Grass Harrow

Grass Harrows

The OPICO grass harrowing concept simply transforms the way you work your grass. The angle of the tine combined with the overall design of the harrow makes it ideal for stimulating new grass or renovating old pastures.

With an OPICO Grass Harrow, leys can be re-vitalised and dry matter yields boosted. You can attach an OPICO Air Seeder, and oversow old worn leys to boost grass and clover content, or start afresh and put down a brand new ley with the harrow and seeder combination.

The OPICO Grass Harrow covers every inch of the ground, thanks to its unique contour flexing tine bed. It clears moss, opens the surface, improves aeration and encourages growth. Like all good ideas it is very simple and is now recommended by thousands of farmers who have switched to this common-sense approach to what used to be a ‘harrowing’ job.

Three options for more productive leys:

Revitalise leys with harrowing
Hidden profit
Look after your grass

Revitalise leys with harrowing

Clear out moss and trash clogging the base of the sward
Drag out shallow-rooted weeds like chickweed and annual meadow grass
Open up the soil surface and let oxygen get to the roots
Release locked-up surface nitrogen to the growing ley
Break up and disperse clumps of slurry and muck
Iron out molehills to prevent silage making problems



The net effect is a more vigorous and re-vitalised ley, often appearing darker green thanks to the breakdown of the nitrogen cap on the soil surface which is made available to the grass.

The most important angle on the OPICO Grass harrow is built into every tine. Firstly, its oil hardened spring wire has three times the service life of a normal sprung steel wire. The tine itself has an effective angle, but the tines within the bed can be adjusted allowing for ten different tine settings depending on the work to be done. 48 tines per 1.5m bed with 30mm spacing creates more pressure per tine point and good selfcleaning action. The tine uses a triple coil spring which increases vibration and improves the harrowing effect.

Hidden profit

The OPICO Grass Harrow and Air Seeder are vital tools in finding that hidden profit in your pasture.

Simple low cost operations such as over-seeding into an existing ley boost the yield and prolong the useful life of the sward whilst a complete re-seed rejuvenates the whole pasture bringing back vitality and maximum yields.

The hidden profit, in terms of extra milk or increased live weight gain from forage rather than costly supplements, ends up where it belongs - in your pocket.

In trials, grass yields have been increased by over 40% by re-seeding and up to 25% by over-seeding and more importantly the M.E. (Metabolisable Energy) of the fodder is improved considerably giving you better quality, low cost home produced feed.

The OPICO Air Seeder unit broadcasts the new seed consistently and evenly whilst the Grass Harrow creates the ideal Tilth and then covers the seed in. Ten different tine angle settings and variable tine pressure coupled with an infinitely variable seed rate between 1 and 80 kg per hectare mean that you can set up the Grass Harrow and Seeder to do whichever job you want.

The Grass Harrow and Air Seeder can either be used for a full re-seed, to over-seed an existing ley or to patch seed damaged areas of a field.

Look after your grass

To ensure the long term productivity of your ley, then an integrated approach to grassland management is required. Compaction and surface capping can be removed using an OPICO Sward Lifter and the ground can be further aerated to stimulate grass growth using a Sward Slitter. To ensure the correct pH and availability of nutrients for maximum grass growth, soil tests should be carried out to identify nutrient shortfalls and then fertiliser formulations and applications can be cost-effectively tailored to ensure a lack of nutrients is not reducing grass quantity and quality.

Inspections should also be carried out through the year to monitor weed populations. Herbicide and pesticide strategies can then be put in place to control weed infestations. Overseeding bare areas in winter-damaged leys with a harrow and seeder will also prevent weed ingress, and lengthen the life of the ley.

Grass Harrow Features

The OPICO Grass Harrow has revolutionised grass harrowing in recent years, larger working widths, more adjustment and aggressive spring tines mean that a better job can be achieved faster and at a lower cost. With typical working speeds of 4.5mph to 7mph the Grass Harrow is a high capacity machine, a 6m for example, is more than capable of covering over 100 acres in a normal working day. The Range Working widths range from a very handy 1.5m to 12.4m. There are rigid, mechanical and hydraulic folding units with a choice of 7mm or 8mm tines. The machines are designed for strength without the need for high horsepower and are equipped with a fully adjustable depth wheel, which works alongside the tine angle settings for maximum effectiveness. The hydraulic folding models have a single acting ram with an accumulator that applies 8-10 bar pressure over the full width of the harrow to give true contour following across the field.

Ultimate contour following ability for uneven ground

Even pressure is applied across every inch of the working width. The frame adapts to the ground contours with additional pressure being supplied from the accumulator to even the harrowing pressure across the working width.
Active harrow bed suspension on the implement frame.
An flexible harrow bed adapts to ground undulations.

