What Equipment Do I Need to Grade a Yard?

Grading a yard is water first, cosmetics second. If the lot dumps toward the foundation, you need a slope, not a smoother bump. A T550-class CTL pulls finish grade. A mini cuts the swale and the high corner. A plate or roller belongs only where you are building a pad, not where you are about to lay sod.

Equipment for grading a yard

Primary machines

Compact track loader

Primary

T550 class. S550 wheeled only if the surface is sacrificial.

The finish-grade machine for a residential lot.

Skip it when you are only cutting a single swale and a mini can do the whole job.

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Mini excavator

Primary

E35 for most yards; 305.5 if you are actually moving a slope.

Cut banks, ditches, and the corner the loader keeps rounding off.

Skip it when the yard is already close and you are only spreading topsoil.

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Optional / nice to have

Dump trailer

Optional

7×14 for real yardage; 6×12 for a few loads.

Import topsoil or export the clay that should not stay.

Skip it when you are only redistributing what is already on site.

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Plate compactor

Optional

WP1550 class.

Only on paths, pads, and fills that have to hold — not on planting beds.

Skip it when this is a planting yard with no hardscape.

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Typical pairing

CTL for the field + mini for the cuts + dump trailer if dirt is leaving or arriving. Do not roller-compact the topsoil you are about to sod.

Read the water

Walk it in a storm if you can. The machine should create fall away from the house and toward a place the city will accept. A loader with a grading bucket is the production tool. A mini is for the cuts a bucket cannot feather.

Tracks vs the lawn you still want

If any turf is staying, tracks. Wheels will write a repair invoice. If the yard is being stripped anyway, wheels are faster on a dry day and still a mistake in April mud.

Topsoil last

Pull subgrade, fix drainage, then place topsoil. Compacting topsoil like a driveway is how nothing grows. Compacting the fill under it is how the yard does not settle into a bathtub.