Implement advice

Hi Guys!

I have about 3-4 acres of our 10 acre place that I've cleared in the last 2-3 years, rough graded and kinda left behind as we focused on what we need to do to make the move. Are our barn is just about done which will be used as storage when we sell our current home, so we are ready to put our current house up for sale after the holidays.

So anyway, my question is. I think it will take some time to sell our current place, meanwhile in the spring I intend to circle back and finnish grade, seed and get the open areas set as lawn. I have a JD 4510, 40hp, 4wd tractor. To losen up this soil and prepare for seeding, what would be the best implement? Disc? Plow? And what size would I use?

I have a pulverizer, that puts a great finish on, however I've already figured out that it is not the best for ground that is not already losened up.

Gonna shop and buy a used implement this winter, come sping (March here in S.C) want to be ready to go. What do you recomend?

Lloyd

Lloyd...If you will go ahead and do your finish grading...box blade... you will be able to use your pulv./yard tool tool to finish with. All you really need is a bit of "fresh dirt" for your grass seed to germinate in. By the time you finish raking over the area and dragging out the "trash", you'll pretty well have it done as well as having filled in some low spots. IFFFFF you just feel like you gotta break up the ground, a disc harrow will do fine...then use your yard tool/pulvorizer to clean out the old debris.

Where in SC are you located? I'm near Winston-Salem, NC...used to do that kind of work professionally.

Rick...in NC. rangell27028 at yahoo dot com if I can advise, etc. My favorite "love" in doing that kind of work was the final grading and grass establishment around a new house site.

Hi Rick!

Our new place is near Sharon, S.C.,currently live in Rock Hill. I have a box blade, guess I could use the scarifiers to break up the ground, over the past 2 years lots of weeds etc, grew in there, of course they have to go.

L.

I would use a disk to get the high spots loose and then your box blade to level it out. You would be suprised the amount of dirt you can move this way. I have leveled several yards this way. For your site even a cheap three point disk would work well. If I remember you are in the south so TSC has a cheap line that would be good enough for what you want to do. The good thing about using a disk is that it will cut up the old weeds and chunks of sod. It will jump over any roots or rocks where your box blade teeth will stick them. Much easier to level it all out.
Cheap TSC disk.

If you have a choice, I would disc it and work as much as you can now, winter has a way of making dirt nice and loose by spring. The biggest mistake you can make is hurrying it in the spring, and working it too wet.

Why buy, when you can borrow? Id let you use my scarifier and smoothing harrow for free! Youll have to come get them and bring them back, but your more than welcome to use them!! Besdies, they need shining up, havent been used in a few years now.

Well I'm a little different in that i dont recommend a disc as much as most. Also ive planted alot of grass over the years in different places. What i recommend is plowing it up good first. At the very least use a chisel,feild cultivator or the like,but a turning plows best. Leave it over the winter rough. This will hold moisture and let it soak into the subsoil. Very early spring go in with a disc and level it good ,maybe even followed by a harrow. Do this as early as you can work the ground. Then pack ,sow your grass,and pack again. Several reasons for doing all this but think of it this way,youll never get another chance to do it right without turning it all under and starting over. If you give it the very best chance you can in the first place your far more likely to get a stand that will be what you want. Grass just like a crop is hard to go over and redo ,everything short of starting over is really hard. Give it every chance possible the first time and your better off every time. my opinion of course. IF your not going to go the full route dont do anything,simply use a lanscape rake to level it go down and rent a drill made to plant pastures and plant it (or have it sprigged).discing the top two or three inches,almost always will give less than good results. The reason is very simple. Roots will grow down to where ground has not been worked,and simply stop because they are not strong enough to break through the hardpan. This leaves you with a stand of grass thats thin,cant stand any drought,dies out in a heavy rain because it drowns, is full of weeds,has insects all the time, and all the rest of the problems that you see. Doing it right before hand lets 99% of these problems never get started. Like i say my opinion. Some places you may get by with simply scratching it up with a disc and sowing ,but they are few and far between. If you do decide to do this,double your seed planting rate at the very least.That will give you a better chance of getting a stand,simply because more plants may survive. personally I consider grass pastures and lawns a crop like any other. The only difference is my livestock,and lawnmower harvests it.