Using a chain harrow

ADDON

I now own a chain harrow (after ages trying to pick one up for small money) and wonder if someone can help me with the following questions;

When should I use it? What ground conditions, etc

How often should I chain harrow?

Does it matter which way I turn it? WHich side is best?

reilig

Use it pins down normally - unless you are levelling loose soil, covering seed or levelling sand.

Its the sort of thing that you will use throughout the year if you need it. For example, if you are using it to weed out old grass, then you might do this after the first eating in spring or at any time when the grass is short. Many people use it to break up Farmyard Manure that has been spread. When the manure is spread a week or 2, it can dry and cake. A run with the chain harrow can be great to break it up and ensure that it goes into the ground. I use mine for reseeding.

In answer to your question, the ground conditions will need to be dry enough to carry the tractor. If you are looking to break up or penetrate the sod with it, then it would be better to use it when the top inch or 2 is soft enough to break.

How often you use it will depend on what you are using it for.

Bizzum

As above,
and depending on what your doing, you might consider putting a weight on it. I use a concrete lintel and find it more efficient at breaking up dung.
Another good tip is to tow it via a rope, maybe 3' or 4' long. It allows you corner better and if you stick it in an immovable object, the rope will break before the harrow.

reilig

Bizzum wrote: »

As above,
and depending on what your doing, you might consider putting a weight on it. I use a concrete lintel and find it more efficient at breaking up dung.
QUOTE]

Totally agree with the weight, esp. for breaking up dung. I put 3 railway sleepers on it. One back front and middle.

Muckit

I think there was an old type chain harrow one time where you could pull it either way aswel as upside down. Much like some land levellers out now. It vared the angle of the tines to the direction of pull, so you got an agressive or a more passive pull on the grass/weeds.

I only got one last year and think they're a great job.

Nice tip there about using the rope as a 'breakaway', I like it;)

I pull mine with a 'nine hole' bar on the lift arms of MF135 (actually only has 7 holes:D) I've it coupled to the bar with a heavy duty 'D' shackle. It gets around the problem already mentioned of catching the tractor wheels when turning.

I also weight the harrow at the back, not so much downward pressure as to put a 'pull' on harrow and keep it stretched, if you know what I mean :rolleyes: I found the back edges especially would kick up if I didn't do this.

The other advantage I found from using the bar is that if you come into an extra stoney part or a soft spot and only want to give a light rub so as not to 'bog' the tractor, all you have to do is raise the lift and it still gives it a light lick with the back bit

snowman707

we don't have much problems with dead grass, as the sheep usually "skin" the place

we have a 16 ft mounted so it only has 1 working side, any field that gets poached is harrowed as soon as weather allows, we also do the fields that the sheep are out wintered in and find when the growth comes the grass really takes off


we try to harrow before slurry or fertilizer as we find it beneficial, if any slurry gets caked by dry weather we give it a run as well

also the cow paddocks get a rub every second grazing and this cut down on dung patches

ADDON

Thanks lads. I'll be using it on land that horses graze and have been wintered on, so will need to break up dung as well as tear at weeds.

Where can you get the nine / seven hole bar mentioned by Muckit???

I thought I could just tie the rope to the back of the auld 165 :eek:

The weight on the back sounds like a good idea. Must look around for an old sleeper....

reilig

ADDON wrote: »

Thanks lads. I'll be using it on land that horses graze and have been wintered on, so will need to break up dung as well as tear at weeds.

Where can you get the nine / seven hole bar mentioned by Muckit???

I thought I could just tie the rope to the back of the auld 165 :eek:

The weight on the back sounds like a good idea. Must look around for an old sleeper....

You can pull it on the drawbar with the rope rather than buying the 9 hole bar. Our 9 hole bar came with a 20 diesel that was bought in the 1950's. I think you can still get them. Try www.qtponline.com

JohnBoy

This is what a 9 hole drawbar looks like

(even though it has 11 holes)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ford-Dexta-2000-3000-Muliti-Hole-Drawbar-/280461171633?pt=UK_BOI_FarmingEquipment_RL&hash=item414cc9dbb1#ht_1750wt_905

Muckit

ADDON wrote: »

Thanks lads. I'll be using it on land that horses graze and have been wintered on, so will need to break up dung as well as tear at weeds.

