Quick and Dirty and Effective DIY Drag

[Awnry Abe]

Our house is still new-ish, and I haven't spent much time turning the yard from bare dirt to lawn. It has it's shining spots, but for the most part...bleh. I broadcast some seed and wanted to do some work to cause soil-contact with the seed. I had an uglied up cattle panel getting in the way, so I decided to hitch in to the 4x4 mule and drag it around the yard. It did good.

...Then I thought, if one cattle panel is good, two would be great. So I grabbed another, tossed on two palettes for weight, and headed out to the pastures that I have been wintering on. Patties were somewhat concentrated in a few paddocks where I rolled out hay.

WOW! Cow patties broke to bits and went flying! There was also a bit of residual hay left on top of the grass where I unrolled 2 weeks worth of hay so I could go on a week's vacation. The cattle panels busted that hay into fine stubble and gave the underlying grass some daylight.


It was a perfect time to take on the task because the patties were dry and the soil wasn't mushy, so the mule didn't wreak havoc. I was very happy that the mule was up to the task. The tractor does a bit more compacting and rutting for my preference.

[kycrawler]

I use the same thing except I cut the panel in half and nailed 2 2x6 to it for weight and to keep it flat I pull it Behind an 8 n ford or a 4 wheeler really busts up the piles good

[WadeFisher]

That is funny.
I did the exact same thing last year in-a-pinch.
Used it to drag a field of newly seeded clover. And to drag my garden at the end of the year.

[francismilker]

That's works really well for me until the panels happen to get caught on a root or rock and then the panel resembles some type of twisted up accordion!(sp)