Kubota Turf renovation

[teachdocs]

The turf renovator was a bit heavy for my BX23.
My dealer was more than happy to put me in the seat of a brand new L3830.

Worked about 5 acres, 1200 pounds of seed to renovate and overseed.
Watching it rain now.

Chad

 

[teachdocs]

A couple more pics to follow:

 

[teachdocs]

Couple more pics

 

[higgy]

beautiful yard, nicely done.

To bad about the human factor on the tractor

 

[teachdocs]

The Mrs. wouldn't let me send the pic with HER on the Bota.
Something about a bad hair day, or whatever....

 

[johnk]

Very nice yard and equipment. How did you like the performance of the Gill Pulverizer? How much did it set you back? I was looking at one being cheaper than a Harley rake but wondered how it would perform in the real world....

 

[lawn_king]

That turf renovator is sweet, the fact you can angle the small front rollers is key to the performance and results of that rig.

 

[johnk]

How does that compare with a Harley Rake? Will the Gill break up big clumps also? What would be the advantage of each one? It seems the Harley would make quicker work of things with the spinning tines but what is the comparison? I'd like to get one or the other to do some landscaping but which is more cost effective to do lot size parcels??

 

[rdsaustintx]

Man, that pond is BEAUTIFUL

 

[rswyan]

Chad,

I'm curious about the wagon hanging off the ZTR - who makes it ?

How do you like it ? And how well built is it ?

 

[teachdocs]

That is a Turf-Hauler dump wagon from Bishop Enterprises.
It has a hydraulic dump cylinder which I set up to use with the BX.
Extremely well built. Easy to back into tight spots. Carries 1500 pounds (easily more, they probably advertise that for "liability" reasons).
I use it all the time.

Turf-Hauler Dump Wagon

 

[teachdocs]

That Gill unit is sweet. Although I would like to own one, I can't justify the cost for the limited use. My Kubota dealer was happy to rent me the unit for about $70 for the day.
It is more precise in seed rates than my 3PTH broadcast spreader. It took over 6 hours to put down 1000 pounds of fescue mix over 5 acres with a double pass. It would have taken nearly twice that much seed with the broadcast spreader. That saved over a thousand bucks right there. The L3830 was ideally suited for the task.

Prior to using the Gill, I used my Turf-Aire core aerator with as much weight as I could handle and made 4 passes over the turf. By the time I was done, I thought I had killed everything. After the Gill passes, everything smoothed out and had a "spongey" feel to walk on the turf.

Watching it rain and waiting for lots of grass to grow. Good thing I will have the BX23 with 60" MMM and the Kubota powered Exmark 66" ZTR for next Spring. Problem is....you can only have seat time with one of them at a time.

 

[RonR]

After using my pulverizer roller behind my box blade and seeing how well it does in prep for grass seed, I think the Gill unit would be SWEET. Being able to angle the roller has to improve it's performance.

I haven't found anywhere here that rents stuff like that, but if I did, I'd get one for a week or two in planting season...........


Ron

 

[teachdocs]

I angled the front rollers to their maximum position. That worked extremely well and did not "pull" up much turf. The seed drops right in front of the large rear roller. That roller is on a floating spring mechanism to follow the ground contour. Simple but very effective.

 

[lawn_king]

I hope you all (above) applied a quality, balanced fertilizer, after all the efforts of aerating, seeding,etc.

 

[turfaire]

That is a Turf-Hauler dump wagon from Bishop Enterprises.
It has a hydraulic dump cylinder which I set up to use with the BX.
Extremely well built. Easy to back into tight spots. Carries 1500 pounds (easily more, they probably advertise that for "liability" reasons).
I use it all the time.

Turf-Hauler Dump Wagon

Thanks for the compliment. Yes we do rate it a 1,500 due to the tires. It will easily do more than that. My boss had 2,000 lbs on it when he was testing it, and it dumped with no problems.

Great pics of our wagon and aerator.

 

[turfaire]

Hey Chad. Did we ever talk about the TOW-Z for your ZTR? With the amount of acerage you are doing, it will save you alot of time.

Jason B Bour
Bishop Enterprises, Inc
Bishop Enterprises Inc Bell Buckle, TN

 

[teachdocs]

Good point.... yes, applied fertilizer after first core aerator passes.
Plan to put down a second fertilizer application about 5 to 6 weeks after germination.
The fescue is about 1/2 inch tall today. Can almost see it growing.

 

[ihookem]

Teach docs, I think you need a diesel now! Yep, another 20k with a trade should set you strait.

 

[Hootie]

Chad,
Have you checked your PM's lately?