How to unload a pallet of sod?

[gtnike]

Ok, so I've ordered my zoysia sod, and it is being cut Friday so I am going two pick up to pallets. I just realized as I am sitting here - I assume they will load the pallets onto my trailer for me. But how do I get the pallets off once I get home? They are approximately 2500 lbs each. I'm extremely strong ( ) but I'm not sure I can lift that much.

Thoughts on how I can unload the pallets without just unloading the grass from the pallets by hand?

[clay&crabgrass]

ah, ya got a forklift, right? skid loader? ya need to rent some tools or call the "guy your brother in law knows".
get a tractor, w/roller lined up too. buy beer and pizza, invite everybody you know--zoyzia party!

[Michael Wise]

Without heavy equipment, nothing comes to mind.

I would just load it into a wheel barrow, or lawn mower utility trailer, and tote it to where I'm going.

How far away will you be parked from where you are laying the sod? Two pallets shouldn't be a big deal at all.

Take pics!

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[Mightyquinn]

I was thinking if you have an engine hoist or something similar, you could jack the pallet up with some straps and then drive the trailer out from under it depending on where you need/want the pallets if it is feasible.

[gtnike]

I don't have a pallet jack or access to one. I'm not even sure where I could rent one!

I think what I'll have to do is just unload the pallet into the wheelbarrow and then move it somewhere. It's being cut into 168 strips per pallet, so I guess I'll just unload each strip by hand. I have my brother helping me, and I love him but manual labor is not his forte. Plus we're playing golf before going to the sod farm (want to admire what my lawn is going to look like in the next couple of years to motivate me to work ) and so he'll probably be too exhausted!

I couldn't think of any better ideas, but I thought if I was overlooking some easy, obvious solution, someone on here would know. The main reason for not unloading manually is because I'm going to have to make two trips to the sod farm (My dad won't be able to use his truck to help me, I have an Explorer with a 4.6L V8 but it's max towing capacity is 7100 pounds. If each pallet weighs a full 2500lbs and the trailer is 1000 pounds, I'm pushing pretty close to capacity plus I don't know if my trailer can hold 5000 off the center of the axle). It's not that big of a deal since the sod farm isn't too far away.

I will definitely be taking photos of the process to track my progress. I've been waiting all winter to start this project. Praise God for Spring!

[TNJDM]

Hey GT,

Since where both in middle TN a couple of questions if you don't mind.

What Zoysia did you choose?
What farm are you getting it from?

I have been exploring those in middle TN and just wondering your choice.

Thanks

[John_in_SC]

How about driving the trailer close to where you are laying the sod - and just lay the sod straight off the trailer... Then, move the trailer once that area is done. Empty Pallets weigh about 50 lbs... so not so difficult once you got all the sod off....

Thanks

[gtnike]

TNJDM - I am going with Meyer Zoysia because that's what I already have in my few test patches and I want everything to match. Plus it's a proven viariety that seems to work well in our rocky soil. I am getting it from Southeatern Turf in Eagleville. I called a few other sod farms and either their prices were higher or they didn't have the Meyer variety. Plus Eagleville isn't too far from where I live in Smyrna. You're pretty close to Manchester, and I did check with a few sod farms there. If you are looking for fescue I know they have it and now is the prime time to sod that. To get the warm season grasses (Zoysia, Bermuda, etc.), You have to cut them before or after dormancy. So that means for me either get it dormant (now) or wait until late april to early May depending on what type of spring we have. Call Debra, she is the one I have been working with down there.

John, I am going to be cutting the sod into plugs, so I won't be laying full, individual strips. I will probably just unload the sheets of grass onto a tarp on the ground.

Thanks guys!

[TNJDM]

Thanks GT,

I did swap some emails with Southeastern Turf on their various grasses. Seem to be some great people. I'm still struggling on which warm weather grass I am going to go with but I figure when they come out of dormancy I'll go check a few "styles" out. God nows I have burned a hole in the NTEP website studying the various grasses!

Thanks again GT and hit them straight and good luck unloading.

[gtnike]

I'll try and post some of the pictures later, but lets just start with this - like most projects, my estimates were way off! A few notes:

- I didn't need anywhere close to a pallett of sod. I calculated that I would need about 7000 plugs and a palett has 165 sheets with 40 plugs per sheet. That's a little less than 7000 plugs. I probably planted 400 (that's four hundred) plugs. 1 foot is a lot closer than I realized. Plus, I was so beat that once I got to the back part of the yard I just plugged at a rate of one every three feet. My logic is, if this takes hold in this shady area, I can always buy a few more sheets of sod and plug again at the appropriated rate.

