Compost spreading with York rake

[SuburbanMD]

I've got a 5' York Rake with gauge wheels, and a JD X475AWS subcompact. And I'm going to have around 14 yards of compost, to spread 1.5" deep over 3000 square feet (for subsequent tilling). I'm planning to move measured amounts of the compost in a wheelbarrow, to measured squares on the land, and then spread it with a hand rake. Seems silly to do all that work, but my experience tells me that I won't be able to spread it evenly enough with the York Rake. I have a feeling I'll end up with plenty of bare spots, and compost piled higher in places. If I were spreading like material on like material (i.e. adding more dirt on top of dirt) I wouldn't be worried, but this is different, and it really has to be precise. The 3000 sq ft includes plenty of trees and obstacles, and is hemmed in by pavement and a fence, so it isn't like I can rake it entirely into submission before spreading the compost. What do you experts think?

 

[jeffinsgf]

Is this a one time deal, or a recurring theme? There are spreaders designed to lay down very precise amounts of bulky materials. I bought an old Turfco Mete-R-Matic and rebuilt it. Earthway makes a very nice unit for about $2000. If you are topdressing, and you plan on doing it a couple times a year, you might want to investigate the machinery options available.

 

[jbrumberg]

SuburbanMD:

Since you are going to till the compost in anyways I would think "eyeballing" your rake spread with a finishing hand rake would be sufficient. I eyeballed my "composted manure drop" on my 40'X27' garden and then tilled the composted manure into the garden. Subsequent soil analysis from different garden sites were similar. Jay

 

[bncsauve]

my philosopy is "never let my back do work that the tractor can do" I would think the rake would do a fine job of spreading the compost and your back will appreciate even more!

 

[lawn_king]

Pure organic compose is light as a feather, spreading a couple of inches over 3000 sq. ft. is easy.

 

[SuburbanMD]

With the gauge wheels fully lowered, and the hitch jacked up to horizontal (not hitched to the tractor), the teeth are a little less than 1 1/2" above the ground. Maybe I can get them a little higher when the rake is hitched to my little tractor. So that's good.

I'm trying to visualize how to do the spreading. Say I've got the big pile of compost somewhere on the work area. Do I just back into the pile with the rake raised, lower it to grab what it can, drive off somewhere to spread it, and repeat until it's all gone and the area is covered (which hopefully happen at the same time?). Thanks.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Couple of thoughts based on my current exercise of spreading tub grinder mulch. This stuff is anything BUT uniform (anything from little chips to 12" sticks) and actually locks together easily and makes uniform spreading a real trick even w/ a hand rake.

1. If I hold my mouth right, I can spread a fairly decent 3"-4" layer with the FEL, tilted fairly shallow and rocking the curl function constantly. Shaking it out seems to be the key. Sometimes I can get this to work, sometimes not.

2a. I tried my back blade with gauge wheels but couldn't get it to stop clumping. Never tried the rake because sticks usually get trapped in the tines, so no experience there.
2b. I successfully used my 6' springtooth (field cultivator) to spread a 40' circle area (~12 cu yd). The tine spacing is 6"-8" I think and is about right. This method requires constant quick lifting and lowering to overcome clumping. Works pretty good. If or when I care, a little hand raking would make a bit smoother finish ... but so does driving on it.

I have a 100 cu yd stockpile of the mulch so I'm dumping 3 yd piles from my dump trailer at each location. Quickest way, maybe not the best, to distribute it is plow thru it w/ the FEL and drag w/ the springtooth at the same time.

I definately wouldn't mind hearing of a better way to do it, but this mostly works.

If I had to use my rake, I'd probably remove every other tine or maybe more.

 

[SuburbanMD]

Oops, should I have started this thread in Attachments?

I'm going to buy commercial LeafGro compost (made by the State of Maryland) which ought to be uniform. But come to think of it, just raking out from a central location, with gauge wheels fixed in place, can't work. That is, unless the gauge wheels can push their way through the compost and roll on solid ground. Otherwise I'll end up with too much compost near the pile. I've had plenty of tilling and raking fun on this particular plot of land, but now my time is up -- need to amend the soil so it'll hold water uniformly and I can finally get some ornamental seeds growing there.

 

[Diesel-ME]

SuburbanMD,

You may have better luck keeping the wheels up and using your hitch position coltrol to set the height of the rake. Maybe pull all the material over the area a bit thick, then lower the rake a little and push material backwards to acheive the desire coverage. I think it would be hard to get any utility out of the guage wheels with such light material on tilled (?) soil.

