I am having my areas brush hog right before season. Is there any drags that help knock down weed until then that I can make or buy to pull behind my side x side.

Also anyone ever use the atv harrows? Like this one
http://www.drpower.com/power-equipment/a...disc-harrow.axd

Worth the money?

Depending on what you are paying to have your fields cut, your money might pay for a tow behind atv/ side by side that is self contained like this one.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200675190_200675190

I use an older riding lawn mower. It works ok just takes a while. I've also wondered if those atv harrows would work. You might look into renting a tractor.

Depending upon what you're having mowed, if it is real heavy type Briar, sumac, plum thickets or just tall heavy grasses like Buffalo and Blue Stem, you probably should have them mowed/bush hogged down at the beginning of summer where the will break down/decompose enough to where you can disc in the fall. What groth comes back should be manageable for discing Also what growth does come back during the summer should be tender young growth the deer love to eat!

Whether the single gang disc harrow will work depends on your soil. A harrow is not that well suited for knocking down weeds, depending on height, and one as light as the OP suggested probably would be fouled with weeds if they were higher than the gang bolts. With that it mind, the success of its use would probably require keep up with what you wanted to be knocked down.

I once had a DR pull mower, and it was a good tool, but they have gotten so expensive that I'm not sure I would put my money there.

When I think of mowing vs. discing, I would always go with the discing. Whether your intent is to "plot" or not, everything a harrow turns soil you are going to grow something wildlife can use. It might take rain, but something is going to come up. Not so with mowing. So with that said, I would choose the harrow over a pull mower.

In September and at this time of year, I disk every road and fence line on my place. There is a lot of seed in pasture dirt and what comes up might look like weeds to us but it looks like food to the wildlife.

daniel1381, you might consider the Land Pride FPS48. It is twice as heavy (510 lbs) as the DR51 at it's max added weight plus the FPS48 adds the seeder and cultipacker. Now that Land Pride is a Kubota Company, they offer zero down/zero % financing as well. It looks like new FPS48s sell for about $2250 ~ $2500 so they are less than a UTV pull mower. In that Land Pride builds farm equipment, I would have more faith in the productivity of their products than the other outfits.

Sell the atv and buy something usefull like a tractor and implements

Get an old 8-10' heavy pipe gate, chain it to the side-by-side and drag to your heart's content.

I would think a chain harrow would work...... https://www.everythingattachments.com/King-Kutter-Chain-Drag-Harrows-p/kk-drag-harrows.htm

Yeah, that would do.

I use a tooth harrow but it is for finishing a seed bed and will really foul with vegetation if present.

Just my opinion, but if you're only going to need something done a couple times a year, you're far cheaper in the long run, to just rent a tractor, or hire it done. Don't know what your ATV cost, but they usually don't have the best transmission for "turning dirt", especially on a routine basis. You can get a lot done with a 35-45hp rental tractor with/ shredder in a day.

Agreed.. use the right tool for the job. Why tear up an ATV and half-[censored] the project?

where is your hunting area? There might be someone on here with the proper equipment (myself included) that is relatively close that could help you out with both shredding and plowing for less (plus beer and/or food ).

That ATV disc is worthless in West Texas. Even on previously turned soil, it just bounces around back there. We put (2) 80 pound blocks of concrete on it which helped, but started eating bearings like free doughnuts. For a hobby farm in sandy loam, it would be fine. For half an acre of hardpack, you're wasting your time. Plus, it plays hell on the four wheeler.

^^^this^^^

Not sure about others, but I enjoy helping others out when it is feasible. Kind of depends on distance, access, state of land, etc. My only problem is it has to be real close since I am currently trailer-less, or I would be doing it more often.

I have seen cases where if just trying to knock down grass, pulling a drag behind an ATV suffices, but short of having a friend with the proper equipment, it is my experience that renting is preferable to trying this with an ATV/UTV to get good results. Unless the vegetation has been recently knocked down, especially if there is mesquite in the area, anything pulled by an ATV is going to be difficult at best. And trying to get good depth, in our Texas soils, requires weight when discing. I have a 96" double gang disc pulled behind a 50 hp tractor and still find times on fallow land that weight and/or multiple passes are needed to truly turn the soil.

When I need to get heavy work done, and not put wear and tear on my equipment, I am able to rent a 60hp tractor, heavy duty shredder, on a trailer for something like $265 + fuel for 8 hours - and trust me, with that set up, a ton of work can be knocked out in 8 hours, and you are definitely ready to be off the tractor at the end of the day.

There it is.

http://www.generalimp.com/product/general-harrow

I have one of these and it works well.. its an 8ft but you will tax an ATV to the max with it.. I pull it behind a cub cadet volunteer utility vehicle.. It works well though... If you just wanting to mow these work much better

http://www.drpower.com/power-equipment/f...CFQIEaQodfIAJWA

deer lease is located in longview.. I have a buddy that will mow it was just kicking around other options

thanks for the help

longview would be a bit out of my range that you could afford bringing one of my tractors ...

Rented a self propelled brush cutter, performed well but was more work and money than I wanted to do each year. Purchased a pull behind unit for the ATV and exceeded my expectations.

I would spray that area with Glyphosate a week or two before bushhogging. Then throw a mix of wheat, oats and white clover into the standing dead/dying vegetation just before the cut (or a day or two before), then cut and pray for rain. Also, it would probably be a good idea to throw some pelleted lime at the same time you spray the Gly. The thatch and duff from the bushhogging will cover the seed sufficiently for germination, and protect it from birds. No need to disc or till. Do a GOOGLE search on "throw and mow foodplots".

My home made plot cutter in action.

[img]http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/...za3cr.mp4[/img]

I mow my plots in the early summer because the deer enjoy grazing on them afterwards, and because it makes them easier to mow just before planting in the fall. I also mow roads and trails at the same time for the same reasons.

I also agree with those who recommend saving your ATV for its designed use and hire someone or get a friend to do the heavy mowing.