Help me select, build, and/or problematize a drag harrow

[Freep]

Greetings, TBN!

I need a drag harrow* for what seems to be a relatively uncommon purpose. I've searched and read to see if I can find just the right bit of equipment for my needs, to no avail - time to inquire! It does seem like there is a whole lot of experience in drag harrowing here, so I'll wager someone knows exactly how to tackle this job.

Context/Problem: I have about four acres of mowed land that is not flat, but sort of wavy, with little hills and natural valleys. These features are fine and I'd like to keep them: I do not intend to flatten my land. There are larger holes that I am slowly filling with organic stuff and I am content with this process. The problem is that the whole property is very uneven, with little holes (& etc) that make it hard to walk without some caution. The previous owners had horses that created uneven textures in the often-moist Pacific Northwest soil. There is also an entire civilization of moles or gophers that live on the property. There are at least 100 little mounds in plain view from my upstairs window.

Goal: I'd like to just even it all out so that I can walk and my kids can run without risking a twisted ankle at every step. I'd like to smooth the mounds into the soil and fill the holes without removing all the grass and/or topsoil. I don't mind if it's torn up and looks rough for a while; I use a flail mower and any debris will be turned into mulch on the next mow. I don't mind if it takes a while either: I know I'll have to do it repeatedly unless I murder all the moles (not a fight I plan to pick).

Solutions: Because I don't want to remove all the grass or topsoil, the vast majority of implements available are eliminated. I think some of the commercial drag harrows could be useful if turned over on their non-aggressive side, but then I would have purchased a fairly expensive harrow only for a secondary purpose. I could be convinced to but a 5' wide commercial drag if its aggressive side would be useful for road-smoothing and it it could be dragged with a two-wheeled tractor as well. I think what I need is a chain link drag with weights affixed to it (every square foot or so), such that it will flow into the little valleys without just riding over them as would a rigid frame. But I have never used a drag before; my knowledge entirely comes from reading these forums. I'm probably overlooking something important.

Other ideas:

I have a 35hp 4WD tractor and a two-wheel tractor (BCS 853). It would be great if I could use both. I mow with the front of the BCS, and could drag a small harrow behind it, especially up close to trees and such so I don't compact soil.
It occurred to me that I could construct a harrow, attach it to my ratchet rake, float the loader, and drag it backwards such that the rake broke up big pieces and the harrow then smoothed them all out. That's a lot of backing up, but it seems doable.
*Or, maybe I don't... feel free to tell me about some different contraption I need instead. I'm not wed to a drag - it just seems like a fairly cheap and easy solution. If there's something else that will make it all exponentially easier I'm happy to consider that as well.

 

[redman135]

3 Point hitch levelling bar. You can bias forward or back or neutral via the top link and level the place in stages. ie do a once over to tidy up the worst humps. Then do follow up leveling as required.
It is hard to explain, and soil type characteristics have a large influence.
I recommend you change direction of travel for each harrowing as this will help fill in holes more evenly. ie round and round the paddock clock wise for the 1st levelling, ANTI clock wise for 2nd levelling, diagonally for 3rd levelling, opposite diagonal for 4th levelling etc.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Don't know how hard your ground is, but if you've got the time and the patience, I don't see why a heavy duty chain harrow won't work. I'd use it tine side down, so it gets through the layer of grass and actually moves some surface soil around. It will take multiple applications to have any decent effect. Or, see if you can rent a pasture roller locally, wait until just after a good rain, and roll it all in one go. Won't do anything to stop the gopher mounds from coming back though.

The grass will grow back after harrowing.

 

[oosik]

Hi Freep - well, I sure hope you are beginning to dry out. It's still pretty soggy over here but with these sunny days - we have hope.

I have 80 acres and am quite remote. Even though I'm only 25 miles from Spokane - nearest neighbor is five miles away.

Out on the property - I just have to take care where I walk. This time of year it's a "mine field" of small rocks. They have broken loose from the frozen ground and will spin if stepped on = twisted ankle.

Around the house I have one lawn that resembles a practice yard for the Armies Light Infantry = pocket gophers.

My answer is - eliminate the pocket gophers and then apply my "drag". I've got barn cats and traps to accomplish this. Just got "new" barn cats this winter.

I have built my own drag. It's a square of 4x4's with large spikes on the forward & rear members. I will drag it with either spikes down or spikes up - depends upon conditions. It was easy to make, works good & was inexpensive. It has a rope bridal on the front and I drag it with my ATV.

View attachment 597253

 

[jeff9366]

Context/Problem: I have four acres of mowed land that is not flat, but sort of wavy, with little hills and natural valleys. There are large holes that I am slowly filling with organic stuff and I am content with this process.

The previous owners had horses that created uneven textures in the often-moist Pacific Northwest soil.
I'd like to even it out so I can walk and my kids can run without risking a twisted ankle at every step. I'd like to smooth the mounds into the soil and fill the holes without removing all the grass and/or topsoil. I don't mind if it's torn up and looks rough for a while.

Solutions: Because I don't want to remove all the grass or topsoil, the vast majority of implements available are eliminated. I think some of the commercial drag harrows could be useful if turned over on their non-aggressive side, but then I would have purchased a fairly expensive harrow only for a secondary purpose. I could be convinced to but a 5' wide commercial drag if its aggressive side would be useful for road-smoothing and it it could be dragged with a two-wheeled tractor as well. I think what I need is a chain link drag with weights affixed to it (every square foot or so), such that it will flow into the little valleys without just riding over them as would a rigid frame.

