I'm looking at soil health and compaction.
Does heavy harrowing compact the soil?

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My grandfather used to say he needed to harrow after seeding to "Knock the air out the soil". Harrows increase the bulk density of soil, so yes, they compact it.

Is it enough to damage soil? Up for debate I think. I don't heavy harrow after a couple of wrecks in the 90s where it dried the ground out so bad after a fall harrow that the crop didn't germinate in the spring. The crop germinated late but it still germinated so any effects of harrowing are temporary I would say.

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Every last tillage operation causes compaction where the tool touches the soil.  It may lift or shove aside the the soil, 
and fluff up the ground above, but beneath the tool tip, it compacts every single thing that you pull it through/across.  Best advice I could give is till with a purpose, there should be an identifiable reason for any tillage operation. If it's just to spread straw, fix your combine, so that's to say, if you have a problem that's identifiable, fix it rather than bandaid it with a cultivator/harrow/vertical killer.

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Thanks *******. In researching ways to increase yeilds and profitability, root development and plant health through improving soil vs just fertilizing every year can hopefully lead to healither and improved gains. For years deep tilling and cultivation with shovels was the only way things were done on the family farm. Multiple passes were needed to prepare for the next crop year resulting in extra work and cost as well as moisture loss, and in our area  excellent rock production. Trying to maintain moisture and decrease successful rock crops require different methods. Learning about and eliminating a hard pan is going to be the next step in plant development and hopefully better success.

Thanks ******, agreed. Harrowing after seeding can seriously harm new seed growth as it the soil seems to crust up causing young plants to work much harder to sprout and develop making it weaker overall throughout developement.
Great comment *****. Soil health is the primary goal. Straw management is the challange right now. The last few years have produced alot of straw making spring seeding difficult to complete with accurate and uniform depths. We are a small operation and run 1688's so spreading the straw isn't as uniform as the new machines today. Last year's snow in Oct flattened crops creating even more straw to contend with.

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Look for a used Reddekopp straw chopper for your 1688s. It grabs all the chaff and straw, spreads an honest 30 feet without effort, with some tweaks could do more.  I had that on a 1480 back in the day, was worth many multiple times over what it cost in reduced straw management costs, and soil health by keeping organic matter and nutrients rather than baling or burning and losing it all.  So what if it costs a bit in fuel or ground speed at the combine. A tillage pass before you seed costs more

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Great advice. 
Thank you.

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From my experience a field cultivator is one of the worst creators of hardpan

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I'm looking at soil health and compaction. Does heavy harrowing compact the soil?

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