Chain Harrow is a Must Have Trail Grooming Tool

If you've got trails galore like I do, having something to keep those trails free of debris like branches is important. Having something that can groom the trails to smooth them out is even better. Having a tool that will do both of these things like a drag harrow is perfect! Today I'm showing you a tool that I consider to be a must have trail grooming tool that you can pull around with many different types of equipment to keep your trails in top form. I'm using my Polaris Sportsman to pull my chain harrow through my bush trails and my open meadow. Watch to see how the functionality of the chain harrow allows it to be the perfect tool for a variety of clearing and smoothing jobs. Check out how great it does at gathering up sticks and branches which are constantly falling on my trails. This alone will make my life a lot easier as I won't have to remove this debris by hand anymore. The only thing I wish that I did differently was not thinking of this chain harrow tool before now. Try it folks, it works wonders for me!

[@nathaniellarson8]

We found one of these in a weedy, grown up area of our field this summer after we moved in to our new place. I'm cutting trails in the woods and now have a use for it, nice!

[@TheDevereaux]

Great video, thank you! I’m learning about using a chain drag to spread manure on our pasture

[@andrewtaylor5421]

I just picked one up. It sure does work well for trail maintenance. Thank you.

[@sawingwithsandy]

It’s my go to for trail maintenance now

[@HomesteadingNorthernMichigan]

Brother what a great tool... I'm learning so much from you...I moved from the city 2 years ago and bought my property to build my off grid homestead.... I need to make one and I think I have what I need...ty brother you're awesome.... That is so satisfying watching it pick up all those branches on your trail...

[@sawingwithsandy]

Glad I could help and glad you came across the channel. Take care

[@robertcarrillo532]

Beautiful! Thank you for the video

[@joshp2542]

Thanks for the tips. This spring I plan on making some trails so I can access different parts of my property with the side by side. With my back it would be nice to be able to get anywhere I dropped a deer during hunting season, less dragging it and less back pain.

[@andrewtaylor5421]

I like that it follows the natural contour of the land. It cleans them up and just slightly cultivates it. Trails look groomed but still natural. Hands down best trail groomer.

[@sawingwithsandy]

I’m with ya there Andrew

[@ElevationATV]

Wow, that thing works quite well! Good to see it in action. I need to get myself one of those for our trails. Thanks for sharing.

[@sawingwithsandy]

You bet

[@shinysimon1003]

Wow, what a property! Also, like your laid back style. Harrow definitely made quick work of those trails.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Thanks for watching Doug

[@G.I.JeffsWorkbench]

Great, simple (but effective) tool for trail maintenance. I made mine out of an extra piece of chain link fence w/ U-bolts to serve as tines.

[@bluethunder1951]

I have three tires on a bar behind the harrow, they leave a nice smooth surface, sometimes I only use the tires, btw great show.

[@sawingwithsandy]

I like that idea. I do have some tires floating around I could rig something up I'm sure. Thanks again.

[@xpoolguy5406]

Nice job. I never considered using my harrows on the trails. Might give it a shot this weekend.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Right on. Can't hurt to try. Thanks again for watching.

[@KS-db5bc]

great video exactly what I am looking for.

[@amaurycaraballo1254]

That's a nice soil! I wish I have a piece of land like that! Like this!

[@robc.5745]

You got a nice spread there, When I was a teen my Dad used a old piece of chain link fence to do this. 10 years ago I bought a 4 ft. by 4 ft. one of these and it worked well when I groomed the trails ,To the point where I can use my riding mower with mulching blades to keep the growth down.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Sure are handy units aren't they

[@IsraelistheJewsland]

Very cool idea! One of my sister just bought 42 acers in Ontario Canada and we dont know shit about any of this stuff, so this is pretty cool. Thanks for making the video man!

[@Andrew_From_NB]

Great to hear that the olde iron is working out for you! I love seeing the old tools like that still working away! That really does a nice job for sure there! Glad you did this review, I’ve heard of this kind of harrow but never seen it In action, thanks for that Sandy! Anyways take care! Andrew from NB :)

[@sawingwithsandy]

Great tool to have around for sure. I even use it for the stone driveway smoothing

[@Andrew_From_NB]

@@sawingwithsandy cool, I’ll keep that in mind if I pick one up some time for my Brute Force :)

[@ChevyARt15]

You can also flip it over for less aggressive dragging. The less aggressive is for breaking up manure.

