Ideas for Leveling Dirt and Seeding for Grass with Tractor

[saxon11]

I'm new to my 47hp tractor, got about 15 hours on it this winter/spring. Working well. There is an acre or so of my land this Spring i'll need to seed. Right now it's getting leveling by bulldozer, and black dirt of being saved for me to put on top for grass. Working with my bucket, I just don't have the skill to get that dirt even close enough to level and ready for seed. My current implements are bucket, rear-mount tiller, forks. I've see others with bobcats make miracles with spreading dirt for grass, i just don't see that happening with me, perhaps I need to practice. If using implements (could need to buy two new ones), I've don't some research and let me know if this is a good plan:

1) use my tractor's bucket to dump the dirt around (result wont be flat but each bucket i can slowly dump just while reversing). My guess is about 100 yards to spread.

2) come by next with a landscape drag or here is slightly different model. I can pull this with my tractor or even my 18hp craftsman lawn tractor. With concrete blocks for extra weight, reviews tell me this implement works wondering on leveling.

3) finally, a chain-link harrow drag, throw the grass seed down, the hit it one more time to cover the seed.

Suggestions?

 

[Rockbadchild]

yes some guys are really good to spread black dirt with a bobcat ... just a note I have seen a guy doing it with a track bobcat and he was operating on the black dirt and not the other way around so he was spreading from the pile out and not the other way around ... That way your black dirt stay black and clean.

I don't know if you will get the result you want with the landscape drag, I feel like it won't spread like sand or gravel since black dirt compact way more and tent to stick together I would suggest having a harrow spike tooth with the chain link harrow drag behind it. My thought is the spike harrow would make some loose and break the chunks then the chain like would spread evenly but I could be wrong ...

I am wondering if its better to cover the seed or the pack the seed ?? I know for hay seeds it is recommended to pass a lawn roller after seeding, but I don't know for grass

 

[Str8 6]

Get you a 6' land plane. They level dry dirt just as well as they level gravel. You won't be disappointed and it takes no previous skill to use, just set it flat on the ground and drive around until you have reached your desired results.

 

[jeff9366]

2) come by next with a landscape drag or here is slightly different model. I can pull this with my tractor or even my 18hp craftsman lawn tractor. With concrete blocks for extra weight, reviews tell me this implement works wondering on leveling.

Consider a Landscape Rake or an ABI TR3 Rake in lieu of above.

Landscape Rake is 1/3 the price of an ABI TR3.


VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tractor+Landscpae+Rake+width?

 

[shooterdon]

The guy who did my place (about 2 acres of grass) used a landscape rake and it did a decent job. I did not have a tractor back then.

Like you, no way I could level a yard with a FEL. Just not talented enough.

 

[2manyrocks]

A landscape box is about the easiest implement to get a relatively smooth surface because the edges of the box roughly self level themselves provided that the dirt is workable. If you have a bunch of clumps that stick together, that's another story.

A landscape rake is better for breaking up clumps of dirt and would be better for mixing in seed.

If you have a gravel driveway to maintain, I'd suggest thinking about the landscape box.

You can buy a cattle panel at TSC for $20ish dollars whatever the price is these days and use that as a drag. Maybe weight it down with an old tire or two.

 

[saxon11]

A landscape box is about the easiest implement to get a relatively smooth surface because the edges of the box roughly self level themselves provided that the dirt is workable. If you have a bunch of clumps that stick together, that's another story.

A landscape rake is better for breaking up clumps of dirt and would be better for mixing in seed.

If you have a gravel driveway to maintain, I'd suggest thinking about the landscape box.

You can buy a cattle panel at TSC for $20ish dollars whatever the price is these days and use that as a drag. Maybe weight it down with an old tire or two.

Would the landscape box you talk about be the same as a box blade?

 

[2manyrocks]

Yes. One of these. 191415.html

They typically go for $450 ish used around me. Hard to tear one up so no reason to buy a new one.

 

[3gunr]

He probably is talking about a box blade which has many uses, Box blades use the top link on your tractor to adjust the angle front to back, angled forward more and the ripper teeth will dig in allowing more cutting of the surface and moving material , angle back and you are scraping and smoothing more , you have to play with it to get the right feel for it .

