Revisiting my drag for horse pens

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Well my wife finally managed to break the drag I built a year or so ago. Chain snapped in half. So while I'm working on it I felt it would be a good time to revise it a bit. I built this in a hurry as I do everything I used 1/2" round stock to move the soil around and so far it works good. Just don't leave the horse **** piles too flat. If I drag the driveway it works fine but on the heavier stuff it lacks good distribution. The frame is a mixture of 1" angle and 1-1/4" box steel I need to add more box steel were I had put the spikes as it tends to twist the spikes under itself. I already have a length of 1" angle on the back to move dirt around flat but it clogs up nearly right away and keeps the backend up in the air. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestion is like to hear them. Also this is being pulled at a decent speed by a four wheeler. It's a 250cc Suzuki 4wd. Usually in 2nd or 3rd gear. Regards-Carlo
Reply:Ohh their lord, either my understanding of english language is at fault or i have a twisted mind equal to your spikes...when i read the title i tought  about an attraction to some part of a horse...  What about a weight (like 50 lbs) on top of it that you could move front to rear until you get the sweet spot.
Reply:you're frame is to light. It's not up to the forces in use. ditch the angle iron for holding the tines. below is a link to my drag grader build. works well on the road/driveway. though the lack of weight on it makes it take a long time to loosen up the hard stuff. Even with added weight.There is a video on the second page of the thread.There are no problems. There are only solutions. It's your duty to determine the right one.Hobart Handler 210Airco 225 Amp MSM Stinger
Reply:Originally Posted by snowbirdOhh their lord, either my understanding of english language is at fault or i have a twisted mind equal to your spikes...when i read the title i tought  about an attraction to some part of a horse...  What about a weight (like 50 lbs) on top of it that you could move front to rear until you get the sweet spot.
Reply:Originally Posted by ThorsHammeryou're frame is to light. It's not up to the forces in use. ditch the angle iron for holding the tines. below is a link to my drag grader build. works well on the road/driveway. though the lack of weight on it makes it take a long time to loosen up the hard stuff. Even with added weight.There is a video on the second page of the thread.
Reply:Sorry about that.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...oon&highlight=There are no problems. There are only solutions. It's your duty to determine the right one.Hobart Handler 210Airco 225 Amp MSM Stinger
Reply:That was a good read. But in all honesty and I don't mean to be rude. My drag works very well on hard surfaces packed dirt with a light stone mixture. Although it takes 3-5 passes it does work. And this is a driveway atleast 8 cars a day drive on. I'm still considering more weight. Worst case scenario I remove it and I haven't lost anything as mine is also a scrap metal build. More or less I'm looking to make less passes in the horse pen through horse ****. Right now to drag our primary pen which I believe is 80' by 50ish' it takes about an hour. Granted for what's pulling it and the overall amount of stuff it has to move and mix in I don't necessarily think it's bad. Regards-Carlo
Reply:Our road is all rock, and has approximately 12 cars twice a day. running on it, as my wife has an at home day care. It will cut through grass, compact dirt, and light rock easily. it's the all rock that's super compact that it has a hard time with, but it does eventually break through. I wasn't so much referring to total weight, so much as the size of the material used. Larger thicker angle iron and heavier tubing. just so that the tines don't bend the structure they are on while pulling. add another, larger, scraper blade to really mix up the material/poo My blades are channel stock with one side of the C cut off so they stand about 2" from the bottom of the blade to the top of the crown so they mix stuff up pretty good. if you angle the blades in opposite directions that will also help mix it up good, as the lateral motion really seems to get stuff churning.Last edited by ThorsHammer; 04-09-2015 at 05:01 PM.There are no problems. There are only solutions. It's your duty to determine the right one.Hobart Handler 210Airco 225 Amp MSM Stinger
Reply:I was thinking of making the back into a v with angled faced down and point of v touching frame but I'm afraid it'll create ruts. I really like your angled plate for smoothing I think that may be a better option. Does it leave high spots on the outer edges?  And so far the times that have bent real bad I've welded boxed steel into the angle iron and eliminated the twist all together. I still want to do a few more. Then it started curling the tunes over. So I straightened them and ran 7018 down the front side so it curls them so they dig in and push the frame towards the ground and to eliminate as much of the curling as possible and so far so good. It also helps wear and I ground a diamond shaped point In most of the times to aid in steering and to pull it down more. But most of it wore off after several uses. Overall I'm happy with it. But the chain snapped in the middle were I hang it over the ball on the back of the fourwheeler and while I'm adding heavier chain I figured I'd do more. I need a project to occupy my mind. Regards-Carlo
Reply:I had about 8 pieces of heavy 4" channel. I lated them out parallel with an inch or two gap between each, then welded some heavy chain across the backs toward the outside, the middle of the chain is the yoke. If it loads up just hook it up slightly off center so they pull at a slight angle. Mine seems to work fine.
