Disk - Rototiller?

[rgood]

Guys I'm in the FL panhandle "Sand". I recently bought 11 acres that was planted to pine trees - A lot of the pine trees were harvested - I had a contractor come in and digout/push the stumps. Now, I need to prepare the land for planting horse pasture in the Spring.

The land is perfectly flat however, due to the stump digging it is now rough. My question is will a disk help smooth out the land? I have some holes, some
high spots and some jungle plants/small trees coming up sporadically.

2nd question is does a rototiller replace a disc or is that overkill in a sandy area?

I do own a box blade, but I'm not very good at using it yet - I can get it to smooth the ground, but it takes a long time and it doesn't do much on the jungle weeds that are popping up.

Thanks

 

[Z-Michigan]

A disk will level out the surface pretty well, remove most ruts and get it pretty close to ready for planting - you will probably want a chain harrow (bought or improvised) to do the final smoothing before planting seed. I used a disk and chain harrow for this with very good results.

The disk will also kill or at least inhibit weeds and stuff from popping up, but only for a few weeks (or less) after each use. So the grass better take off fairly quickly or else weed competition may be a big issue. If weeds are a serious problem you may want to have someone spray roundup before seeding.

A disk won't remove huge irregularities like ditches or deep ruts - unless maybe you make lots of passes. You say the land is perfectly flat so I guess this won't be an issue. But you already have a box blade, which would handily remove those deep/tall irregularities if you had any.

The rototiller does intense cultivation on small areas. Great for preparing a garden, preparing for seeding a home lawn, or working any area too small to effectively use a disk (at 3-5mph in straight lines). If you're doing all 11 acres I think the disk would be a better choice. If you were doing a small garden yearly, or installing lawns for new houses, the rototiller might be good. They have similar functions and results, but work well in different settings.

Depending just how flat your "perfectly flat" is, you may not need anything more than the chain harrow. And a chain harrow is great for busting manure piles in horse pastures, so it will get used long term, not just for the installation. The chain harrow does basically nothing to kill or inhibit weeds, though. If you can post a photo of the land we might be able to advise on whether you can get by with just the chain harrow.

 

[mboulais]

Guys I'm in the FL panhandle "Sand". I recently bought 11 acres that was planted to pine trees - A lot of the pine trees were harvested - I had a contractor come in and digout/push the stumps. Now, I need to prepare the land for planting horse pasture in the Spring.

The land is perfectly flat however, due to the stump digging it is now rough. My question is will a disk help smooth out the land? I have some holes, some
high spots and some jungle plants/small trees coming up sporadically.

2nd question is does a rototiller replace a disc or is that overkill in a sandy area?

I do own a box blade, but I'm not very good at using it yet - I can get it to smooth the ground, but it takes a long time and it doesn't do much on the jungle weeds that are popping up.

Thanks

Discs will help some, but I find you need to get it filled in some first and rough leveled with the loader before running discs over it. In sand where you don't need a plough or chisel plows to break up the soil before the disc a tiller may be overkill.

 

[rgood]

Thanks for the very fast feedback - I've attached a picture that was taken a month ago - You can see the weeds in the background - I think their growth has slowed down some now that it has gotten cooler, but I'm sure they'll be coming on strong in the Spring.

 

[Z-Michigan]

If that land is as flat as it looks - and it looks really flat - and you're leaving in place all the trees I see still standing, then a disk should work just fine. You could also just spray roundup and seed a few weeks after that (once all weeds die and you've had a few rains), just using a chain harrow to slightly scratch the surface.

 

[flusher]

Thanks for the very fast feedback - I've attached a picture that was taken a month ago - You can see the weeds in the background - I think their growth has slowed down some now that it has gotten cooler, but I'm sure they'll be coming on strong in the Spring.

Should be easy to fill in the low spots with your FEL and box blade. Use a chain harrow (= drag) to smooth out the sand. A piece of chain link fence attached to a log or something equivalent to a log works fine as a drag. Solve your problem for $20.