Myself and my son christened our newly constructed strip on my farm today @1430Z

Nice grass

Real nice grass mine is mostly brown with the drought we have here. Maybe I should have you come here and help get my strip smoothed out. Looks good.

Looks like it outta have about a 4" hole at the end.

Mowing will be a labor of love!

It looks like a nice par 4. Where are the sand traps?

VA Maule wrote: Myself and my son christened our newly constructed strip on my farm today @1430Z :lol:

Awesome!
Your very own grass strip and a son to mow it...

Well I have a son also but he's been working this summer and now wants payment. He use to think it was fun to drive that tractor around, and now tells me if I think flying is so fun why do I get paid. We've come to an agreement though he mows and gets to eat . ;-0 I'm just glad he's not afraid to work hard

Thanks for nice comments.
As far as the son to mow it, yesterday was his last day at home for awhile he started his flying for a living job today @RDU instructing for AIrline Transport Professionals, so I'll have to cut that 833 yard fairway myself (unless I can convince Mrs. VA Maule to do it ) .

Anybody have any tips for smoothing a runway? Mine is just outside Knoxville, TN not sprinkled and about 1700' x 100' mostly Bermuda grass. Not gravel bar rough but not buttery smooth either. Any tips would be appreciated!

Bigger tires will smooth that baby right out.

The airport manager at our home field 1P1 Plymouth NH rolls the field with a heavy vibrating roller each spring. We have a few heavy aircraft the use the field and they cause ruts. The roller seams to help. I don't know how much it cost because he uses town equipment, but it only takes a few hours.

pilot wrote:Bigger tires will smooth that baby right out.

Seriously, that's probably best bang for buck.

Otherwise, wheelbarrow, rakes, shovels and a gang of teenagers on piecework. They only need to improve enough for a Maule, say 300 x 10 ft.

No teenagers? Then Roundup (glyphosate herbicide), tractor with discs, harrows, then re-seed with appropriate grass (mostly creeping fescue) and roll.

PJ

I've always wondered if it is possible to smooth an existing runway without turning it under. When I built mine I had a 40' land plane that was 10' wide and an old sheepfoot roller that weighed a few tons.. The runway is fairly smooth but not glass smooth. I often think about a big water-filled roller, maybe like an old 250 gal propane tank or something to be pulled behind the tractor when the ground is wet, but not wet enough to make tractor tracks.

Pilot, yes it can be smoothed up without turning all the sod over the tool to use is a Harley Rake it's a 3 point hitch PTO counter rotating item for a farm tractor. Get some screened topsoil put into the rough spots and drive the tractor with rake until it's smooth to your likening reseed as needed. A light compacting after seeding will help , pickup truck with big tiers will do well tractor tiers will make a "rumble strip"