horse drawn rotary harrow

[JaredWoodcock]

Has anyone used a horse drawn rotary harrow? I have been trying to come up with a ground drive design for permanent bed systems similar to what would attach to a BCS walking tractor, then I saw a picture of an old one in the small farmers journal used for vineyards and it looks like it would be pretty simple to make. I originally thought I would use some sort of ground driven gearing but it looks like they just use the spikes from one side to roll the whole system. see here for tractor mounted version : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApfPFonGM5Y

any feedback or experience would be appreciated.

Thanks
Jared

[Does’ Leap]

Hi Jared:

That is a pretty slick harrow – never seen one before. Have you priced one out through Gibbs Manufacturing? Although it is a relatively simple tool, I don’t think it would be simple to manufacture. If you did buy one, you would need to have a three point hitch mounted to your forecart. I think White Horse or Pioneer makes one that you raise and lower with a hand lever.

George

[JaredWoodcock]

I dont want to do the 3 point hitch. I was picturing something that looks just like the harrow on pg 72 of small farmers journal vol 38 no 3. In the process of this post I found a small 2 wheel version that is pulled by a 4 wheeler that might work even better. I had heard a while back that someone had bought a “very expensive vineyard harrow” at the small farmers journal auction and I was hoping that he was on this forum and could show it in action. I know that might be a stretch but maybe somebody knows somebody……

Jared

[JaredWoodcock]

This is the small bcs implement that has inspired me to try to make a horse drawn version. it is probably easier to use a small perfecta type thing but I still think it is a cool idea.

Jared

[dominiquer60]

Watching the Gibbs go, all I can think is that it would have a lot of side draft. Maybe not but a possibility.

Erika

[JaredWoodcock]

I thought so too but these evolved from horse drawn models. Check out the picture I referenced in the SFJ.

[Jelmer]

Hello Jared,

Nice video, I haven´t used a ground driven (horizontal) rotary harrow. But I have seen them laying around and in books.

The ground driven rotary harrow is like you mentioned an old principle. Such a harrow has one or two circle shaped harrows.

A horse drawn single circle harrow can have a weight on top, which is positioned perpendicular on the pulling/moving direction and placed one side of the spinning axle. And can be positioned over this length in- and outward. This makes that the teeth go deeper in the soil (on that side). This creates more friction on one side of the harrow and makes the harrow turn. The more this weight is placed towards the centre, the more faster the harrow spins.
First the proper line of draft (angle) is set and then weight is set. Which position depends on soiltype, moisture and hardiness of the top layer.
Added is a picture of such a single circle harrow, I have no close-up pictures…

I would not think from the theoratical point of view, that this creates side draft. When used on a hard surface the harrow will move sidewards. Because the harrow can´t digg in.
Some models have curved teeth to better digg in, though “common” are the straight teeth.

The harrows with double circles are mounted on an vertical axle that tilts (set on an angle) to work the same as the single circle. (see picture)
I’ve seen one version of the double circles that uses the circles as wheels in the transport mode. And in the field is changed to working position. Shown in the other picture.

The three point hitch models are set to “digging” with the top link. This is in line with the of moving direction.

This way of harrowing also has the effect of less crop residue clogging up.

Another tractor version is shown in the video, as said to believe it works good in the barrel racing and rodeo arena aswell.
🙂

Jelmer.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVhQWGOTdnw[/video]

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[JaredWoodcock]

Thanks jelmer good info

Jared

[Tim Harrigan]

It looks like they are recommending 8-10 tractor hp per foot with width. That would be typical of the speed they like to travel. There are a lot of tines in the ground, you might want to look into what it takes for horses and to what extent speed impacts the quality of work.

[Will Stephens]

Jared,
I have never seen these either. Jelmer’s input was really interesting and has my gears turning about how to make one. But what are the advantages of this harrow and are the advantages enough to overcome the efforts needed to find/build one?

[Hollarmills]

We used a 6 foot rotary harrow to level and groom our riding arena. We have always pulled it with a 32HP compact tractor which works out to 5.3HP per foot. It was an easy pull and the tractor never seemed to have any trouble with it.

Chris

[Crabapple Farm]

I’ve never used one but have thought about them in the past. I’ve mainly seen them advertised for grooming arenas and such.
I imagine that in order for the rotation to happen consistently you would need to be working a pretty uniform surface. Because the rotation is based on the difference in drag between one side and the other, either from angled teeth or an angled frame, I would think that anything like a stone on the wrong side could stop the rotation or reverse it. Not a major problem, but it would make the action very inconsistent in a field with stones or weed/crop residue unevenly distributed.
Smaller rotating weeders work on the same principle, so it seems like it is a scalable design – and a set of smaller rotating harrows might work more evenly in real field conditions than one big one.
-Tevis

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