A home garden or field needs to be prepared for the best results. One of the tools you can use for this is the spike harrow.
Used to remove weeds, cover seeds, and smoothen or break up soil for cultivation, a spike harrow is very useful in the garden.
However, the users might not be enough to be worth splurging the money on it.
So rather than buying one, you can build yours from scratch. You can do this with materials you can get quickly for cheap, in addition to scrap materials.
With scrap material lying around in the shed and other materials from a hardware store, you can build your homemade spike harrow that will serve all its essential purpose.
Tools And Materials Needed To Build A Homemade Spike Harrow
Before you can build anything, you need some materials that you’ll use during the process. Here is everything you need to build a homemade Spike Harrow.
Saw: You will need to make your metal bar the correct size. It would be best if you could get a saw powered by an engine. It will make your cutting far easier. If you can’t get it, you can try to source it temporarily for the job at hand.
Metal bar stocks: This will form the framework of your harrow. Ensure that the metal bar is strong enough to withstand being pulled around. The number of bars you will use will depend on how many rows of spikes you want.
Chains: This will serve the traditional function of a hitch. You will use it to join your harrow with whatever medium you will use to drag it.
Spike nails: You can’t have a homemade spike harrow without its spikes. The nails will serve this purpose. Use the biggest you can get to make them strong enough to do the job.
Hammer: You will use this to drive the nails into the holes made in the metal bar.
Welding tools: This might be the most challenging tool as not everybody has them lying around. However, the spikes will keep falling off if you don’t secure them in place by welding. Also, you will have to join each row to have the overall piece.
Drill: You will need a drill to make holes in your metal bars for the spikes.
Weight: Your harrow must be heavy enough to dig the ground while dragging it. You can use a weight to achieve this if the final construction isn’t heavy enough. One of the things you can use as weight is scrap metal and other types of junk.
Having all these is a must.
A Step-By-Step Guide To Building A Homemade Spike Harrow
Step One: Calculate What You Need
To start with, ask yourself some questions. How big do you want your homemade spike harrow?
How sophisticated? How much are you willing to spend?
What materials can you get for free or at a low cost? And most importantly, how far are you willing to go?
The answers to these questions will let you know everything you need to build your homemade spike harrow.
Step Two: Get Your Tools And Materials Ready
Now that you know everything you need and the quantity required, the next step is to get it ready. A trip to a hardware store is in the cards.
You should also check your garage for any scraps that could prove helpful.
Step Three: Prepare Your Metal Bar
The first step in the building phase is cutting your metal bar to the desired length. After cutting, mark the spot for each spike with a marker or chalk.
To do this, remove some inches from the total length and divide the rest by the number of nails. Afterward, you can now mark the spots and drill.
Step Four: Drill And Add Spike Nails To The Bar
The drilling to make the holes must be meticulous because you need them big, just enough to fit your nails barely.
Although we will still weld them together, having a snugly fitting mechanism always helps. After drilling, put the nails in their positions on the bar.
Step Five: Connect The Bars
To start, cut little pieces of your metal stock that you will use to join all the bars. You will then weld the little metal pieces to your bars to form the overall framework.
An alternative to welding would be making holes and using bolts and nuts to join the bars.
The problem with this is that it might not be strong enough to do hardcore tasks. However, it might do the job if you only need a light harrow in your garden.
Step Six: Connect The Harrow To The Hitch
Every Harrow has an optimum angle with the ground, giving the best result.
Experiment by dragging the bar with the nail on the floor to know this angle with your harrow.
The angle that gives the best result is the one you’ll use to connect the bar to the hitch.
However, it is even better to set it so you can change the angle whenever you deem it necessary.
Step Seven: Add The Weight
The weight of the harrow won’t be enough to dig into the ground and do the job.
To resolve this, add the weight to the top of the harrow and find a way to join them so it won’t fall off.
Again, the weight you are using will determine how you will secure it in place. You can use a rope to tie them together or use any other means you deem fit.
Step Eight: Finish Up, Test, And Do Any Necessary Corrections
It is the stage of destiny. Now that you have done everything, attach the harrow to whatever you want to use to drive it and do a test run.
Try adjusting the angle the spikes make with the ground and test on different types of ground if you can.
Considerations In Building A Spike Harrow
Consider certain things if you want to build a homemade spike harrow. These will affect the final product of your efforts and whatever.
They are:
Cost: The type and quality of the homemade spike harrow you will build will depend massively on how much you are willing to spend on the required materials and tools.
Size of field and soil type: A smaller field might need a smaller narrow. Also, the quality of the soil determines the weight and angle of the narrow.
Cultivation Type: All farm tools depend on the cultivated crop type. It is because some crops need different soil preparation than others.
Drag vehicle: The weight of your homemade spike harrow must never exceed the capabilities of the vehicle you will use to drag it.
These are the things to remember if you want to build a homemade spike harrow.
Conclusion
With all the steps listed in this article, you can build a homemade spike harrow for your garden. While it might seem a bit complicated, it is not so.
After all, an essential step is the first. The steps are explanatory enough; you can take the first step towards building your homemade spike harrow now!
