Using a turf cutter

[Tigercubrider]

my front lawn is bloody terrible. It's less of a lawn and more a collection of weeds and plants.
It's north facing- the shadow of the house stays on it til late afternoon

My drive slopes slightly down towards the house. Maybe 4" pavement to house. The lawn is a bit higher than the pavement, open plan garden
The lawn is 4-5 metres square

I am planning on hiring a turf cutting machine for a day, and rolling up the turf/growth to bag it in a bulk bag for someone with a hiab to get rid off.

Questions are:-
Can I use the turf lifter to lower the height of the lawn? I.e. If necessary do a second pass?
Water the lawn several times before turf cutting to stop it breaking ?

If using seed to replace the old plant/grass - dig over the exposed soil? Or get some top soil delivered? If I need fresh soil how deep? (Obviously that affects the soil removal)

Reason for hiring the cutter is mainly speed. To excavate a flat area with a spade would be a pain, and if I can use a mechanical method I can probably do it in a day.
I could just cut the turf and turn over whatever is underneath but suspect it's poor.

Then I would probably use seed for economy

 

[conny]

Never used one so I don't know the best method, or if you could use it to 'shave' more soil out, but from what I have seen on the TV they do seem to clear the grass quite well but don't look easy to use.