TOP DRESSING drag mat. LAWN LEVELING
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- čas přidán 29. 08. 2018
- This is my top dressing drag mat. I explain how it works and how I built it.
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Contact: wardconnor@hotmail.com
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You’re the man! I’m definitely going to try this next summer. I’ll add the extra 10 inches. Thanks for the instructional!
I love that you build a lot of your own things! True DIY guy right there!
Informative as usual Connor ,it will be interesting to see your adaptation to the dragger when finished. Great to see you enjoying your lawncare ,your videos make us strive to be better at lawncare also.😁👍👍
I have the same t-shirt, currently sporting Mr. Rogers neighborhood this evening. Oh and I like the drag device too!!..lol
Love your channel, been a subscriber for 4 or 5 years. Funny story, my family and I were on vacation at our favorite lake. On my way back from getting a raspberry shake I took the back roads and low and behold came across your awesome lawn. Looks great.
You really thought the lawn leveler out. Looks like you thought of everything. Had no clue there was that much to your pile of metal. Love it!
Looking forward to the brooms. Lawn envy sir!
My friend aim going to build me one. I am just starting my lawn. Going to do the whole 9 yards sprinkler system. Hey just want to tell you. Your videos are goooooood motivation!!! Great job
@connorward I would be adding couple of bars at the back, then be putting brooms in one big row. So when you drag it flat your brooming it in as well.
Look at that beautiful lawn!
Just what I was looking for. I’m going to be doing about 40,000 sf and I want it flat and perfect. I’ll be using your design and my interpretation of your after thoughts. Now I have to check out your channel and no doubt subscribe.
Awesome build! And the sand looks like it has all been worked it. Lookin good!
That is one wicked drag. Great content👍
I love it !! I use a pipe and 6ft chain link fence for leveling and hate the way the chain hangs up.
I did not have access to a welder or material so i used this idea and drug my ext. ladder to level my yard after spreading the top soil.. worked great thanks
Great job! With all of your details, I went to my steel supplier, bought what you mentioned for $142.00. They cut everything to length for that fee too. Mine is 10' wide like yours, but made the supports 24" instead of 20". I used the washers as spacers as you mentioned. I've never welded before so I bought a welder and watched some youtube 'how to weld' videos. I knocked it out in 2 hours. Thank you so much for the inspiration!
The finished product in kioti orange
photos.app.goo.gl/orPtknNfCr9BPons8
@@kingofbytes I noticed that yoru c-channel openings are pointing down and Connor's are pointing forward or backwards depending on how you look at it. Do you think this makes a difference, whether good or bad? I'm planning to build a 6 or 7 footer this summer, just curious. Thanks-Drew
@@dcousar2352Thanks for the reply. The C channel is actually pointing forward....in the pic you cannot really tell because the photo is from "behind" the drag. You want the C channel pointed toward the back of your tractor....this way when you're dragging, there is a 'collection area' in the channel and this will subsequently 'drop' dirt into voids. HTH!
Yes. Point c channel forwards. It holds material and re distributes it
@@kingofbytes awesome!! Appreciate you clearing that up for me. Useful information 👌🏼
Very cool build. Looks like it works well
Been waiting for this one. Thanks for all the detailed info.
Connor Ward Industries has a catch to it reminds me of Jonathan Hart Industries!! Thanks Connor nice demo of what you can do to get the job done.
Connor, used your description of the drag device and built one of my own this week. 10 feet x 30 inches. Weighs in at 117 pounds now with 3/4 inch thick angle iron. Put the long center piece of angle iron 18 inches from the front, 12 inches from the back to help keep the center of gravity aft of middle and should help with the tipping issue. We'll have to see if the weight is too much and tears up the grass when I'm dragging. Doing three acres total.
Will let you know come late Spring!
Connor as an option consider adjusting the side to side tilt by shortening up your drag chain on one side, this way you can roll your product from one side to the other, it helps distribute the build up of sand on the drag. Also consider using artificial turf instead of brooms to drag behind your drag when doing a finish drag. Just a thought🤙🏼
you are very innovative Connor. very interesting.
Youre right about mats dragging material back out of low spots. Having a rigid drag that deposits sand/soil into low spots because the drag straddles the high spots is something I wished I had considered before buying a mat. The upside to a mat is if you have an area of rolling terrain that you either cant level or dont want to level. It'll smooth it out beautifully but thats it.
Ingenious design & build
Conner I have drag made similar to yours and I also have a chain drag. The chain drag really does a finale clean up after the leveling. It cause the sand to go into the the turf and I don't hafta broom. I have just used the chain drag alone for leveling and it works fine to. It's heavy enough wide and long to pull the sand. I noticed your drag collects where you pull it and you have to make a lot of trips. The chain spreads out the sand as it gathers it up just thought you might look in to it. They use them on fairways and greens. That where I got the idea and it don't take long thanks!
on little league red clay we use 2 combined chain link fence with tube iron only good to smooth / clean up a existing level play field you have the right idea. easier to stow
That thing is so awesome. I'm impressed. I have used the other drags you were talking about to smooth out a baseball infield. They do not work on the lawn if it is not already level. Something solid and fixed like this seems logical.
