Leveling/Grading Fields - It's time this spring - Advice

[DRandall90]

We have about a 3 acre food plot that I plan to "fix" in spring. The problem with the field is mostly that it is very uneven.

To this point I have mostly been using no till, and while that has gotten us some decent clover results, especially on the flatter, better draining areas, it has not worked out so well in the areas that have channels or furrows.

We dug out trenches last year that helped to reduce the water level to a better amount on the north end of the field, but the south end still needs help with that.

The field naturally drains from north to south, but the water tends to sit in low spots on the south half. This causes wasted seed and bare spots, or less than desired species to pop up in the wet areas. It's also clay type soil, so that complicates the drainage.

Overall, my goal would be finish trenching the field, then grade it to drain to a trench that carries the water to an open ditch (where it eventually ends up anyway). This way I can hopefully not waste as much seed trying to get this field productive.

We have a 55 HP tractor we can use to do a lot of the work, and access to other farm implements if needed.

What would you recommend to use to level the field before grading? There is potential for some rocks in the field, but a lot of them have been picked as well.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

[X-farmerdan]

You're confident you can do this? It's as easy to create inflow as it is to create outflow. I can show you several examples done by folks who should know better.....
Channels and furrows? I guess it goes with the territory, but a poorly adjusted piece of tillage equipment can reek havock. On the other hand the opposite can be true. Level? At one extreme, level means zero slope. How do you mean it?

 

[DRandall90]

You're confident you can do this? It's as easy to create inflow as it is to create outflow. I can show you several examples done by folks who should know better.....
Channels and furrows? I guess it goes with the territory, but a poorly adjusted piece of tillage equipment can reek havock. On the other hand the opposite can be true. Level? At one extreme, level means zero slope. How do you mean it?

Grading it from north to south would be the ideal plan. When I say 'level' I mean from east to west with a grade of 1-2% from north to south. There is a holding pond and trench on the north end that was dug years ago that prevents inflow.

The standing water is generally due to snow melt in the spring and large rainfalls in the spring/fall. There is a drainage ditch on the south end that most of the water already drains into, but the uneven terrain causes the south end to hold a lot of water in low spots, preventing drainage.

 

[jsasker007]

If it is only wet for a few weeks at a time you could plant something that can withstand wet feet for a while. I have similar issues as what you are describing and this summer I broadcast some alsike clover in the wetter areas to see if that can grow and be productive. This year in Minnesota it's very wet everywhere. Depending on how much ground you need to move, maybe hauling in some fill would be an option? Seems that trying to work wet ground just keeps making it lower from the weight of the equipment driving around.

 

[DRandall90]

If it is only wet for a few weeks at a time you could plant something that can withstand wet feet for a while. I have similar issues as what you are describing and this summer I broadcast some alsike clover in the wetter areas to see if that can grow and be productive. This year in Minnesota it's very wet everywhere. Depending on how much ground you need to move, maybe hauling in some fill would be an option? Seems that trying to work wet ground just keeps making it lower from the weight of the equipment driving around.

Fill would be a potential option, the only issue is the long haul to the field may present some challenges.

 

[jsasker007]

I've been looking into the different types of box blades for my tractor to move large amounts of dirt with fewer trips to fill in low spots but don't know how good that would work either. Fill would be my best option also but like you I would have to figure out how to get the dirt where it needs to be. If Alsike clover works for me in the low spots then I'm just going to go that route to have something growing there and not having voids in my plots.

 

[j-bird]

Are you talking spots the size of a desk, the size of a pick-up truck, or spots the size of a semi-truck? The bigger the issue area is, the bigger and more specialized the equipment will need to be to be efficient at making the needed impact. A disc can typically level out smaller trouble spots. You just need the disc to be wider that the trouble area. As such the disc then drops the loose soil into the lower area as it rides on the higher ground around it. If the area is so big that the disc simply follows the contour....it does you no good. In that case you need to move enough dirt to actually fill the area and the level it. That's going to require a land leveler or maybe even a small dozer in my opinion.

Areas that hold water for weeks concerns me as well. You may have a deeper soil drainage issue that needs addressed. Or like was mentioned simply work with what you have and plant something that tolerates those conditions better.

 

[Double L]

Not knowing what your budget or skill level is, you have many options with what you can buy or make. Some pictures with more detail of what you are trying to smooth out and fill in could help. If you look at the "How To Build Stuff" I have a thread on the land leveler I made for my place. It works great for my application. I no longer plow or use my discs, But I rip up the ground with my flop rake on my dozer " which I didn't have when i built my land leveler" and then smooth out with the leveler. I can carry a large amount of dirt with the leveler than raise and drop it where I need to. Planting on a side of a hill I never have problems with standing water but my no-till drill works so much better since I smoothed out our fields. Some dozer work and a quick run over with discs could just be all you need. A large landscape box might work also.

 

[DRandall90]

Here are some pictures of the field. You can see nothing is super uneven, and this is a heavy clay, and has some compaction issues, which we are also working to remedy with brassica plantings and other non invasive work.

https://imgur.com/a/38tszib

 

[Double L]

Others on here will have better knowledge, but I would try to tackle it all at once and then work on building up the soil content. plow it up and address the low spots. do you have the means to trench and lay drain pipe to help with your standing water? Drain it some where for a water source for the deer?? An 8' landscape box would work good behind your tractor. We had a field with a 4" hard pan that had wet spots in it. Chisel plowed it up and started over, it is doing better now than ever.

 

[DRandall90]

Others on here will have better knowledge, but I would try to tackle it all at once and then work on building up the soil content. plow it up and address the low spots. do you have the means to trench and lay drain pipe to help with your standing water? Drain it some where for a water source for the deer?? An 8' landscape box would work good behind your tractor. We had a field with a 4" hard pan that had wet spots in it. Chisel plowed it up and started over, it is doing better now than ever.

We could probably accomplish all of the above. We have access to an excavator and trencher, so equipment isn't the major issue.

We have a box blade with scarifiers that I thought may be our best bet, but I could also chisel plow it.

We have a river that runs through the property about 60 yards from that field, between the edge and the big timber you see in the background in the pictures. In the first picture, there is a deer stand (tripod) you can see on the far end. On the other side of that is a ditch that drains water to the road. That's where I am trying to get the water from the south half of the field to go. It's possible I could do that with tile, but I felt like maybe just sloping it could work as well.

Thank you for all your help.