Road Drag

[Kevin Cunningham]

So it took me thirty minutes of so to bang together a simple drage out of scrap. It seems like a great little project. Here is the finished product.

I built it light because my steers are only a year old so I didn’t want to start with something heavy. I used an old threshing plate from my combine which has slots for bolts that way I could adjust the bite of the leading egde. The steers were curious about this new noisy device I about to hitch them to.

Unfortuntately the wood was a bit weak and the metal blade broke off within the first few feet. But it gave me a chance to experiment with a new tool and it gave my steers something new to pull. We pulled it down the driveway anyway just to get them used to the sound.

I also did some more research and I really like the design of the martin ditcher. I watched some videos that Tillers has on their website, look for older versions of the Nigh Ox their newsletter, of road building in South America and Africa. The ditcher has the bite to really move some dirt. I wonder if there are any plane out there for that piece.

[near horse]

Back when I visited Tiller’s (2001 or so) they had a simple grader/leveler we used on the road. To me it looked similar to a pallet with angle iron reinforcing the cutting edges (the support pieces of the “pallet”). The support pieces were not parallel like a normal pallet but were angled so that the front one would feed to the back one which would then let it (gravel dirt etc) slide out – like pachinko – you changed the bite and steering by moving about on the platform (pallet). Lousy description but it worked really well. BTW – MArtin ditcher was awesome too.

[Mark Cowdrey]

Well I made one.
My driveway was a mess this spring with a lot of old pot holes. So when I had a backhoe here I dug the whole thing up.The shape (crown) was roughly correct but it was rougher than a cob. I more or less followed the “Ohio” plans for the “King Road Drag” that I found, although I put steel full length on the front board & 6′ of the back one. I used hemlock & pine. As spreaders I used 3″ PVC w 1/2″ threaded rod inside.
I was happy w the way it worked. Dragged it up & back a couple times w the tractor to get an idea of what I was dealing with and then hauled it behind the forecart. The instructions say to ride it on a loose hitch so you can shift your weight an manipulate the cutting and dirt moving action as you go along. I did notice that it swung out to the ditch side quite a bit and perhaps more weight would reduce that tendency. I think I would want some kind of dash on it though before I rode it. I may make one yet.
The longer you hitch the more you cut. The point on the chain on the front of the drag that the tow chain is hitched to changes the angle of the drag. I’m not sure how that changes things operationally. I’ll keep an eye on it.

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[Kevin Cunningham]

Your version looks nice and stout. Mine was pretty wimpy and broke apart quickly after pulling a short while. I did not go back to the project but now I am inspired to try again now the my steers are larger and I know how strong a drag like this needs to be. I have a stick of poplar I might into my next attempt. If I remember correctly the Martin ditcher had a bar across the front to hold onto as the rider adjusted their feet. Seems like a good idea to have a hand hold otherwise you are freestyle road surfing

[Donn Hewes]

Hi All, Mark, that looks great. I have used a wooden drag similar to the Ohio drag to level after plowing and harrowing, but no steel and boards angle back a little. I know Jason Rutledge has used an old style grader to plow snow. I borrowed a tow behind grader a few years a go. It was good and heavy and went behind a forecart. Simple design, two wheels on the back. Blade pivoted in the center on a large heavy ring with good pins. You could raise or lower each wheel to adjust for side to side. With a three horse hitch I could push gravel, but I couldn’t cut anything. Grader too big and heavy. It also needed the ability to adjust left and right, and up and down while moving. It didn’t have that. It would be a fun project.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by Donn Hewes.

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