Disc vs Spring Tooth Cultivator

[dbnair]

Hi,

I was wondering what would be the difference or benefit of using a disc vs a spring tooth cultivator (optional with chain harrows) after plowing for seedbed prep?

I have the cultivator and harrows but don't yet have a disc.

And how big a disc can I pull with a 65 horsepower new tractor?

Thanks,
Grant

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Grant,
The disc will cut the ground up better and leave it smoother than the cultivators will on turned/plowed ground. The cultivators will have a hard time chopping the "clods" up. You can also drag a post or something similar behind the disc to give a very smooth finish and excellent seed bed.

As far as to the size disc for 65 horses I would say 10'-12' should pull fine.

Several people on this sight pull big disc and can give you better advice.

If Farmwithjunk does not reply to your post PM him.

And just in case no one has welcomed you to TBN...Welcome /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Also fill out your profile and let us know more about you. You never know some of us may stop in on Sunday for chicken /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Robert_in_NY]

As far as a disc goes it depends on your ground and does your tractor have FWA? I can pull a 12' disc in 2wd with a 55 horse tractor as long as it is dry out. If the ground is moist then I need to use the FWA and if the ground is wet then I drop down to the 10' disc. I would not go bigger then a 12' disc though with your machine as a 14' disc pulls real hard and if you find a soft spot (even with FWA) you will be stuck.

If your ground is clay then you will want to stay with a 10' disc with wide spacing as the disc will plug up and the wheels on the tractor will plug up and you will be sitting there spinning. The wider spacing on the discs will help keep the clay from plugging up. Down side is that it does not chop the material up as fine. If the ground is in perfect shape and you don't have too much or too little moisture in the clay then you won't have a problem but it is a pain in the rear to clean all the clay out of the disc gangs when she plugs up.

One item that is great for preparing a seed bed is a cultimulcher. If you don't know what one is it is basically two cultipackers with spring shanks in between. The first packer breaks the clumps down, the shanks rip everything up again and break things up more and the back packer pushes everything flat as well as pushes any small stones back down into the ground. By far the best tool I have found for finishing a seedbed.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Oh sure, put the pressure on ME!

I pull a 10 disc with a 60 HP tractor (when I disc. Don't do that much anymore)

The type of disc will have some bearing. Some will have wider (or narrower) disc spacing. Most "finishing disc's" will have the spaced at 7" to 7-1/2". SOme will have them at 9". There's even a few bigger models with 10" or 11" spacing. The WIDER they are spaced, the HARDER they pull. Why? Because you get more lbs. per blade. That makes it dig deeper.

Long and short.... 65 HP will pull most any 10' disc. If it pulls EASY, just go a little higher gear.

 

[rambler]

With bigger equipment a disk is almost not used any more here in the midwest. We do primary tillage (plowing or heavy ripping) in fall, and by spring the soil is fairly mellow & wet. a field cultivator does a great job of working this into a mellow seedbed. A disk tends to pack it down into hard clay roadbed.

However, if you are in a sitiation where you plow in spring & follow within a week with reworking the soil, a field cultivator will bob around the lumps and not do much for you. You'll have better luck with a disk in those conditions to chop up the hard clods of dirt.

We used to pull a 10 or a 12 foot disk with 35 - 55 hp tractors. That was a bit much at times, in fresh plowing your 60+ hp should work ok with anything that size range. Should you want to cut up cornstalks or bean stubble in solid ground in fall, your tractor won't even know a 12' disk is back there. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif In fresh plowed ground, a 10 foot will be right sometimes.

Field cultivators dry out, fluff up the soil, air it out, warm it up.

disks pack down, level the soil, cut up stalks or hard clods of dirt.

--->Paul

 

[MtnViewRanch]

dbnair, I would like to share a little info that I am aware of about disc's. You need to be careful about what size and type of disc everybody is talking about. All disc's are not created equal. Here is an example that I personally have dealt with. I have a 12' offset Kilfer disc ( John Deere ) that I pull with my Cat D6. The 1'st pass over my land they dig in about 6", 2'nd pass 9", ( the ground really looks good after 2'nd pass /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif ) The tractor has a harder time 2'nd time around.
A guy that I know has a 12' offset disc that requires a D8 to pull, and he uses a D9! Says that a D8 has to work to hard. My point being, get all info before running out and buying. I do not know what I would use in place of my disc's.
Good luck with what ever you get /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Brian

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Robert, from what you said about clay packing between the blades, it sounds like you know from experience, (me to /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif) Have you tried blade scrapers? I need to look for some for my disc's. Just thought I would mention it.
Brian /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[rambler]

My disks have scrapers, & still plug. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Clay is fun, isn't it?

--->Paul

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I have all the scrapers on my disc, replaced any of them that were missing when I bought it and when that clay is sticky, all the scrapers do is cut a groove in it. Luckily, I only have clay in certain areas and not all over.