Has anyone ever used a Petrol Turf Stripper?

[TISH]

HSS hire shops have a machine that strips off turf - my prospective plot (fingers crossed)  is totally overgrown - although the council has strimmed it. Ground is lumpy and the weeds are a combination of couch grass and brambles. The HSS info on machine said it shouldn't be used were there are excessive stones (no idea how many there are) but mainly I wonder if it will work on such a lumpy surface. Has anyone ever used one to clear their allotment?

[TISH]

[Baccy Man]

It will be difficult to use on uneven ground, even if the ground was level all it would do is strip the top growth you would still need to dig out all the roots it left behind.

[TISH]

I was hoping that stripping off the matted top layer would make digging easier. Does anyone know if that is true?

[1066]

I can't really see that it would be any easier so I wouldn't bother going to the effort and exense
1066

[jimtheworzel]

i used a spade to clear my plot!!    a lot cheaper than a hire centre.

[Unwashed]

A turf stripper isn't going to help.  Keep it strimmed down to nothing, compost everything you can rake up, and dig it through with a fork, weeds and all.  Then clear what you can and plant potatoes, sweet corn, courgettes - anything big that can out-compete couch.  It might be workable enough by the autumn to get most of the rest of the weeds out then.

[flytrapman]

I have used turf strippers and they vibrate a lot-it would be useless for what you want

[NettleNik]

Hiya!
We used a turf stripper this weekend from a hire store to clear our allotment. And it made the job a whole lot easier than digging straight off as we couldn't even get a fork in the ground! Then we hired out a rotavator to help break the surface. That way we could get a fork into the ground.

It is hard going on hard bumpy ground. And you will need a strong pair of arms - only my husband managed to control the machine because whenever it hit a stone it veered off - I couldn't control it and I'm not a weakling. It is hard work. We had stones the size of a man's two fists and ironwork and all sorts of rubbish - you just have to be careful and aware of what you're doing.

I would strim the weeds and grass right back and then go over the top with the stripper. We had several patches that the turf stripper just wouldnt go over - so we dug those out by hand. It will save you months of digging if you want to have anything in the ground this year.

Good luck if you do hire a stripper.

[TISH]

Thanks everyone for your advice - whenever the council gets around to letting me on the land I will do a few random digs with a spade or more likley fork to see what exactly I am dealing with and then decide.

Nettlenik: how many days/hours did you need to use the stripper for and what is the size of your plot, and is it dangerous when the stripper hits stones?

[NettleNik]

Hi Tish! Our plot is a 3pole - 25ftx25ft. It took 6 hours to turf cut and 8 hours to rotavate.

I'll be honest - both the turf cutter and rotavator are dangerous if they hit a stone. When they hit a stone they veer off and only a strong arm stops them from running away. Only my husband could control the machines - I tried with the turf cutter and as soon as it hit a stone it ran away with me attached!

Our children were on the plot with us when we used the turf cutter (at a safe distance) but my husband worked the plot alone with the rotavator.

As for the stones - when we used the turf cutter I walked beside my husband and pointed out the stones when they surfaced. It was then easy to take away the stone before the machine veered off. If a stubborn patch of grass refused to budge then we just moved it a couple of inches and tried again.

We had to contend with iron poles the length of our arms and lots of scrap material (iron/tin etc) as our plot had once been used as a dumping ground.

If you are only planning on working a small section of your plot or a bed then I would dig it out by hand and use a pick to break the surface. The turf cutter and rotavator are great for larger sections.

Hope that helps? Nik