First Time Owner...Some Questions For You Tractor Vets...

[kthompson]

Years ago I came across a book on the proper tools for a job and how to use them. The part I like the most was what other tool you "COULD" use for that job even though not made for it.
Then there is the saying, you use the tool you got. As a friend told me years ago if the only tool you got is a hammer everything is a nail.

So take your box blade, drop the rippers and run it. Then get to the other end, turn around and split the difference with the rippers and go again. Repeated trips moving over a few inches with each pass will do a lot.

 

[SJJIM]

Just happened to be working on my fire roads today with a box blade on my new XR4150. Some of the roads had been previously sprayed with Round Up, so there was more bare dirt or dead weeds in those places. Other areas were just mowed weeds. The areas which had mostly bare dirt look real nice, I set the scarifiers to bring up the dirt a little and dislodge remaining weeds, and then removed them and scraped it nice and pretty. The areas which were thick weeds that had been mowed took multiple passes with the scarifiers in place and there are still weeds that need removing if I want it all bare. I may hook up my disk and lightly run it over those places a couple times and then scrape again. I am thinking maybe a rotary tiller set just enough to bring up the weeds, and then scraped, may be a better option. My wife likes the fire roads nice and smooth for when she walks the dogs, but, doesn't like me using the Round Up.

 

[SWMOMT240HE]

Lots of great perspectives and info here. I'm thinking I should be able to get a good enough clover stand going by brushogging, then dropping the scarifiers low and ripping back and forth a few times, and then broadcasting clover that next spring it should come in pretty good for my breaks. I can even raise the scarifiers and blade the dirt back over the top to cover the seed prior to rain. I won't seed until August. I need to get the trails / breaks brushogged and prepped. I've got it laid out where I can also double up these breaks as food plots for this fall.