Yard Renovation

[TPS]

Hey guys, not sure where to post this, but I'll give it a try here. What is the best way to redo a yard? The propery is a 1 year old, new construction. The front was sodded, the back is just fill with weeds everywhere. I want to prep the ground and hydro seed.

My question is, what is the best tool to prep the ground? Right not is just fill with lots of rocks and weeds. I have access to a tractor. So would a tractor pulling a harley rake be the best thing? It is already fairly level. Im not sure exactly how the harley rake works so I don't know if it's the best tool on a tractor. I could then add fresh top soil as needed and seed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Bigred350]

Spray area with roundup first, then wait a week or 2 to let it die. Then run a power rake over it.

[J. Peterson Grading]

Are you doing the whole yard?

If its just the back. Strip the crap out of it with a Skid loader or the tractor. Remove the waste. From there see what you are going to need to do. Wether its "Use what you got onsite" or if you will need to import anything.

If its an import job. Level out the yard (Allow for drainage) using the import topsoil. Try to run it over enough to get the air pockets and high points out of it so it doesn't look bad when it settles out. Prep it with a Harley, Gill, tiller, or what ever you can use. I personally would seed and straw the yard (since the straw hold moisture better then hydro mulch). Seed heavily with an annual (For fast green) also go heavy on the turf blend as well. Offer a professional over seeding, to fill in the thin spots.

Have the home owners sign a watering contract!!!!

J.

[Mr. Rain]

We used to do a lot of this type of project. Like Bigred said, Roundup for a good kill. If it's tall stuff cut it down with a rotary cutter or whatever you got, and run a harley over it to clean up the rocks and plant debris and set the rough grade. Haul in your topsoil and final grade/seed prep with the Harley. We used a skidsteer mount Harley, which I prefer over the 3pt version once you get the hang of it. Tried roto tilling, but found it left the ground too fluffy often times, and was harder to get a smooth finished lawn. I have a mounted drag/finisher we made for my atv that lifts with the winch to run out any ridges left from the skid, basically ready for seeding.

[TPS]

Thanks for all the advice. Sounds like I wasn't to far off. I did a few similiar jobs last year, but didn't have to worry about large amounts of rocks. Just level some fresh top soil and hydro seed. All look great this year. Thanks again.

[freddyc]

This is a little different than what you describe, but a few things fit. Below is a before and after pic.

I did this job last Friday. The customer essentially wanted a non-developed area cleared and a general grade done. The area is 50 x 60ft.

Its hard to see from the pictures but there's a decent slope to this and he wanted a little more blending to get a flatter area.

Again, different from yours but it needed stripping of all the existing growth , and moving about 25-30 yards of material from the high to the lower section.

I found a few things--- a million good size roots I didn't't plan on, and a large rock dead center in the area. The top layer I stripped off was about 2-3" deep, but the existing roots required quite a bit more effort to extract. Some of them were about 2" in diameter and of course there were a bunch of 3-4" stumps to pull out. So most of it ended up being some level of work down to about 6-8".

For relevance to your job, stripping the top garbage out of there took a little time and when finished I had a debris pile about 2-3 ft high by about 50ft long...all roots, weeds, junk top layer. By doing it this way, the customer didn't't need to bring in any material. There was about 12" deep of nice soil underneath so he had a decent amount of good material to work with. In his case there is an area at the bottom to just pile the junk into. If i had to remove it there would be a decent charge associated with it.

I know you're talking about some existing sod and so on. Please remember that the rock I had to pull out was only sticking up about 2". When it was out of the ground it ended up being about 2' x 3' x 2'. It was just in the exact wrong area. Sometimes you just run into things you don't expect. If you start pulling up whats there with a skid, you might find out that there's only about an inch of good soil, or none at all below the existing sod. Stick a shovel in the ground first.

However you go about it, please add in some disclaimer if you start any major stripping of the area. Without that, you might end up with a lot of unknowns to deal with and lose your shirt. Finding a buried stump 2" down isn't't all that uncommon at some newer construction sites. Pulling it out is a big deal if you don't have the right machine.

