Sod Cutters

[bosco]

I am planning on a new garden where there has never been a garden before. My idea is to rent a sod cutter to remove all of the grass in that area. I have contacted the locale HD and they do have these machines for rent. The 2 models that are for rent are a Bluebird SC550 and a Classen SC18. My question is ... do any of ya'll have experience with either of these cutters...? I'll admit, I am clueless and have not ever operated a sod cutter. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks....

[Ron in Indiana]

It's been a few years since I've used a sodcutter and I don't know if it was the brands you mention. They aren't hard to operate and will keep you moving being self propelled. The depth can be adjusted depending on the thickness of the sod. After making the cuts you just roll up what you can carry and cut it with a spade. They usually cut from 7-10" wide depending on the model. Be aware they probably won't remove all the roots from the sod but it will be better than trying to till the sod under. Where ever you rent from will give you operating instructions. For kicks have someone tape the process and then run it backwards to see the sod go back down LOL

[bosco]

Thats a good idea about taping the work. I think I will do that from the lawn chair as my 22 year old son does the dirty work. Thanks for the input.

[HWooldridge]

When the kids were younger, I had a couple of good sized gardens. The first one was on top of St Augustine (in San Antonio) and I just ran the Troy-Bilt over it a few times. The first session, I set the tines very shallow and just scalped the ground. Within a week, I had it tilled completely in and 8-10 inches of good black soil. Don't know if you have a tiller but that works.

The other garden, which I had here at our current home, was turned over with a tractor. I did it the first time with a borrowed single row buster and the second time with a disc (we let it lay fallow for several years and had to break the ground again). This soil is lousy compared to the San Antonio garden, which was an old cow pasture, but I could usually get some good produce if I mulched everything. It was about 40x60 so we had corn, beans, melons, tomatoes, peppers, etc. every year.

I also helped a guy clear a garden another way. We marked an area and sprayed it with Vapam, which is a soil fumigant. You put down the product, cover it with plastic and let the fumes kill all the bad stuff in the soil. After a few days, everything will be dead under the film - but be careful around trees. An oak that was growing nearby dropped its leaves twice and was probably set back a year or more in growth.

I don't know how big a garden you want but those are a few additional options.

[bosco]

We're looking at a small garden to start, around 20x30. We may not utlilize the whole area the first season, but while I have the rental equipment I would like to break as much ground as possible. The spot we have picked for this garden has the St. Augustine grass (and it's quite thick). The soil is a sandy loam, which is not bad. Of course we'll have to mix in some good organics and a bit of fertilizer. I also need to test the PH level first.

No, we don't have a tiller at this time. But we sure have looked into buying a rear tine model. My original thoughts were to strip the St. Augustine off and break the ground with a tiller to a sallow depth. I would then add some garden mix (that I can get locally), till again and test the PH. Depending on the test results I would then add what was needed to bring the PH to were I needed it and till again.

Sure wish I had a tractor with the necessary implements, but sadly we do not. But for the size garden we are planning, I think we can get by with the tiller. If the wife and I are successful and have the green thumb, we would like to then expand the garden a bit more.

I've had a few gardens in the past and the most recent one was built into raised beds. Although that method works well, I now perfer the inground type. I believe that method is much more flexible than the raised bed type.

Thanks,

[sret43]

The 2 models that are for rent are a Bluebird SC550 and a Classen SC18. My question is ... do any of ya'll have experience with either of these cutters...?

A few years ago I re-sodded my front yard. The ground was so hard that one of the larger walk behind tillers I rented just bounced around like a basket ball. I went back and rented the Bluebird and let me tell you that thing made minced meat out of the ground. I shaved at least five layers of dirt off. It even chopped right through tree roots. I replaced the soil with a couple of truck loads of potting mix and laid down the sod.
Later I rented something like the Classen to shave tire paths through my recently sodded yard. What a joke.
I have heard that the Bluebird has a tendancy to break down but I didn't have a problem.
Steve

[the engineer]

tiller

if you do rent /buy a tiller, make sure it's rear tined. my wife got her grandma's front tined one, and that thing works me like a rib. once you get it to finally get dig in, you're good, but until then it beats you to death. if you hit anything under the surface like a big stick or tree root, it pops out of the ground again, and you start the whole digging in process over. pulling back on the handles seems to work best for getting it to dig in.