- Unloading the pallett manually was much more difficult than I imagined. Each sheet of sod weighs much more than I realized. Even using a wheelbarrow, I couldn't move more than 6-7 sheets at a time.

- I had so much left over than I used it to sod some bare patches I had. But because I didn't do proper soil prep, I don't know how well the sod will take (people say Zoysia is hard to kill, we'll find out.

All in all, it was a hard two-days of work and I won't know for several weeks whether the work was worth it or not. Worst case scenario, I'm out $100 and two days of my time, I can always have them truck in sod and manually sod the whole yard. The zoysia in my yard starting greening up this week (highs reached the 80's thursday and will continue through Wednesday, but then we'lll drop back to our normal highs of 60's.

[MorpheusPA]

Zoysia, around here, is almost always started from plugs--very few plugs. Given a clear field, good feeding, and water to establish it, it spreads like mad.

For the sodded areas, just water well to get the sod in good contact with the soil. It may not all take, but at least some will, and spread from there.

What's your initial feeding plan to establish the stuff? Most grasses should wait about a month before first feeding to give them time to adjust, but if you're going organic you don't need to (it won't be available for three weeks anyway and it's much more gentle). Personally, I'd get a good layer of Milorganite, soy, whatever down immediately.

[gtnike]

I haven't fertilized at all yet. This is my first shot with a warm season grass, but my thought is that I won't feed it until it has greened up, and major threat of frost is behind us (so it will probably be 3-4 weeks for me).

I was reading somewhere that in the first season, it's best to use standard fertilizer, not slow release. So I'm thinking I'll buy a bag of 10-10-10 and put that down. Then a couple of months later in early July I'll put down some more dimension and that should carry me through the summer.

If the Zoysia spreads like wildfire in Pennsylvania, then I'm sure I won't have any prolems here in Tennessee. I have read a lot about Zoysia being a "slow grower," but there are differnet opinions on that. It clearly doens't need to be cut as often as Fescue, but many people say while it doesn't grow fast vertically, it does spread fast horizontally. So we shall see!

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

How did you get the pallet off the truck?

[southerncalpal]

is Zoysia impossible to germinate from seed? The South... they confuse me.

[gtnike]

Dchall, it wasn't easy! My brother and I unloaded all 169 sheets by hand. We took them off the pallett and stacked them on a tarp next to my house. The worst part about doing it that way is that on the pallet, the best sod os on top (the sod on the bottom has been crushed by the heavy weight of the sod above it). So when you unload it like I did, you're working with the crappiest sod on top. Fortunately since I was plugging it was no big deal, but if I was planning on laying it all out, I would have needed the sod company to deliver and unload with their forklift.

[gtnike]

SoCal, there is Zoysia seed available, but from what I've read it doesn't work well. Someone else on here will know more about why, I just know the most successful methods are plugs and Sod. I think the problem is that Zoysia doesn't sprout seeds, so the process of creating seeds from sod is expensive and results in poor quality seeds.

Since Zoysia (like Bermuda and KBG) spreads, you can plant it in one spot and it will grow out from there.

[Josh]

is Zoysia impossible to germinate from seed? The South... they confuse me.

None of the good southern grasses come from seed. If you want the best, you have to buy sod. It can get very expensive, and is tons of work. I wish it was as easy as buying a few pounds of seed and spreading it like northerners do, although I know there is a lot of work involved there too.

[gtnike]

Personally I don't mind overseeding and don't find it that difficult. If there was a high-quality turf available in seed that germinated at the rate of TTTF but didn't thin out at the worst time of year (in May thru August when I actually want to use the lawn!), I would have jumped on it. But since that doesn't exist, I have to go with next best option - zoysia plugs.

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[gtnike]

is Zoysia impossible to germinate from seed? The South... they confuse me.

Just read this online regarding zoysia seed:

"Establishing zoysiagrass from seed is increasing in popularity. The seed, however, is extremely sensitive to light and cannot be covered with soil. Consequently, areas to be established by seed need to be covered with some type of erosion cloth to reduce any surface disruption caused by rain or irrigation. After seeding, frequent, light irrigations are necessary to keep the soil moist and encourage germination. Maintain this moisture regime until the planted area is completed covered. "

Since my yard is on a slope, seeding would be impractical. I can see why zoysia seed tends to fail - people probably cover it with dirt like they do with every other seed