grass renovation/spreading compost

[JimS]

I am in the middle of some serious land regrading of about two acres. I had a scraper come in and cut down a hill and fill in a low spot on the other side of our driveway. The soil is some very heavy clay and some silty soil called "loess" (Mississippi River bluffs). We don't have great top soil but I had them scrap off what we had and respread it after the dirt moving was complete.

So far so good. My question no is how best to spread compost to help loosen up the soil. Just plan to plant grass for a lawn but want it to look reasonable. Our soil tests came up reasonable except for little to no "organic matter". We have a local compost place that sells dried, screened compost (3/8" max size). Plan to buy four to five 60 yard truckloads of it and spread it to about 1" thick. The trucks have a belt under the load to unload - I am hoping they can spread the loads out a little as they unload. What would you recommend for finishing the spreading? I have a Kubota L3600 with front loader, box blade, disc, and plow (don't have any experience with the disc or plow). Some have suggested an old manure spreader or fertilizer "buggy" but it would take some time to load. Others have suggested I could spread it with the loader just as quick. I am thinking I may be able to use the box blade to spread out the loads a bit and use some sort of spreader on the parts the big trucks have trouble getting to.

After spreading I plan to plow or disc it in. After that I have someone lined up to go over it with a harley rake and plant grass. Dont need to get it perfectly even since it is just a lawn. Some have suggested lime but the Ph is good. Have thought about planting wheat and then plowing it under but want to get it all done now.

Sound reasonable? Hoping to get some suggestions or feedback...

Thanks,

Jim

 

[jeffinsgf]

Google "top dresser" and "topdress" to see the kind of spreader you need to be looking for.

 

[MarkV]

Jim, you say the compost trucks have a belt under the load to unload. That sure sounds like a spreader truck to me. I’ll bet that belt feeds to a spinning wheel which will throw the compost out for distribution. Similar trucks are used to spread lime and gravel, they do a good job.

Not sure I would use a plow and turn that good compost under. Maybe I’d use the disk to loosen up the top couple of inches under the compost. I would bet that the harley rake will do enough mixing for a good seed bed.

What type of grass are you putting in? It is a good time of year to plant cool season grasses like fescue but not such a good time for warm season grasses like Bermuda.

MarkV

 

[JerryG]

Those trucks are called roll bottoms. The belt takes the load to the back to dump in a pile or into a hopper that transfers the load to a spreader truck. I don't know if you are in an area of the state that has poultry operations or not but if you are you could hire a company that spreads poultry litter to come in to spread the compost. They can spread it in strips of 50-60 or so depending on the type of litter bed. They usually charge per spreader truck load.