Tine or Chain Harrow

philc · Jan 8, 2005

A two part question:

I've been considering strongly getting one of these to "condition" the pasture, break up manure, etc. But, after a morning of driving around I am becoming a little wary:

1. Tractor Supply has none in stock (but plenty of disc harrows and other attachments) and doesn't know when more will be in. They say it is not all that popular an item.

2. Stopped at several attachment stores and they had no new and no used ones. Again, not that popular.

I'm beginning to wonder if a tine harrow is really all that useful to have.....?

KiotiJohn · Jan 8, 2005

These are more popular for horse people. They're used to condition arenas etc. For the jobs you want to do, I think the disc harrow would be better. Possibly the manure break up would do okay with a tine harrow, but I still think you'd do better with discs for all around. You could then have a garden and do all the other things. Tine and chain harrows are not very useful for gardens. John

texastomtom · Jan 8, 2005

I have a tine/spike harrow

I actually like it a lot, I dont have livestock so breaking up manure etc isn't a concern to me.

I use it mainly to 'rake' the roads and open areas, sometimes to cover seed that i put out with a slinger, cover tracks, rake up small branches and debris from the orchard.

I prefer to disc if I actually need to 'dig in' some. The harrow just doens't get into packed soil that well for me.

I wouldn't get rid of mine, it definitely has its place.

tom

greg_g · Jan 8, 2005

Can you make your original question more clear? I had a hard time even finding a one part question there. I'm not sure if you're asking which is better; tine or chain? Or if your asking if neither is any good?

FWIW, I think you might have just hit the wrong salesmen at the wrong stores, or else it's just a regional thing. There are no shortage of chain harrows here. I like them because you can size them to the job. I got the type that has individual mats about 4x4, but they can be hooked together. Right now I've got four of them configured in an 8x8 grid. The tines are angled so that they're more or less aggressive, depending upon which direction you pull them. They can also be flipped upside down if no "scratching" is desired.

I also built a frame around it, and lift the whole thing with an extended boom pole. That way I can travel with it on the road, between fields, et cetera. The best part is that I can back into a corner with it. In addition to being useful to spread manure, I also use it to disperse trampled hay around the feeders. Towed without the boom pole, I can mount a broadcast spreader and scratch the seed/fertilizer in as I spread it.

Pretty versatile investment.

Edit: photo attached

//greg//

Soundguy · Jan 9, 2005

I'm surprised you can't find a flexible chain / drag harrow. TSC stores have rolls and rolls of them.. course here in florida.. we got alot of horses.

They are great for busting maneuer and lightly covering seeds. You can flip the harrow over for less agressive action.

Northern tool sells them.. but they are a super heavy item..

Soundguy

philc · Jan 9, 2005

I'm laughing because, as Greg kindly pointed out, I never asked my questions!

But y'all were kind enough to address my concerns nonetheless and there's a lot of great info here. Thanks!

Yes, we are a mini horse farm so it is indeed horse pasture I'm talking of. We have no bare sand on the property, no arena, so there's no dragging involved. And my garden is only 50x50 feet and I have garden-sized tools for that, so the tractor is a nonstarter there.

Greg, the setup you have is almost exactly what I am looking at. Is yours a Fuerst or similar?

[I have to interrupt here and brag because in the middle of the last sentence we had a power blackout in the neighborhood. Coming up on 8:50 PM and it's been about 20 minutes so far and there seem to be no lights at any house/farm within about a quarter mile ... except for here! After the hurricanes a few months ago I bit the bullet and bought a 15 kW whole-house generator. So I sit here now, surfing the web (wireless laptop and DSL), watching TV, enjoying the air conditioning, and if I go to the fridge for a beer I don't have to worry about keeping the door open too long. I love technology!]

Anyway, Greg, I was going to ask about how the tines (in aggressive mode) when being dragged over pasture, will get all "clogged" up with the stuff all over the ground? And, if so, does one have to dismount and clear it?

Soundguy, I'm going to check out a couple of other TSC stores. Their price was good and if I cannot find a used one, I'm not heart broken over their price. I'm also going to check out Friday's auction at Weeks in Ocala. I've found Northern is very expensive ($600 more than Lowe's for my generator and still had to pay shipping) so I use their catalog as a good reference only. Quote a few horses here, too! What county are you in?

If anyone has more good info on this implement, I'm all ears. And if anyone needs generator info, start a thread. [no line power yet...]

greg_g · Jan 9, 2005

( Greg, the setup you have is almost exactly what I am looking at. Is yours a Fuerst or similar?)
I got the four no-name 4x4 foot sections and an 8 foot wide tow bar from an area farm supply store. Welded three sections of inch and a half pipe to the tow bar to make the 8x9 foot frame. A fourth pipe was added in the middle to make the frame a bit more rigid. Attachment points were welded to the four pipe sections. I configured the 4x4 sections into an 8x8 grid, and placed the frame around it. Chain repair links connect the grid to the pipe. The tow bar is hooked up to the tractor's drawbar for towing. If I have a job that requires transporting the thing - or reversing - I add my modified boom pole to lift it.

The connection links are the threaded type, so I can remove the harrow sections from the frame to reconfigure from normal to aggressive, or from upside down to right side up. I'd say normal is ok for breaking up manure, but turn them around to aggressive if you want to aerate/dethatch or scratch in seed/fertilizer. Upside down does a pretty good job smoothing loose gravel. Mine clogs occasionally in aggressive stance, but most of it falls off withand a shake of the boom pole. What doesn't fall off, I can get rid of by lowering it back down and reversing the tractor a few feet.

Price of steel has since gone up, but I seem to recall the four sections and tow bar was ~$300. A factory "lift kit" for an 8x8 grid would have been another $400, so I went the used pipe and boom pole route with a local welding shop.

//greg//

Malvern · Jan 10, 2005

Philc,

I agree with Texastomtom, I have a 8 x 4ft and use it all the time. I use it to groom my 1400ft stone drive and pasture maintenance for the 2 horses I own.

best of luck
Malvern

oldgrizzlybear · Jan 10, 2005

For breaking up manure and thatch in an established pasture you definitely want the chain harrow not the tine. The tine will tear up the sod too much. I ordered my directly (I think Farnam, but its been a long time). They sent it by freight to where I work.

cowboydoc · Feb 3, 2005

I was going to ask about how the tines (in aggressive mode) when being dragged over pasture, will get all "clogged" up with the stuff all over the ground? And, if so, does one have to dismount and clear it?


Yes the tines will get clogged if you have alot of junk in your pasture. I actually like this because it helps to keep my pastures clean. We use one like Greg's on a daily basis in the spring, summer, and fall. They are worth every penny for maintaining nice pastures and stimulating pasture growth. The work well for spreading rock as well.

You can buy the carrier for them from any of the company's that sell them. The carrier are definitely very nice to have. Also the carrier can be used as a leveler when you have it all the way down which makes it nice for spreading dirt and rock.