How wide of a disc can I pull?

[dweitzel]

I need to purchase a disc. How wide of a disc can I pull with a 36hp Cub Cadet 7360ss 4wd, with a Mitsubitshi diesel in it. Does it make a difference in width if I go with a 3 point disc, or a pull behind other than not having remote hydraulics to raise and lower a pull behind and the lift limit on my 3-point?

Can I disc in 4wd, or will this put a lot of wear and tear on the driveline?

I can leave the FEL on for weight and traction if it will help.

I have a couple of pretty large hay fields in SE Indiana that I grazed cattle on this spring that are pretty rutted up. I need to level them out a bit and spread some clover seed this fall.

I know a 8'-9' disc will take me a long time with multiple passes, but it's all I have to work with right now.

I'm guessing a 8-9' would be my limit. Any suggestions?

Dave

 

[Z-Michigan]

Let me start out by saying I don't have lots of experience, but I do have a disc and have used it for a similar purpose.

First, the easy one - go ahead and use 4wd for discing. It's not hard on your tractor and may reduce fuel usage by reducing slip.

Leaving the FEL on may help for weight but is kinda rough on the FEL when going over rough ground. I do it, but I'm not sure I would recommend it.

If you use a pull-behind disc without remote hydraulics, you will disk everything from when you hook up to unhook. Do you need to cross any roads or areas you don't want to disk?

I pull a 6.5' disk with a 50hp utility tractor. I'm not at its limit, but with the disks steeply angled and in clay loam soil I'm definitely making it work. I can't really see a 36hp tractor pulling a 9' disk, but again I don't have that much experience. I would suggest a 6' or so if you end up buying new. Then you say that 8-9' will take you a while - how many acres are we talking? If it's dozens or more, you may want to hire it out to someone with a 20+ foot offset disc.

 

[sr160009]

I am not sure your tractor will pull a 8' or 9' disk without a lot of wear on your tractor. I have a MF 34 PTO 2wd tractor and it has a hard time with a 6' disk. I am in a sandy area though. I would not go to a disk more than 7'.

 

[Soundguy]

6.5' is prett standard for CUT's in the 30hp range. You might get away with an 8' drag type in lighter soils. Ultimately it will depend on disc type, angle of cut and soil type.. etc..

Ditto on the 4wd.. use it.. etc.

Soundguy

 

[AllWaysBreakinSomething]

I like heavy disks thus I have an older one that is 7ft 3pt. It's really heavy. I would not pick it up with my MF1020 -21hp (I use a modern light weight 5 ft with it)

I second Soundguy. You probably would be happier with a 6ft or less for that tractor especially 3pt. I have not used pull types with remote hydro.

Hope this helps.

 

[dweitzel]

Sounds like you talked me into about a 6' I've seen a few in the paper near me lately, guess I need to start calling and see what kind of shape they are in. Guess I need to look at all the bearings and scrapers if they have them.

Another question on topic, someone mentioned the angle of the discs? Do some of these have angles on the cutters that can be adjusted? If so, is that a really good feature to look for? How exactly will having the angle adjusted work better for breaking up the soil?

Sorry for the newbie questions. Have not done a lot of farming, but enjoying what I'm doing!

To answer the other poster, I probably eventually need to do about 5 acres, but I can work on it a little bit at a time. No need to do the entire thing at once.

Dave

 

[Oleozz]

I am pulling a 10 ft transport disc with a 45 hp tractor with no problems. I run in 4wd and don't have the discs angled real steep and I also keep the FEL on (except for the bucket) when discing. My discs run in pairs of five and you angle them at the main brackets by pulling a pin and moving them in sections. Hope that makes sense.

 

[dweitzel]

I did a new search for "disc" and spent a lot of time reading and I think I've understand the angle issue on how it will "cut" up the soil more aggressively the more angle on it, and NO all discs do not allow adjustment of angle.

Does look like a trade off on horse power vs angle though. Looks like I'm on the right track with a 6-7' disc though. I'll probably go 7' if I can find one that I can adjust the angle on the rear blades so I can set it up based on the dirt quality and amount of moisture in the soil.

If anyone else can school me more in depth, please do so. I saw a lot of soundguy;s posts and found them very informative, but I did not see all the info about weight, angle, soil type, and size of disc per HP in any one post. Maybe time to pull it all together in one post to help us newbies when searching for info. Looks like this question has come up a lot.

Dave

 

[Z-Michigan]

To answer the other poster, I probably eventually need to do about 5 acres, but I can work on it a little bit at a time. No need to do the entire thing at once.

Dave

I was in your shoes just under two months ago. Got lots of help here. Hopefully you found the thread I started then.

I disced about 4 acres in the last few weeks and it didn't take long at all with a 6.5' disc - maybe 3 hours for one pass over everything, and I'm sure I wasn't being super efficient, nor was I trying to work really fast. I found 3-3.5mph worked for my setup and soil conditions. I do think I would have had fewer weeds if I had done 2-4 passes spaced 1-3 weeks apart, but we were in a hurry to plant grass seed.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

A great deal depends on what you're discing. If you're discing plowed ground, you'll be struggling with anything bigger than 7'-6". More likely a 6'er would do. Discing untilled ground you can pull a 10'er unless you have hilly ground. I've pulled a 10' disc with 40 hp 2wds and had no trouble. I've pulled an 8' wheel disc in chisel plowed ground and a 60hp tractor that had it's hands full.

Back in the late 60's, John Deere did tests that confirmed the theory that smaller implements pulled at higher ground speeds were more efficient, and still covered the same (or more) ground in a set amount of time. Unless you're tackling hundreds of acres, I'd stick with "smaller" than the maximum you can pull. Save fuel and save wear and tear on your tractor.