Author Topic: Chain harrow (Read 1170 times)

melodysheep · « **on:** July 05, 2020, 11:44:31 am »

Good morning.
I'm thinking of buying an elderly 10' chain harrow to tow behind the car. Does anyone have experience of such? Other half not keen on the idea!!
Thank you in anticipation

sandspider · « **Reply #1 on:** July 05, 2020, 12:28:21 pm »

Do you have a 4wd car? I tow a smaller Harrow behind a small tractor, think a 2wd car would struggle, especially on steep or damp ground.

melodysheep · « **Reply #2 on:** July 05, 2020, 12:44:52 pm »

Thank you for that. I would pull it with a Subaru Forester. O.h is worried that it would 'flip' when turning but as long as I don't turn too sharply I don't see a problem!

bj_cardiff · « **Reply #3 on:** July 05, 2020, 04:11:00 pm »

I tow a 4ft one with a ride on mower in the school to level out the sand. I tried knocking over the molehills with it but the mower tyres just slipped going uphill if there was any dampness on the grass. Typically when the grass is bone dry its too dry to harrow!

landroverroy · « **Reply #4 on:** July 05, 2020, 04:16:39 pm »

I pull a harrow behind my Land Rover. But if you're wanting it to do anything other than spread manure about then get a proper harrow with spikes that will remove dead undergrass and generally level and rough up the soil a bit. In my opinion,chain harrows are next to useless. The sort I use has a diamond shaped lattice on top and spikes about 2" long underneath. I use it each year to level where the ground is rutted with hoof marks from winter and prepare some sort of seed bed prior to scattering seed to redo the bare patches. It is also far better at breaking up and spreading out clods of manure. However, I wouldn't use a 10' one. You'd be better getting a 5' - much easier to pull and manoevre, and I also doubt if your Subaru will have sufficiently off road tyres to pull anything bigger, and they'll just spin for lack of grip.

sandspider · « **Reply #5 on:** July 05, 2020, 04:50:42 pm »

I wouldn't have thought you'd flip it. I harrow a fairly steep paddock with a narrow wheelbase tractor without trouble, so far! Did catch the harrow on my own back wheel due to turning too tightly, then mounted it behind a link box to keep the cables clear of the wheels.
Agree with previous poster, 10' is pretty big. Mine is 5', and it's not too good at corners. Chain harrows are definitely better than nothing, use it aggressive side (pronged side) down and it will pull out a fair bit of thatch if it's a hefty harrow. Or stick a couple of car wheels or similar on top to weight it down.