[@rayhayden]

Love the video, you have got some great video skill while operating the 4 wheeler and driving! You mentioned two ways to drag it, tines being less, or more, aggressive - but there is also the upside down drag as well - with the tines facing upward (don't fall on that puppy!), like for a baseball field, or to get a smoother pass on loose materials. I am looking for a lift up drag harrow for our property, which is like a huge lawn. With gopher moles on the property, the land gets bouncy, I don't want to level it out, but I would love to SMOOTH it out, because we also get wild hogs on the property rooting things up - and the box blade just doesn't get the job done (I may also be lacking some serious skills using it though). I need to actually drag the property down to sand (we have sand, not really soil), and I never need to seed, the grass just grows like crazy with a little rain! If I can get the whole property super smooth (although not level), I can cut 20 acres in one day and be done... but I really need to be able to lift the thing up with the three point connection on the back of the tractor... but watching your video on both the trails and the larger area was a joy, I can see that the section, and the trails, are going to be amazing! Thanks for the video! Dropping a LIKE on your video, and smashing the big red button as well! Watching and Supporting!

[@sawingwithsandy]

Thanks for tuning in Ray. Great point about flipping the drag over. It certainly is a versatile tool to have around here. I don’t know how I ever did without it. Sounds like you’ve got a good handle on the work that needs to get done around your place, hope the job goes well for ya.

[@justinwiantmusic]

I rigged up some steel grates last year and dragged my trails and I think it scalped them too much and pushed soil to the side and I created a muddy mess. After watching your video I think the harrow is what I need. As a bonus it can be used to aerate / de-thatch the lawn space. Been trying to find a used one, but having no luck... might just have to get a new one. Thanks for sharing and showing your beautiful land.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Thanks Justin!

[@Will-tm5bj]

I dunno if I'd want to dethach with that thing

[@jimmaskell7537]

I like your lucky dog tea - shirt . Great job leveling the soul. Keep up the good videos. 👍

[@sawingwithsandy]

Thank you!

[@traviscover590]

I like your new video today you did a really good jop today

[@sawingwithsandy]

Thanks Travis. Take care.

[@dorothyklomp8642]

It does make your trails look good

[@sawingwithsandy]

Thanks!

[@mew5889]

This is great! I recently saw someone slip the whole unit over to no prongs and do a lap with that for smoothing. Gravel driveway 1-2 passes with tines, then flip and smooth.

[@sawingwithsandy]

That would do the trick!

[@edgarmilson8686]

Sandy, My brother found the hatchets around Christmas last. They might not have any more, I did not go into the store but my brother did. I will ask my wife if they have any left, we have three Dollarama stores near us. Regards, Edgar

[@danielcarmack2099]

Love it. Just had several acres of pine trees mulched. Do you think this would be a useful tool to help get the mulch off the ground

[@ralphsullender2474]

works good

[@douglasbuhr5741]

Old video, but I think you can flip it over as well giving you three options. I believe the upside down is great after seeding grass seed to get good seed to soil contact. At least that's how I use mine for food plots.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Think you’re right. Thanks for tuning in Douglas

[@robc.5745]

That's what I did to smooth the ground out ,It worked well

[@GlenSpivey]

Another way to use a drag harrow is to flip it over so the tines are facing up instead of down. Use it upside down for the final pass over over the ground to get a really smooth finish.

[@edgarmilson8686]

You Lucky Dog, I keep seeing that on your t-shirt and I keep thinking you are a lucky fellow. I would love to find a small wooded lot, anywhere from 5 to a hundred acres and I would be happy if it had a small creek or stream. That would give me free electricity, or at least I think it would. I guess a nice bit of land would be hard to come by since just about everyone would like to own it. I like your chain Harrow, it looks like it was designed to have a team pull it. I could be wrong, I was wrong before once. Regards, Edgar

[@sawingwithsandy]

Hey Edgar, yeah I do feel very fortunate to live where I do with what I have. THe lucky dog t shirt is a logo off a boat my parents used to own that they had t shirts made for. I figured it was very fitting for me since I'm quite lucky I feel. Thanks again for watching and take care!

