chain harrow question

[Oldoak]

Well - happy days. I don't have one of those fancy chain harrows. I have a chunk of chain fencing. I ran a piece of rebar thru the top loops, hooked a heavy nylon rope to each side, made a bowline knot at the top middle of the rope - threw the bowline knot over the ball of the trailer hitch on the ATV and off I go.

Makes a lot of dust but it breaks up the clods and levels everything out very nicely.

And before chain link fencing I used a set of old bedsprings for the same purpose. And threw some flat rocks on top if I needed a little extra weight on the springs.

Pulled with a Cub Cadet garden tractor manufactured with a cast steel gearbox and rear end, manual stick shift with an external dry clutch plate. A bullet proof GT to say the least. Even the mower deck was made of heavy iron, not stamped steel.

 

[Wagtail]

Wagtail...Your harrow is made much better than models available here. The tabs welded to your pull bar are well designed and would solve some of the problems on things made here. Our models are flimsy in that area and when you turn even a little too sharp, slack develops and can pop the hook out. The drag weights you have would also help our models.

How do you deal with the bunched grass accumulated?

The bunched grass is a result of dead summer grass that the horses didn't graze... seeing as I use the harrow to spread their droppings, the grass actually assists in the 'break-up'. I'm simply letting the accumulation work its way out on its own.

Sticks & such still entails manually picking it out. [Whilst, of course, singing inspirational hymns]

 

[sixdogs]

The bunched grass is a result of dead summer grass that the horses didn't graze... seeing as I use the harrow to spread their droppings, the grass actually assists in the 'break-up'. I'm simply letting the accumulation work its way out on its own.

Sticks & such still entails manually picking it out. [Whilst, of course, singing inspirational hymns]

In addition, your version has a much more rugged tine arrangement. Ours should look as nice. Are they very popular mostly for your use with horses and livestock or more widely used in other agriculture?

 

[WM75Guy]

You do not want the pull chains to slide around. I have a 4'X4' drag harrow from TSC. The two pull chains go to a ring that I tie to the hitch on the Mule with a clevis. I was making tight turns in the pasture today breaking up manure piles and nothing came loose.

 

[Wagtail]

In addition, your version has a much more rugged tine arrangement. Ours should look as nice. Are they very popular mostly for your use with horses and livestock or more widely used in other agriculture?

Truth be told, all I did was ring up my JD Salesman and asked him to include a drag harrow when he delivered the rest of my implements for the 4105. :laughing: (the tractor came with a regular bucket [to be replaced by a 4in1] and the slasher) This all happened four years ago.

Now, the Salesman (Jamie) is a farmer himself and seemed to know what he was on about... plus the dealership sold 'Fieldquip' and 'Silvan/Selecta' implements. So he called up 'Silvan' and ordered me this type... and I've not seen another like it since!

I even Googled the 'Silvan/Selecta' catalogue and they don't carry drag-harrows anymore. :confused3: I must be a very lucky boy.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Well - happy days. I don't have one of those fancy chain harrows. I have a chunk of chain fencing. I ran a piece of rebar thru the top loops, hooked a heavy nylon rope to each side, made a bowline knot at the top middle of the rope - threw the bowline knot over the ball of the trailer hitch on the ATV and off I go.

Makes a lot of dust but it breaks up the clods and levels everything out very nicely.

+1. I use a chain link fence gate, which is fully enclosed in the original frame. It is 6' wide by 8' long. I found 4 old junk tires and tied them onto it for weight. It works a treat for leveling the ground and busting up clods.

I've also found an additional benefit. I just plowed up part of the pasture with a chisel plow (2 passes), followed by a tandem disc (2 passes), and then followed by the drag (multiple passes). The drag picks up the various pieces of barbed wire, baling wire and baling twine that the previous owners left in the pasture. The pieces of wire and twine always seem to latch onto the chain link, and I can stop periodically and remove them and throw them away. (Side rant: Why do people buy a piece of land and then use it as a trash can?)

 

[robbyr]

Looked at the harrows at TSC but so far have resisted buying one. I've been using a twin size box spring. Had a couple old tires wired on it and a couple cement blocks. Do have a few stobs to hang on if not careful. Works pretty good for breaking up the cow patties but in pretty bad shape now. Pull it with four wheeler. Wish I had some kind of rake to pull with four wheeler to clean up round bale leftovers.

 

[SandburRanch]

also, my pull point from the tractor was with a chain around a trailer ball on the draw bar, so the chain slides some when making the turns, should I clamp that chains somehow to the hitch so it does not slide? Am seeking tips on this situation so I'll be better prepared when I go back this week.

Oldstuff

**************************************************************************
By throwing 2 counter clockwise loops in the chain and putting loop A on top of loop B you have succeeded in forming a clove hitch knot. Drop these assembled loops over the ball hitch and there will be no slip. Depending on where this knot is located in the chain, the harrow angle can be adjusted from being pulled square to any angle on the bias desired.

When chain binding front or rear of a tractor for transport, this same knot works on front or rear for a no slip connection. Need to pull a piece of pipe or log and don't have a slip hook handy, use the clove hitch. Want it a little easier to un-tie on certain applications with only one section of the chain needed for pulling, the improved clove hitch un-ties like your boot lace.

 

[Oldstuff]

Original poster here, anchoring the pull chain so it was fixed and could not slide around the hitch ball solved the problem. The ground is too wet to till right now so I had some time for innovation, I have a boom pole that was not being used so I unhooked the chain harrow and hooked up the boom pole and added lift chains and reconnected the pull chain so I could lift for transport and when at end of a drag row. Adjusting the length of the front and rear lift chains is critical because the front must lift up first when lifting from the ground and the rear must go down before the rear when letting down- if not he harrow will try to fold up as opposed to going down flat.

 

[sixdogs]

One of my intermediate term tasks is to build a framework to hold an 8 ft x 8 ft harrow with 3 pt hitch. Maybe buy one at auction if it shows up. These are great harrows but for my use the grass just bunches up and creates problems.