I have never used a drag. My knowledge entirely comes from reading these forums. I'm probably overlooking something important.

As you have figured out, a flexible Chain Harrow is probably your best bet, as you have time. A dragged Chain Harrow collects a lot of trash, which is one of its functions. Shaking out accumulated trash is heavy work. A frame mounted "lift" Chain Harrow allows the tractor to shake out accumulated trash.

In ground contact work implement weight is your friend. Don't buy a chain link drag with the intention of weighting it. Chain link drags are for settling seed, not for contouring. Buy a real Chain Harrow, which is built for stress. Chain Harrows are adjustable for abrasion. Chain link drags are not. Chain Harrows usually have 3/8" to 7/16" mat and each link is a hinge. Chain link harrows are 3/16" or 1/4" mat and while flexible are not hinged. I am not an engineer but I can tell you a 3/8" mat is multiples stronger than a 3/16" mat.

Here is the relatively low cost combination I assembled:
https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums...c-countyline-tarter-boom-pole.html?highlight=

 

[jeff9366]

I have about four acres of mowed land that is not flat, but sort of wavy, with little hills and natural valleys.

There is an entire civilization of moles or gophers living on the property. There are at least 100 little mounds in plain view from my upstairs window. I don't mind if smoothing takes a while either: I know I'll have to work ground repeatedly unless I murder the moles (not a fight I plan to pick).

Do you like the moles as pets, or is your objection to killing them?

If you make your ground inhospitable to burrows the animalitos will vacate your land.

A Conservation Plow will discourage the animalitos yet preserve the grass. A light duty conservation plow is called a Field Cultivator.

In my area of Florida, aerating with a Field Cultivator every five years stimulates pasture grass growth. After horse compaction, aeration will make your four acres much more productive.

MORE: https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/339095-dirt-dog-all-purpose-plow.html?highlight=

 

[Egon]

Grass sod is rather difficult to work with if trying to smooth it. The root base just sticks together. For serious leveling cultivation, grading and then reseeding is really the only option. Working with the sod in place will take much time and provide inferior results.

One other option would be to import dirt(from outside or your own land) and use that for levelling.

 

[airbiscuit]

Buy or build a pine straw rake or heavy dethatcher (made with hay rake teeth)

 

[Industrial Toys]

I bought a fancy drag harrow last year and am a bit disapointed. It is not good at moving material from where you don't want it to where you want it. It does kind of smooth things out if you have earth with clods and such. I do have a Harley rake, but it's slow going on my 1000' limestone driveway and sometimes leaves a washboard, so I thought the harrow may work to keep it in good order. It kind of manicures it, but won't fill the slightest depression or rut. I have had much better luck just pulling various frames.



Not sure I would have spent the money, plus I had to drive 600KM to get it in the states. This thing can be used a bunch of ways. It is in two pieces so you can mix and match, plus have the tines up or going one way or the other for more or less agression. It is a pain to switch it around.

 

[Freep]

Redman, Oosik: By "3-point hitch leveling bar", Redman, do you mean something like this? It's the only image I could find that seemed to match. I was initially thinking about making something essentially similar to this and/or to Oosik's construction out of 4x6 landscape timbers, of which I have a surplus. I was going to use shorter spikes to just score the surface of the land rather than the giant spikes that Oosik is using, but essentially it would be the same thing. I veered off into chain harrows due to their contouring of the land, but these constructions would be very inexpensive and easy to construct - a real bonus.
It's surprisingly dry here this year thus far. Which gives rise to another question: Is it best to work with the ground while moist or wait until it's dry in the summer months? Our soil is fairly loose, but with a lot of small rocks.

~~~~~

Jeff: If I haven't mentioned it earlier, your advice was very helpful in purchasing my tractor. Many thanks! As to the chain harrow, I really liked what I saw in the video link you posted in another thread. I liked how it didn't totally tear up the grass, but definitely seemed to smooth things out. Also, I've been wanting a boom pole anyhow.

In terms of moles, my primary objection is the effort and mess of eliminating them. I've heard it's a never-ending battle, and have also heard that their soil aeration has some useful properties. My emphasis on a way to harrow the land while doing other stuff (i.e., mowing) seemed like a good way to combine efforts without worrying about the moles themselves. That said, the field cultivator certainly seems like it would help with the leveling aspect of what I'm interested in, if then dragged afterwards to smooth things out. I worry that it would soften the soil sufficiently, though... it's often fairly soft here and I relish the areas that are at least somewhat packed. Perhaps the field cultivation might be something I can do in pieces as an adjunct to my general smoothing work. Ideally, I'd like my daughter to be able to run around this summer in at least some parts of the property. Does the field cultivation discourage burrowing animals because it loosens the soil and makes tunneling less effective? If so, how deep does it have to cultivate?

~~~~~

Egon,

I have lots of dirt on-property that I am slowly using to fill the bigger holes. You're suggesting I distribute it everywhere and then smooth it in somehow, is that right? What's the easiest way to go about doing that?

~~~~~

I'm sold on the more aggressive chain harrow, but which one to get? There seem to be unending configurations of various pokey bits in each harrow that I see on various sites. Are there any suggestions for one that will tear up the grass a bit without removing all of it? I've seen a few videos where the drag literally rips the entire sod off the ground and leaves only dirt in place - I'm not interested in that if I can help it.

Thanks again!