HELP!!! Where do I start?

[04Fatboy]

Hello All

I justfinished my house and shop install and this is what I have left. 2 Acres of this. I am ready to buy a tractor and am either getting a new mahindra 2015 or used Kubota B6200 I just do not know where to start. The ground is dry and dirt clods. The land was solid brush and large fir trees. The trees where pushed over so MOST the roots are gone. Still alot of debris in the dirt. Do I just start tilling? box blade with teeth?

Please ask me any questions as I do not want to buy a bunch of extra implaments and do it twice

Thank you

 

[RonMar]

What do you want the end result to be?

If it is mostly cleared and rough soil as pictured, and you just want it smoother, you might be able to get away with dragging a chain harrow over it. This would break up the dirt clods and smooth the ground a bit. The tines on the harrow(depending on how you drag it) would also catch a bunch of the loose debris and allow you to drag it into piles for collection.

 

[Greyfields]

I would start by delivering your excavator to my house and leaving the keys.

 

[Thomas]

Maybe hire small dozer for leveling etc.(save a lot of time and wear and tear on tractor also attachment) than rake or box blade for the finishing touches.

 

[Tim_in_IA]

I've seen some large forestry equipment that both tills and chops stumps and roots and trees at the same time. When it is done all that is left is mulch and dirt. I can't think of the name right now but I know it took well over 100hp to run it off the pto. It would be too expensive to buy but if you found a landscape place they might rent or do it for you.

Otherwise like previous poster said. what do you want there? Golf course or woodland or pasture? etc. Your level of finish dictates what you need.

 

[04Fatboy]

it is mostly cleared and just a bunch of clods and sticks. no stumps. i want 1/3 nice lawn and 2/3 fiels grass. the land was fir and shrub brush. should i lime it before i start?

 

[KYErik]

Do a soil pH test to see if it needs lime or fertilizer. Most areas have a county agriculture extension service where you can get soil samples analyzed for $5-10 each.

If you aren't in a hurry to have a nice yard, you might be able to disk it and drag it with a harrow (as mentioned above) just to smooth it out and then gather up the roots as they rot or dry and get brittle.

 

[KentT]

I'd hire someone with a BIG tractor and a BIG, HEAVY disk to disk it for you... a heavy enough disk will cut roots into arms-length chunks of wood....

Then, you can use a smaller CUT/SCUT with a landscape rake to rake the roots up, and its FEL to pick the piles up and dispose of them. You can finish the smoothing with a home-made drag harrow made from a piece of chain-link fence, old box-springs, etc.

 

[Dishpointer]

They do sell landscaping tillers that do a good job on rough areas.

ATI Corporation - Home

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

I'd start with soil sample to determine what amendments you need to add. (lime, horse manure if available locally and cheap or free, whatever)
till in the amendments - even if it means hiring someone to do it, then rake or harrow with your new tractor -- orange or red, both are good machines. (I'd lean towards new, but that's because I prefer to fix my own mistakes, not someone else's - but budget can define that, as well) I'd also consider buying the rake and building the harrow so you can have both on a budget.

don't know where you are or what kind of pasture you're going to want, but I seeded both my yard and the bald parts of the pasture around my construction site with perennial ryegrass. Doesn't make bad lawn and has nutritional value for critters. TSC also sells a pasture mix that has timothy, ryegrass, clover, etc... for a reasonable price.