spring tooth harrow

Scott-SD · Aug 24, 2011

I seen a ad for a spring tooth harrow on craigslist and I was just wondering what they are used for? are they used instead of a disc to break up the ground after plowing? also why would you use a spring tooth harrow over a disc.

Anonymous-0 · Aug 24, 2011

Spring tooth harrows are very common in the Northeast. Some will use them instead of a disk and some use it to prep the ground for planting after disking. They tend to do a very good job of final prep before the planter. One could almost say they were the forerunner to the field cultivator. We wouldn't ever want to find ourselves without our drag.

greenbeanman in Kansas · Aug 24, 2011

We used them to open up ground which heavy rain had run together. They provided shallow cultivation which was find for smaller weeds, but of course would not yank out larger ones.

They don't work well in trshy ground which is what we all prefer today for the most part.

We used ours on ground that had been one-wayed.

They help level ground nicely and break up some clods and tend to bring them to the soil surface.

In the area I grew up in people eventually replaced them with large width field cultivators such as made by Crustbuster. Generally spring toothed harrows were drag implements and somewhat tough to move from field to field via roads.

Brendon-KS · Aug 24, 2011

Like the others have indicated, here in central Kansas the springtooth harrow used to be the implement of choice for working ground and killing weeds prior to the invention of the field cultivator. Nowadays about the only ones you see being used around here are by hobby and part-time farmers with small acreages. A field cultivator will do everything a springtooth will but with less plugging and with better depth control.

When used for working down plowed ground it is best to use them in the spring after fall plowing since they don't have the ability to cut up hard clods like a disk will. After disking they work well for keeping weeds in check since they don't invert the soil as much as a disk and thus will help conserve moisture.

El Toro · Aug 24, 2011

We used them back in the 1940's and 1950's just prior to planting corn. We had a drag behind the
harrow and we harrowed diagonally across the field. They were still using horses and mules on the 2 row planters. We used a 10-20 on the harrow. Hal

RandyB(MI) · Aug 24, 2011

That's what we called them too , drag. Anything with spring shanks/teeth will dig out the quack grass and other grasses by the roots and drag them to the surface where they would dry out in the sun and die. No sprays for quack back then. A disc would just cut up the roots and make more of them and they would stay burried and start growing all over again. Like they said , a field cultivator would do the same thing accept you could lift them to clear away all the grasses if plugged up. They were used for the last time over just before planting when set very shallow to just knock all the surface weeds out without losing moisture.

Deere Scotty · Aug 25, 2011

Years ago when tractor speeds were slow, & a No-Till planter was still on the drawing board, or new to the farmer. The drag smoothed out fields for planters, & drills. Disks left a lot of rough ground, & furrows on the ends, especially in plowed ground. The drag smoothed fields out. A planter made 50 + years ago just didnt preform well unless the ground was uniformly smooth.

Also we didnt have a drill growing up. My dad used a 3pt. broadcast spreader to plant wheat, oats, & hay. He used a 13 foot Oliver harrow to level the field, then broadcasted the seed, & then harrowed the seed lightly into the soil. In my opinion it worked as good as any grain drill could have done! In a hayfield You are going to feel every dirt clod, & every furrow, & low spot that you hit from the 1st cutting to the last cutting years later. It was important to him to use a harrow for that reason alone!

Deere Scotty · Aug 25, 2011

Forgot to mention You still need to at least disk before using the harrow, normally!

willie in mn · Aug 25, 2011

Ah, memories,& some of them not so fond. Back in the 50s when my brother & I got old enough to help, it was our job to each take 2 weeks off from school to help with corn planting. We weren't old enough to be in on decisions, just follow instructions.
Rule of thumb, plow in fall, let frost break up clods, then disc in spring when dry enough. Drag type spring tooth, later field cultivator just ahead of planter. Only do what could be planted that day in case of rain, not have to do it again. Went at a slight diagnal, helped smooth out any ridges that the disc left & make it easier to follow the marker with the planter. Planted with check wire to allow cultivating crosswise. A few in the neighborhood were starting to spray for broadleaf weeds, but chemicals that would kill grasses would also kill the corn.
My farm work ended when Dad got brain cancer, died after '58 crop season.
Willie

Tim(nj) · Aug 25, 2011

I remember an old neighbor back when I was a kid had a 'train' of tillage implements to make his ground really smooth. The family farmed with Farmall H tractors after the horses, but after his brother died, he got a second-hand Super M-TA and used its power to pull an H-sized drag disk, a spring-tooth harrow, and a spike-tooth harrow all at once. I remember he never sprayed his corn, either, up till he passed away in 1988 at age 92. Always blind-cultivated with the spike harrow and then ran cultivators on an H. Looked just as good as anybody's sprayed corn did.

spring tooth harrow

Scott-SD

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Anonymous-0

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greenbeanman in Kansas

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Brendon-KS

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El Toro

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RandyB(MI)

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Deere Scotty

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willie in mn

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Tim(nj)

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