Difference between a spring tooth and a spike harrow

[farmersamm]

I might add that any implement will pack/firm the soil beneath the depth at which it's set.

If you've plowed at 8ish inches, you set the finishing disc slightly less deep. The soil will be firmed below that depth. The springtooth, because it runs shallow will establish a firm seed bed just below the surface. This lets you run your drill at around 2" depth, knowing that you have firm ground beneath the hoes.

In clean till, like I used to do...................each pass with different tools will dry out a layer of ground.......but firm the layer beneath it to conserve moisture. Your hoe drill allows you to directly plant into the moist layer below the top few inches........and will press the seed into the moist layer. Makes for reliable germination in our dry ground down here in OK. The hoe drill also provides furrows which act as a wind break, and a collection area for any rain you might receive before the crop is fully established.

 

[Texasmark]

Pulling a spring tooth harrow across established sod just stretches the teeth out. It's not meant for that. It's meant for use on plowed ground.

Back when I bought this farm, being a transplanted city boy, I went to the local used farm equipment and bought a tractor and implements. I live on heavy clay and at the time hadn't seen steel for a longggggg time. One of the implements was a spring toothed harrow with 1" or so chisels. It just bounced across the top of the soil....had I known its primary usage not sure I would have bought it and would have concentrated more on tillage implements, rolling types as moldboards gum up on this soil if damp or worse.

 

[jon f mn]

I wonder if there is a bit of miss communication here in that some consider a spring tooth to be a light cultivator like samm posted. I wonder if the original poster might have been thinking about the difference between spring type and spike tooth type harrows. Either of which will work for what he wants.

 

[NoDakInMN]

I wonder if there is a bit of miss communication here in that some consider a spring tooth to be a light cultivator like samm posted. I wonder if the original poster might have been thinking about the difference between spring type and spike tooth type harrows. Either of which will work for what he wants.

Thinking the same thing. Especially when it was mentioned that a spring tooth harrow would pull up rocks. To me a spring tooth harrow is around 5/16" to 3/8" spring steel round stock, coiled on the upper end and attached to a framework. Each harrow tooth has two portions that go into the ground, each having its own coil spring and attached to the frame with a bolt between the coils. Around 6 to a row and 4 alternating rows form a section.

 

[farmersamm]

It looks like I'm guilty of misunderstanding. I've always used a springtooth to finish out before planting........not as a tillage tool.

Prior to getting a larger tractor, I used to use one that probably dated back to the 30"s or 40's. The process I was explaining can be seen here. Angling to the remaining furrow left by the finishing disc.

The "new" updated version was the same system, just wider. Probably not much newer vintage ROFLMAO. This was about the time I switched to using an offset disc to beat the weather. Climate change has hit us hard here. The Fall, and Winter, have become too dry to expect moisture for plowing when it should be done. I had to switch to an offset to get on/off the field faster in the Spring when we DID get moisture. Bigger tractor, wider faster implements.

Anyways.........my apologies.

 

[spacechem]

Thinking the same thing. Especially when it was mentioned that a spring tooth harrow would pull up rocks. To me a spring tooth harrow is around 5/16" to 3/8" spring steel round stock, coiled on the upper end and attached to a framework. Each harrow tooth has two portions that go into the ground, each having its own coil spring and attached to the frame with a bolt between the coils. Around 6 to a row and 4 alternating rows form a section.

Let's see if I can clear things up a bit. I think NoDakinMN is incorrect. What he describes is a coil tine harrow, typically used as a leveling device mounted on the back of a field cultivator. Of course there can be regional variations in nomenclature and design, but generally:

A spring tooth harrow has curved, flat spring shanks mounted to a horizontal bar that can be rotated to adjust depth.

A spike tooth harrow is a very old tool that comes in a few basic configurations. Earliest versions were a wide panel with wooden pegs inserted. Most common is a rigid outer frame that is corrugated to allow overlap of sections. Spike teeth are mounted to horizontal bars that rotate to make the tool more or less aggressive. A variation on that theme has the bars linked together by a kind of chain system to make the sections more flexible. Yet a third is called a harrowgator- actually a brand name- which is a heavy, rigid frame with longer, heavier teeth which may or may not be adjustable for angle of attack. The tool is pulled through the field to break clods and do significant leveling- often by building a mound of dirt in front of it to knock off high spots and fill in low ones.

A danish tine harrow has S-shaped shanks that are not adjustable except by raising/lowering the frame. Most often seen on rowcrop cultivators but also for field prep, they work by vibrating fore and aft as well as side to side. Various sizes of shovels can be mounted for different purposes.

A buster bar mounts on a field cultivator, disk, or even a plow. A single row of heavy teeth break clods and level the surface.

A chain harrow is very much like a chain link fence, but with teeth. Often used for pasture renovation or to spread out manure, they are also used for maintenance of gravel driveways.

