[Hayjosh]

I have a brillion seeder, cultipacker style. If I were to scalp grass short in the field early in the season, disturb the soil with a drag during the spring rains while the soil is soft, and then overseed with my brillion, would this still be effective? Just grass, no alfalfa.

And if so, would a spike tooth drag or spring tooth harrow work better for disturbing the soil so I can get some seed to soil contact ?

 

[rjmoses]

Depending on where you're at, frost seeding might work well. I'm waiting until mid-February to do some.

Ralph

 

[Hayjosh]

I am in Southwest Michigan. My problem is I did not do third cut because the grass was too short to be worth it, but the residue on the field is still probably too much to get any good soil to seed contact I’m guessing?

 

[FCF]

Cutting short and leaving residue in the field is a good way to clog a sike or spring tooth harrow. Would you consider using a disk harrow, set to lightly cut the sod and expose some soil for the seed to contact?

 

[Hayjosh]

I will consider anything. I mainly just want to do what will be the best course of action. I don’t know a lot about this type of stuff or have any experience doing it.

 

[gosh]

I am in Southwest Michigan. My problem is I did not do third cut because the grass was too short to be worth it, but the residue on the field is still probably too much to get any good soil to seed contact I’m guessing?

Can you set fire to it once the snow is off to get rid of the residue?

 

[Hayjosh]

Can you set fire to it once the snow is off to get rid of the residue?

I’ll have to look into that. Two sides of the field is trees and one side of the field is three houses.

//edit— my local volunteer fire department said they do controlled burns and can fit them in as trainings.

 

[slowzuki]

I’ve seen people mention using a slitter when overseeding. My buddy just uses their brillion with the ground wet and says it works well. I tried and didn’t have same success but ground was quite dry. I was contemplating bolting a few colters off an old plow ahead of the brillion to make some slits.

 

[Hayjosh]

So would it be prudent to burn the field in late Feb and then frost seed it with my Brillion?

I could also run a small disc through it to make some slits, just not let it down all the way if that would make the frost seeding more effective.

 

[tjhendren62]

There is one option if you have access to one, a rotary hoe. They make a great little seed pocket and you can get across a field fast with one. I have great success with clover and crabgrass seeding with one.

 

[gosh]

I’ll have to look into that. Two sides of the field is trees and one side of the field is three houses.

//edit— my local volunteer fire department said they do controlled burns and can fit them in as trainings.

The fire department training idea sounds like a winner.

No idea what the weather patterns are like at your place, but around here it’s normally calm in the morning and then the wind picks up as the day goes on. Last time we burned a field, my son and I took our little ATV sprayer and filled it with water so we could use the wand to keep it under control. Easy to do when there’s no wind. Adjust the nozzle so it lays down a good volume of water and don’t let the tank get below half full. We used a propane weed torch to start it.

We burned a strip around the perimeter and then some cross strips to keep it small once we decided to start torching it all. But we had to stop and finish the next day because of the wind. You can’t chance that at all. Plowing in a firebreak is much faster, but it was a small field and we weren’t going to plow, so this was the best option in our circumstance. And it worked great.

The sprayer suggestion came from our fire department. A really good idea. Just keep it small and manageable. And if you think to yourself, “I hope it’s not getting too windy to keep going” then you should have stopped 5 minutes ago.

 

[Hayjosh]

This field isn’t on my property. If I burn it the fire department will bring out two grass trucks and I’ll let them take care of all of it. I’ll bring my drone.