Gading out some ruts

[riverwalklandscaping]

Quick question.

I have a section of field that was plowed by a farmer probably 15 years ago and I am unable to brushhog it easily because of the ~12" humps from each row that was plowed (it was never harrowed). The grass/weeds are starting to get thick enough that I fear seedlings will appear soon. I want to level this out, and I have a 40hp JD to use with either a 3pt tiller or a 3pt harley rake. The grass is ~3ft high and I was wondering if I need to somehow cut all the grass before I till it or could I just till the grass right in. (Will it clog the tiller) I was thinking rototill it, then just let whatever weeds grow and keep it brushhogged. Is this the best thing to do? I don't have a dozer.. which would probably work better. The soil is very heavy clay. Thanks - RWL

[GWhunter]

I've done this both with high grass and without. I would definatly mow it first, if you don't your going to end up with so much grass on the carbides if the harley rake. When I've encountered this in the past I've gone in with my box blade scarifiers set all the way down and the blade set real aggressive. This does a good job of rough filling the holes. The I hook up the harley for the flat,smoothed,finished surface.

Matt:drinkup:

[Marcos]

If this field definitely needed to be cut before it gets tilled maybe you could hire or trade favors with someone who's got a PTO sickle-bar attachment for their tractor so they could come in and "ride the ruts" of your field cutting at just above the 12" rut line you described.

What this would do is enable the cut biomass to rot for a time (possibly... over this late fall & winter), and thus make it a whole lot easier to work into the soil next year with your tiller.
And of course, you'll be buying a little extra time to BETTER see exactly what type of work you've truly got in front of you if all of that stuff is down, beginning to rot & essentially out of your way.

[GWhunter]

If this field definitely needed to be cut before it gets tilled maybe you could hire or trade favors with someone who's got a PTO sickle-bar attachment for their tractor so they could come in and "ride the ruts" of your field cutting at just above the 12" rut line you described.

What this would do is enable the cut biomass to rot for a time (possibly... over this late fall & winter), and thus make it a whole lot easier to work into the soil next year with your tiller.
And of course, you'll be buying a little extra time to BETTER see exactly what type of work you've truly got in front of you if all of that stuff is down, beginning to rot & essentially out of your way.

Definatly DON'T use a sickle bar mower for this. You want the grass to be mulched up. If you don't you'll end up with the same issue with the grass. You either want it brush hogged or hit it with a flail mower. If you mulch up the grasses real good you end up with an ok fertilizer.

Matt

[Dirt Digger2]

you're going to have to rotary mow it....then the best option would be to molboard plow the ground and disc it a few times

[riverwalklandscaping]

yeah only problem is I don't have access to a plow and the only people I have talked to want to much to come deal with it for me to find it worth while. I just wanted a cheap way to deal with it... I'd love to burn the grass off but it's to close to the woods.

[RockSet N' Grade]

here's a cheap way to deal with it...........do nothing, or do it several times the wrong way.

[farmboy1285]

Talk to your local Fire Department, If you can wait until the spring your local FD may come out and do a supervised burn, where they have 1 or 2 trucks on hand in case things get out of control, they can also lay down a water line to help keep the fire out of the trees, plus they would have better advice as to how you can safely burn. The FD may charge you (some Fire Departments only ask for donations, others only charge $100 or so, others may charge more) either way its probably cheaper to have them out than to start a forest fire. Also if you could get a brush hog on your tractor you can make a fire break about 20 feet wide or so that will slow down the fire. Then once you burn you could plow and disk the ground to help get rid of the ruts.

[riverwalklandscaping]

Like I said twice, I have no access to a plow/disc/anything other than a 3pt harley rake or a 3pt tiller. Its just a section of old field on one small part of my property and I really don't care if it gets done so 'doing it right' is not that important. I will try the FD suggestion, thanks for that Idea.

[Dirt Digger2]

you could always rent a dozer for a couple hundred bucks and play around with it for a day....i don't know how much money you would want to throw into it though

[Bleed Green]

Like I said twice, I have no access to a plow/disc/anything other than a 3pt harley rake or a 3pt tiller. Its just a section of old field on one small part of my property and I really don't care if it gets done so 'doing it right' is not that important. I will try the FD suggestion, thanks for that Idea.

Sounds like the easy way would be to spend the money for the "right equipment" to get this job done.

[farmerknowsbest]

Take your tractor and just start driving. Keep going until you've driven over everything. If you have a loader on your tractor even better the flattening job will go that much faster. You'd be surprised how much the tractor will smooth out the plowed ground too.

With how late in the year it is leave is flat and let the snow rot it. Next spring when the new growth comes go at it with the roto-tiller or what ever you have at your disposal.

Warren

[93turbo]

Got any antique tractor clubs around? You might offer up your field and maybe some lunch or something and have them plow it up for you. We have a plow days in the spring and fall and we did a 40 acre field in probably 6 hrs plus lunch. Otherwise it sounds like its not that important or time sensitive I would wait till late fall or early spring and just start tilling it wait a few days between time to give the ground and grass to dry out.

[ksss]

If it were me, I would put your tiller on your tractor and run down each rut, go slow and let the tiller smooth it out. A 40hp tractor ought to be enough to break up the soil so that it can mowed even in heavy soil, assuming you don't have some oversized tiller.

[Mr. Rain]

Your best bet is going to be to burn it off to get rid of the trash, then you can work it with whatever you've got available. If it's got 15 years of growth on it, I think you'd have a heck of a time trying to press it smooth. I'd probably disc it repeatedly to smooth it out. You'll have a lot of sod clumps to deal with. Rototiller would get that taken care of if you disced it a couple times first then let it sit a while to dry up so the sod was good and dead.

[zabmasonry]

I'd say burning it is a great option as well. Just take it slow and have a burn permit.

I woudn't be suprised if either Essex Equipment or Got That Rental's (just north of where susie wilson road comes into 2A in colchester, would have either a flail or brush hog.

speaking of rental, are you renting all the equipment from harvest equipment in williston?

Depending on where it is, I may have equipment in the area that and could give you a hand. PM me if your interested

[riverwalklandscaping]

I have a brush hog ZB, it cant be brush hogged right now as it is too rough

[YellowDogSVC]

Like I said twice, I have no access to a plow/disc/anything other than a 3pt harley rake or a 3pt tiller. Its just a section of old field on one small part of my property and I really don't care if it gets done so 'doing it right' is not that important. I will try the FD suggestion, thanks for that Idea.

Get it mowed 2x if necessary to chop it up then till it and rake.

I realize what you are saying about the rough spots. Raise the mower..

[Ducati996]

Mow it 3x if you have to to get rid of the grass clippings - keeping doing that until gone. after that a harley rake will do the rest and have fun with it