Drag harrow for overseeding

[DigitalCowboy]

Hi, I've got around 8 acres of horse pasture/hay field that I want to overseed just to get some of the patchy areas filled in with something other than weeds and just generally keep the stand in good condition. I have a 35hp Mahindra 3535 tractor. Was planning on getting a drag harrow and broadcast spreader to do the job- I know there are better options for grass seeding but with the tractor and budget I have in mind a no-till drill isn't an option and it's not in bad enough shape to warrant tearing up everything.

So I wanted a drag harrow to go over everything and rough-up the dirt/break up the horse manure, then broadcast seed it, then maybe another pass with the drag to sort of mix it in better. Does that sound like a decent approach?

I don't yet have a drag though, I see tractor supply has a 6'x4' one for about $300. There's also a 6'x8' for $550 and an 8x8 for $619. I would tend to lean towards the 6x4' because it will be cheaper and easier to store/handle but will I need to make a lot more passes with it vs the 6x8? I would think my tractor would have more than enough power to pull any of these without concern, just wondering what would work best for my application as I've never done this before and don't know exactly what to expect.

 

[TheMadOne]

Is it too late to frost seed in your area? Anything you do to get the new seed into the soil is going to tear up what's already there a good bit.

Spray down with broadleaf killer, fertilize, then overseed. Topdress with fertilizer a few weeks after emergence.

Have you done a soil test? Might want to add some lime.

 

[sixdogs]

Drag harrow type seeders work better in the late summer early fall but are OK in the spring. I have done in the spring by dragging, then seeding and then repeatedly driving back and forth over the ground with a truck or tractor to press the seed into the soil. You need seed-to-soil contact for it to grow and this method has worked for me.

If you had a heavy enough roller, that would work too but driving over it is just fine. That's why seed always comes up first in tire tracks.

 

[kthompson]

Do you have a disk or landscape rake or a box blade with ripper shanks? I have used the first two with decent results, box blade with shanks would also work but not as well due to how far apart they are. Chain link fence with roofing shingles laying on it (a bundle in weight) make a good tool to cover fine seed.

 

[DigitalCowboy]

I've got an old beat up but functional disk... trouble with it is the disc rows are good and locked in the angled position, that might still work though. Also do have a box blade but I'd rather not tear up much of what I've got, it would be better just to leave it as-is.

Had a soil test done last fall, pasture area is good. hay area I think was slightly low on either phosphorous or potassium, would have to look again.

 

[Industrial Toys]

My way of thinking, is that grass seed is very expensive and I don't think the success rate would be great with a drag harrow. Without a top dresser to cover all the seeds nicley, even sowing them in fluffed up dirt, raking them in, and rolling them, may only give you a fifty percent burial.

I used my new drag harrow upside down to rake in the seeds, but in truth, I think dragging a section of chain link fence may work better.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

OP,

I did similar last summer on my own pasture and my neighbor's. It gave mixed results. We had some serious weed problems in our bottom pasture. I started by mowing it all down to almost scalping the ground (as close as I could get it), we didn't spray as we had nowhere else to move neighbor's horses to (fed them bales after mowing), then broadcast spread mixed seed, then alternately tried covering with landscape rake turned backwards, and a chainlink fence gate pulled behind with a weight on it (old piece of grader blade).

We did the neighbor's pasture first, then we had a helpful bit of rain. Had to wait a couple of weeks to do mine, as conditions (windy) weren't good on the weekends for broadcast spreading small seed. Then after we did mine, we didn't get any rain for a couple of weeks.

The neighbor's came in "ok", not great, but it was an improvement for sure, very few weeds took back hold, and by the end of the summer, his pasture looked pretty good, with the new grass choking out most of the remaining weeds. My side didn't fair as well. It was an improvement, but there are still some weeds down there, and the grass hasn't really taken over the whole pasture. Some areas look pretty good, but the old dense weedy areas are still more weed than grass.

I think I'm going to do it again on my side this spring, after everything melts off and dries out. Want to see what it looks like when things start coming out of the ground. I found a guy with a small drill seeder that I can rent/borrow to do a better job.

I guess I would say that the broadcast seed/drag method is better than nothing, but it's not going to be great.

 

[sixdogs]

Depending where you are, September seeding works best, especially if incomplete prep work is done. Spring is next best but weed competition is tough. Grass needs 70% to germinate and many weeds far less so it's a gamble and weeds crowd out the grass. Summer seeding doesn't work.

The disc harrow would work, especially if you could open up those discs a bit. Anything to break the ground. Packing it in with a car or tractor doesn't sound right but will absolutely work and seed pressed in will germinate. I do seeding commercially and while I have better equipment now, customers always remark that the seed comes up first and best in the tire tracks.

 

[DigitalCowboy]

Well here's what the field looks like now in and outside the pasture area. IDK as was mentioned grass seed is expensive and it wasn't in terrible shape last year I'm just wanting to keep things up so it doesn't get that way. Planning on spraying a pasture safe herbicide as the weeds start coming up.... they're not terrible but I have some huge swaths of goldenrod I want to get rid of- mowed them down last fall but it might have been too late. One method I'd been given for weed control was seeding in bare spots to keep weeds from having a place to take hold.



Like I said I want to keep it up but I don't want to throw many hundreds or even thousands into this for marginal improvements

here's what it looked like back in the fall...

 

[Ricn]

Well, I have done what you are asking with the drag harrow, mine is also from TC being about 6x8 ft. I use it last year with the rough side down for max penetration pulling with my 25 hp Kubota. This process takes me several passes as the ground is hard in places, also has lots of weeds here and there. After the drag process I reseed then drag it again using the other side this time so as not to dig in too much. Using my JD Gator with seeder to spread the seed this works pretty well. For seed, I buy what is called pasture seed, not the regular grass seed for yards as this seed seems to grow where watering is not an option for me so spring rains is all it gets. Germination is not that high in hard spots so I reseeded in two weeks the whole thing. My ground is rocky, not the best by far so turning up the ground just brings me more grief. Years back, when horses were on it, they turned up rocks constantly but now they are gone thank goodness and after massive project of rock picking we just live with it and do the above each year during springtime. Having triad a few different ideas before, the drag has given us the best results. I plan to lime the field this year, something we have not done for quite a few years.

Ricn