Patent ID: 7942210

Claim:
A tillage method comprising the steps of: working the soil with a tillage tool that dislodges and leaves clods of soil behind the tool as the tool is moved through the soil; and breaking up the clods using a ground-driven reel behind the tool that is formed in part by a plurality of axially spaced apart, ground-engaging members and a plurality of elongated, flexible, clod-engaging elements that extend generally axially of the axis of rotation of the reel and are spaced about the periphery of the reel between adjacent ones of the ground-engaging members, each of said flexible elements comprising a stretch spanning said adjacent members that is longer than the distance between the adjacent members such that the element stretch is loose and deflects radially upon rotation of the reel, said flexible elements being selected from a group consisting of lengths of cable and lengths of chain with interconnected links.