To Roll Or not To Roll

[Tony Richardson]

There is a debate in our club at the moment on wether to roll the grass runway or not, those for maintain it will level the bumps, those against say it will achieve nothing and hasten the compaction of the soil increasing the drying out and inevitable cracking that occurs every summer.

Who rolls and who doesn't and what is the aftercare if you do or you don't, I would really appreciate some feedback on this subject.

Thank you all.

Tony..........................

[cymaz]

When I did farm work we used to roll all the grass in the spring, once it had started to grow.

This was for several reasons....to push stones into the ground to stop them going into the forage harvester at silage time...rolling will make the base of the grass to "tiller". That is put it under physical stress and increase the new shoot growth. The more new shoots each grass plant has the thicker the sward and the greater the yield of grass.

We also used to run over the grass fields with a chain harrow. This was like giving the pasture a comb, as you do your hair. This pulled out all the dead matter and dead grass, letting in air and light for the new young shoots to get growing. This was done in the winter if the weather was dry enough,and before the new growth started.

I say roll it once the weather warms up and dries up a bit. Don't forget to fertilise it at well. Check the pH to also.

[ChrisB]

I do ours in the winter mostly when it's quite damp. Although we share ours with micro lights so may be defeating the object somewhat.

The other thing that's is meant to be good is putting a spiker over it as well but I've not managed to find a cheap tow behind version.

[cymaz]

This might do. Doubles up as a fertiliser spreader.

[Engine Doctor]

We roll ours oncea year with a large ride on roller. It helps keep the bumps down to a minimum. The rest of the year the patch is mown with a cylinder mower with a roller and gives a great finish. Yes it does crack open some years but sorts itself out as soon as it rains. Some years we have not rolled it and it still crack ! We also roll area,around the patch so the gang mower can get a better cut. We've had to move our patch this year to the other end of the field so the roller will be working had later in the spring.

[Cuban8]

Both of the clubs that I belong to use a roller, and the strips are always magnificent come summer.

[Frank Skilbeck]

Rolled ours for the first time last week, we have sheep on over winter so when it gets wet it gets a bit rough, a few rolls in spring sees it back good again, no problems with cracking, I wish we had enough dry weather for that to be a problem

[Dave Bran]

Level depressions and power roll every spring. Markedly decreases drag making small wheel take off far easier.

Farmer allows us to selective weedkiller, too, which REALLY improves the sward.

However, We are still recovering from the scroats that doughnutted their offroad bikes all over it a year ago causing deep ruts, and now the Airsoft people that share the site have decided to use our car free pits to drive through as their access was too wet and so chewed that up we have another task.

[Model Monster]

No problem with using a roller?

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

You'll not do a great deal of harm rolling it, ours gets rolled now n again, waste of money really, soil is very heavy clay and once you get a decent rainfall, it's back to square one, if yours cracks during dry spells it's the make up of the soil and it'll always happen unless you spend a fortune improving it.

John

[J D 8]

As a grass land farmer I second all of what cymaz says.Compaction happens when the ground is to wet then the job is done and is mostly comes from the wheeled vehicle pulling the roller who's pressure per square inch on the ground is greater than that of the roller.

If using a self propelled type as in pic above then do not use in vibration mode,that is for road compaction.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Regarding dry spell cracking - I think that Tony (the OP) has omitted to mention what may be a pertinant fact - he lives in Canada I believe? I don't know if his summers are significantly warmer than ours!

BEB

[Tony Richardson]

BEB you are correct, I do live in Canada and left that fact aside because I really was hoping for a broad spectrum of replies, I know there are contributors to this forum from all over the world and I was really hoping from some input from them.

To answer your question about the summer being warmer it most likely is but not by a lot, like you over there I live on an Island ( Vancouver Island ) and our summers are moderated by the Pacific Ocean as are our winters (if you think it rains a lot in your part of the world spend a winter here).

Our soil at the field is very much like the soil I farmed as a youngster growing up in Essex, "Dengie Hundred to be exact" wonderful to work with the right amount of moisture, tough like't rubber with too little greasy as hell with too much and hard like concrete with none at all, due I think to it having been reclaimed at some time from the north sea.

Right now our field is so wet it is really un-walkable, for want of a better phrase, so any kind of field work is out of the question it will be another month at the very least.

Anyway I hope my living in Canada does not stifle the replies to this question, to Cymaz you pretty much put in print my argument at the club, but what does an old fart like me know "eh" also the fertilizer spreader looks like something we could use but it does say "may not be able to post to Canada"

BEB what does ( OP ) stand for? I have on occasion been referred to as a DP and my response is yes I am a Delayed Pioneer I didn't get here until 74.

Thanks for all the input it is really appreciated.

Tony..............

[John Privett]

Tony, OP just means the Original Poster - the person who started the thread.

[Tony Richardson]

Thank you John I didn't think it was anything derogatory

Here are a couple of pics of the field so you can see it is not so different here.

[Tony Richardson]

This one is today notice the water in the field beyond runway.

[Piers Bowlan]

Use a chain harrow to pull out the old thatch and repair the ground if it has been poached by sheep or horses during the winter. This will encourage the new grass to grow. The ground must be 'just right' before you roll; not too soft or the tractor will leave deep tracks, and not too hard or you won't achieve anything! The trouble is if your flying field is anything like my paddock it dries out at different rates which means I can't do it all in one hit. If your want to keep your field in good condition harrowing/rolling in the early spring followed by regular topping during the summer is the way to go.

That fertilizer spreader looked good value too.

[Tony Richardson]

Thanks Piers, we don't have a problem with sheep or horses but geese and swans have been a nuisance this winter, seem to want to bury their bills into the turf up to their eyes, left some rather large holes here and there.

From the feedback I am getting it would seem I/we should follow the practice I learned all those years ago. Failing that my second suggestion would be the Geo fabric that some clubs use, it's permiable and stretches tight in the sun, as for the cracks as previously stated they are pretty much a given by August or September.

Again thanks to you all but I really would like some feedback fro.other parts of the world.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Tony Richardson]

probably would work well on the geese to Tom

As John S stated our soil is on the heavy side and the cracking is a sure thing no matter what in its present state, but it has become a little bumpy and we were all wondering if a good rolling might help, we do de thatch and aireate ( not sure on the spelling of that one) every spring and it helps tremendously. I think I have all the info I need thank you all.

[John Privett]

Tony - slightly off-topic.... I've just returned from a trip to Canada - Vancouver with a brief (1/2 day) stopover in Toronto on the way out. It was very tempting to "forget" to return to the UK at the end of it!

We didn't quite make it on to Vancouver Island, but got close to it on a whale-watching boat trip, then drove to Jasper and Banff before returning to Vancouver to fly home. It does seem that your climate is much the same as ours, you don't seem to have the severe winters that much of the rest of Canada does.

[Tony Richardson]

Hi John, you are correct the climate on the Island is very mild in the winter but can be dry in the summer, temps usually mid to high twenties, that said at least once a summer it will venture into the thirties for a week or so.

Hope you enjoyed the West coast and the drive through the mountains, my wife and I have just made the drive from Victoria to Winnipeg to spend some time with our grandchildren ( a 2700km drive ) there was still snow in spots, and a Grizzly bear in the Rogers pass that stopped traffic for a while, thankfully nobody was stupid enough to try and shoo it off the road as they can be a little grumpy having just got out of their winter bed.

Anyway enough off topic it was decided we should not roll the field so it remains to be seen how it goes at the end of the year.

If you visit our part of the world again John you really must get across to the Island it is the best part of our province in a myriad of ways.

[Speedster]

Runway rock and roll, last weekend