Simple Drag Improves Seedbed

Simple Drag Improves Seedbed TILLAGE EUIPMENT Miscellaneous 27-3-4 Drilling wheat or annual ryegrass into cloddy fields is no longer a problem for Earl Cox and some of his neighbors. Cox, a Temple, Oklahoma, cattleman and farmer, devised a simple drag that mounts on his grain drill frame in front of the openers to crumble clods and leave a fine, firm seedbed. "It's really pretty simple," he says. "I use a length of 5-in. steel I-beam that matches the width of the grain drill. I hang it from the frame with 3/8-in. chain, so when the drill is in the ground, the beam is positioned about 3 in. in front of the openers." Cox says he's made several similar drags, usually finding the I-beam in a salvage yard. Since his drill has three 12-ft. sections, Cox's current drag is in three 12-ft. sections. "I've found you need to adjust the length of the chain according to field conditions," Cox says. "If the field is soft, the chain may need to be shortened to keep the drag ahead of the openers." As the I-beam is pulled over the soil, it first pushes soil ahead and then the top channel fills with soil. Cox says the extra weight makes it work better. He says the only problem he's had with his drag was the ridges that built up as soil spilled around the ends of the I-beams. This problem was solved by Butch Reece, also of Temple, who had adopted Cox's I-beam drag idea. "He cut off the bottom lips of his beams, starting about 8 in. from the ends and angling straight up to center at the ends. It lets the soil spread more as it passes around the end of the drag, so you don't get a sharp ridge," Cox says. He says the drag has given him better stands and, since it packs the soil, too, it helps conserve soil moisture, which is usually critical for establishing a stand in his area. Cox's drags are easy and inexpensive to make. "And they'll last a long time," he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Earl Cox, RR #1, Box 232A, Temple, Okla. 73568 (ph 580 342-6632

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