kickinbull
Well-known member
What do you use? Does it work good on stoney ground? If you could design something what would it be like? TIA
soil tilling,leveling, seedbed prep?
- Thread starter kickinbull
- Start date
What do you use? : I use a drag chain like woodmills use to move bark waste. Each link will pivot and with outside tabs are 23" wide. Have 6 rows of 10 links ea. welded to a 6" pipe. Guessing it'll weigh just under a ton.
Does it work good on stoney ground?: Don't have a lot of rock here but the chain will pick up rocks. I just pull over to the edge of the field and remove them from the chain. Good way to get small stone out of the field.
After tobacco I removed all the terraces. I used a commercial rotary tiller to get the dirt broke up fine and then ran the chain drag to flatten the terraces out. Some fields had as many as 5 terraces and with those gone I cut(hay) those as one field now.Made life a lot easier. I have many small fields. 5-15 acres.
I'm sure there are better ways and many other ways. The chain was free and made the drag to use on pastures for manure. But it works very well for leveling soil too. Around here most woodmills will give the worn chain away. Even worn it'll last a good 20 years as a pasture drag. I got enough chain to give to 5 friends and they all use it for pasture and field work.
For deep terraces I also used a 3 yard pan to cut them down. Then the tiller and drag. The drag leveled the terraces like a road.
Does it work good on stoney ground?: Don't have a lot of rock here but the chain will pick up rocks. I just pull over to the edge of the field and remove them from the chain. Good way to get small stone out of the field.
After tobacco I removed all the terraces. I used a commercial rotary tiller to get the dirt broke up fine and then ran the chain drag to flatten the terraces out. Some fields had as many as 5 terraces and with those gone I cut(hay) those as one field now.Made life a lot easier. I have many small fields. 5-15 acres.
I'm sure there are better ways and many other ways. The chain was free and made the drag to use on pastures for manure. But it works very well for leveling soil too. Around here most woodmills will give the worn chain away. Even worn it'll last a good 20 years as a pasture drag. I got enough chain to give to 5 friends and they all use it for pasture and field work.
For deep terraces I also used a 3 yard pan to cut them down. Then the tiller and drag. The drag leveled the terraces like a road.
ga. prime
Well-known member
rmcva, I'm curious as to why you leveled the terraces. To make cutting and baleing easier?
ga. prime":2fl1n62l said:
"To make cutting and baleing easier?" Yes.
99 was the last year tobacco was planted here. That fall I seeded all the tobacco fields in fescue. Waited until the next year to level the terraces. Don't need them with fescue.
This area is rolling hills and with row crops it just about washed away up to the 50's. My Dad came back from WWII and was taught how to lay off terraces in some classes he took when he got back. He put in the first terrace in this county in 48 and in two other counties. I guess he went a little overboard at times. :lol: Had one 5 acre field that had five in it. I removed one while we were still in tobacco. A good friend of mine is renting some ground and one field of 32 acres has 17 terraces in it. If you send hired hands to cut hay and they don't know the fields you may get the hay conditioner back in several pieces. :shock:
My Dad is 86 now and much to my surprise he complemented me on removing them. I guess because he won't get his old truck hung up when he drives around to check things out.
The fescue keeps everything glued together now.
ga. prime
Well-known member
Very interesting, rmcva.
cowtrek
Well-known member
rmcva":14fs4g5g said:
I read some research recently that said that you should remove terraces from pastureland because you will grow more grass. I guess it lets the water migrate through the soil more naturally, something to that effect. I personally would think that terraces increase the surface area available for grass to grow on, and so they would increase grass production but I guess intuitive is wrong...
Would be nice not having to weave going over terraces, but after a lifetime of hearing from Grandpa, Grandma, and Dad how hard it was putting in all those terraces with an 8N Ford I think it would be sacrilege to remove them....
OH well... Yall take it easy! OL JR
