Grading Smoothing out a lawn

[TC135]

Would like to get some advice on how I might go about smoothing out a lawn that is extremely bumpy. Have a BX 25 and about 1.5 acres that I mow. The ground is blue clay. Was wondering if I should get a box blade and start from there or go another route that I might not know of. Any suggestions welcome.
One other question,the manual says that 48" box blade is the max size. Right now I can get a good deal on a used 60" one. Is there a problem using the larger implement?

 

[beenthere]

Rent a Harley Rake, and go from there. It will be the shortest, and cheapest, and easiest in the long run.

 

[Egon]

Tell us a little more about this Lawn. By smooth what is your end desire?

 

[KennyV]

Would like to get some advice on how I might go about smoothing out a lawn

Do you golf... or are you near a golf course?
Depending on how smooth you want it and how much work you want to put into it.. ask the grounds keepers. They have some tried methods that are remarkable. KennyV

 

[Evil the Weasel]

I've been told the only good way to smooth out a bumpy lawn is with fill, but there has to be a cheaper way. I can say with absolute certainty that my lawn roller was a waste of money.

 

[midtnvol]

I've been told the only good way to smooth out a bumpy lawn is with fill, but there has to be a cheaper way. I can say with absolute certainty that my lawn roller was a waste of money.

Mine did a pretty good job though I didn't get it in time for the spring thaw. I'm told that makes a lot of difference.

 

[TC135]

The lawn has alot of ruts and holes from uneven grass growth and poor grading. Would like to see it smooth enough so that I might be able to go faster than 1mph while mowing.
Also have been filling a large low spot and although back dragging is ok, it is not the best because of the hard clumpy clay that I have.

 

[crazyal]

If it's not got a lot of rocks in it I would second the harley rake. One day and it'll be flat and loose enough for grass to regrow. I don't think hard clay would even slow it down. If you look on the net, I can't remember the name, there's a company that makes them that has videos of them in action. Around here it's what all the landscapers use when they are starting from scratch.

 

[leonz]

Would like to get some advice on how I might go about smoothing out a lawn that is extremely bumpy. Have a BX 25 and about 1.5 acres that I mow. The ground is blue clay. Was wondering if I should get a box blade and start from there or go another route that I might not know of. Any suggestions welcome.
One other question,the manual says that 48" box blade is the max size. Right now I can get a good deal on a used 60" one. Is there a problem using the larger implement?

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Greetings and salutations my neighbor to the north,


I would invest in a large quantity
of gypsum and lawn lime pellets first,
as the gypsum will break up the clay
quickly and the lawn lime will bring
the PH back up and sweeten the soil.



Renting an overseeder or finding a friend
with flail mower with thatching blades will
also allow you to dethatch and in the
process allow you to overseed the lawn
with a broadcast spreader heavily and
water it lightly afterwards-the overseeder
grooves hold the seed much better than
using straw or simply spreading and hoping
it germinates.


Doing a soil test will scare (been there done that)
you and tell you you need a lot of gypsum and lime.


buying ton of lawn lime and a ton of gypsum
(preferably the mined type) and not the chemically
processed(quicker dissolving, no waste, easier to spread);

Spreading a 1,000 pounds of each with a good spinner spreader
at a slow speed will do wonders for the lawn(been there done that)
the first time and the results will be quickly seen.

Spreading the other 1,000 pounds of each in the fall will help break up the clay even more and you will see the results in better turf if it is good grass.

The wide box blade will be and issue as you will have to make more passes at a very very shallow depth.

leonz

 

[kubota_krazy]

I am a master gardener and using a roller is the worse thing for your lawn.. it causes compaction.. which leads to a shallow rooted lawn which makes it prone to damage durng dry spells and diease.. if you roll... you should use an areator also. The best way is to fill the low spots in and level it out..

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

If it's not got a lot of rocks in it I would second the harley rake. One day and it'll be flat and loose enough for grass to regrow. I don't think hard clay would even slow it down. If you look on the net, I can't remember the name, there's a company that makes them that has videos of them in action. Around here it's what all the landscapers use when they are starting from scratch.

Here's a video of a walk behind Harley Rake.
Harley Walk Behind Power Unit
This company Everything attachments has some great videos.

 

[Egon]

From the sounds of things it might just be easier to start from scratch on the lawn.

Soil test
Cultivate and work up the ground, add fill materials?, smooth with equipment available, add required chemicals, work in chemicals and smooth again. Then seed grass of choice.

A large rough lawn is very difficult to smooth out without adding topsoil or working up the area. Just ain't no quick easy way.

A wide drag that can be angled may be about the best for smoothing. Something like several six by sixes set at slight opposing angles and separated buy three or four feet will do a nice job of moving the dirt around and leveling the area. It will take more than a couple of passes from different directions to get things into real nice mowing condition.

 

[AHNC]

Until I watched the video I wouldn't have known a Harley Rake if one fell on me. Seems a very capable piece of equipment but wouldn't a tiller be as useful here and more versatile going forward. If you are looking to put the gypsum and lime into the ground, level out the yard, and reseed then the tiller with its greater depth capability would seem as good or better. I'm a rookie, so that is a question. How hi/lo is the yard?

