Land is cleared... now what?

[northcaroliney]

We’ve got approximately 8 acres recently cleared and dialed. I suspect the best thing would be to run a cultipacker over it to help level and seed, but I don’t have one and can’t find one to rent. What’s my next best option? It’s still somewhat rough - some sticks, rocks, etc and some areas where a little leveling may help. Would you jus throw seed down now and deal with it in the fall (maybe run a soil pulverizer and then a roller over it?) or...? Intended for horse pasture, and now that I see how nice it can look, I love the idea of it being really well groomed. Not quite golf course but that’d be nice...

 

[Deere Dude]

What ever you do, trying to redo it next year will be very difficult after it is planted this year.

 

[oosik]

You could make yourself a "drag". Mine is made out of 4x4's and has spikes on the leading and trailing edges. It could also be - old set of bed springs, a couple logs chained together, rail road ties - etc. Drag it to level and bust up the clods. Spread your seeds - drag a final time to cover the seeds. Mine has a rope harness and I pull it with my ATV. I drag with the spikes down to level and bust the clods. Turn it over to smooth.

 

[Egon]

Drag wooden balk or piece railway track around!

 

[5030]

Are all the stumps removed?

 

[kf4uda]

Not sure what if any tractor that you have but you could buy an old bog disk fairly cheap from Craigslist or FB Marketplace to work up your ground with. Then pull a drag as described in previous posts across it to smooth.

 

[marhar]

We’ve got approximately 8 acres recently cleared and dialed. I suspect the best thing would be to run a cultipacker over it to help level and seed, but I don’t have one and can’t find one to rent. What’s my next best option? It’s still somewhat rough - some sticks, rocks, etc and some areas where a little leveling may help. Would you jus throw seed down now and deal with it in the fall (maybe run a soil pulverizer and then a roller over it?) or...? Intended for horse pasture, and now that I see how nice it can look, I love the idea of it being really well groomed. Not quite golf course but that’d be nice...

Take a look at buying a Landscape rake (root rake) for a tractor. If you are planting grass, I would wait until fall.

 

[old and tired]

Where abouts do you live? I used my soil pulverizer only a couple of times (bought from a guy that did the same). Now I mainly use it as extra weight on my disks!!

 

[northcaroliney]

Are all the stumps removed?

Should be... I suppose some risk that one or two got missed.

 

[northcaroliney]

Take a look at buying a Landscape rake (root rake) for a tractor. If you are planting grass, I would wait until fall.

Feel a root rake will just pull the dirt clumps with everything we actually need to collect. Land is mostly clay so the big clumps left by the disk are effectively brick basketballs.

 

[jeff9366]

It’s still somewhat rough - some sticks, rocks, etc and some areas where a little leveling may help.

The traditional implement used to smooth after a Disc Harrow is a Chain Harrow.

However:

1) A Chain Harrow smooths but moves very little dirt.

2) A towed mat Chain Harrow is pretty cheap at Tractor Supply or other places and can be pulled behind an ATV or utility vehicle but Chain Harrows pick up a lot of trash and periodically removing trash is a major pain and tiring. Usually tail of mat is picked up manually and trash shaken out. Picking up trash and sticks may be a big benefit to you.

2a) A mat Chain Harrow can be modified to self clean using a TPH Boom Pole.

TSC CountyLine / Tarter BOOM POLE as CHAIN HARROW LIFT

3) A Chain Harrow is pretty good for covering large seeds. Small seeds, like grass, need light to germinate and are more likely to germinate when rolled in.

4) Every Chain Harrow I have used glides smoothly over stumps.

5) Do you know how to adjust Disc Harrow gang angles to reduce roughness behind the implement?

ADJUSTING Three Point Hitch Mounted TANDEM DISC HARROWS

If you are considering the acquisition of a Disc Harrow, first read this LINK covering Disc Harrow selection: LINK: Disc Harrow Selection For 18-45 Horsepower Tractors (Revision 2b) The Three Point Hitch mounted Tandem Disc Harrow is a secondary tillage implement. The Disc Harrow is a...

www.tractorbynet.com

Questions about chain harrow capabilities.

Long story short....I've been "farming" for a few years, basically trying to reinvent the wheel with a 49 ford 8n and some old worn out equipment, fast forward to today and I upgraded to a mahindra 1626 tractor with a 5ft tiller, I've also purchased a heavy duty used chain harrow. My goal with...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[KCPO]

If this is a one off deal, I'd pay a neighbor or small business to do it.

 

[Greenvalleymatt]

We’ve got approximately 8 acres recently cleared and dialed. I suspect the best thing would be to run a cultipacker over it to help level and seed, but I don’t have one and can’t find one to rent. What’s my next best option? It’s still somewhat rough - some sticks, rocks, etc and some areas where a little leveling may help. Would you jus throw seed down now and deal with it in the fall (maybe run a soil pulverizer and then a roller over it?) or...? Intended for horse pasture, and now that I see how nice it can look, I love the idea of it being really well groomed. Not quite golf course but that’d be nice...

Gotta do what you want with it. If you're looking for a nice lush pasture, I'd have it turned, find what grass does well in your area and when the correct planting time is for that particular seed, and plant and cultipack. Just depends on the crop you want. You could always have it turned over and plant a summer cover crop to boost soil health and get some organic matter going.