPY. It was a pasture at one time, but now it has been my front and back "yard" for about 20 years....but you can still feel the bumps from the hoof prints and such.

Any suggestions for smoothing it all out with as little destruction to the grass that is there. On our back part we have some very bumpy parts....ankle breaking parts. This area has bumps in it that can be up to a foot deep (no kidding) it is a moon scape. I have started to reclaim the last bit of this area this year. In the past what I did was plow the disc, disc, disc....oh then run the disc some more....as that is all I had. It is somewhat better, but not as good as the rest of the "yard" but not as bad as the reclaimed part I did a few years ago. The reclaimed area is still too bumpy for your normal riding type lawn mower. The unclaimed part is too bumpy for the belly mower on the 650. For brush hogging you better take a hand full of sheer pins, you will bust them as the tractor falls in the holds and the blades hit the dirt....it is that bumpy.

I was thinking of a box blade for back there, but is there anything that would be better. Would a land plane be better for this.

This is really a two part question, how can I smooth out the "yard", then how can I smooth out this reclaimed out part. I really want to do the yard part with as little damage to the existing grass as possible, the reclaimed part it really does not matter if it goes back to dirt first.

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[murphy1244]

I would till, then grade then roll and seed. Can't see how you can save the grass you have.

 

[HillStreet]

I would till, then grade then roll and seed. Can't see how you can save the grass you have.

Agree with Murph

 

[jeff9366]

I'm with The Honorable Murph--------

If you want ex-pasture level and smooth you will loose the grass.

I expect you will have to use a Moldboard/Turning plow first, then proceed from there. A heavy (HEAVY) Disc Harrow may be the next step after plowing, then repeated passes with a Land Plane or Chain Harrow.

There are numerous threads in the T-B-N archive on smoothing rutted and severely compacted ex-pasture. I cannot remember one thread where a plow was not the first implement used.

Rather than a Box Blade, a rear/angle blade or heavy Landscape Rake would spread plowed and harrowed soil better due to the ability of both to move dirt across the face of the implement. However, a Box Blade will certainly move dirt.

Be sure to work the land when the soil is moist. You cannot accomplish anything with a plow nor Disc Harrow if the land is too dry.

Be sure to have the soil tested before reseeding grass. If you need micro-nutrients or lime apply it after plowing. (In north Florida we are Boron deficient. When Boron is spread, generally 2-4 pounds per acre, pasture grass does much better.)

It would be helpful if you inform us of the pan diameter of your current Disc Harrow and how many acres you are working with.

 

[Gary Fowler]

If you want it truly level, disk it heavily first to chop up the grass so it doesn't clog up the land plane. It may talk many passes with a land plane to level off the hills and carry enough dirt to fill in the deep holes but continues disking and pulling the land plane will get it as smooth as a babies behind.
I wish I knew how to smooth existing lawn without killing the grass as mine has some rough spots also. I have been putting dirt into the low spots as I find them but it is a slow recovery process for the grass.

 

[BHD]

If one would have a big heavy roller, (water filled or other filled) I thinking in the few ton range, BIG,

and wait until you get a good rain and the ground is lightly spongy, or at least some softness in it, and try to roll it, if too wet you may not help it, but I am thinking your discussing small irregularities in rough not mounds of dirt and ridges,

have "leveled" some with a light disking knocking down mounds and filling in small dips,

I have some where the neighbor blew on me this winter, and my plan is to take my blade down and level it, and hope the grass will survive and come back up through it, but I have mounds up to 18" tall,
I know when the road grader comes by, and scraped the edge of the road here, they take some times the top few inches and grass come back from the roots, and I am reasonably sure that the turf farms take the top off and it comes back from the roots,

 

[jonnyc1999]

I have to disagree with what others have said so far. The best tool for the job BY FAR is a "harly rake". A tiller does a similar job, but will dig down too deep as you bump over inconsistent spots along your pasture. A tiller will make it look nice at first but you will get uneven settling as the soil compacts. The harley rake will knock off the high spots but won't dig down deeper than an inch or two, leaving a silky smooth surface.
I was able to rent a 60" PTO powered harley rake at my local power equipment rental place. It brought my yard from a weedy terrible mess to a smooth fluffy seedbed. Once seed goes down, roll the seed in, then water daily.

P.S. Before renting the harley rake I tried: boxblade (smoothed out the minor flaws but left the lawn wavy), ratchet rake (backdragged and left 1" ruts in the soil but helped smooth big hills out).

 

[Gator6x4]

I have seen people have a dump truck skim coat with top soil and then use a box blade tilted back to only provide smoothing to smooth out a rough yard. Then apply grass seeds and fertilizer. But if a large area, the cost of the dirt would become prohibitive and the use of a Harley rake after disking, then seeding may be the most economical.

 

[Cherokee140]

The very bumpy part that we just finished brush hogging is about 1ac....perhaps a tad more. The rest of that area that is too bumpy for a regular mower is about 3-4ac. The "yard" part is about 10.

I will have to measure the disc I don't know how large it is.

I really want to get that "new" part done. I think back in the day this was a different area of the pasture as it was fenced off from the part the house is on. And this area is MUCH rougher then any other spot. Thanks for the advice, I will see what the people around her have to rent.

 

[Ken45101]

I think the Harley rake is a good idea.