Yeah the ztr could pull it for sure
I have absolutely no intentions of ever having a lawn like yours, and quite frankly I'm not sure how I started watching your videos.
But watching a man post videos about something he is passionate about and is willing to share his knowledge of is something you can't turn away from.
You have me absolutely hooked. Your yard is absolutely gorgeous. Keep it up!
It's comments like this that keep me posting. Thanks Whitehall
Connor , you are the most interesting lawn care person on CZcams, your knowledge ,manerisms and attitude are different to others.😁👍👍
The easiest way to fix the flipping is to make new holes for the clips closer to the front. This would eliminate the upward pull when the device encounters greater push back from a large pile. No weights or major modifications needed. Awesome homemade machine!
Bingo. I was thinking the same thing. Moving the pull holes closer to the end would put more weight on the back of the drag and prevent flipping and actually bring that back C channel more into use in dragging. I think the front C channel is doing 80% of the leveling now.
What Jeremy said plus, put those cinder block holders to use, the extra weight during the initial process will give the drag the mass to overcome the piles of sand.
Thanks for the overview, I built one myself but it only has one blade, I see now I need an additional blade to make good flat surfaces!
It would also be much more stable if he added U-bolts or hooks into the face of the front channel to connect the chain to. That'll get below the center of gravity of the whole contraption.
Thank You for the information and your design
You could weld bolts to your angle and c channel (head down, threads up) and drill holes through the broom heads, put the broom heads down on the bolts and secure with locking nuts so they are removable for when they need replacing( could counter sink the nuts if needed too) I might have to build me a drag too, I could use some leveling!
if i only spent as much time on my own lawn as i did watching you videos
Truer words have never been spoken my dude. I am in the same boat as you haha
a simple solution that would help some to keep it from flipping is move the holes to attach the carabiners to the c channel as low as possible. when the bottom hooks the sand the pull points even being above that by 1-3 inches it get enough leverage to flip it. if you can get those mounting points lower it would help a lot i think. probably take 5 minutes to drill a few new holes. nice yard BTW!!
Another great informative video.
@ 4:55 A steel mat is good for busting up core pellets from aeration. Not so much for leveling.
Your drag device looks great. Bolt on some thick shop brooms and you have yourself something golf courses spend several hundred dollars on.
Wow. True Renaissance man. Welder. Fabricator. Lawn fanatic. I am in awe.
Add a 3 or 4 ft angle iron skid to the each side, out at the end to solve the flipping problem and help get a flatter result. Thanks for the video
Thanks for posting this 👍
Had to wear sunglasses to watch this video :)
I love your videos man
Man, it flipping over when you’re spreading the sand has to be a real drag! Lol. 🤣
I’m glad I found this video. If nothing else,…I’d like to consistently mow my yard at around 10 mph.
What, without a kidney falling out
@@joepaullawncare7222 absolutely, lol!!! I’m willing to bet that I could knock off an extra 15-20 mins as well.
I watched this vid last fall and have been dreaming of doing it ever since. I just got a new puppy and think it will track in too much dirt in my house. I was thinking of using a dump cart like you but rig a winch to it to disperse the sand/dirt and I drive and not make dump piles. Hope this gives someone an idea. Also, what do people think of using chain link instead of angle iron. Kind of like a chain link gate that you pull. Then rent the setup on facebook marketplace, haha
Thanks Connor good info, yur awesome
Great build, if u lower your attachement points closer to the ground, then the drag will not flip over so easily.
Very cool! My buddy just brought something similar that goes on the front of a skid steer for leveling lawns and driveways very close to the same concept it works great
Yeah I think I've seen those.
Connor Ward it has a bucket blade in front then 3 bars at decreasing heights that the dirt goes under
I think if you lower your pull points and put them further forward it might end your problem.I like it,great job
Nice setup
Just a thought... Drill a couple mounting holes close to the front/back of the 20 inch direction. It will produce less of a lever to allow the drag to flip with. Should help you out a little. I don't know grass but I do know engineering.
To keep the drag from flipping drill your holes for your tow chain closer to the front. And maybe add some weight to the back of the drag if it still flips in the early stages of sand dispersing.
Excellent build. I want to try and make my lawn like carpet but we have a HUGE area to do (6 acres). Going to use your idea and just break the project up into smaller areas until it's all smooth. Have you ever tried turf rolling? Curious if it works or if it's a waste of time. Anyway great video! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome Video!
Good job bro
Still wondering if I can get my 20 acres to be as smooth as your lawn! Watching and Supporting, Dropping another LIKE on your video!
Geometry: The attachment holes could be closer to the edges. The fulcrum point in the interior contributes to the tipping.
Haven’t watched a video of yours I didn’t enjoy, good job.