 

[2manyrocks]

Yes, I mean box blade. Thank you.

The FEL is good for moving material from A to B.

The box blade is better for moving and evening out things like ruts, holes, uneven ground.

The rake is better for finer work if the ground is pretty even. But it's not the tool to move a lot of dirt around.

It depends on what soil conditions you have and what kind of a mess the bulldozer leaves.

 

[Hay Dude]

I just leveled about an acre of ground that was bumpy like you describe. What I do is curl the loader bucket so the cutting edge is about 6” off the ground and the “heel” of the bucket is on the ground. Put the loader in float and drag it backwards. Works very well for scraping off raised bumps and dragging that scraped dirt into low spots.

Pro tip: if the ground is hard, put a load of dirt in the bucket to make it heavier & scrape high spots more effectively. Notice the back of my bucket where it meets the ground has loose dirt being pulled along, like a scraper.

I did this on Wednesday at a job I did with excellent success and was able to seed and straw it when done.

The middle was left undone because it will become a spot to dump logs, branches, debris.

 

[saxon11]

How about renting a land plane (they only have front mount at rental store) and using that? Then coming back after with chain-link drag?

 

[airbiscuit]

A landscape rake with guide wheels would do the trick (the guide wheels make you a better operator)

 

[mred2]

I like to use my cultipacker before and after I seed. Makes and good seed bed and pushes the seed into the ground. But a seed drill is the best, but too much money for me to own one.

 

[amhicks21]

My primary job for about the past 15 years is finish grading. I spend about 400 hours a year on a CTL and I spend about 400 hours a year on a tractor. I usually visit a grade job twice before it gets seeded. The first time, I take a CTL with a bucket and harley rake. The excavator doesn't get super close to stuff with topsoil so the goal with the CTL is to get dirt tucked in all around the concrete, foundation, utilities etc and also to get the grade close enough for a landscape and irrigation to get installed. If you don't have a bunch of obstacles, than that step isnt necessary. Ive done it without the CTL but bringing a tractor within a few inches of a brand new house is a bit sketchy. We have all of the finish grading implements for CTL's that you could want but I've found the tractor is always superior for the final step. The second time is with the tractor (usually l6060) and an ATI preseeder. Its basically a 3pt harley rake with a roller instead of gauge wheels. That leaves a finish literally as smooth as a parking lot. If you have any way of renting a harley rake, I'd personally go that route. You can just toss the dirt til youve got the right amount down and with the drum set to only contact with the teeth, just start driving and it'll do the work for you. I usually finish by doing straight drag passes or windrows to gather any debris. Heres a baseball field that had the infield extended that shows pretty well how smooth it can be made with no hand work. Ive even installed a milled asphalt parking lot this way by just tossing around 200 tons of millings with a wheel loader and then letting the preseeder do its thing and its still flawless 6 years later. The normal harley rake that you'd be able to rent will leave tire marks instead of a rolled surface but it doesnt matter for seeding.

and here's a normal yard.

 

[bigtiller]

With all the time you spent spelling all them words with that informative post, you left out one very important fact...what is a CTL?

 

[amhicks21]

Compact track loader

 

[dirttoys]

Rent a Harley rack, I can't find anything else that will do what it does.

You can get awfully close with just a bucket if you take your time. If you have a buddy that does landscaping/construction, buy a twelve pack and have him come over for a couple of hours, get his guidance on where to land the pile when it is delivered if you can.

When you get done, you will be amazed how good you have became with a bucket.

Best,

ed

 

[RjCorazza]

I also use the heel of my bucket in reverse to smooth out dirt. When working a large area I have used a box blade for the rough work, then a landscape rake with gauge wheels for the final, plus once again after seeding to work in the seed.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Here is a pic of spreading about 10-12 yards of dirt with nothing more than my FEL. I didn't even put the box blade or the rear grader blade on the tractor!
this took about 4-5 hours. About 4" in thickness, tapered at the end.


Dumped the full bucket while moving over about 6-8'. Then put the bucket flat or slightly tip down (only about an inch). Back dragged what was just dumped. Rinse and repeat overlapping the previous dump. Once all the material was down, I used the same back dragging technique on the whole area.