[@jeremytrask6288]

I have a property that is very thick. Prickers and little trees so thick you can’t even see 5 feet. If I clear all the big stuff, do you think this will handle all the little brush stumps and new growth?

[@senile_texas_aggie7338]

Great video. How is the cleanup from the tornado coming?

[@sawingwithsandy]

It's still going but I think I've got a half-decent handle on it for now. Still pulling wood out of the area but the weather is starting to get colder which means winter isn't too far off.

[@bobbybourgoin9129]

For fields and larger areas, do the Zamboni pattern.

[@WilliamBilliamBeard]

The things you find out just from random googling, I searched "harrowing" for its dictionary definition but am also interested in farm / homestead stuff so I'm glad rabbit holes are a pastime of mine. "I can't be harrowed by these small sticks, I shall purchase.... a harrow." Also it also makes "Chains of Harrow" from Warframe make just a little bit more sense.

[@sawingwithsandy]

I learned something new

[@roberttailspin6330]

Nice... When you need your chain harrows to be even less aggressive you can turn the harrows over so that the tines don't dig in at all. The things that nobody likes about chain harrows, is that they're messy to store and weeds are pretty good at hiding them if you leave them on the ground in a heap. When farms change hands, lots of guys found where the last farm owner left them via bush hog, so be mindful how of how and where to store them when not using them for extended periods.

[@sawingwithsandy]

That's a great point Robert. Thanks for adding that.

[@patrickmurphy9266]

I hang mine from a strong tree branch using a tractor .

[@glorgau]

Owww. Finding it via brush hog would be painful. ;-)

[@drathmor1401]

I need to know were you got those boxes for your ATV everything I keep finding wont haul wood those look perfect

[@sawingwithsandy]

I made the front box out of wood and the back box is an old cargo box that came off a golf cart

[@adamproud1]

I’m considering using one for mountain bike trails. How does it do raking over large rocks, roots etc? Do you think it will get caught in the lesser aggressive mode?

[@scottsmith7080]

In the less aggressive mode it will float over larger embedded rocks. In the aggressive mode it will pull up smaller stones but usually leave them a bit further down the trail.

[@bwillan]

That drag harrow does a good job at cleaning up the trails. I noticed the edges of some of your trails are getting reverted back to forest and natural habitat rather quickly. Do you plan on clearing some of this brush out to maintain the width of your trails?

[@sawingwithsandy]

I'm with ya on that one. Things are starting to get overgrown a bit and I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to tackle it. I have a chainsaw and pole saw that I can use to cut back the brush but I also have been throwing around the idea of a flail mower with an offset cut to help me out.

[@bwillan]

@@sawingwithsandy The flail mower would do a good job in that application. Here's a youtube video that shows the comparison between a flail mower and brush hog. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p5rQhGubgNiEhq8

[@patrickmurphy9266]

I've a flail mower for briar and sucker plants you need least 23hp engine .

[@SharonRepici]

Good way to groom your trails and see if anyone has been on them afterwards.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Sure is a nice finish on the trails

[@MtnXfreeride]

Is there risk to ATV if it were to catch on a root or something solid like a stump poking up?

[@richardlafrance7827]

very nice job and your chain saw length of your bar 20-24?

[@sawingwithsandy]

Hi Richard. Yeah I typically run 20" bar on my chainsaw

[@dougbruce3849]

Essentially

[@benspeakman2623]

😂 i was gonna roast you about saying essentially like 27 times in the video...too funny

[@sawingwithsandy]

It’s a good word😉

[@Tat2Power]

Man your atv is FAST!

[@sawingwithsandy]

Haha thumb to the bar

[@samuelonthewall]

Holy crap! How much land do you have? What kind of camera did you use for filming, because it has GREAT image stabilization. Will a harrow like this help with grooming a trail through snow? And can it help keep weeds down in a field? Thanks!

[@sawingwithsandy]

Thanks Samuel! I just use GoPros. I do have a good chunk of land here. Very fortunate for that. I think the harrow may struggle a bit grooming snowy trails however since there's not a tonne of weight on it. It certainly does help with smoothing out fields though . Often times it can be used by farmers to break up manure piles from animals in pasture

[@35RSkyline]

Best part of the video is when it's sped up and the quad sounds like a nitro RC car

[@Z_DiB]

Think this would work to stir up a clay field to plant new grass seed?

