Most tractor (lawn) are expected to pull some yard equipment. I use to pull a roller, and a drag section with a yard man. The body went to H... long before the tranny or engine did.

I would recommend a six foot section of Cattle Panel, which is a stiff section of fencing designed to keep in Cattle of course. They can be had at a Farm Supply store. The reason is that it is rigid and will not follow the small contours of your yard, and it will pull dirt and fill and level the yard if you use a piece of treated 2 X 6 on the front edge and a similar piece on the rear edge, I have also been know to add some additional weight to the middle too. Make sure that if you get some of it (they come 42"X16') that you lay down the side that has the wires running horizontally on the bottom, then they act like small grader blades.

Also pulling an old pallet works too. Use a section of chain to pull with.

I also bought a 8' section of spike tooth harrow from a used farm supply, it works well to break up the crust and get it ready for seeding, and then pull the yard with the cattle panel.

rogaine, I suggest you test your implement by dragging it by hand. As long as you can drag it without too much strain, I wouldn't expect it to hurt your lawn tractor.

If the area is big enough, you could drag it with a larger vehicle. Before I put in my back lawn I covered the dirt with rotted horse manure to a depth of almost 6", rototilled it to mix it up a bit, then dragged the heck out of it with a big steel harrow and an SUV. It's the first lawn I've ever put in that settled evenly and stayed flat.

Good luck!

I screwed around with my yard for years with small implements, raking, rolling, filling etc. Then I wised up, went to my local rental center, rented a large 4wd diesel kubota with a dump bucket and a farm size roto tiller. It wasn't that expensive. $185 + diesel fuel used for 8 hours on the meter; deliverd to my house on Sat A.M. and picked up on Monday A.M. Best move I ever made. I tilled, moved a little dirt and tilled and tilled. I tilled in starter fertilized and after spreading my seed, I lightly compacted it by driving over the yard with the tractor. Followed this with a tow behind roller on my GT (rented for $35). The results are phenominal and I've never exerted much effort since except to mow.

I agree with lkbum. Save yourself alot of aggravation by renting something with a PTO driven four or five foot wide rototiller. Till the entire area about six inches deep. If the soil needs improving, then spread compost or other products on the surface first and then till it all in on the first pass.

One of the best tools for levelling a yard is a box-blade and those will also fit onto the rented tractor in place of the tiller when you finish with it. Other options would be drag harrows or the widest steel H-beam practical for your property that has some pull rings for a chain welded to the top of it. Chain link fence helps but it's slow.

Go to where farmers buy their seed. Those places often have excellent custom blends best suited for your area that contain "nurse crops" for less money than garden centers or big box stores. A nurse crop is a fast growing annual that will take hold of the soil and shade the real grass until it matures. Just make sure the mix you get has no clover in it.

As for the pulling power of your tractor, it will let you know when you are asking too much of it. Constant tire spin is a good sign.

Thanks all for responding. I have been spending time talking with various irrigation guys so I have not had time to price tractors. I'm going to call around to see what I can find. Thanks again

You should have no problem at all pulling a 50 lb piece of chain link fence with your lawn tractor.

You should be able to easily handle 500+ lbs with a 23 hp machine.

Sears sells a chain drag harrow, but it's not cheap...around $95. But, it'll last for many years to come if you think you may need it in the future. I have used mine for several purposes other than leveling soil, but it does that really well and can be adjusted. Otherwise, rent it or use one of the other suggested tips.

Agree with 1kbum with one add on, that you may or may not need. My yard on my first house was sandy and rocky, I used seed and my neighbors used hydromulch. These were all brand new houses back in the early 80's. Only one guy had the forethought to put in a sprinkler system. He was mowing grass long before the rest of us. After spotty results with the first seeding, I got a load of top soil delivered. 60.00 at the time. A friend that dug swimming pools was working nearby and drove his 580 Case over and spread it around. Reseeded and watered the heck out of it. Had grass in a few weeks. I miss that lawn. I couldn't go back to 1/4 acre after having 1.25 and 2 acre lots. It would be like going back to apt life.....not happening!
Let us know how it turns out, with pics if ya can. We love pics.
Good luck!

Why no clover? Clover is great because it gives your lawn free "all natural" nitrogen. Can't beat that!

Most people don't want little white or purple flowers messing up all that green. LOL And if they are allergic to bee stings, then planting something that attracts bees is also unwise.

I like wildflowers :) And bees need all the help they can get these days.

But then again, I have very little ill-will towards dandelions either! ;)

Off course green + Yellow (dandelions) = JD, right? ;)

heh heh!

A free pallet and a couple of concrete blocks work pretty good and the price is right.

How about stepping back a bit.
How big is your yard??
How much of the yard has loose soil??
How much has "old" grass stock??
Is the land level??
In building many homes, I have found dragging with various "yard-found" items like pallets work well with dirt that has been broken up. The large clumps that come from excavation do tend to keep their shape against a pallet or fence section.
You will really be better off with having to have a landscaper, or your excavator(most have this equipment) do it, or do a rental with as large of a rear tiller that you need.
If you have rutty old-stock grass, filling in and rolling the low spots is usually the easier route. You will need to drag areas of fill then roll it. Do this a few times, seed and pray for decent weather.
Tilling old stock can be really tough and may take many many many passes to get right.
Good Luck
Dean.

I've used pallets twice they worked good both times.
I've also used a spike harrow that worked real well.
The biggest problem with dragging anything is getting the thing turned around at each end of the swath.