953 nut 55,298 #1 Posted January 8 Spring Tooth Harrow Yesterday we rolled dirt using several plows that have evolved over several centuries. Now it is time to smooth the field and remove stubble and rocks in preparation for planting. D. L. Garver patented the spring tooth drag Harrow in 1869. The Osborne spring tooth harrow was an improvement on the Garver drag harrow with a steel frame rather than a wooden frame. A drag harrow, a type of spring-tooth harrow is used to smooth the ground as well as loosen it after it has been plowed and packed. It uses many flexible iron teeth usually arranged into three rows. The rows of teeth are raised/adjusted with one or multiple manual levers. .It pulls up large rocks which may then be picked up manually and put in a stone box to remove from the field. The drag harrow also kills some weeds that may be present, but it is not very efficient in doing so due to its highly flexible teeth, hence it is not one of its primary functions 7 4 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeM 7,874 #2 Posted January 8 Spent a little time riding around on a set of harrows. When I was a kid one of my friends had a small farm and raised potatoes. When they harvested the potatoes, his dad would run the harrows down the rows to loosen dirt. Me and Steve rode on the harrows for added weight. We would drag burlap sacks and start picking. Odd but worked. I would say you can't do that today. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,593 #3 Posted January 8 Very interesting. I've been around Farms of various sizes my whole life but never participated actively. I really had no idea what most of these tools were used for and when, until I joined up on this site. The only thing I had ever seen used for farming directly involved in my own life was my grandparents with a rototiller. A lot of folks in New England, especially on Side Hill country, don't use a dirt turning plow because the soil just isn't friendly to it. I'll be very much looking forward to seeing what other implements pop up and how they are put to use. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 55,298 #4 Posted January 8 7 hours ago, ebinmaine said: A lot of folks in New England, especially on Side Hill country, don't use a dirt turning plow because the soil just isn't friendly to it. I will be covering No Till farming in a couple days. Our family farm in upstate NY stopped turning the soil over twenty years ago and the results have been wonderful. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,593 #5 Posted January 8 3 minutes ago, 953 nut said: I will be covering No Till farming in a couple days. Our family farm in upstate NY stopped turning the soil over twenty years ago and the results have been wonderful. Excellent Richard. Thank you. Trina has a Single Ripper Spike we'll be using in combination with... (probably a rototiller??) Then go over the top with a disc. I'll be looking forward to seeing your No Til information. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 12,235 #6 Posted January 9 19 hours ago, 953 nut said: I will be covering No Till farming in a couple days. Our family farm in upstate NY stopped turning the soil over twenty years ago and the results have been wonderful. I was a systems consultant on an engagement at Case IH Corporation just as they got “deeply” into No Till farming equipment. Really fascinating to see the amount of research and development that informed the engineering and production methods. They were expanding to make “Red" a significant global competitor to the big “Green" and technical innovation was a big part of their game plan. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sailman 1,291 #7 Posted January 10 Growing up on a working farm in NE Iowa in the 60's we always used a 3 step field prep before planting. My dad went first with the 3 or 4 bottom plow to turn the furrow, my brother followed with the disc to break down the furrows and I finished with the "drag" that broke up the clumps and left a smoother, finer finish for planting. I'm sure the no till is much more prevalent today. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 12,235 #8 Posted January 10 (edited) 1 hour ago, Sailman said: I'm sure the no till is much more prevalent today. A year ago I visited a vineyard that was experimenting with techniques to overcome the increasingly dry climate in their area (southeastern Spain). Grapevines' roots can extend quite deeply into the ground, depending on the soil conditions--easily as far as six to eight feet. But grapes need a LOT of moisture at the right time in the growing season to thrive. The ground crew had started using a light, narrow tractor with a subsoiler/ripper to put two-foot-deep “slots” into the ground between the vines that would catch rainfall before it could run off. They had also begun maintaining, instead of killing or scraping, the low ground cover between the rows to lessen soil erosion and evaporation. Of course thorough “scientific" sampling of the wine ensued and was deemed successful! Edited January 10 by Handy Don 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,593 #9 Posted January 10 1 hour ago, Handy Don said: The ground crew had started using a light, narrow tractor with a subsoiler/ripper to put two-foot-deep “slots” into the ground between the vines that would catch rainfall before it could run off. I've seen videos of vineyards in the western US doing that. Seems to work well. They occasionally need to call in dozers as big as Cat D11s to make the grooves. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
