dragging pastures

[lancemart]

How often and when is the best time to drag pastures. Before a predicted rain storm or after or does it not matter?

 

[Medic24]

if your talking about dragging to pull apart your manure piles thus helping to eliminate parasites and flies...........I would say BEFORE the rain for these reasons.......

If you drag the piles apart, then it interups the parasite and flies cycles, the rain washes away and dissolves alot of the organic material, thus exposing the eggs etc, thus allowing the sun to work it's magic drying them out afterwards.

This is my opinion, and is not the opinion of management or this commercial broadcasting station. :cboy:

 

[Beefy]

i like to do it before a rain too but we usually only drag in the winter time.

 

[gabby]

How often and when is the best time to drag pastures. Before a predicted rain storm or after or does it not matter?

I do it after a rain because it breaks up better. Here's how I do it.
gabby

http://photobucket.com/albums/b141/gabb ... interval=3

 

[EIEIO]

I will usually only drag mine in the late winter/early spring and just around the area's I've been feeding out hay. I do have a couple smaller pastures I rotate the cattle through that I will sometimes get the harrow out on more often just depending on the poop build up.

I made my own using I think 10 foot sucker rod. Laid out a row of like 6 of them spaced about 6 inches apart, took a chain and made it into a loop, welded the chain across the rear sucker rod about 4 feet or so along it, then welded the chain to each sucker rod, at the end of the chain I welded it together in a loop about 6-8 inches in diameter to go either over a ball hitch or a clevis pin and I pull it either in the truck or the tractor.

For some reason my kids have dubbed dragging a harrow "poop-bustin" and they love it.

J

 

[Beefy]

we use an old bridge railing to drag with. we also use one on the leveling harrow.

 

[sidney411]

We use old tires bolted together in a triangle pattern. It knocks down poo piles, ant hills, and some hog ruts. We usually drag after we rotate the cattle from one pasture to another. No particular time, but it does make sense to do it before a rain if you can catch it right.

 

[Medic24]

Sydney..I like your idea of the tires..... may have to rig something like that up :cboy:

 

[preston39]

How often and when is the best time to drag pastures. Before a predicted rain storm or after or does it not matter?

I do it after a rain because it breaks up better. Here's how I do it.
gabby

http://photobucket.com/albums/b141/gabb ... interval=3

==========
gabby,
Your..."PATTY SMASHER"...is a very innovative approach to the problem. Is that angle iron for the 3 point hitch frame makeup? Homemade?

We use side delivery rakes for the job...when it's dry...the new wheel rakes don't perform as well.

 

[gabby]

gabby,
Your..."PATTY SMASHER"...is a very innovative approach to the problem. Is that angle iron for the 3 point hitch frame makeup? Homemade?

Hey Preston,
Actually it's a homemade RR iron smoother that I use to smooth my horse arenas. It's built on an old pasture renovator frame. I just use it to pull the patty smasher because I need a wide bar to hook the tires to. Three tires are hooked at one end, and two tires at the other end. If I'm dragging smaller pastures I just use the three tire hookup by itself and hook it directly to the drawbar.
gabby