How to Grade Dirt With a Tractor

Whether you're wanting to grade a patch of land to make a building site or garden, having a tractor will help make the potentially laborious job a cinch. In most cases, you will have to attach grading equipment -- a box scraper -- behind your tractor. The blades in box scrapers dig into the dirt to loosen it while the "box' portion of the attachment drags along the top of the ground to grade and spread the soil.

Tractor
Box scraper
Landscape chalk spray

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the area to be graded. This will determine the size of tractor and box scraper necessary for the area. For small residential lawns and lots, a garden tractor should be efficient. For lot sizes over an acre or two, consider larger tractors and attachments. The attachment should be roughly the same width as the tractor.
- 2
  Mark the area to be graded with your landscaping chalk. Defining clear lines for the area to be graded will keep you from wasting time grading other areas and help you focus the effects of your grading.
- 3
  Hook the box scraper behind your tractor. If the attachment has a PTO function, check your tractor's lubrication levels before engaging. Most box scraper manufacturers recommend pulling the scraper for a few yards in a test run to make sure that no adjustments to the scraper's height are necessary before beginning to grade the area.
- 4
  Grade the area thoroughly by establishing perpendicular patterns in your driving. For example, make your passes length-wise along the plot to be graded, and then switch to a width-wise pattern. Grading may take several hours or several days to complete, depending on the size of your tractor, attachment, and area to be graded.
- 5
  Clean and detach the scraper blades for sharpening once the grading is complete, and finish the newly graded area as desired.

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