Disc or spring tine harrow

[Team Hoyt]

Ok so were getting into food plots this year. Well be planting in old logging roads. I came across a cheap spring tine harrow from a farmer. Would we be better to buy a disc or go with the spring tine to get the soil prepared for seeds. Well be using a atv for the process

[wolc123]

2 hours ago, Team Hoyt said:

Ok so were getting into food plots this year. Well be planting in old logging roads. I came across a cheap spring tine harrow from a farmer. Would we be better to buy a disc or go with the spring tine to get the soil prepared for seeds. Well be using a atv for the process

It depends on the conditions.  A problem with spring tine harrows (we call them drags) is that they are easily plugged up with sticks and vedgetation.   That said, I like them better for keeping an area weed-free after all the original surface junk is gone.   The advantage of them is that you don't have to grease them each time you use them like you do with disks.   Not too many food-plotters put enough hours on them to wear out the tines.   

  

[grampy]

If you are going to go the throw and grow clover, oats, and grass route. On old logging roads, the tine harrow will work OK for ya. As you just need to rough up the surface a bit. If you want  turnips, beets, or even beans, you'll need to dig down a little deeper. The disc's will work better for that. A plow even more so. Be sure to kill off the existing weeds and surface stuff first. Before you do anything.

Have fun! And good luck!

[land 1]

I have used both with atv i bought a brand new disc  for like 600.00 and sold it didnt do the job well at all , the fields i started in were rocky and over grown i sprayed and brush hogged , the old spring harrow worked very well the first time you use it it may be a pain as they will get plugged with weeds and what not,  but gets easier year after year. My spring harrow can be adjusted in depth and i never use it at the deepest setting and i plant barassicas , turnips, radish mix. My advise would be skip the disc go with spring harrow,,,, and I have found that the spring harrow gets deeper in soil then disc  and you dont need to add weight to a spring as they dig into the ground on there own save some money and just buy the old spring harrow

[corydd7]

I always enjoy Land's post but we have the opposite experience with a atv disc. I even think we had the same equipment if I remember an old post correct.

Add weight to the back of the disk and I always get desired results. I get 70 or 80 pound bags of fertilizer I forget. I put two on the back of the disk and because of the material of the bag it last all day. 

I think this method would did up less rocks.

Edited June 3, 2020 by corydd7
Added info

[LET EM GROW]

Spring harrow usually does the best per pass, as it is intended to rip and pull the sod/dirt.. Disk cuts the soil out in chunks really, with an aggressive angle. Both will need several passes to get a decent seed bed. But if i had to choose one, and only one.. its be a harrow tine drag.. Just dont be surprised when there is a bunch of rock exposed after ripping soil.. It pulls rocks up like crazy. Where a disk wont as much. 

My atv disk needs a lot of extra weight and extra passes compared to the the harrow drag.