Where can you get the nine / seven hole bar mentioned by Muckit???

Hi ADDON

I just mentioned it as I thought everyone had one lying around! I wasn't suggesting to go out and buy one. Of course you can just use a rope or a small length of chain. But you'I see what I'm raving on about after you start using the harrow for a while. Hitching it further out from the tractor will stop it from catching as quick on the back wheels if you're turning sharp.

You can see straight away from the pic, that hitching at the end of the lift arm with a 'D' shackle is immediately going to keep the harrow further away from the tractor wheels when turning. It's like when I pull the car trailer behind the tractor. I always set the clevis hitch (with ball on it) out as far it'I go. Again, less chance of catching when turning.

I like to run up and down the field sometimes with the harrow, rather than around in a ring if you know what I mean. This is where my suggestion comes into its own

Ye obviously have a pick-up-hitch on the 165? We don't on our 135, so we used to use the bar to rise the trailer hitch before hooking up. The NH does all the trailer work now though

BeeDI

Lads, has anyone got one of these as advertised by a Dutch guy in Roscommon. I'm thinking of splashing out;) @ €950 for a 13 foot model.

I'm thinking of using the roller less for sorting out lightish poaching and using the chain harrow instead. Possibly running over the ground first with the levelling side of this harrow to knock off the stuff protruding above the ground if you know what I mean. Might be better than the panning effect the roller can give on the surface at times!

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/machinery/1812569

Muckit

BeeDI wrote: »

Lads, has anyone got one of these as advertised by a Dutch guy in Roscommon. I'm thinking of splashing out;) @ €950 for a 13 foot model.

They're a heavier duty machine and it's handy to have them on the lift.

But IMO the more conventional chain harrow are a better job.

1) Firstly they've more teeth per square foot
2) The individual teeth on this machine and indeed the whole 'mat' is more rigid, I reckon it's be more inclined to glaze over the top of clumps rather than dig in and level
3) Being rigid, the tines aren't sprung like conventional chain harrow

I'd say they're probably a better job for reseeding as they'I level the ground as well as harrowing it. I'd save your roller for reseeding only

Bizzum

Looks more like a land levelling device. of sorts.
Is there any penetration of the ground? or does it all skirt along the surface? It's not easy to see with the pictures and I dont know how to zoom in!

mf690

I have an old 8' chain harrow use for sorting out horse paddocks. It levels out the dung and clears out alot of the weeds. I also roll the paddocks at least once as grass growth has begun. I find this helps to thicken the grass as it breaks the stems and encourages more growth.

MacraPat

I agree with Muckit here. the chain harrow is a time honoured design. It'd be hard to improve.

For those interested in permaculture however maybe familiar with this idea by the great Andy Lee :

Pasture improvement and diversification

Animal tractors can be used very effectively to revitalize and diversify pasture. Using pig and chicken tractors in mobile enclosures can greatly enhance the pasture.

We use beef cattle followed by a chicken tractor to improve our pasture. We only raise a few cattle inside portable electric sheep netting (7000 sq. ft or 650 sq meters). We stock the enclosures so that the cattle daily chew the grass down low enough for the chickens to graze on it. The chickens follow the beef by a week. The time between gives the manure pats time to dry out, for seeds to germinate, and for parasites to become larvae. The chickens scratch the cow pats completely apart, spreading the fertility of the cow pat over a much larger area and eliminating the large cow-pats found in conventionally grazed fields. At the same time, the chickens sanitize the pasture by eating weed seeds and grain that passed through the cows, and eating the parasite larvae. This breaks up the parasite cycle and makes it safe to graze the cattle across the field in controlled rotations without concern for reinfecting them with stomach parasites.

We also use pig tractors in our permanent pasture. Each tractor occupies 130 sq. feet (12 sq. meters), and is roofed and enclosed on one end with sheet metal roofing to shelter the pigs. The pig tractor is on wheels so we can move it easily each morning when we do chores. Leaving the pigs at any one place for just one day churns up a small area of pasture. As soon as we move the pig tractor to its next spot we throw grass and clover seed on the rooted up area to diversify the pasture vegetation.

MacraPat

further info on the above available here
http://http://www.agroforestry.net/overstory/overstory50.html