Anyone use lawn rollers?

[Sam1]

Got a problem with voles, have literally tried everything except a machine gun and dynamite to "fix" the problem.  Anyways, part of the yard is getting to be pretty rough now and I think it's best just to start running over the yard with a roller.

 

Does anyone use these things?  If so are there any reasons to get a higher end one over the cheaper ones?  Also looking to get about a 48-50" one, is there a preferred weight to look at, cause they range anywhere from 400-1000 pounds at that size.

[Patton]

Oh man voles are difficult, I don't know that a roller will do anything except make the tunnels disappear. Is getting a cat out of the question?
As far as a roller you want one with the heaviest footprint. Edited August 23, 2013 by Patton

[Monkeyman2500]

Dachshund my friend. Mole killer supreme. In the first year our whole yard was fenced he must have killed two dozen or more.

[Sam1]

Oh man voles are difficult, I don't know that a roller will do anything except make the tunnels disappear. Is getting a cat out of the question?
As far as a roller you want one with the heaviest footprint.

 

 

At this point the flattening the ground is all I'm worried about (some sections will beat you to death on the mower when the ground is hard).  Spoke with someone that does critter removal and he said the only real easy time to fend them off is at the end of winter to treat the grass with some stuff that turns the dirt bitter for them.  He said once they take hold in the spring time, it's near impossible to get rid of them outside of having some type of predator.

 

I wouldn't mind to have a cat but the wife doesn't like them, so plan is to roll the yard and start fresh this winter.  We've got so many fields here that if they hit any kind of deterrent, I think they would just go elsewhere cause we don't have a garden or anything that would draw them in.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Sam1

[Patton]

Have you tried Sweeneys Poison Peanuts? It is not labeled for voles but I have been told it works. So all you have is grass? Normally they eat roots of perennials and shrubs. Edited August 23, 2013 by Patton

[Sam1]

Tried poison peanuts, mouse traps right on top of their holes, the poison smoke bombs, clamp traps, nail/spike traps, the lawn treatment (just to push them back) and finally - hooking up a hose to the truck exhaust and plumbing it into the tunnels.  The funny thing about the peanuts is that they actually dug the holes back up and pushed them out of their tunnels back on top of the ground.

 

Darn things aren't even digging around our bushes or landscaping, it's just out in the open yard.  What worries me a bit is that if they do ever move up to the sides/front of the house, they will wreak havoc on the areas that we already spend a lot of time maintaining.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Sam1

[tenchi_kioto]

http://youtu.be/xDEira01c0Q

hope the link works but here is the website also...

http://www.rodentblaster.com/

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

[deadeye111]

To rid the moles get rid of what they are eating.  We use chemical in spring and fall to kill the grub worms.  No moles if you have no food for them had been my experience.

[vontar]

http://youtu.be/xDEira01c0Q

hope the link works but here is the website also...

http://www.rodentblaster.com/

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

Looks like fun.

[Sam1]

To rid the moles get rid of what they are eating.  We use chemical in spring and fall to kill the grub worms.  No moles if you have no food for them had been my experience.

 

Moles aren't the problem, Voles are.  And the only way to rid them of their food source would be to blacktop our entire lawn lol.

[midtennchip]

Interesting. We moved into a new house in April and we have a significant mole problem. However, Ihave sprayed the yard with Sweeney's Mole & Gopher repellent. You have to reapply every month or so, but it got the tunnels stopped. I get a hill every now and then, but I just use the loose dirt to fill in low spots. Seems to do the trick for us.

[midtennchip]

Moles aren't the problem, Voles are. And the only way to rid them of their food source would be to blacktop our entire lawn lol.

Maybe I just have different critters. I am not entirely sure what I have in the yard. I haven't seen one of them yet. Edited August 23, 2013 by midtennchip

[Sam1]

Maybe I just have different critters. I am not entirely sure what I have in the yard. I haven't seen one of them yet.

 

Voles are pretty much a mix between field mice and moles, but they look like mice.  I also tried that same repellant to no avail.  They're just pesky little things, and honestly I wouldn't care about them if there tunnels were deep and they didn't create big mounds of dirt and tunnels everywhere that made the yard uneven.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Sam1

[Sniper23]

Have you tried Milky Spore? It basically kills off the grub that the moles like to eat in the ground. It's not cheap but works well over time.

[Patton]

Voles don't eat grubs. They eat plant roots.

[Patton]

Double post Edited August 23, 2013 by Patton

[deadeye111]

Voles don't eat grubs. They eat plant roots.

I guess we don't have voles in SE Missouri, only moles AFAIK

[Fourtyfive]

Yes , I use a roller and it works well , you have to go slow with it.

[Sam1]

Yes , I use a roller and it works well , you have to go slow with it.

Do you use a poly or steel one?

[Fourtyfive]

Poly and drain it during the winter ! It's like your boat , don't winterize and pay the price ! Edited August 24, 2013 by Threeeighty

[Fourtyfive]

Or add antifreeze.

[Sam1]

Do you run it after a rain, or just at any time?

[Fourtyfive]

Of course , best after heavy rain.

[Fourtyfive]

I added a stripper blade to my Toro , it seems to keep dirt mounds in check these days. I cut at about 4" so the blades of the mower hardly ever hit dirt , the blade behind the deck flattens out the tunnels. Edited August 24, 2013 by Threeeighty

[Fourtyfive]

Northern Tool has the best deal on the poly rollers.

Set aside the handle and connect to tractor... http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200381732_200381732 Edited August 24, 2013 by Threeeighty