Best equipment for working hay ground?

[Pine Creek Ranch]

What do you all use out there for working alfalfa hay ground in the spring? Rotary harrows, tandem discs, tine harrows, triple K's? Anything else? I am just wondering what people like the best for smoothing up hay ground that is getting older in age and has gopher mounds, etc. We also have some newer hay ground that is still fairly smooth, what is the best thing for working it? An old farmer here wants us to use this plow/cultivator type of thing but it sure seems aggressive to me, he says just to put it 2 or 3 inches in and it will smooth it up nice. Any thoughts on the best thing here?

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

Perhaps there is an agrologist around here somewhere that can tell you for sure, but I think you'll seriously damage the alfalfa if you try to smooth the ground at all in the spring after its started growing. You may be able to use a land roller, or else harrow it in the fall after its went into stasis. As far as the 2 or 3 inches deep thing goes, that'll kill it off whether you do it in the fall or the spring. When breaking old alfalfa up we often can't get the tandem disc into the ground any more than 3 inches on the first pass.

Rod