Flaman Rentals Blog

6 Reasons to Use a Riteway 7-Bar Harrow This Year

Posted by Mitch Flaman May 06, 2022

When it’s time to get your fields prepped for seeding, there are a few different equipment options to choose from. 

For many years, harrows have been used to prepare fields in different capacities. Whether you are levelling off ruts, busting up hardpan, or removing trash before seeding, both the Riteway 5-bar and 7-bar harrows have a specific purpose in the tillage cycle. With low-till or zero-tillage farming practices gaining popularity in the last decade, you need a way to create ideal seedbeds for your crop.


Riteway 5-Bar Heavy Harrow in use

Heavy harrows, often known as 5-bar harrows, are very common and do a great job moving dirt, even in wet conditions. The Riteway 7-bar harrow is lighter than a traditional heavy harrow and has twice as many tines, offering you the flexibility you need to deal with excess straw post-harvest and residue management before seeding.


Riteway 7-Bar Harrow

We put together six reasons why you should consider using a Riteway 7-bar harrow this year.

1. Trash and Residue Removal

“At its most basic point: if you’re looking to move soil – stick with your 5-bar, but if you’re looking for trash management there’s no better way to go than the 7-bar harrow.”
Brad Grass, Territory Sales Manager at Riteway Manufacturing

Think about how you use a large fan rake to clean up all the leaves in the fall. You go over the surface of your lawn, gently collecting the leaves and removing them. When using a garden rake, you collect everything from the roots of your grass – eliminating everything that protects the soil.

7-bar harrows work much the same as a large leaf rake, cleaning up and breaking down straw residue, while leaving the soil mildly agitated. Featuring twice as many tines as a heavy harrow, the 7-bar’s ½” tines provide better agitation as the harrow floats over the field – allowing for greater trash removal and distribution.

24" long 1/2" tines on the Riteway 7-Bar Harrow

2. Moisture Retention

The smaller diameter tines on the 7-bar harrow provide greater agitation while disturbing less ground. By only mixing up the top layer of the soil, it allows the moisture to stay in the ground. The goal is to remove extra trash on the surface, not dry out the soil. 
 

3. Less Soil Compaction

The 82’ Riteway 7-bar harrow weighs 19,900 lbs and is the heaviest and strongest 7-bar in its class. Despite its weight, the 7-bar won’t compact the soil down as much as a heavy harrow because it floats over the topsoil instead of digging down. Less compaction, combined with better moisture retention, creates a better environment for plant development. 


Riteway 7-Bar Harrow in use

4. Seed Bed Prep

Remove all the trash and debris left from harvest and prepare your seedbeds without removing soil. This allows the seed drills to move easily through the field with less straw build-up around the knife. After using a 7-bar harrow, you’ll end up with a nice, clean surface for a fresh start in the spring.


Riteway 7-Bar Harrow field demo

5. Herbicide Application

As some weeds become resistant to certain herbicides, older chemicals are making a comeback. Because granular herbicide mixes well with topsoil, the 7-bar harrow can effectively protect your crops from invasive weeds. The 7-bar helps introduce the granular chemical into the soil just enough so that it can be evenly distributed throughout the field.
 

6. Mechanical Weed Removal

The 7-bar’s lightweight spring tines help manage weeds that start to thrive in your field after harvest. By damaging these weeds enough so they stop growing, your crops have less competition for nutrients in the soil.

Spring Pressure Kit on the Riteway 7-Bar Harrow

As you can see, there are many advantages to using a Riteway 7-bar harrow to prepare your fields for seeding and manage the crop residue after harvest.


Brad, Riteway Manufacturing, walks through the features on the 7-Bar Harrow

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If you have any questions about our Riteway 7-Bar, Heavy, or Rotary Harrows, or any of our other tillage equipment, contact us or visit your nearest Flaman location.

Reclaim land with a Kello-Bilt Disc Ripper from Flaman

Posted by Mitch Flaman Oct 14, 2021

It’s time to get ripping this fall and reclaim that land that hasn’t been seeded in years.

When the fall weather permits, tillage and other end-of-season work is necessary to get a jump start on prepping next year’s seedbed before the spring rush. Disc ripping is a great tillage method that you can use to break up hardpan and compaction layers, manage trash and crop residue, and increase acres by reclaiming some of the low spots in your field.

Given the dry conditions this year, the opportunity to reclaim low spots and disc dried-up sloughs is available. Using a Kello-Bilt Disc Ripper from Flaman allows you to improve moisture retention and root development by digging deeper into the ground.

Kello-Bilt Disc Rippers feature five adjustable ripping shanks that allow for depths of 12”, 15”, and 18”, setting them apart from conventional tillage or other types of tillage practices. The heavy-duty shanks on this machine dig below the compaction layer beneath the soil’s surface and demolish the hardpan.

Effectively shattering the hardpan with a Kello-Bilt 275DR allows plant roots to penetrate the soil further while accessing additional nutrients and moisture.

An interesting analogy when trying to understand how disc rippers reclaim land in dried-up slough bottoms is to think of a pool liner. After years of water sitting in a low spot on your field, the water saturation in the soil tightens up and creates a layer much like a pool liner. Disc ripping a dried-up slough bottom penetrates this liner, aerating the soil and allowing it to breathe again.

This increases soil efficiency with better moisture retention, microbial activity, and balanced pH levels to help reduce saline patches. In other words, “healthier soil” that will produce healthier plants.



The beauty of seeding into a low spot (once the slough bed has been properly disc ripped) is the likelihood of that land seeing moisture in the following crop year. In dry growing seasons, this additional moisture can be the difference between a heavy, high-busheling crop and a below-average yield.


 
For more information on how a Kello-Bilt Disc Ripper can help with seedbed preparation, managing post-harvest crop residue and trash this fall, or increasing acres next year by reclaiming land that hasn’t been seeded in years, talk to one of our ag specialists at your nearest Flaman location.


 Shaun walks through the features of the Kello-Bilt 275 Disc Ripper

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Interested in trying out the Kello-Bilt 275DR on your farm but not ready to purchase? We offer short-term rentals of tillage and field prep equipment, as well as grain handling equipment, hay and livestock equipment, trailers, and more. Contact your local dealer for rental inquiries and current product availability.