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When professionals grade roads, parking lots, or driveways, the process is to grade to height then compact(AKA rough grading) before regrading and compacting again(AKA fine grading). This is because when you compact some areas go down more than others since more or less of the area has been loosened by the grading process. If you want it done really well, the grading process including being picky about chunks, high and low points, and overall consistency with your rough and fine grades you'll find is much more important than the type of roller you use at the end. With topsoil, once it's planted, it just needs a light roll and then lots and lots of water plus potentially a cover like straw but that depends on the season and your climate. Good luck! It usually takes a few years for lawns to look normal so be patient.

Amazing reply. Thank you so much.

Hello, thanks for the question. My answer is, it depends. A lawn roller isn't a fix anything type of scenario because it depends on how wet or dry your soil is, what your grade is, and how deep the problems you are dealing with are. Basically when you drive on soft ground you displace the soil to the left and right and leave a low spot in the middle. Often, when you only go over these areas with a roller you will only fill in most of the low spot and some void will still remain. It definitely helps for sure. I would say if you have big tracks I'd give it multiple years of lawn rolling before they would completely disappear or otherwise I'd suggest rolling it parallel to the tracks and then adding some loose ground to the leftover low spots before rolling it one final time. Hope this helps!

That sounds like a big job. You know your yard best of course. I would say if the grade of things is acceptable and the grass just needs smoothing I'd suggest waiting for the ground to be soft enough to plug aerate, throw seed down, and then cover it up with a light topsoil and sand mixture. Then I'd find a way to level it off smoothly and finally roll it at the very end. If you have big grooves in the lawn it's going to be hard to message them out with a roller only plus the roller won't help with bare spots. Like I said, you know your lawn best though. Remember that too much rolling can set back your lawn as well. Either way, good luck!

A skid loader will leave ruts as it is likely between 4k and 7k pounds. I would not suggest it. I'd just buy a smaller roller or do a manual lawn leveling process.

So I have a 1.25" solid steel rod going through and coming out of each end where I then attached a standard pillow block style bearing mount that holds 1.25" bearings. They are located in the farm section near the chain sprockets usually at most supply stores and they are cheap.

I suppose it would but I don't use it for that. It's too heavy for me to justify pulling it around on routine cuts every week. I mostly just use it to fix ruts or pack down fresh topsoil in newly planted areas. If you wanted to strip the grass I would suggest pulling a PVC pipe filled with sand or looking into a striping kit if it's available for your machine.

A zero turns hydraulics are not meant to pull heavy weight. Many have a limit of 200-300lbs.

I would not suggest pulling a heavy roller behind a zero turn. Sorry for that news!

I have a 26 horse zero turn and it pulls my 24 by 48 totally full just fine. It’s rolling so it doesn’t actually feel the full weight, maybe 10% of it

I would guess the 3/4" would work as long as you didn't go more than 800-1,000 lbs for your roller. Lots of factors go into engineering though. I've never done the math, I just compare other things I've seen and go with what seems correct. I suppose somewhere you could figure out formulas and other calculations but that's an entirely different process for real engineers. I went 1.25" because I like to be sure but 3/4" may work. Make sure the shaft is solid thought and I wouldn't go to crazy with the weight and you should be fine. Good luck!

It's 48" from the center of the hole for the pin to the center of the roller drum.

@@danimalshouse Thank you!

The shaft goes all of the way through. On the old Ohio Steel it was 1" and went all of the way through as well, I just made it 1.25" because of the extra weight of the concrete. I wouldn't recommend relying on the thin 1/8" ends to support everything. Turning can be pretty aggressive. For the axle, I'd suggest making the tongue long enough so that you can back up easily and this will also give you enough leverage for when you turn. Also, I'd suggest making the holes for the pin almost the exact same size as the pin you plan to use because all of the jerking when you roll will make the holes oval otherwise. Good luck!

@@danimalshouse thanks for getting back to me I was concerned about the shaft. I have a receiver welded on the weight box on my tractor so I bought a ball coupler to use on front of tongue. Thanks again

True. 1,500lb is no joke though with a small machine. Thanks for watching!