Buying Advice Drag Harrow? Seed and Fertilizer Spreader

[johnwilldo]

I have about 10 acres of horse pasture, 3 acres of lawn and 10 acres of steeply sloped woods. The pastures and lawn have been neglected for the past five years or perhaps more. We have very little soil over soft shale which is typical of Northeastern Pennsylvania. I have in hand test results from Penn State on the pastures and lawn, but need to go back to college to study chemistry.

I need to rehab the pastures and lawn, plant seed, spread out horse droppings, spread fertilizer and spread lime.

My tractor is a John Deer 2305 with a CX 200 and ballast box, Frontier 48 brush hog and a 62 inch belly mower.

I am leaning toward a three point rotary spreader, but am concerned about the low germination rate, I am hearing 30%, of seeding with a rotary spreader.

Also it seems that a drag harrow would be a good tool to help prep the ground prior to seeding and immediately afterwards to work it in.

[flusher]

I've heard 50-60% germination with broadcast spreaders. It all depends on soil preparation and on getting the seed pressed into the soil sufficiently well. I'd mow the weeds as short as possible with your brush hog (tilt the mower so the rear is several inches higher than the front) or with your belly mower. Get a spike harrow to prepare the ground. Then broadcast the seed and press it in with a cultipacker.

Check the "Food Plot" forum for additional information.

Good luck.

[jenkinsph]

I use rotary spin spreaders all the time and they work well enough. I suspect ground preparation is more the issue than how the seed gets placed. For a lawn to look good up close you need a higher seed density and the broadcast seeding method with a spin spreader works the best.

Working up a good seedbed will be your biggest challenge and some tillage is needed.

[johnwilldo]

Good stuff, thanks. Looks like I get to buy or rent some new toys, err...... tools!

[JMER817]

You will want to prep the soil so that your foot sinks about 1/2" - 1" when you walk thru it. Spread the seed and then roll it. If you have access to a rental yard get a brillion or landpride seeder which will do an awesome job of laying down the seed and compacting. You will probably have to rent a tractor for it as well though since the seeder will probably be too large and heavy for yours...(approx 1200lbs empty)