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.

if I were going to till it to make a track I’d probably drag it afterwards or pack it )(w/cultipacker, but I think that depends you want it soft or hard).

 

[icehorse]

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.

Great minds I got a used disc harrow last year. It's too tall to fit under the lower line of the electric fences, and it's not great for precise work. It's also a little too disruptive for this purpose.

I'm hoping to find something between the landscape rake and the harrow in terms of how deep it goes.

 

[icehorse]

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.

We run two strands of electro-braid between t-posts. Electro-braid looks like 1/4 rope. I want to be able to get whatever implement underneath the lower strand which currently runs about 18-20 inches above the ground. I could raise them a bit if the implement is a little taller.

 

[GrumpyFarmer]

We run two strands of electro-braid between t-posts. Electro-braid looks like 1/4 rope. I want to be able to get whatever implement underneath the lower strand which currently runs about 18-20 inches above the ground. I could raise them a bit if the implement is a little taller.

Unless I am not understanding I would think that would require an offset…or enough room to be able to back under, but backing and forth around an electric fence seem like problem waiting to happen.

 

[icehorse]

Unless I am not understanding I would think that would require an offset…or enough room to be able to back under, but backing and forth around an electric fence seem like problem waiting to happy.

Right. My 6' landscape rake is wider than my tractor tires -I'm hoping for a 6 foot wide implement.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

Great minds I got a used disc harrow last year. It's too tall to fit under the lower line of the electric fences, and it's not great for precise work. It's also a little too disruptive for this purpose.

I'm hoping to find something between the landscape rake and the harrow in terms of how deep it goes.

gotcha..... for lighter duty / less penetration would a drag harrow suffice?
About 1/3 of the cost with new ones being found in the $500 range.


this one called a chain harrow in these parts. comes in lots of different sizes and takes almost no hp to pull.

farm king makes one with solid spikes.
I have piles of these in our yard all probaly from the 40's and 50's.
Collected over the decades. Used to be wickedly popular now just scrap and no value here. They guy who runs our local dump pulls these out of the pits for me as for some reason he thinks I need to have everyone ever made. i never use them (haha) but he has a very kind soul and often comes up with some good stuff from time to time.

 

[icehorse]

gotcha..... for lighter duty / less penetration would a drag harrow suffice?
About 1/3 of the cost with new ones being found in the $500 range.


this one called a chain harrow in these parts. comes in lots of different sizes and takes almost no hp to pull.
View attachment 170198


farm king makes one with solid spikes.
I have piles of these in our yard all probaly from the 40's and 50's.
Collected over the decades. Used to be wickedly popular now just scrap and no value here. They guy who runs our local dump pulls these out of the pits for me as for some reason he thinks I need to have everyone ever made. i never use them (haha) but he has a very kind soul and often comes up with some good stuff from time to time.
View attachment 170199

I've got one of the drag harrows (your 1st pic). It's not disruptive enough. Could you compare the solid spike harrow to a landscape rake? If it's more disruptive that might be a good option.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

I've got one of the drag harrows (your 1st pic). It's not disruptive enough. Could you compare the solid spike harrow to a landscape rake? If it's more disruptive that might be a good option.

mine are all stored near my woodsheds under about 2' of snow so some of this is off the top of my head. If you were close by you could take a few and give them a try. $ wise they are mostly worthless now other than scrap but being 1,500 miles west of me likely not worth a road trip.

Spikes about 6" in length. These drags seem to always get stacked with cinder blocks or lengths of firewood for weight to get penetration even though we are in a sandy soil / soft soil area. The extra weight gives us the penetration we need. More weight / more penetration. So max. penetration would be the 6" length of spike.

To stop going too deep some have 4x4 wooden blocks bolted between the spikes. These skids limit the max penetration to whatever the thickness is of the wood blocks. Wood block have 45 degree face on them to let skidding happen easier. 4" thick wooden blocks would mean spikes limited to 2" of penetration.

So add as much weight to top as needed to get desired penetration. I remember more weight the better. Cut 4x4 blocks to desired thickness to limit penetration. That way you can get exact where you need.

last time I remember using them was a while back where pasture seed was broadcast over a disc'd area then over worked after seeding to level ground a bit and cover at same time. Or after we broadcast manure on Mothers gardens we would work in the sh@t just a little. Now days we have to inject all manure on commercial fields. Given price of seed today doubt anyone do that anymore and given the new environmental laws I doubt a trailer mounted manure flinger would be acceptable to the environmental police in commercial sized farms.

Setting depth is simple combination of adding extra weight for better penetration and thicker wooden blocks / skid to limit penetration. This is on the old style. maybe the new ones have way to limit the penetration built in. I have no experience with new designs. i also have no experience with landscape rakes . Sorry