Reply:Is the opening of the channel facing up or down?Regards-Carlo
Reply:Down for breaking up the horse crap, flip it over if you just want to smooth it.
Reply:Hopefully you can view the video just to get an idea how it works as it Is right now. This is semi packed dirt. We took the horses off this about a week ago and it rained all week. We drug it so we can seed it for grass. Just a real quick job just to get it done. Regards-Carlo
Reply:Here's one I made for a neighbor out of scraps I had laying around.Tried to talk him into making a 3 point, but he said not.He's since changed his mind, and it now has a 3 point.
Reply:Originally Posted by In UtopiaHere's one I made for a neighbor out of scraps I had laying around.Tried to talk him into making a 3 point, but he said not.He's since changed his mind, and it now has a 3 point.
Reply:slow down and it wont take flight. you're flying on that quad as it is. I'm running less than 10 mph with mine and it's a bit fast. The slower speed will also help keep the tines from bending. add the cinder block racks for more weight to get it to dig in a little deeper. My quad is only 299cc's, but AWD. not sure what you're using, Honda? but so long as you can maintain traction you should be fine pulling a heavier load than what you've got.I do not get high spots with my set up because the way I use it I'm pulling dirt to the road center maintaining the crown for water management. but even on the flat in the cul-de-sac it doesn't leave high spots.There are no problems. There are only solutions. It's your duty to determine the right one.Hobart Handler 210Airco 225 Amp MSM Stinger
Reply:My fourwheeler is a Suzuki 250cc 4wd. It seems faster in the video then in real life. My wife tends to forget to shift up so the motor isn't screaming as it was in that video. I wouldn't say mine leaves high spots but it tends to glide over the high spots. Added weight should help that. I do need to add more material in the stress areas and I'm definitely adding more tines. I realized yesterday I only did 7018 passes on the first two rows of times to harden the face and keep them from bending. The others two rows seen fine. I'll still run some 7018 as they're showing a good amount of wear. Regards-Carlo
Reply:Originally Posted by ThorsHammerslow down and it wont take flight. you're flying on that quad as it is. I'm running less than 10 mph with mine and it's a bit fast. The slower speed will also help keep the tines from bending. add the cinder block racks for more weight to get it to dig in a little deeper. My quad is only 299cc's, but AWD. not sure what you're using, Honda? but so long as you can maintain traction you should be fine pulling a heavier load than what you've got.I do not get high spots with my set up because the way I use it I'm pulling dirt to the road center maintaining the crown for water management. but even on the flat in the cul-de-sac it doesn't leave high spots.
Reply:Originally Posted by In UtopiaThe middle of the chain had a ring welded to it so it would fit over a trailer ball.Right after I built it I drug it around behind my high torque electric golf cart.The tines are not going to bend, they are made from sucker rod.......that stuff is tuff.Since adding the 3 point he's been dragging his and his neighbors field for seed planting and nothing has bent or broke yet.