[@sawingwithsandy]

I don’t know if it’s heavy enough to dig into clay unfortunately

[@mimiashford5544]

Will these rip up grass or just pull out the twigs & pine cones?

[@kmb957]

It will rip up grass if the tines are facing forward.

[@KingBigBabyJesus]

Well I've been looking for the last couple days and just came across one at our good old princess auto, 54"x60" 176lbs 499.99 canadian. That seems to be what the few used seem to go for around here. How does that compare to the one your running? Just found it on the website so not sure how heavy duty it really is.

[@sawingwithsandy]

I actually had ordered the princess auto chain harrow when it was on sale about a month ago for 299 and then I got an email from them saying my order had been cancelled due to low stock. I ended up finding mine on Kijiji for cheaper but I was going to get the ones you’re looking at

[@KingBigBabyJesus]

@@sawingwithsandy Right on, looked similar too the one you were using. Seeing as the seasons coming to an end and many project to wrap up I can wait till a good deal comes up. Now if only I could find that axe I was gonna turn into a hookaroon. Thanks for the reply and ideas

[@sawingwithsandy]

Deals will come up I’m sure.

[@kevinbrewer2141]

I've seen a 3pt version where it had a bar to the back to lift the hole thing up. To put the debris in a pile or just to clean it out. Maybe be you could fab that one up that's one thing I like to do buy something and make it better.

[@sawingwithsandy]

You've got some great ideas floating around. This is one of them. I may have to see about adding this to my winter shop projects. Thanks again,

[@micmacpole]

How well does this work on steeper grades? Could this cause erosion?

[@sawingwithsandy]

I think it would be fine on steeper grades but I probably would be careful to not disturb the soil too much if there's no vegetation on the hill holding it in place

[@gwolf7716]

Ever tried a standard landscape rake?

[@gwolf7716]

Beautiful property by the way.

[@AG-fi9gb]

what size is the one you are using? i see there are many different dimensions

[@sawingwithsandy]

It’s 5’ wide

[@trimwoodcarpentryincbymike9298]

How to know what’s a good one ? What did you use

[@sawingwithsandy]

I like the ones with the spikes to give good penetration into the soil

[@glorgau]

Much thicker steel than a chain link fence. Essentially.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Yeah it's pretty heavy duty

[@richardlafrance7827]

hi sandy what type of harrow are you still selling and where?

[@sawingwithsandy]

Hi Richard. I don’t sell harrows but I do still use this drag harrow often. I bought this one used from marketplace

[@mountainshire]

Would this work to level a gravel road?

[@sawingwithsandy]

I think it would knock the high spots down for sure. I’ve also heard people dragging a heavy wood beam or steel beam to level gravel

[@JayDeeFrm7400]

6:22 “he makes the left turn..he’s coming up quick the second left turn here ,looks like he’s taking the inside trying to make a move in the left corner” nascar is racing in a fish bowl to me😭😂

[@sawingwithsandy]

hahah

[@benjiL04]

What about a mulcher?

[@markball5001]

Anyone know what brand harrow he's using?

[@sawingwithsandy]

Great question Mark. It sure is old as the hills but I"m not too sure on the age

[@AJ-sb8qk]

Do you feel as though it's a great tool.... BUT it takes 10 Years, forever and a day to clean, remove and extract of of the sticks, twigs & branches from it after a pass ?

[@sawingwithsandy]

I do like using it but it does get stuck with sticks at times . I just flip the harrow over to take the debris out

[@exotictones1054]

Harrows work very nicely..phone thinks it can spell better than me.lol

[@sawingwithsandy]

for sure

[@lovetheNorml]

I use an old tractor tire..

[@sawingwithsandy]

that'll do the trick!

[@nonenoneyourbusiness8362]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦🏻‍♂️

[@tvs3497]

Dude, those things are made for breaking up cow turds.

[@sawingwithsandy]

That's for sure! Mine does double duty, breaking up dog turd and clearing my trails haha

[@T.J.Caldwell318]

Waste of time and money. It's does nothing but turns the top layer

[@sawingwithsandy]

that's all I"m looking to do with this. Since there's a ton of roots I'm just looking to smooth out the top layer so trailers are smoother to drive down