Chain Harrows...

[Mountain Heritage]

harrows.jpg

Anyone have any input on a set of harrows like this? Where is a good place to find a set that I can put behind my 982? I see you guys are lucky enough to have them available at TSC in the USA - I am going to see if they are available in Canada stores today likely. I know I can buy them at farm dealerships, but I don't need something that is so heavy you need a 50hp tractor to drag around - my old man already has a set of them for me to use! I am thinking something about 4 to 6 feet wide would be great, cover up any tire marks when you turn, and not too crazy wide either for the tractor. I need to use them to harrow over where I leveled out top soil a few weeks ago before planting grass seed. Normally I rake everything by hand before seeding - this spot is just WAY too big of an area. I was thinking I could use them on the lawn in the spring too, just like we used to drag the pasture fields in the spring to get the grass growing and air things out. I was debating on making a drag out of chain link fence like others do - but then I have no other use for the set up once i am done with planting grass. I can't see how a chain link fence would help in the spring to get air into the soil?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I currently have the old ridgid diamond harrows that you used to pull around behind a horse, the sections are 3'x4' or so.....but those are too agressive for what I need now...I am looking to "finish" the area to plant seed.

[Elephants1772]

Ok, I don't know if you can find stuff like this around you. But when it comes to leveling stuff. Find an old Combine, The table, (the big thing in the front) will have a "chain" that brings the material to the hopper/bin.

Find an OLD BEAT UP junk combine, and ask them if you can have that part.

If you get a whole one, It's about 15 or so feet, and just "cut/pull the pins" on it in half, and use some clevesis, or anything else you've got around the house, to attach the 7-8 foot sections side by side. and you've got a 5' wide drag. I don't think it'll air the ground, but it defenetly works good behind a cub leveling land.

I'll try to get some pics of mine this week, if you want

Thanks
cody

[Amigatec]

Originally Posted by Wild Bill

I have seen guys take an old mattress (from a Queen or King sized bed) and burn it so that all that is left is the springs...and hook chain to it.

It does a good job leveling out stone in driveways, and dirt in the yard.

Most furniture stores will just give you an old mattress

That's what I was going to suggest, a set of old bed springs.

[Elephants1772]

I've used the bed springs before, and unless you put a lot of weight, I find that it really don't smoth/level the land to well, It could just be the said down here, but I rather my Drag than the box spring.

Thanks
Cody

[Mountain Heritage]

Your talking about the feeder house chain right Cody? That would work great.....Only thing, I was thinking about getting a set of harrows so it would "lightly" tear up the ground so I would have a nice seed bed for the grass seed. For the most part it is fairly level......but then again, the cross slats on the feeder house chain would cut into the ground a little and make the top of the ground loose enough.... You might have something there. Looks like a trip to the farm dealership!!

[Elephants1772]

Yea, I'm assuming that's what It's called.

















The area in the first yard pics closest to me, You should be able to see the difference.

That was plowed/vibrashanked, then drug with the drag.

I know yall arn't going to like the fact that it's hooked upto a Kubota, but I just finished mowing, saw this, then went take some pics.

As far as the terring up the ground, if you go over it enough it'll do it, not the first time, but like 3 rounds or so...

I recomend it. The yard was full of ruts before, not any more..

Thanks
Cody

[ACecil]

Great pics, Cody! Your attachments did a nice job.

[Mountain Heritage]

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Well, after some searching of the junk bins at farm dealers as well as calling some guys who have combines for a while - I came up empty handed. I was looking for a feeder house chain to make into a drag with no luck. So I went to a local New Holland dealer here and found what I had originally wanted. Chain harrows....the correct size for a garden tractor or compact. They are brand new (salesman used them once at his house on his lawn), so I got a discount of $95.00 which was great for me. So $195.00 later, I had a "slightly" used set of chain harrows with a "brand spank'n new" tow bar. I hooked this up on Saturday morning and went to work. Still on Sunday I was still making dust (as you can see by how dirty the poor 982 is). They work GREAT! I think I can even use them on the grass in the spring to rough it up a little to let the air in to encourage some new growth. I think these are well worth the money!

DSCN0643.jpg




Just to give you an idea of how large of an area I need to seed down....... imagine the size of a 982 compared to the area of solid ground! I think you can see why I did NOT want to have to rake this by hand anymore than I need to.

DSCN0641.jpg

I wanted to take a picture of the wagon load of stone I picked this morning, but the battery was dead in the camera. Some of you might have seen my wagon in other pictures I have posted....same one, picture it heaped almost 2 feet above the top of the wooden stake sides. It was all I could do to keep the rocks in it. The 982 handled the load just fine too. It grunted once when I started up the hill in the back where I go to dump the rocks - but I came through in the end just fine!

[ACecil]

Great pics, MH! Thanks for sharing.