Lawn levelling - car rake worked better than expected

[markocosic]

We had some rough ground; made it rougher with a 20 ton excavator moving some of it around / installing a heat pump ground loop etc; and needed to tidy it up.

 

1) Cultivate / till it (nearest tractor will do)

2) Now what...raking this area by hand requires Olympian endurance...

 

You will need:

4x 3 metre / 10 foot long 2x4s

3x 1 metre-ish / 3 foot-ish long 2x4s

2x logs as extra weight

2x pipes (for corner marking)

2x ratchet straps (spares useful...)

1x small car

 

And it works bloody amazing for levelling and compacting *just right* for putting grass back.

 

The mk1 attempt (6 metre wide rake on a Ford Focus) was a little ambitious. The mk2 attempt (without logs) did fudge all. The mk3 (four logs) was too much of a handbrake. The mk4. you see...just right. I would guess 100-150 kg. Smooths it AND is flat/heavy enough to kick all the field stones and tree roots etc up and out onto the surface. Ready to absolutely not throw in the back of your wife's car like it's a glorified wheelbarrow and spend the journey home wondering how long it'll take to remove all the insects. 😇

 

 

 

Ratchet straps (free end wrapped around the frame once and clamped with a piece of wood; hook end on the car to avoid flying metal bits if it breaks) are the perfect strength for being able to pull this along without being too deadly to car or tree when you get ambitious and chop down to 2 metre width do this bits between the trees...

 

 

Next month expect a post about moles. 😂

 

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by markocosic

[SteamyTea]

Thought you were in Lithuania, not Romania. 

[Big Jimbo]

That looks great. I tried it with 3 railway sleepers stapped together, dragged along by my mini digger. Didn't do anything like as good a job as yours. I wish i had tried an old 5 bar gate with some weights now.

[Dave Jones]

harley rake.

 

you can hire grading beams for diggers. They use them for horse areana, pitches etc. Takes them no time to make a glass level surface with them.

[Andehh]

The contraption we used. It did a half decent job, but the dry weather means the ground is very hard.

[SteamyTea]

18 hours ago, Andehh said:

but the dry weather means the ground is very hard.

What are you going to do about all the stones?

Coulds be a problem when it comes to using a rotary lawn mower with those glass doors.

[markocosic]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-landscaping-rake-914mm/68216

 

I'm about 2000 m² down and another 2000 m² to go. Decent workout lol.

 

Failing that a taller retaining wall to shield the glass? 😂

 

Then repeater next spring after the frosts lift all the rocks nearer the surface. 🫣

[Andehh]

7 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

What are you going to do about all the stones?

Coulds be a problem when it comes to using a rotary lawn mower with those glass doors.

 

Worry constantly! That was preraking them up, then we put a layer of clean compost type over the top. I'm still finding the occasional one though... Just keep walking and looking for them.

[joe90]

23 minutes ago, Andehh said:

Just keep walking and looking for them.

I spent hours and hours picking up stones from my plot 😖

[SteamyTea]

1 hour ago, Andehh said:

still finding the occasional one though

 

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

spent hours and hours picking up stones from my plot

When I lived near High Wycombe, the only thing that grew in the garden was flint stones.

Sing along now.

 

 

[Temp]

On 07/09/2023 at 20:32, markocosic said:

 

 

I usually persuade my wife to get out and open the gate.

[bgmill]

I had a guy with a proper cultivator/stone burier come and do our plot. It got rid of 99% of the stones and was definitely worth the cost.

[markocosic]

Waaah; those things look immense! 😮