Ideas for Leveling Dirt and Seeding for Grass with Tractor

[ruffdog]

A CTL and Harley rake......

 

[amhicks21]

That video is a good example of why a CTL mounted harley rake has some maneuverability benefits but also has some major disadvantages over a tractor mounted harley rake. You can see that since the orientation of the harley rake changes based on the lift and tilt of the arms, he's constantly working to adjust it and not exactly getting it right. with the 3pt rake, the weight always stays on the gauge wheels and the pivot point orientation stays close to the same regardless of what the tractor has to ride over because of how the 3pt functions. I like to compare it to carving a piece of wood with a knife vs a hand plane. The way that video concludes is how a lot might look before i come back to finish it with a tractor. That being said, different people have different expectations and many people would be just fine with this.

 

[duffer]

As you can see from the previous posts, there are multiple options for you to get the job done. I used my tractor, a disk that I borrowed from a neighbor, and a spike tooth harrow to "level" out the dirt on 10 acres that I wanted to seed into grass.

Once the dozer was done doing the rough grade for drainage, I used the disk to break up any clumps and rough up any hard pan that was still around. Result was far too rough to plant grass seed. Used another neighbor's spike tooth harrow to fine tune the ridges left by the disk. (went perpendicular to the disk rows). Then I broadcast seed, and used the spike tooth harrow upside down to really smooth the ground out. (did a better job than using the bucket, back dragging, and about 4 times faster)

If you don't have access to either of those implements, then get a landscape/york rake, and you can get close to the same result. You'll have to make 2-3 passes to get it smooth enough to seed. I use the landscape rake to grade my ¼ mile driveway every 2-3 months, and then back drag with my bucket to a super smooth finish. The harrow doesn't do as good a job on gravel, as it does on dirt. But the landscape rake will work on both, if you decide to invest in another implement.

If your excavator is still on site, ask him if he has a disk that you can borrow. With your tractor, you could probably handle a good sized one. If not, pay him an extra hour or so, to do it for you. Then find a harrow you can borrow and smooth it out.

Good luck !

 

[jyoutz]

When I established my lawn, I just used a pto rototiller and let the rear gate drag the ground smooth. Then I hand seeded the grass and spread peat moss mulch over top with a hand push fertilizer spreader.

 

[cwoodman]

I also have an area of grass that in in need of leveling, and I am considering something like a drawn box scraper, with scarifying teeth to help with the initial digging up of the grass, does anyone have any experience with one of those?

 

[erikjohn67]

Create a drag.

Take an old piece of chain link fence, or old 12-16’ gate or something that and make a drag. Weight it down with whatever you can find like large rocks and just drove around and around until everything is level.

I regraded about 2 acres of my 3.5 acres about 15 years ago and once i got all the dirt generally where I wanted it for drainage I made a drag and just drove around “fine grading” with that drag until I got it how I liked it then I seeded it, removed the weight from the drag and made a single pass around to cover the seed and let mother nature take its course.

 

[jyoutz]

Create a drag.

Take an old piece of chain link fence, or old 12-16’ gate or something that and make a drag. Weight it down with whatever you can find like large rocks and just drove around and around until everything is level.

I regraded about 2 acres of my 3.5 acres about 15 years ago and once i got all the dirt generally where I wanted it for drainage I made a drag and just drove around “fine grading” with that drag until I got it how I liked it then I seeded it, removed the weight from the drag and made a single pass around to cover the seed and let mother nature take its course.

That would work great for bare soil and I did exactly that when I seeded my lawn. But the OP has established sod and wants to level the ground. He will need to till the soil and sod before leveling. A rototiller would be the best implement for that.

 

[airbiscuit]

I'm new to my 47hp tractor, got about 15 hours on it this winter/spring. Working well. There is an acre or so of my land this Spring i'll need to seed. Right now it's getting leveling by bulldozer, and black dirt of being saved for me to put on top for grass. Working with my bucket, I just don't have the skill to get that dirt even close enough to level and ready for seed....

The OP is trying to move and level topsoil.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

You don't have to cover the seed. It will grow. Birds don't cover seeds they drop. Did not cover mine and it grew just fine. Maybe you need a cheap drag. Just bolt a few tires together flat ways and make a drag for new ground. Get them from junk pile at tire store.

 

[airbiscuit]

...Right now it's getting leveling by bulldozer, and black dirt of being saved for me to put on top for grass. Working with my bucket, I just don't have the skill to get that dirt even close enough to level and ready for seed. ...
1) use my tractor's bucket to dump the dirt around (result wont be flat but each bucket i can slowly dump just while reversing). My guess is about 100 yards to spread.

2) come by next with a landscape drag or here is slightly different model. I can pull this with my tractor or even my 18hp craftsman lawn tractor. With concrete blocks for extra weight, reviews tell me this implement works wondering on leveling.

3) finally, a chain-link harrow drag, throw the grass seed down, the hit it one more time to cover the seed.

Suggestions?

The OP needs to spread and level 100 yards of topsoil. Once it's level, he has a tiller. A drag, chain link fence , gate, etc. is the easy part. The OP is trying to get it level enough tp drag. I agree that a Harley rake would be a tool of choice. A box blade and landscape rake with guide wheels would be a good plan B.