Preparing for a lawn?

robertm · Jun 6, 2003

Am I kidding myself to use a rear blade to rough grade my friends yard to prepare for seeding or sodding? I do not have a grader box, and hate to spend the $ for a one time use. Thoughts?

Bowhunter · Jun 6, 2003

I think it would be possible to do it, but it will take a LOT longer with the blade than with a box. Probably so much longer that it would be worth it in time and frustration to go ahead and rent a box.

theboman · Jun 6, 2003

Depends on exactly the shape of the ground now. If you're just needing to level spots, push pull dirt etc, you can do it with you blade and fel.

Now if you want a box blade here's great chance to get experience and maybe have your friend/neighbor chip in $50 or $100 for your working on his lawn.... just a thought.

BB_TX · Jun 6, 2003

Keep in mind that a simple blade does not cut hard soil very well. If it is loose and rough, you can probably smooth it out ok. If it is hard and rough, the blade will probably just scrape along on the high spots. If it is hard, you will probably need something to cut down into the soil; box with rippers, tiller, heavy disc, etc.

Carl_NH · Jun 7, 2003

Another tip is to scarify with a tooth bar then reverse the back blade to level rather than scrape.

Carl

MLB · Jun 7, 2003

or use float control if you have it.

GregJ · Jun 7, 2003

I am just putting in some large areas of lawn. It's not a putting green, but I refer to it as "Country Grass". My method involves leveling as much as possible with the FEL. I have a toothbar that I can put down and back blade with the FEL to loosen up the soil a little bit. Then I back blade with the FEL to get it as level as possible. Then my "Hi-Tech" lawn prep tool is a 6ft. 6x6 with a chunk of cyclone fence attached to it. Total investment.... $0.00. I rig it up behind my tractor, hook up a piece of rope to use as a handle and stand on the 6x6 while my neighbor drives the tractor around the area to be prepped. This knocks down the high spots, fills in the low spots and the cyclone fence really smooths it out nicely. I got the idea watching how they drag the infields at baseball parks. It really does work well.

Greg

BrettW · Jun 7, 2003

Good, but do you need to kill all the weeds and grass first? seems to me you need to work with just dirt, bw

CTyler · Jun 7, 2003

Assuming dirt and its not to hard or rough give it a shot. If it doesn't work maybe your friend can rent a box blade or some other piece equipment. If there is grass there already the rear blade may not do much.

frank_f15 · Jun 7, 2003

i did the basic same thing when i had to do an area that my new septic system was installed on. back blade wont do much unless the soil is loose.

GregJ · Jun 8, 2003

Brett,
I don't know if I fully understand your question, but I'll try to answer. Again, my solution is very "Lo-Tech". I have used the cyclone fence to transition from dirt to existing lawn. It works well for that. It seems to fill in all the low spots. As far as killing the weeds..... We have "Country Grass".... If it's green, I leave it alone. I don't irrigate, fertilize and above all I don't use weed killer. If I did, we would have about an acre of dirt and I'd have a very angry wife. Hope this answers your question.

Greg

JimMorrissey · Jun 8, 2003

Robert,

I just did my neighbors and my own with a landscape rake. I have a blade too, and they are fairly useful, but not nearly as useful as a landscape rake. Have your neighbor rent one for an afternoon and you will be pleased. -Far superior for your application.

Jim

BrettW · Jun 9, 2003

Greg, my basic question is do you need to get rid of the vegitation on the land before you start dragging your fence around? It would seem to me that it would work much better if you were just moving dirt and not going over clumps of grass. Does this make sense? brett

GregJ · Jun 9, 2003

Brett,
This does work best with a lot of loose dirt. If there are some areas with grass, the loose dirt will just level it out. If they are small patches, the 6x6 will usually strip it off. When dragging, a lot of the debris, rocks and loose turf will build up in front of the 6x6. This makes it easy to stop periodically and get rid of it. I have put in close to an acre of lawn this way over the last 25 years at my place. Before I had my tractor I would drag it with either a car or my riding mower. As I said before, this is a very "lo-tech" solution, but it's worked fine for me over the years. BTW, I just put in about 6,000 square feet of lawn in some really bad soil (hard clay). I saw some quick start fertilizer at Home Depot and gave it a try. I have never had lawn come up as quickly as this. I had sprouts at 6 days and I was able to mow it in 3 weeks. I have to think that fertizer helped. Hope this answers your question Brett.

Greg

BrettW · Jun 9, 2003

thanks, I'm moving in about 1 yr and have about 1.5 acres to grass in, should be fun actually, brett

MLB · Jun 9, 2003

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Brett,
This does work best with a lot of loose dirt. If there are some areas with grass, the loose dirt will just level it out. If they are small patches, the 6x6 will usually strip it off. When dragging, a lot of the debris, rocks and loose turf will build up in front of the 6x6. This makes it easy to stop periodically and get rid of it. I have put in close to an acre of lawn this way over the last 25 years at my place. Before I had my tractor I would drag it with either a car or my riding mower. As I said before, this is a very "lo-tech" solution, but it's worked fine for me over the years. BTW, I just put in about 6,000 square feet of lawn in some really bad soil (hard clay). I saw some quick start fertilizer at Home Depot and gave it a try. I have never had lawn come up as quickly as this. I had sprouts at 6 days and I was able to mow it in 3 weeks. I have to think that fertizer helped. Hope this answers your question Brett.

Greg
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Fertilizer has absolutely no affect on germination. If you had sprouts in 6 days it was Rye grass and not the "good" stuff.
The 20 in an 80/20 blue/rye blend is rye to come up quickly to satisfy the homeowner. it takes 30 days of everyday watering for the bluegrass to germinate. That's the good stuff that you pay top dollar for. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gifMOST lawns consist of rye as the caretaker stopped watering after the rye came up.......

GregJ · Jun 10, 2003

MLB,
Dang.... And here I thought I had discovered the solution to "instant" grass. I guess mother nature is still in control. I have been watering like crazy because we have been having a heat wave. 90 degrees in Western Washington in June is really rare. Thanks for giving me the real story, although you did kinda burst my bubble about my new secret.

Greg

BrettW · Jun 10, 2003

FYI, I have use a lot of perinial rye and it comes up very fast also. Looks great, (good on salads too). bw

TC18guy · Jun 10, 2003

I don't have a box blade either. I used your method to put in about 5000 sqft behind my house earlier this year, except I sprayed the area with Roundup first to kill off the existing vegetation. I scuffed up the ground with my landscape rake, but back-blading with your toothbar should work fine. It's not a putting green, but it'll be smooth enough to mow.