The intention was to spread the manure over existing dirt/clay and then till
it all together. I'm no expert but the land had wild grass and weeds growing
on it before I started the project. It all went south once the machinery
packed the top layer too hard (approx 50% of the area) so the tiller could
not mix the manure with the dirt anymore. Even when the tiller managed to
break some test areas the chunks are very hard. Will I have any luck
breaking up the hard shell in the spring once the ground is more moist of
will watering help?

Do you figure I will have any luck if I seed in the spring on the manure?

"JNJ" wrote in message
...
Worms -- lots and lots o' worms -- organic material, and time.

There are a few different species of worms that will work well for you,
including the good ole fashioned nightcrawler. Red wigglers (eisenia
fetida) will be good for the upper 12 inches or so and breaking organic
material down. The other worms will work their way down and carry good
soil
with them, plus their tunnels aerate of course. With attention and lots
of
organic material, you can transform a good chunk of the clay (pardon the
pun) into good soil.

As for seeding your grass, give the manure some time to settle in before
seeding and it will be fine. You can add topsoil and till as well. (For
that matter, I'd start raiding the neighbors leaf bags on trash day --
lots
of good organic material in there and it will do wonders for your soil.)

One question comes to mind -- did you basically just spread the manure
over
clay or was their some measure of topsoil there?