Grass Harrow

I'm doing the exact same as yourself with overseeding a meadow. I recently got a 4m chain harrow and ran it over the meadow twice. I then broadcasted seeds with a wag tail spreader, rolled it and job done.

It's the first time I've done overseeding after harrowing. I had some success last year with broadcasting clover in the other meadow, hopefully this will work out too.

Seeds are in the ground a week today, will hopefully be able to report back with some good news! Seeds was a mixture of multi species, herb mix, and a separate mix of wildflowers.

The farming for nature forum has some decent info on it aswell.

Markcheese wrote: »

Do you mind me asking where you got the multi-species mix - and the wild flowers ? And was it a mix you got made up for your type of ground or just what the merchant had ? ( I'd heard some mixes were harder to get now ,after brexit )

Yeah I had some multi species mix from fruit hill farm, I had to buy organic so it was more expensive but I'm sure there's plenty of conventional ones that would do the same for less money.

https://www.fruithillfarm.com/permanent-pasture-44-with-herbs.html

I think this was the one but they probably have changed the mix from when I got the seed late last year. I tried to find a mix that had seeds that didn't need to be deep in the soil to germinate, with the idea that they'ed be able to be broadcasted and rolled on.

This is all experimental of course, but hope this bit of rain will drive things on and I'll see something coming.

nhg wrote: »

We have a Rakeman 3000 about 9 years now & had a small APV Seeder on it but found wind to be a big issue with the seeder, so sold the APV seeder & replaced with a Guttler seeder instead and also bought a Minos disc Harrow with crumbler & a Flemming land leveller.

Didn't really have as good a response from over seeding as would have liked so just going to do full reseeds of a section of ground each year. Used to overseed silage ground once crop was cut.

Reseeded about 20 acres last autum & very pleased with results.

That's the reason I opted for the air seeder. Over seeding wouldn't, as you say, be the norm a person would use. It's a remedy in specific cases. Other than a complete reseed some form of strip seeding would be an option. Ground out of commission for a shorter time.
If ploughing, do it shallow as possible. With organic one can't spray off, so leave the grass to break down after ploughing if possible. This certainly applies to cereals so I'm assuming applies to other seeds as well, about 15 days.

Ivor172 wrote: »

I’m thinking of buying a grass harrow to clean up pasture and overseed, either a 3m or 4.5m palatine or similar and I want to post some questions:
1. I have an 80hp tractor, is the 4.5 too much?
2. I want to fit a seeder, is a disc (spinner) good enough or am I better spending the money on a pneumatic seeder?
3. Has anyone achieved good results using this method of overseeding?
I know there is a lot there, I would appreciate any response, thanks.

I'd use a contractor or two to do a few bits first and see what kind of results are achievable before I'd go spending big. Contractors in our area with guttler drills, erth seeders etc and I've seen a good few mixed results with overseeding.
As mentioned, a chain harro, manure spreader and roller might do just as good a job on a small bit of poached ground.

Dozer1 wrote: »

would this machine cover both for levelling and scratching

https://www.donedeal.ie/harrows-for-sale/new-4m-hybrid-grass-harrows/27322242

was about to buy a harrow but local contractor said he'd give it a run of the guttler instead....still waiting

We've a tine one here and it's not near severe enough, I couldn't see it leveling much

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Isnt the goal of a tyne harrow to root out embedded dung, dead grass and weeds and promote growth

Yeah, a chain harrow suit better for light leveling, most let you run the chain part upside down so it can flatten ground.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Looking to over sow some grass seed on a silage field to freshen it up a bit.

What application rate per acre should I go for?

The field isnt bad just looking to freshen it up.

Roughly 8kg to the acre

A lot of seeds would be similar size to clover. Not burying them too deep and a firm bed with soil contact would be the main issues.
As for freshening up a meadow, I'd be inclined to do it after mowing, give the seeds a better chance and warmer weather.

Water John wrote: »

Might need a grazing first before closing, get the grass to tiller.
Cotswolds have a Wallchart, that shows the height of the plant, depth and scope of the roots and the seed sowing depth:
https://www.cotswoldseeds.com/downloads/wallchart_smallweb1.pdf

It shows the poor root structure of perennial ryegrass. I'd have some Timothy and Fescue in the mix if not farming intensively.

That's very handy, should be printed out on an big A2 sheet and put up in every school.

Don't think it'll grow here TMK. Cocksfoot goes down a lot too but the leaves go coarse and clumpy over time.
Don't know enough about the non grasses, chicory, yarrow and sheeps parsley go really deep.

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks for this detail.

I have it grazed down nicely already.

I mean to graze the new sward also before taking a cut off it.

How did the overseeding work out this year? Any learning points? I'm thinking of trying a few acres next year ...close it up for a silage cut in late spring, Harrow seed and roll...

Field is 100% paddock/grazing field in memory but never forced and has clover... cant remember last reseed.

Can you say who does that deep soil analysis? It's something I would be interested in making a start on......need to get away from the bag..

This is on tomorrow, just in case anyone missed it on the multi species sward thread. Should have some great information.