Harrow Drag

[Jerry-B-WI]

Has anyone ever used a chain harrow drag to scratch up trails they want to plant.

I've got trails on my property I'd like to plant and I can't disc them but I thought a chain harrow would scratch them up enough to get them planted.

I see DR sells one for about $279 and the 4 foot width would work for my trails.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

If it is just soil, and nothing growing on it, and if it isnt very compacted, they will scratch the top soil. I use a spike toothed drag, and even that has a hard time when it is compacted, or if there is anything growing on it.

 

[35-acre]

I have one and use it in my field to scratch things up a little before seeding and knocking things down once I have over-seeded and sprayed. I've done the same on some of my woods trails but just be aware you need sunlight for most things to grow well. I tried it with my harrow rake and got great germination on a couple different trails but once the leaf canopy came out in full, things just wilted due to lack of sunlight.

 

[Telemark]

I've done it. Works great. Just don't use the most aggressive angle, or the teeth can catch on roots and such and damage the implement.

 

[cavey]

They are nice, just pricey - before scrap steel prices went through the roof a few years ago you could find sections of spring tooth or spike drag sections for next to nothing. Like anything else and as mentioned there are limitations but they do work well for dragging out loose ground. They will hook roots but yes if you have dirt trails they will scratch.

 

[bigboreblr]

Bolt a few tires together and use that as weight on top of the drag. That is about the best thing to prepare a seedbed for clover. You may want to tie a small 1/4 inch poly rope between the atv and drag to act as a geartrain "fuse" when breaking new ground. To be easy on an ATV, I usually only run it in 2wd, it spins before straining anything too much. After any significant food plot work, i change the oil. The wet clutch slip and puts the material in the oil, causing your other parts in the motor and trans to wear out quicker.

If possible, when mowing before doing this. Mow high, then mow medium, then mow low. Cutting those branches and big stalk to smaller pieces really helps harrows not clog.

My favorite ATV implement is an old school spring harrow. Seems horses and ATV's in low gear jive real well in the power and speed range. Plucks out rocks well. Does ok at mixing in clover seed after seedbred prep.

One of the best tools on an ATV is the tires themselves. Run as is, or add and extra 2 or 3 psi to the tires and it cultipacks down great. Expecially the basic stock tires and not so much those real aggressive ones. Dragging those bolted tire and the wheels themselves works almost as good as a cultipacker.

 

[CarolinaDawg]

Has anyone ever used a chain harrow drag to scratch up trails they want to plant.

I've got trails on my property I'd like to plant and I can't disc them but I thought a chain harrow would scratch them up enough to get them planted.

I see DR sells one for about $279 and the 4 foot width would work for my trails.

I have planted trails and micro plots in the woods with a drag and my ATV. I bought a good one from TSC a couple of years ago. You can flip it and change the direction of pull to go super aggressive to loosen the soil and cover seed and then flip it over to drag smooth to finish it off.