 

[farmersamm]

Now I don't feel so bad Re: Post by spacechem

You have, in the old system of farming, 2 different classes of tillage tools. Primary Tillage meaning either a plow, plow disc, one way disc, offset disc, or Grahm Hoeme. These went relatively deep, and turned the soil, except for the Grahm Hoeme. Secondary tillage meaning the harrows. You have disc harrows that further sift the soil, but do not level it........a non directional tool. Then you have the toothed harrows......spring tooth harrows, spike tooth harrows, etc. All of the harrows were made to either level, and firm, the ground after primary tillage......or simply disturb the soil to break a crust or do some minor weeding. The spike tooth harrow is non directional........it just breaks the crust or disturbs the topsoil to a small degree.

I used to plow, let it "mellow" over the Winter, then use a disc harrow to break up the large clods, another pass with the disc harrow to incorporate fertilizer, followed by a springtooth harrow to level the field, and provide a firm seedbed. The first disc harrowing pass was a rough affair.......hard on the back. The tractor runs over rough plowed ground all the time. Spring toothing was a nice fast process over the disced ground. The old methods required a lot of passes over the same ground.

After the Dust Bowel, a guy here in OK(I believe) invented the chisel plow. The Grahm Hoeme. It didn't turn the soil, but was a mini subsoiler. It shattered the soil without turning it. It prevented the erosion that was the cause of the Dust Bowl. It's followed by a disc, or field cultivator. I might note that here in OK, they imported the Eastern Red Cedar, in desperation, to provide wind breaks. It's now a highly invasive pest in these parts.

I guess if you fast forward, you now see the "all in one" tools. Which do a few things in one pass. Here's where the line blurs.

I can't say whether yield is different between the old/new methods. I've always been old school, so I have nothing to compare it to. And, I only did a very specialized grass crop........Haygrazer.

What money I saved on chemicals, I more than spent on fuel, and equipment wear. But.........and this is my HUMBLE OPINION.......nothing coming off my fields remotely contributed to causing Cancer. This is just my opinion. Nobody can tell me that the chemicals are completely safe. The only things beyond my control were the seed coatings. I'm not a Greenie, or Clean Earth type...........I just tend to think about what we're doing to increase yields. It's something to think about when you got nuthin' better to do.

I don't have any real opinion on GMO's. Hell...........Man has been creating hybrids since time began. Not to this extent, but it is something we've always done. Although I do feel a little funny about altering DNA to the degree they're able to do it today.

 

[Texasmark]

Now I don't feel so bad Re: Post by spacechem

You have, in the old system of farming, 2 different classes of tillage tools. Primary Tillage meaning either a plow, plow disc, one way disc, offset disc, or Grahm Hoeme. These went relatively deep, and turned the soil, except for the Grahm Hoeme. Secondary tillage meaning the harrows. You have disc harrows that further sift the soil, but do not level it........a non directional tool. Then you have the toothed harrows......spring tooth harrows, spike tooth harrows, etc. All of the harrows were made to either level, and firm, the ground after primary tillage......or simply disturb the soil to break a crust or do some minor weeding. The spike tooth harrow is non directional........it just breaks the crust or disturbs the topsoil to a small degree.

I used to plow, let it "mellow" over the Winter, then use a disc harrow to break up the large clods, another pass with the disc harrow to incorporate fertilizer, followed by a springtooth harrow to level the field, and provide a firm seedbed. The first disc harrowing pass was a rough affair.......hard on the back. The tractor runs over rough plowed ground all the time. Spring toothing was a nice fast process over the disced ground. The old methods required a lot of passes over the same ground.

After the Dust Bowel, a guy here in OK(I believe) invented the chisel plow. The Grahm Hoeme. It didn't turn the soil, but was a mini subsoiler. It shattered the soil without turning it. It prevented the erosion that was the cause of the Dust Bowl. It's followed by a disc, or field cultivator. I might note that here in OK, they imported the Eastern Red Cedar, in desperation, to provide wind breaks. It's now a highly invasive pest in these parts.

I guess if you fast forward, you now see the "all in one" tools. Which do a few things in one pass. Here's where the line blurs.

I can't say whether yield is different between the old/new methods. I've always been old school, so I have nothing to compare it to. And, I only did a very specialized grass crop........Haygrazer.

What money I saved on chemicals, I more than spent on fuel, and equipment wear. But.........and this is my HUMBLE OPINION.......nothing coming off my fields remotely contributed to causing Cancer. This is just my opinion. Nobody can tell me that the chemicals are completely safe. The only things beyond my control were the seed coatings. I'm not a Greenie, or Clean Earth type...........I just tend to think about what we're doing to increase yields. It's something to think about when you got nuthin' better to do.

I don't have any real opinion on GMO's. Hell...........Man has been creating hybrids since time began. Not to this extent, but it is something we've always done. Although I do feel a little funny about altering DNA to the degree they're able to do it today.

I have a drag type, 7 shank Hoeme and it works well on my clay soil prior to discing as you say. I also have a 3 pt. Pasture Renovator that is different in that it has coulters to break sod and roots and then 1/2"x about 5" teeth that I can run down to about 10" to break up the subsoil without disturbing the surface. If I do it in the spring, when the summer drought comes, the slit places open up (cracks open) and in September when the rains come, all that water runs down into the subsoil and I have a water supply for my sudan-sorghum hay crop the next summer.