Spring tooth harrow

[Fisherman305]

I came in possession of a spring tooth harrow (I believe) when i recently purchased a few acres. What can i do with it besides set it besides the road. Can i use it with a tractor and for what purpose? It apears in fair shape however not being a farmer i do not know how it was used and for what purpose. It seems to me that i could find some use for it on the 20 acres that i have.

 

[Stonewall]

Spring tooth harrows are a type of cultivator and are used to work up soil prior to planting. In a plowed field they will break up clods and loosen the soil. In an unplowed field they will scratch a few inches into the ground and allow better water penetration (kind of like an aerator). The spring action of the teeth prevent them from digging in too deeply and/or riding over obstacles. Because they do dig a little they can be used to break ground but it will take many passes which of course = seat time /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif If you are grazing stock you can use it rip up the ground a couple of weeks before you move the heard in and with a little rain you'll have longer graze for them. Like wise after you move the herd out of a pasture run through it once to open up the ground and when it rains the water will go deeper and the graze comes back faster. Of course there's always the issue of the size of the implement and the size of your tractor. You may not be using it at all /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[jinman]

Fisherman, I have two sections of spring-tooth harrow. My father used to have about five sections and a couple of straight-tooth harrows that were all designed to be pulled by a team of mules. I inherited these two sections in the attachment. The teeth are adjustable in depth and I've used mine to till up the surface before overseeding with rye grass. They also are good "collectors" of roots, rocks, and other things that can be picked up in the tines. You've already been given the main use of the harrow. As a kid, my father used to have me go over rough ground we had plowed with a two-bottom plow before using a cutivator to lay out a field for row-crops. I can remember dragging out a lot of bermuda grass and johnson grass roots with the harrow. It's a good tool, but has limited utility.

 

[weedsportpete]

They might also be used for 'fluffing up' the sand in a horse arena. The sand (footing) gets compacted after a while and it needs to be loosened up, but it is important not to have anything dig too deep because it might get into the base material under the footing which must remain compacted.