Your mileage may vary

~paul

 

[SuburbanMD]

SuburbanMD,

You may have better luck keeping the wheels up and using your hitch position coltrol to set the height of the rake. Maybe pull all the material over the area a bit thick, then lower the rake a little and push material backwards to acheive the desire coverage. I think it would be hard to get any utility out of the guage wheels with such light material on tilled (?) soil.

Your mileage may vary

~paul

It's firm ground, raked a lot since it was tilled. Most recently raked to smooth out some trench mounds, after waiting almost two years for them to settle on their own.

By hitch position control, do you mean the hydraulic lever, or the manually-operated screw on the hitch that controls how far it can drop?

 

[LoneCowboy]

I do this all the time
FEL
get a batch, go forward slowly dropping it out
after a while you'll get pretty good at putting it down at an even rate
shouldn't take more than 1/2 an hour if your pile is reasoanbly close (14 yards is a pretty small pile)
then till it in.

 

[RichNJKubota]

I also do this.
Twice a year I spread several yards of compost on the garden. It's about 3,000 sq ft. Once in the spring before tilling and once in the fall. Takes about 1/2 hr.
I just use the FEL and make several trips. I drive into the garden and then back up while dumping. Spread it around 6" thick.
Yeah, there are clumps and some bare spots. If I have a few more minutes I back drag the high spots with the FEL.
Having a rake would help allot.

 

[hazmat]

If you don't have a toothbar, now is the time to get one....

Dump bucket load of compost on ground trying to spread it out a bit.

position bucket at proper angle such that there is desired distance between ground and bottom of bucket letting teeth ride on ground.

Backdrag, spreading compost at desired depth.

Use rake with guage wheels set at tine height to fill in mini "ruts" caused by toothbar.

method works best when ground is "hard" - ie not freshly tilled.

 

[SuburbanMD]

Thanks everyone for the input. The real issue seems to be distributing the stuff around the area before spreading it, and I don't have an FEL. So looks like I'll be wheelbarrowing it, and from there might as well spread it by hand. My tractor will come in handy for tilling it in (Frontier PTO tiller), and then for smoothing it with the rake. The wife thinks it's a better idea to leave it in tilled condition. Certainly better for the seeds, but it's hard to walk across ground like that.

 

[VABlue]

Seed beds should be fairly firm. Maybe rent a roller once its all tilled? That would pack in the seed, too...

 

[LoneCowboy]

Thanks everyone for the input. The real issue seems to be distributing the stuff around the area before spreading it, and I don't have an FEL. So looks like I'll be wheelbarrowing it, and from there might as well spread it by hand. My tractor will come in handy for tilling it in (Frontier PTO tiller), and then for smoothing it with the rake. The wife thinks it's a better idea to leave it in tilled condition. Certainly better for the seeds, but it's hard to walk across ground like that.

After you till, if you run a sod roller over it (even a push one), it will compact it enough to walk on it and not disturb the grade, but not enough to keep seeds in.
Besides, grass seed likes a firm seedbed.

 

[daTeacha]

You could try a trick we use in pouring concrete in a large barn.

Get some wooden stakes and drive them into the ground in a set pattern so you know where they and won't puncture a tire driving over them. Set the top of the stake at the height you want the compost to be. The just spread it around until you can see tops and nothing else. If you see a lot of wood, bring more material in there. If you don't see any, take some out.

I would use a double or triple ground mulch that is pretty uniform in consisitency if I was you. I presume you're going to be making a lawn out of the area, so also check to make sure the stuff is biologically clean. You can get a lot of fungus spores, weed seeds, and other nasty stuff in mulch. Especially interesting is the one descriptively known as "dog puke fungus" in some mulch and you might also find some slime mold, which is less than attractive, but neat stuff from a biologist's standpoint. Mulch is also a great way to bring carpenter ants, termites, and other pests to the house -- keep the mulch at least a foot or two from the house or other buildings.

 

[SuburbanMD]

Up until now, after tilling (w/out amending soil) my practice has been to lightly rake with the York Rake. Driving the tractor over the ground while raking has been enough to compact the soil. So I don't get much use out of my lawn roller. Of course, if I rake after tilling in amendments, I'll have to be especially careful not to rake the amended top layer completely off a segment of ground.

I'm not trying to establish a lawn here, rather a sort of "herb meadow".

 

[daTeacha]

Ever think of using a small disk to mix things in? I've seen them as small as about 3 feet wide.