6 Best Pull Behind Seeders For Pasture Renovation for Small Acreage
Choosing a seeder for your small pasture? This guide reviews 6 top pull-behind models, comparing key features for optimal and efficient renovation.
You’ve done the hard work of liming, fertilizing, and maybe even tilling a section of tired pasture. Now comes the most critical step: getting the seed into the ground effectively. The right pull-behind seeder can be the difference between a lush, productive stand and a patchy, weed-filled disappointment.
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Key Seeder Features for Pasture Renovation
Choosing a seeder isn’t just about flinging seeds around. The single most important factor for successful germination is good seed-to-soil contact. Seeds left sitting on top of thatch or hard-packed earth are just expensive bird food. This is why many of the best pasture seeders incorporate more than just a hopper.
Look for implements that either prep the ground or press the seed in. Aerator-spreaders use spikes to poke holes in the soil, allowing seed and water to penetrate. Cultipacker seeders have a heavy, ridged roller that follows the seed drop, firmly pressing the seeds into the soil. Some all-in-one units even have small discs to create a shallow furrow.
Finally, consider the type of spreader mechanism. A drop spreader offers incredible precision, laying seed down in a defined path equal to the width of the hopper. A broadcast spreader uses a spinning impeller to throw seed over a much wider area. For small, irregular paddocks, a drop spreader prevents wasting seed in the fenceline, but for open fields, a broadcast spreader gets the job done much faster.
Brinly BS-36BH: Best All-in-One Aerator Spreader
The Brinly tow-behind aerator-spreader is a fantastic tool for overseeding an existing pasture without tearing everything up. It combines two jobs into one pass, saving you time and fuel. The steel tines perforate the soil, breaking up compaction and creating pockets for seed, water, and air to enter. The poly hopper then drops seed directly behind the aerator.
This isn’t a primary tillage tool. If you’re dealing with rock-hard clay or starting a new pasture from scratch, you’ll need to break the ground with something more aggressive first. But for rejuvenating a thinning stand of grass, it’s hard to beat the efficiency. You can load the weight tray with cinder blocks or sandbags to get deeper penetration in tougher soil.
The Brinly is a perfect match for someone pulling with an ATV or a heavy-duty garden tractor. It’s an affordable, effective way to thicken up your grazing paddocks each season. Just remember its purpose: it’s for improving what you have, not starting over.
Field Tuff FTF-36CPPS: Top Cultipacker Seeder
If you’re after the highest possible germination rate, a cultipacker seeder is your best friend. The Field Tuff model is a great example of this design. It’s essentially a seed box mounted on a heavy, cast-iron roller that pulverizes soil clumps and presses the seed firmly into the prepared seedbed.
This tool is a finisher, not a starter. You use it after you’ve tilled and smoothed the ground. The cultipacker creates a perfect, firm seedbed that holds moisture and ensures every seed makes solid contact with the soil. This is especially critical for small seeds like clover or alfalfa, which can easily fail if they aren’t pressed in properly.
The main tradeoff is the need for prior soil preparation. You can’t just hook this up and drive across a hard field. But if you already have a small disc or tiller, adding a cultipacker seeder to your process is the single best thing you can do to guarantee a thick, even stand. It takes an extra step, but the results speak for themselves.
Agri-Fab 45-0545: A Reliable Drop Spreader
Sometimes, precision matters more than speed. The Agri-Fab drop spreader is the perfect tool for those situations. It drops a controlled curtain of seed directly beneath the hopper, giving you crisp, clean edges. There’s no overthrow, no wasted seed in your driveway, and no chance of wind carrying expensive seed into the woods.
This level of control is ideal for smaller, oddly-shaped paddocks or for seeding close to sensitive areas like a vegetable garden or stream. The 32-inch spread width means you’ll be making more passes than with a broadcast spreader, but you’ll know exactly where every seed went. It’s also excellent for establishing pollinator strips or other specialized plantings where accuracy is key.
While it excels at precision, it requires a bit more care to avoid striping. You need to overlap your wheel tracks perfectly on each pass to ensure even coverage. For a half-acre paddock, this is a fantastic choice. For five acres of open field, you’ll probably want something that covers ground faster.
