Tell me how to flatten pasture

[Thejoj]

Spent the last year tearing down and rebuilding a house we bought on 5.7 acres. We moved in Christmas Eve and took some time to relax. Now it痴 time to tackle the outside.

Just took ownership of a CK3510SE HST. I got the loader, box blade with top and tilt, grapple, flail mower and forks. Surprised how capable this little guy is already. I used mainly commercial construction equipment during house build, so I was a little nervous about the size. This little guy should be able to do 98% of the daily needs and I値l get a big boy for the once a year projects.

As to my question, the back 3 acres are rolling pasture. Soil is good, no rocks or stumps or anything. My issue is that there are larger bumps and voids. Average is the size of a car tire. If you were running you would for sure roll an ankle. The current status is 8-12 lush weeds. I壇 like to get everything somewhat level.

I致e heard that I need to disc it, another guy said to rip it with the box blade rippers and then smooth out with box. I致e also heard that I need to round up all the weeds first?

At this point, I just want to do it right. What do you guys recommend?

 

[MF243RedTop]

Getting rid of what vegetation you can before any type of ground disturbance is a plus... Leveling dirt with a bunch of vegetation, leaves or straw is a royal PITA...
Then disc it and/or blade out the high spots.

 

[Thomas]

Dozer would make it lot easier than you put the finish touch on.

 

[jeff9366]

The back 3 acres are rolling pasture. Soil is good, no rocks or stumps or anything. My issue is that there are larger bumps and voids. Average is the size of a car tire. The current status is 8-12" lush weeds.

Just took ownership of a CK3510SE HST. I got the loader, box blade with top and tilt, grapple, flail mower and forks.

I've heard I need to disc it, another guy said to rip it with the box blade rippers and then smooth out with box. Iｴve also heard that I need to herbicide the weeds first?

Box Blade is the purpose built implement for collecting dirt and transporting it fairly short distances.

First mow vegetation as short as possible, "scalp". Then wait for moist soil so your Box Blade can cut soil layers to fill. You may or may not need Box Blade rippers. Learning to feather/spread transported soil evenly takes some time. A tiny movement of the hydraulic control changes discharge rate considerably. You can smooth fills by back-dragging with the heel of your FEL bucket.

Three acres is not a huge spread. And your smoothing only concerns spot corrections.



If you had ten+ acres to generally smooth, rather than your spot corrections, a disc harrow would be good. But a disc harrow leaves small furrows of its own, which are eliminated by dragging. Too much bother for three acres.

DISC HARROWS: https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums...ing-three-point-hitch-mounted.html?highlight=


Congratulations on the new tractor and the primo soil.

 

[Thejoj]

Thanks for the replies! The vegetation does seem to be the issue. Would this be a better project to do in the summer when everything dries out? Or try to mow down in winter and do with softer soil?

The good news is it doesn稚 sound like I need to buy a disc!

 

[ovrszd]

Were this me.....

First I'd decide what the end goal was? Am I going to manicure it like a lawn? Let it grow up and maybe cut it once or twice a year? What plant life do I want in the end?

So maybe fill us in on your end goal?

 

[Thejoj]

We plan to put a couple animals out there, so they will manicure it as best they can. The end goal would just be able to walk around and drive utv out there with out getting hurt. It appears the previous owners had gotten vehicles stuck, dug holes to make bike jumps and buried tires...The problem now is that all the grass/weeds are the same height, so looking at it, it looks flat. But my kids go running down there and hit potholes they couldn稚 really see. You try to drive out there and your coffee spills everywhere

 

[sea2summit]

How do you feel about pigs? 3-4 in a good fence will till up 1/2 acre in a few days, just broadcast some corn. After they're done just drive over it with the rake once or twice to fill in their holes and dirt clods then plant whatever cover crop you desire.

ETA this is my pigs after their last move in the time that it took me to get forks on the tractor to move their shelter. I've had pigs in everything from sand to pine stumps and this is what they do to dirt if they are not rotated, some terrain will take more time but it gets done.

 

[ruffdog]

A expert with a tracked skid steer, bucket, and land leveler would make short work of it. Does your BB have the tines on it?

 

[ovrszd]

We plan to put a couple animals out there, so they will manicure it as best they can. The end goal would just be able to walk around and drive utv out there with out getting hurt. It appears the previous owners had gotten vehicles stuck, dug holes to make bike jumps and buried tires...The problem now is that all the grass/weeds are the same height, so looking at it, it looks flat. But my kids go running down there and hit potholes they couldn稚 really see. You try to drive out there and your coffee spills everywhere

So all you want to do is fix the worst spots?? No plans for reseeding?? No plans to manicure it with the lawn mower??