Smoothing a bumpy yard?

[bcp]

...a real bumpy yard (about 2 acres total)...

Make a smooth 1/4 acre yard and a 1 3/4 acre field.



Bruce

 

[tibadoe]

I will be smoothing out my yard this fall. Out of 3 acres, only 12k sq. feet is grass/weeds. Will start by mowing the grass low, then spreading top soil all over with FEL. To smooth and fill in, I will use a 8 foot drag. Plug, over-seed, and fertilize a couple weeks later.

 

[gstrom99]

Got another load of dirt delivered yesterday. It's good black "pasture dirt", from someone putting in a pond. There is no local "pulverized" option, but it's pretty good with relativly small amount of clods. The other load had a rock that was the size of a typewriter(!)... I've been using the landscape rake to smooth it out and it's worked okay, mostly. The low areas are now good, and I will go around and fill in any missed areas by hand. The dirt clods will hopefully go away after a few rains and/or freeze/thaw cycles. Pulling the fence drag around with my ATV was fun but useless. Using a roller would not help. The ground is hard enuff as it is. I wonder if a plug areator would help.

 

[thebmrust]

A year ago (Labor Day weekend 2020) we started our 1.6 acre yard renovation journey with dirt and weed. Literally zero grass.
We used a Rotadairon to tear up our ground. Then ran over it with a chain link gate several times. Our house yard took a few hours of passes with the gate and some manual raking. The pasture got one or two passes and no raking. The chain link fence/gate worked fine with a couple tires, just need to work the pasture side grass with multiple passes.

we also only put down 60lbs of seed. We should have dropped 250lbs. But a year later, we have nearly a full pasture of grass.

The Rotadairon and chain link gate worked well enough I would recommend it to others. But add more seed. LOL
Because we didn’t gate the dirt with multiple passes (multiple angles) we have ruts now. So, spend the time smoothing it out.

 

[s219]

"Rotadairon" -- had to look that up. Impressive implement! I once used a soil pulverizer that is somewhat similar but doesn't go as deep.

 

[Egon]

If you have a rough grassed two acres and want it smooth cultivate it!!

Sod is not amiable to levelling. Spreading dirt works but needs a whole lot of dirt.

 

[Berlock]

I’d like to add some relevant questions to this discussion to avoid creating another separate thread on this topic. Not intending to thread-jack.

In a bumpy field of weeds, would a rotary tiller at low (ground) speed be sufficient to kill everything and break up the clods enough for levelling to become lawn?
How do you go about further levelling, smoothing, seeding etc without the tractor wheels creating ruts in the fluffy soil as you take additional passes? I’m imagining a rake or chain harrow for these steps

 

[jeff9366]

There have been several suggestions for rollers.

I have used a Cultipacker to roll my lawn. About 120 pounds per foot of width.

I have towed an 18" diameter poly roller behind my Utility Vehicle to roll my lawn.

Both ineffective.

I think a roller with a weight of at least 200 pounds per foot of width, better 300 pounds per foot of width, is necessary to flatten moist turf. As a roller rides on top of the soil, a 4-WD 1,700 pound bare weight compact tractor should be able to pull such a roller over level or moderately sloped turf. (Caution advised descending slopes.)

878 / 4 = 220 pounds per foot of width for $265. (Do not let a poly roller freeze!!)

Technical Specifications (LRP-2448B = Boxed)
Roller Drum:
48”, Heavy Duty Polyethylene
Roller Head:
24” Precision Molded Polyethylene
Overall Width: 55” Wide
Weight Filled with Water: 878 lbs.
Assembled Weight Empty: 75 lbs.
Bearings: 3/4” I.D.
Replaceable Tow Hitch: STD. Type, 5/8” pin hole
Approximate Shipping Weight: 93 Lbs. boxed

FIMCO 24" x 48" Poly Lawn Roller

The FIMCO 24 x 48 inch Poly Lawn Roller tackles uneven ground, packs down newly sown seed or sod to provide stronger root growth and smooths out ruts ...

www.fimcoindustries.com

915 / 4 = 229 pounds per foot of width for $399.

Parts and accessories for ride-on front mowers

Few machines handle complex and narrow areas like a ride-on front mower. By complementing it with original accessories it becomes even more flexible and versatile.

www.husqvarna.com

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[the old grind]

You'd want to kill weeds before they set seeds if early in season. Also if you don't give 'em glypho etc and two weeks to starve and die you won't like what wraps around your tine bar. If it's late in the season let 'em dry out so they'll break up easier. Ideally I'd go over an area with the flail mower to shred and wait a few days to dry before tilling-in. Replanting at any stage will get competition from seeds tilled under or latent.

Agree with Jeff that rollers are rarely as helpful as can be imagined. My whole ten is mostly/all sand, includes a former commercial 'pit'. My 24" x 48" steel roller is filled with sand vs water as designed and is quite a bit heavier, tows best with the Mechron SxS vs smallest CUT. To mow a certain 1/2 ac of two total on my ZTR one wouldn't guess I owned a roller much less ever used it.

My best suggestion is to plan wisely and don't set any timeline for progress or completion. Maintaining an area is almost always easier than reclaiming it once you get there. Rent or hire what tools/work you won't need in the long run. Time and nature are either on your side or against you. Teamwork with both will get you 'the most for the least'.

 

[jeff9366]

1) In a bumpy field of weeds, would a rotary tiller at low (ground) speed be sufficient to kill everything and break up the clods enough for levelling to become lawn?
2)How do you go about further levelling, smoothing, seeding etc without the tractor wheels creating ruts in the fluffy soil as you take additional passes? I’m imagining a rake or chain harrow for these steps

1) Depends on the weeds and the soil. Usually mow very short first. (Then spray with Roundup/Glycophosphate and let sit for two weeks.) Roto-till moist soil. Let the sun dry weeds for a day or two. Roto-till a second time, but no more.

There will be millions of weed seeds in the soil, which will germinate. You want the desirable grass seed to outgrow the weed seeds, although you always have to spray the lawn with a 2-4D herbicide ((Kills the weeds, not the lawn!)) after a month or six weeks.

It is important to sow the grass seed and roll seed in the same day you roto-till the weeds a second time. Do not giver the weed seeds an advantage over your desirable turf seed.

2) As the tiller is behind the tractor, if the tiller is a wide or wider than the rear tires you should have a pretty smooth seed bed. If not, a chain harrow or a Landscape Rake oriented backwards so tines will not tear should smooth further.