Earthway M20: Tow-Behind Broadcast Spreader
The broadcast spreader is the workhorse of small-acreage farming for a reason: it’s simple, fast, and versatile. The Earthway M20 is a durable, no-frills option that gets the job done efficiently. You can cover a wide swath—often 8 to 12 feet—in a single pass, dramatically cutting down your seeding time on larger fields.
The biggest challenge with a broadcast spreader is achieving true seed-to-soil contact. It throws the seed on top of the ground, so you must follow up with another step. The most common method is to lightly drag the pasture with a chain harrow or even a simple piece of chain-link fence with some weight on it. This scratches the soil surface and helps cover the seed.
Be mindful of the wind. Fine seeds like clover can be blown far off course on a breezy day, leading to uneven coverage. Despite these drawbacks, the broadcast spreader’s speed and affordability make it a go-to choice for many. It’s a great tool if you understand its limitations and have a plan for that crucial second step of pressing the seed in.
Firminator G-3: The Ultimate Food Plot Implement
Let’s be clear: the Firminator is in a different league. This is a heavy-duty, all-in-one implement that discs the soil, drops the seed, and cultipacks it in a single pass. It’s the definition of efficiency and is built to handle tough conditions, making it a favorite for serious food plot enthusiasts and small-scale farmers.
The G-3 model is designed for use with ATVs or UTVs, but don’t let that fool you; it’s a serious piece of equipment. The integrated discs can be angled to aggressively break new ground or set straight for light soil prep. The ground-driven Accu-Seed system handles a wide variety of seed sizes with precision. You are essentially doing all three steps of pasture renovation at once.
The primary considerations are cost and weight. This is a significant investment and requires a powerful machine to pull it effectively. For someone managing multiple pastures or food plots who values their time and wants guaranteed results, the Firminator can be a game-changer. For a single half-acre paddock, it’s likely overkill.
Moline Sure Stand: Heavy-Duty Seeding Choice
For those who want a dedicated seeder built with agricultural-grade durability, the Moline Sure Stand is worth a look. This isn’t a multi-purpose gadget; it’s a pure seeder designed for one job: planting seed with accuracy and consistency for years to come. It’s a step up from typical lawn and garden equipment.
These seeders often feature cast iron components, ground-driven mechanisms for precise seed metering, and heavy-duty frames. The ground drive is a key feature—it means the seeding rate automatically adjusts to your travel speed, preventing thin spots when you speed up or thick clumps when you slow down. It’s a more professional system.
The Sure Stand is heavier and more expensive than a simple broadcast spreader, and it doesn’t offer any built-in tillage. You’ll still need to prep your seedbed and likely follow with a roller or drag. This tool is for the hobby farmer who sees seeding as a critical, standalone task and wants a specialized, buy-it-for-life piece of equipment to do it right.
Calibrating Your Seeder for Accurate Seed Rates
No matter which seeder you choose, its factory settings are only a suggestion. Calibrating your seeder for your specific seed is the most overlooked and most important step in the entire process. Skipping it is like trying to bake a cake without measuring the flour—you might get lucky, but you’ll probably be disappointed.
The process is simple. Start by finding the recommended seeding rate on your seed bag, usually in pounds per acre. Then, figure out a small, measurable area, like 1/100th of an acre (435.6 sq ft). An easy way is to mark off a 10 ft by 44 ft rectangle. Set your seeder to a starting point, fill it with seed, and run it over a tarp covering that exact area.
Weigh the seed that was collected on the tarp. If the seed bag calls for 20 lbs per acre, you should have collected 0.2 lbs (20 / 100) of seed on your tarp. If you collected more, reduce the seeder’s opening; if you collected less, open it up. Repeat until you hit the target. It takes 15 minutes but saves you from wasting hundreds of dollars in seed or ending up with a failed pasture.
Ultimately, the best pull-behind seeder is the one that fits your tractor, your soil, and your goals. Whether it’s a simple broadcast spreader followed by a drag harrow or an all-in-one implement, focusing on seed-to-soil contact and proper calibration will always be your surest path to a thick, healthy pasture.
