[AT] spring tooth harrows

[toma at risingnet.net]

I was taught dryland farming back in the'60's by an old man that farmed all his life.
A disc is never used, dries the soil too much and causes hardpan.
Ground would be plowed in the fall, rained on all winter. By the end of February we would go in with a spike tooth harrow and start to work the ground "from the top down" . A springtooth with a slant tooth harrow behind was used for all further field work. He would have me go over it every which way. A springtooth used in this way would not loose moisture. Farmed in this way there was little residue so plugging was not a problem.
I have a small sled type springtooth that was probably used with a Cat 10 back in the '30's. It has a trip rope and the teeth roll over, this action will usually clear any trash. Some had rubber tires and tripped up and down.
Bear in mind this method was used in California where it rains October through April. Crops would be grown with residual moisture through late spring and summer.
--
Sent from myMail for Android Monday, 04 May 2020, 08:25PM -07:00 from John Hall  jtchall at nc.rr.com :

>For you "older" guys, why did you run spring tooth harrows? What 
>implement replaced/obsoleted them? I've got one, haven't used it in 20 
>years. Not sure it ever did anything but burn fuel.  When I was a 
>teenager we would run a section harrow behind the offset disc harrow if 
>we were trying to break up clods, level furrows, knock the dirt off 
>roots, etc. Just wondering what good a spring tooth harrow was/is. Yes I 
>know it will choke up in trashy ground, and pull hard if you set the 
>teeth way down.
>
>John Hall
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