I was real pleased with my tillers performance on my yard and I went deep enough to level...as best as I could with the bucket. There is definitely a box blade in my future, but not right now.

 

[beenthere]

AHNC
Until recently, I would have agreed with going the tiller route.

But I've a friend with a new house, and last fall wanted to work up the rough grade which had turned to weeds over the summer and he wanted to get it seeded down.
I had recently bought a used tiller and I was going to till it for him. Rain and time kept that from happening.

Over the winter, he was looking at renting a Harley Rake after watching the HR videos.
So this spring, I showed up with the tiller and he ran the rented HR. Turned out, he was able to better, faster, and with smoother results than the tiller. He could move rocks and debris out of the way (either windrow or push across to the other side) whereas the tiller meant picking up the rocks as they were tossed up.
Made a believer out of me. The HR even handled the crop of weeds along with the rocks. Ended up with a couple acres ready to seed down in less than one day (8-2) of work.

 

[EE_Bota]

The other part of your question was whether to get a box blade that is larger than your manual says because it is a great deal. I wouldn't if I were you unless you have very soft soil. You said you have blue clay. I have never heard of blue clay, but I presume that is hard.

Stick with a 48" box blade.

 

[AHNC]

AHNC
Until recently, I would have agreed with going the tiller route.

But I've a friend with a new house, and last fall wanted to work up the rough grade which had turned to weeds over the summer and he wanted to get it seeded down.
I had recently bought a used tiller and I was going to till it for him. Rain and time kept that from happening.

Over the winter, he was looking at renting a Harley Rake after watching the HR videos.
So this spring, I showed up with the tiller and he ran the rented HR. Turned out, he was able to better, faster, and with smoother results than the tiller. He could move rocks and debris out of the way (either windrow or push across to the other side) whereas the tiller meant picking up the rocks as they were tossed up.
Made a believer out of me. The HR even handled the crop of weeds along with the rocks. Ended up with a couple acres ready to seed down in less than one day (8-2) of work.

I just spent some time on Everythingattachments.com. I just love that site. Helps me a lot. I'll be doing some business with them in the future. Having said that, it sure won't be buying a Harley Rake, given the cost. Rental is the only way to go on that for very occassional use. I'll have to suffer along with my tiller...but that isn't bad!

 

[asylum575]

When I did my lawn a couple of year ago, I pulled the box blade to level out areas where I pulled stumps. Once I got it close to what I wanted, I pulled the landscape rake over and over until it was smooth. The tines left nice grooves for fertilizer and seeds. I seeded in late September and by November1 I had green fuzz everywhere.
By late March-early April, I had a nice thick lawn.

Note, this method rips everything out, but I found it easy on the back and had nice results

 

[heehaw]

harley rake seems to be a heck of a tool: but looks like a tiller would do the same thing if you don't have much grass an other stuff on the ground?
heehaw

 

[TripleR]

I agree that Harley rakes really seem nice, but I didn't want to spend the money to buy and didn't really want to go rent something, so I lowered the teeth on my 7' BB, tilted it all the way forward with my hydraulic top-link and went over my yard a couple of times and then tilled it with my 3-point Land Pride.

As mentioned by others, I live in the country and have a "yard" not a "lawn". Tractors, cars, trucks ATV/UTV and other machinery cross it, so "smooth" doesn't last long. If I had a "lawn", I might have gone with a Harley rake.

 

[KeithInSpace]

I performed a complete lawn 'rehab' on about 1 acre. I started by going around the property with my box blade, scarifiers set shallow. That did a good job of getting up the 'junk' and starting with the fill process. Remember with a box blade, it isn't a 'back and forth' process, but a 'every which way' process. Drive around like a drunkard looping EVERYWHERE for best results.

Then I spread my 60 CY (4 tandom truckloads) of SCREENED (very important) topsoil where needed, either for fill or to smooth stubborn areas. Don't get refuse topsoil...you'll go batty getting out clumps and sticks.

Again with the box blade.

Going back, I wish I had a York Rake. Would have made removing debris and old thatch much, much, much, much easier. Strongly encourage a York Rake purchase.

I also look longingly at a disc harrows set. TSC makes an "XB" version for sub-compacts and I think that would do a spectactular job of 'chopping up' the top couple inches for amendment and smoothing. It's a few hundred bucks, though, so I haven't been able to justify.

I started with the tiller thing and it is unnecessary. Great for a garden, but just downright painful for lawn rehab.

Get the right starter fertilizer and seed for your situation. Pay extra...don't go to a Big Box. Go to a proper nursery.

I didn't do any lime or other amendments. I did have a 9-zone sprinkler system installed, though, which was critical to getting the seed up. Hit it 3 times a day for a few weeks and it worked like a charm.

The attached picture shows my lawn the spring after my rehab. The grass in the foreground was 'forest floor' when I moved into the house. 3 years and with painfully little care, it still looks nearly as good. I'm overseeding this fall, though.

As far as stability, I just pulled my 5,500# travel trailer onto an area where I filled 18", tires on the ground for 3 days without wood or other support. Didn't even leave a dent.

I hope this is helpful. Don't get too hung up on saving any of your existing grass...just start fresh. That way everything matches.