Drag
(Harrow, Packer)

A drag is used to level, smooth and firm the soil surface. It is often used after new ground is cleared (as in this photo) to fill holes, break up sticks and clods, level piles of debris, etc. It is also used behind tillage implements to break up clods, fill and level furrows or leave a uniform, firm, fine seedbed to plant into.

In its simplest form, a drag is just a large heavy object that gets pulled (dragged) along the soil surface – thus the name. Often, drags are made from railroad rail, heavy timbers, H-beam, I-beam, heavy pipe, telephone poles, etc.

The larger and heavier the drag, the better job it will do. Horsepower requirements vary depending on size (weight and length) of the drag, soil differences and what the drag is made of.

This picture is of a large I-beam about 20 feet long. It probably weighs about 500 pounds. There are steel cables attached in the middle and at the ends, which are hitched to the tractor or other machinery used to drag it.

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