Right on
Question; what if you were to make hoppers on top of the drag that you could load the sand in and have it fall out into the yard as needed?
do you recommend broadcasting grass seed just before the application of the sand then dragging the sand into the existing grass with the seed just below the sand level. Or is it better to broadcast the seed on the freshly dragged sand, then rake the seed in?
I think I will weld what you did today! Thumbs up bud! Put some weight on the thing to keep it from flipping and increase how much dirt is catches!
Connor, was thinking about making a smaller one of these to level my small lawn. While watching your video, I had an idea that may help keep your drag from flipping over as much. Would it help to lengthen one of the cables so the drag face isn't exactly perpendicular to the direction of travel? just a thought.
What type of sand did you use and do you wait until it dries out before spreading. My father used sand and he said the sand was seeded with Bermuda seeds. He also told me to mix with topsoil. What would you recommend. I have two acres and would like my lawn to nice as yours or close to. Love the idea of the drag will definitely be putting one together soon.
This looks cool. I'm going to try making one, but I'm not a welder, nor do I no how.
I'm going to try using bolts instead.
I don't weld either. I had my neighbor weld mine. Bolts will work
Would you recommend sand or topsoil to fill in ruts that are up to 2” in a bermuda lawn?
Connor you’re the combo of handsome and handy that only Red Green was able to demonstrate.
Super cool
To solve your flipping issue, move the carabiner clips to the very front as opposed to the ~4" back that you have them now.
Nevermind! I see somebody else posted the same thing. Great minds must think alike!
is there soil or other organics under all this sand? im curious as to how your yard is different from a sandy beach. other than the grass.
ik the sand will hold moisture somewhat, but will it hold nutrients?
Good stuff
Connor, I've completely killed my lawn during a summer remodel project that ripped out my irrigation system, equipment driving over it, etc. The long and short of it is I need to completely start over. Do you have any recommendations regarding sprinkler type, line size, pressure, sod vs. hydro-seeding, grass type? Sorry, I know that is a lot of stuff. I'm in the Salt Lake are if it matters.
Did you do the broom thing?
Would love to see that
If my lawn is at 2 inches right now would this device work for me or would I need to have shorter grass first. I am thinking it might not do a good job in taller grass. Any thoughts. I am trying to get down to 1.5 and stay there. I need to get a flatter lawn to help stop scalping.
UDAMAN Connor!
Hey Connor! I've watched this vid multiple times now and have finally come to make my own drag. What would say be the downside of only having L beams instead of U's? More friction and less float I imagine, but do you think it will matter that much? Would love your honest opinion. I got talked into only buying L's but already regret the decision :)
Perhaps try putting a small plow on the front of the 4 wheeler to knock down those tall mounds of sand?
It's the anchor point of the chain. Put anchors inside the channel to lower you center of gravity
Connor, if you don't mind me asking, but what does that yellow off road vehicle set you back? I'd like a small one like that for my place. How fast can it go?
Try adding a detachable tail to the drag to prevent it from rolling over.
Don't know if you watch Pete @ GCI Turf but he just gave you a shout out on his latest video. Really enjoy watching you both.
Yes I saw that. He is good at what he does. Great guy.
Wouldn't the cinder blocks keep it from flipping?
What are those videos you mentioned at the end of the video?
nice. do my yard next pl
Mind you, im no ME - I think if you change your angle of attack on the drag, it will fix (or help) the flipping issue.
edit: By pulling from the top you're creating a moment about the front C-channel, either lengthen your rope (quite a bit), or (preferably) change the mounting location of the carabiner. but again, not an ME, EE's more my thing...
Put an anchor on it. A steel anchor tail to stabilize it.
Right on Connor!!! So have you tried putting any weight on the back of the drag to keep it from flipping?
Kyle Fitzwater also moving the chain mounting holes closer to the front edge will reduce leverage.
You could add a cross bar and make your drag longer
i am building one right now but planning to have the middle part lower 1/8'' instead of higher . Mine is 60'' wide and 60'' long and will have a 8'' serrated grader blade in the middle. i will use it to level 1 acres of clay field.
Cool. I'd love to see that once done
Redrill your holes closer to the front of your drag. It would probably help it from flipping over.
What size chain, do you use to drag it?
Do you think this would work using a pallet
Good video..
Oh yeahhhhh🤙🏻
Ce sont des cotes en inch ou en métrique? et quelle puissance de traction?
What kind of grass is that? Thank you
Just an idea - weld two pieces of metal to make a triangular anchor point to the front of the drag: ___ /\ ___ It'll be less prone to flip on you.
Can u do dirt too?
Oh yeaaaa!👍
Is that a 90cc atv? What 4 wheeler is it?
Found it! Awesome I can’t find a lawn level this size anywhere on the internet for sell if you know of any please send me a link!
Good work you did find the video. I didn't film it when I actually made it. I was not making vids back then. It's easy to make. Steel and bolts if necessary. Find a friend with a welder. A wood pallet works as well. Lots of ways to get it done