Have you ever used a sod cutter?

So without wanting to buy all the big equipment but wanting a professional look yard I'm looking into rental prices. I have yet to call HD but did get these prices for rentals:

rotatiller 55 a day
sod cutter 88 a day

What's the deal on the sod cutter, lol? Seems a huge jump over the tiller. I'd hope for that price the sod cutter will pick up the square pieces of grass to? LOL. Anyhow, I will need one---or a way to remove this grass. DH once successfully cut a small area with his weed eater and we removed the grass that way. But I'm thinking grand scale now and need to know, will the sod cutter be most beneficial?



This message was edited May 16, 2008 11:53 AM

I have used both. Are you removing the existing sod so you can replant a new lawn? Are you still in TX (heavy clay soil)?

Sod cutters are HEAVY so be sure to have some muscle around to unload it. I wouldn't cut too deep either because it is hard to roll when it is thick cut.

Yes Dale, still in Tx with that nice clay :). Removing the sod for landscape beds.

But we'd take parts of the sod from the back new beds to move to the front as we relay some new dirt to level it out better.

If you're planning on putting some of the sod somewhere else in the yard, the rototiller is not going to do the job. It'll break up the grass and turn it under, mixing it in with all the soil so you could use it to prepare a garden bed, but you won't get anything usable out of it that you could move elsewhere in the yard. And the sod cutter is going to be a lot easier than trying to do it by hand!

Tir_Na_Nog,

I lived and worked as a landscaper in Cental TX for years, Castle Hills to Northwest Hills (Austin). Shallow black clay mostly. My advice-don't bother trying to save and reuse sod. It is more cost effective to buy sod.

If you are like most of TX you have some bermuda grass in the lawn. Cutting it off with a sod cutter will not get rid of it because it has a large underground root system and it will resprout in your new beds. Easy way to start a new bed - chop up the sod with a tiller, cover it up with 6 mil black plastic and leave it alone for 3 months (if you have bermuda) or as little 2 weeks for other grasses. Then uncover it, water, wait for 2-4 weeks to see what resprouts from the roots. You may have to repeat the process, TX has some tough plants.

I can't remember the number of times I got called back to jobs by clients that insisted that I install the new plants without proper preparation. I would show up and see the salvia, blackeyed susan, etc. plants over run with perennial weeds. And then have to listen to the complaints that keeping up with the weeds was just too much work. It didn't help my reputation when I told them that it was their impatience that caused the problem. Gardening is not a 'hurry up and get it done' project.

I don't know if anyone has warned you about cedar mulch (it is really juniper). TX Junipers have oils in the wood that surpress plant growth. If you don't want plants to grow in an area it is very good for that, but, using it around your shurbs or perennial flowers will retard their growth.

Best of luck...

ecrane,

tiller---to remove grass forever for prep of veg bed
cutter---to remove sod to lay permanent landscape beds :)


dale,

ah, thanks so much for your wisdom! I see your point. We DO have some sprouts of bermuda :( and I told DH perhaps we shouldn't move it as the front really doesn't have any (that I see) but I'll have to take a closer look, he says it does have it in front to, in which case it wouldn't matter. The grass is in healthy order otherwise, but you still wouldn't suggest since it's trash in the area we need it gone to lift and move. Well....let me think here.....88 bucks to rent the sod cutter plus 50 to haul here and back (pickup fee).....hmmmm maybe I could resod the front for less? I heard a pallet of augustine was 400 bucks that's why I was thinking of reusing.

Appreciate the info on the covering the area----will use that in the veg garden area. Will take the rest of this year to groom that area to be weed free for planting in spring. :)

You davers are wonderful! Thank-you!

Wow!! $400?? We get St Augstine here for $125 a pallet (500 sq ft), but, that is wholesale and you have to 'deliver' it yourself. I am appreciating my trailer more.

eye candy>

What an awesome way to do the fountain! Love the plantings in it!

The $400 was just something I read on craigslist....someone offering their free cut sod patches from the backyard for free---"they" said it was $400 a pallet retail. I've not officially checked.

Update:

Well the rental company isn't open weekends. So if you rent out on a Friday you also pay daily rates (in first post) for Saturday AND Sunday! And they close at 5 pm so basically we can't rent from them or we'd have to be off work to do it.

And the sod cutter HAS to be delivered unless you have 3/4 ton or bigger vehicle! Yep, you were right these things are HEAVY!

And the $55 tiller rental, that only beats HD price by 10 bucks, but HD's tiller is SELF-PROPELLED which really helps.

So I guess we won't be getting a sod cutter.

How do ya'll prep a new area with grass for plantings then???? I could do the black plastic but I'm impatient. I may rip this sod out by hand? LOL.

I have heard using newspaper and cardboard keeps the weeds out. I would add some compost or manure too.