Features Flexible Bed Adjustable Tine Angle Spring Tines Construction Support Wheel Folding System Hydraulic Cylinder

Click one of the feature numbers below. Flexible Bed The flexible design of the tine beds allow them to follow the contours of the land ensuring effective coverage and even tine pressure. Each 1.5m bed has 48 tines spaced at 30mm centres apart and as well as ensuring good tine pressure onto the ground, this design allows it to self-clean as it moves through the sward. Back to features image Adjustable Tine Angle Quick and simple tine angle and pressure adjustment, ground conditions will determine how aggressive tine pressure needs to be for effective harrowing. On the OPICO harrow there are 10 tine angle settings so pressure can be altered, ensuring the vibrating action of the triple coil spring tine can be maximised. Back to features image Spring Tines The Grass Harrow's spring tines are able to penetrate even the hardest of ground, ripping out dead thatch and opening up the soil surface allowing air in to the root zone to stimulate and encourage growth. The oil hardened spring wire has three times the service life of a normal sprung steel wire. Channel mounting of tine coil prevents damage to the growing tip and leaf of the grass. Back to features image Construction The construction of the headstock consists of interlocking pieces of steel so the Grass Harrow doesn’t just rely on the welding for strength. The frames and beds are powder-coated and most of the other steel parts are anodised so your harrow will stay in good working order and looking newer for longer. Back to features image Support Wheel Height adjustable support wheels are used in conjunction with the tine angle when setting the aggression and pressure required on the harrow tines to ensure the correct amount of pressure is applied. Back to features image Folding System When in transport position, the hydraulic folding models fold up between 2.5m and 3m dependant on the model of grass harrow. This allows easy transportation on the road and through narrow gateways. Back to features image Hydraulic Cylinder Hydraulic cylinder with accumulator and hydraulic shut-off valve can be locked for safe road transport. Back to features image

1.5m - 3.0m Non-Folding Grass Harrows

The rigid, non-folding Grass Harrows consist of 3 models, 1.5m, 2m and the larger model at 3m wide.

All three models can be supplied with either Category 1 or 2 pins if specified at the time of order.

4.5m - 8.0m Hydraulic folding Grass Harrows

The hydraulic folding models consist of 7 widths, 4.5m, 5m, two 6m versions, 6.4m, 7.5m and 8m.

The 6m comes in two different formats, one unit has 3x2m sections the other has 4x1.5m sections. The 3 section unit is able to fold down to 2.5m for transport which enables easier movement through narrow gateways and down the road. On the other hand the 4 section unit folds to 3m for transport but has improved contour following ability in the field.

9.0m - 12.4m Scissor folding Grass Harrows

The 9m, 10.5m, 12m and 12.4m uses a hydraulic scissor folding mechanism to keep this wider range of machines to a transport width of or under 3m.

Grass Seeder for illustration purposes only and does not come with the Scissor folding Grass Harrow. Please see our Grass Seeder page for more information.

7mm or 8mm Tines, that is the question?

Many farmers automatically believe that the 8mm tine will do a better job because it is stronger. That's not necessarily the case! The key to making the best job with your harrow is getting the tines to do the work. A spring tine is designed to "spring" causing the point to oscillate from side to side. On a Grass Harrow this makes sure all the ground is covered by the tines and achieves the maximum effect from one pass. In many cases the 8mm tine can be too rigid and simply drag through the sward in a straight line with no "spring" effect. As a general rule of thumb choose the 7mm tine when you are predominantly working on temporary grassland (leys under 5 years) which is being regularly cut for silage, grazed and managed. Choose an 8mm tine when you are using the harrow on old permanent pastures and rough grazing in the main.

7mm Tine Grass Harrow specification

8mm Tine Grass Harrow specification

Grass Master

The Grass Master consists of a heavy-duty 6-metre Grass Harrow complete with leveling board, purpose-built to carry an Air 16 seeder. The unit enables light cultivation and leveling to be carried out for complete re-seeds or over-seeding, with higher seed rates and faster working speeds than has been available up to now.

The Grass Master Grass Harrow and Seeder features four heavy duty depth wheels fitted with bigger tyres with a higher ply rating.

The Grass Master includes all the standard
Grass Harrow Features.


Adjustable leveling board to level your seedbed if your re-seeding or spread and level mole hills and manure.

The Grass Masters Air Seeder has 16 outlets with hydraulic fan and 400-litre seed hopper. Other features are full in-cab electronic control plus variable seed rate on the move and land wheel drive.

Available with working widths of 4.5m, 6m and 8m with 7mm or 8mm tines. Hydraulic folding gives a transport width of 2.8 metres on all machines.

Grassright - Making grass profitable

Grass is universally acknowledged to be the cheapest source of energy for ruminant livestock. Its use as forage – whether grazed or ensiled - contributes directly to the profitability of the livestock enterprise.

It therefore follows, that any steps taken to further improve the productivity of grassland, through efficient and effective management and use of inputs, will also further improve farm profitability.

Yet the profitability of a piece of grassland is determined not by one management factor but by many. These include: grazing system, ground cultivation, re-seeding frequency, choice of seed mixture and its suitability for the intended purpose, appropriate choice and timely application of fertilisers and herbicides for best results at least cost, cutting dates (silage), clamp management and appropriate use of silage additives. Nor should any one of these factors be considered in isolation, they are all inter-related.

So how can farmers follow ‘best practice’ and ensure that grassland is managed ‘right’ for profit? The answer is an initiative called ‘grassright’ in which free information and advice is made available to farmers to help ensure the full profit potential of their grass is realised.

Visit www.grassright.co.uk and find out more.

This initiative is supported by a group of four companies, each with specific knowledge and expertise in certain areas of grassland management. They are: Advanta Seeds, Dow AgroSciences, Kemira GrowHow and OPICO.

The grassright group is also working with farmers, through practical on-farm trials, to assess the financial returns from adopting an integrated approach to grassland management.

An integrated approach to grassland management

Improving grassland productivity is not just a case of reseeding or controlling weeds. An integrated approach is needed. The Grassright Group has produced a booklet on Best Practice Grassland Management which encompasses all the aspects of establishing and maintaining good grassland. Downloaded the Grassright booklet, or to receive a printed copy email info@grassright.co.uk.