In the past, I had a rutted field that I disced, then a box blade, then drug a section of chain link fence (with pieces of telephone pole chained on top). Long, slow process. Then I found a used landscape rake with gage wheels and that was a vast improvement.

The chain link was very good for dragging over the area to cover the seed. That worked just as well as a commercial seeding contractor did with seeding and blowing straw over an area.

 

[redman135]

Bite the bullet and cultivate. It will cost dollars but the end result will be satisfaction and a smooth pasture you can bale hay on.

 

[Cherokee140]

Bite the bullet and cultivate. It will cost dollars but the end result will be satisfaction and a smooth pasture you can bale hay on.

Everything that eats is now gone....this is the first year we are not going to bail everything....that is why I am out in this field on a mower and really learning just how bumpy it is.

The "back" area is a real mess...this is really the first time I walked back there after I had brushed hogged everything (we did not even bail back there before, the tractor would fall in the holes and then the ends of the mower would hit the ground = bucket of not good. So this area has really just been left for over 20 years. I kid you not, there are areas back there that look like the ground was pushed up to a little mountain then right next to it, a deep hole, then another high point....between you could put your foot and the bumps would be over your ankle....I am betting 6" deep at least. You can see the tops of some of these little "mountains" where the brush hog has hit and taken the top of it off....so it was higher.

This is pretty bad....I am really thinking that the box blade is going to be where to start back here....My new android OS just eats my phone battery or I would try some photos...but it was dead...perhaps later today.

The rest of the "yard" has been bailed for years. And on a tractor it was never that bad....on all my mowing machine (BX, JD650, 54" craftsman, 48" john deere) they are all pretty bad, but with the 650 being the best I think because of the wheel base. Someone suggested I run the air pressure down in the BX and try again...they have high pressure in them because of the loader loads.

There is always a finish mower option...I do have an 8N and a JD 70 , The JD 70 is not a mowing machine unless you own Standard Oil, so I could do the finish mower on the 8N and go that route....I can stand on the 8N and that takes a great deal of the shock out of things.

Then there are the regular mowers with a suspension....perhaps that is why those things exist...for like me......Mowers like the Ferris and the Simplicity have suspensions but I have no idea how they work....For the costs of some of those mowers....some of the Ferris are over $10k, I would want a demo on MY land then I would wright the check if I think it worked.

 

[jeff9366]

Do not compensate for your rough field by spending a lot of money on a mower with suspension.

Fix the field.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Do not compensate for your rough field by spending a lot of money on a mower with suspension.

Fix the field.

I really don't know where this comment came from, the OP wasnt considering that and none of the post suggested it either.

From the OP description, I don't think anything with or without suspension or even air ride seat would smooth out that ride, maybe a hovercraft would traverse it ok.

 

[CalG]

I really don't know where this comment came from, the OP wasnt considering that and none of the post suggested it either.

From the OP description, I don't think anything with or without suspension or even air ride seat would smooth out that ride, maybe a hovercraft would traverse it ok.

Gary

Did you read the last two paragraphs of post 12?

 

[Cherokee140]

I actually was thinking about a suspension mower....you also have to have the info that I have been hit pretty hard. All kinds of metal holding me together....all kinds of battle damage....if I was a car it would not be just the miles...I am only 48, but think of that car being driven by a teenage girl. Or a Marine in Iraq the first time around....there are some extra holes that got poked in that car...they have been welded up but the car is never going to be the same. That is the reason behind the mower with springs....the "main yard" could be ok for folks that did not stop soviet metal with their body, but for me....it will pass my threshold and I have to stop....I just can't go on.

I am going to try to fix the "back" part of the pasture....this is where it is so bumpy you can't drive a tractor back there without tearing stuff up....very bumpy...I will try to take pics tonight and show you....this is the area that really needs help and I am thinking I will at least start with the box blade.

Now the rest of the "yard" that is where I really needed the help....and the problem is I don't really know if anything will help ME if I can't get it golf green smooth.

I think I am going to try to rent one of those "Harley rakes" and see what that will do in a small-ish part of the yard. If it works back there on about 1ac then I can always rent it again and do the rest.

I really thank you all for your help.

 

[jeff9366]

Have you read five SIMILAR THREADS in the blue box at foot of this page?

 

[BHD]

If your want to save the grass that is there, then some type of dragging harrow, disk, and harrow, something to pull some dirt, haul in dirt and fill, possibly roll it and push it down and out,

but just a little at a time and then time for grass to recover between passes, this could be a few year process,

the other is to tear it up and level it and replant it and if it is sod it will take a lot to tear it up and may take a month or so the sod is workable as well, able to level it with dragging all the dead plant material around.

one last thought, cut the sod off if you can follow the contours, set it aside and level it and roll it back out,

the top method may take a few years to do, the bottom will take a few years to get the grass stand back unless you have plenty of water or irrigation, and over seed it, (it take thee to five years to establish native grasses here).

 

[BHD]

is some of the problem (clump grasses) grass that grow in clumps or bunches with space between them the field can be smooth and the grass is what is rough, in that instances, and if it is clump grasses then removal of the clump grasses and replacement of the lawn type that make a field type or lawn type look,

 

[pcl]

I agree with using a harley rake they're short money to rent and do an awesome job smoothing thing out. You can also angle them and make wind rows with all the rocks it picks up.