L3901 - tiller-type options?

[icehorse]

These days the best way to house horses is argued to be on track systems. So instead of putting horses in a square pasture, you use the same amount of land but you make long, skinny tracks. Almost like simple mazes. Then you can put food at one end and water at the other end to keep them moving. And they naturally like long stretches of land so that they can get up to speed. They naturally love to run if given the chance, and of course running is really good for them.

Okay, so I have built a couple of tracks for our horses, I'm going to guess I have a bit more than 1/2 mile of these long, skinny runs.

Now I have to churn up the ground so that sweet Spring grass doesn't grow on them. (Because another horse health issue.) I've tried using my box blade scarifiers, meh, not very good. I've tried using my landscape rake. A little better, but still inconsistent.

So I'm thinking about getting some type of tiller. I don't need to go deep into the soil, just enough to tear up the grass. In fact, because our soil is rocky, I'd rather not go too deep. We do have decent topsoil, so it's not like I'll have to churn up clay. And ideally I'd like to be able to run it under the electric fence line.

Any thoughts about what kinds of tiller might be best?

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

would a disk cultivator / harrow work for you?

they are cheap, every farm yard has at least 1 so there seems to be many for sale in local farm papers all the time, easy to use, almost no maintenance, etc....

cheap, simple, easy to use, easy to maintain, can be set for minimal penetration, etc...

Used I see them for around $750 and new ones can be had for $2k for medium duty ones.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Probably a 5' (60") tiller assuming '39' is the HP of your tractor. Set it for 3-4" depth. That's what mine was setup for when I bought it 17 years ago, 'skim' mode. $1000-$3000, old vs new.
Another option would be a tandem set of rag(pull) discs, set for 'mild' cutting, with weight on the them of course. Those you might get for $200 or less as 'no-till' turned them into yard art.

Whatever you buy, be sure to OIL it to keep from rusting, it'll out live you ,your kids and your kids kids.

 

[GrumpyFarmer]

I don’t know what correct answer is, but for what you plan to do, I think I would lean towards a disc. Unless you really wanted to prepare a soft fine seedbed, I would avoid the tiller and the maintenance of one. (I have 3 of my Honda cultivator counts but those are for gardening and preparing seedbeds.).

for planting applications other than garden, I think a disc makes more sense. JMHo.

regarding electric fence I am not sure what you mean there…pics would be helpful for a online quarterback to suggest something there IMO. Too much room for interpretation.