[TPS]

Looks like a nice little project. I assume you stripped and spread with just the bucket? Looks good. Here in good old NJ, when the build developments, they clear all the land first. These particular houses are actually built up on 2foot of fill. So no roots or huge rocks. The lots behind this house are not built on yet and are 2 to 3 foot lower then this one. Makes for fun when mowing, lot of string trimming. But I understand what you are saying. Thanks for the advice.

[YellowDogSVC]

nice job freddyc. Is that a 463? -- what did you do with the pile of debris? Sounds like it would be good for a recycling yard or compost pile

[GWhunter]

We used to do a lot of this type of project. Like Bigred said, Roundup for a good kill. If it's tall stuff cut it down with a rotary cutter or whatever you got, and run a harley over it to clean up the rocks and plant debris and set the rough grade. Haul in your topsoil and final grade/seed prep with the Harley. We used a skidsteer mount Harley, which I prefer over the 3pt version once you get the hang of it. Tried roto tilling, but found it left the ground too fluffy often times, and was harder to get a smooth finished lawn. I have a mounted drag/finisher we made for my atv that lifts with the winch to run out any ridges left from the skid, basically ready for seeding.

Why is it that you prefer a skid mounted rack to the tractor mounted unit? I've run both and prefer the tractor mounted unit. I like the fact that the dust is behind you as you rake. And is a pto is more efficient than hydralic.
Other than that I don't see any real advantage of one over the other.

[Mr. Rain]

Why is it that you prefer a skid mounted rack to the tractor mounted unit? I've run both and prefer the tractor mounted unit. I like the fact that the dust is behind you as you rake. And is a pto is more efficient than hydralic.
Other than that I don't see any real advantage of one over the other.

I like having it in front of me where I can be right on the controls and adjust as I go, watching what's happening. Easy to work in both forward and reverse. Can get into tight spots and corners pretty good. Just seems like faster production overall, and more comfortable working in front rather than behind me. Cab and A/C help with the dust issue.

[Scag48]

I compare dragging a Harley behind a tractor much like I'd compare a dozer dragging its blade around. It works for some guys but I don't know if I'd like it. When I ran a Harley on a skid steer, I liked to be able to see what's going on where the rake is working easily.

[freddyc]

nice job freddyc. Is that a 463? -- what did you do with the pile of debris? Sounds like it would be good for a recycling yard or compost pile



Actually, its a 310 (circa 1980 or so). But its essentially the same size as the 463. Its only rated at 500 lbs but with the low profile bucket it has good visability for close work.

I moved all the debris to the lower right corner (pic here shows looking down slope). The property really dropped off in the lower right corner so moving the debris in there filled it in a little and because he doesn't plan on using that area for a long time it will decompose OK down there.

You can also see the rock I pulled out at the bottom. It was sticking up about 2" above the surface when I started.

It was lightly raining and the pic isn't so good. The shiny spots make it appear really rutted up but its not--its just local pooling of slight surface water in combination with smooth areas from the bucket. It could be better but thats what he wanted.

I just wanted to point out that sometimes you run into things that suck up your time and you never really know if your bidding is good till you're about halfway through a job. Its easy to lose your shirt when you don't know whats 2" under the surface. Sometimes time and materials is a good approach but I personally have had better luck with bidding by the job.

[YellowDogSVC]

you did a good job with a 500 lb roc machine considering the underground obstacles.

[tallrick]

You did an amazing job with what is essentially a powered shovel! Around here there is almost no soil and mostly filled in or porous limestone we call "coral rock". You would need at least an 800 series bobcat to make any real progress unless it was previously cleared and/or filled. While I do not do this work often, when I do I use the advice above and walk the lot with a pick to see what's in suspect areas. Last one was just clearing canegrass and leveling holes in marl, a florida clay. Unfortunately it rained turning it into a soup that made me wait a few days till the rains stopped.