cultivator, disk, or spike harrow

   / cultivator, disk, or spike harrow #31  
Don't get out much do ya? Probably not many small time flower planter/lawn sprayer type landscapers with a disc, but ANY landscaper worth their salt that are capable of doing larger jobs will have one. They are the absolute BEST way to prep rough areas for finishing. Tillers generally aren't the hot set-up around new construction, highway right-of-way landscaping or any place where rocks and/or construction debris will be frequent. Tilling isn't a great way to prep soil for grass seeding under normal circumstances. Grass doesn't like a deep, fluffy seedbed. A neighbor to my east "farms" almost 1000 acres, growing turf....sod.... sold to builders and golf course construction. After stripping sod off a parcel, he ALWAYS works the ground with a disc, then seeds with a Brillion seeder.

no construction companies with disc's either.. just farmers there haus... i've never seen a disc on a residential construction site... graders/dozers/loaders/bobcats.. never a disc.

for me a disc is after the plow. that's if you're old school or can't do no-till in your soil.. go find me an authoritative site, maybe an extension office that recommends discing for overseeding, i'd be interested in reading it..
 
   / cultivator, disk, or spike harrow #32  
go find me an authoritative site

Quoted directly from the Landpride web site regarding their 3 pt lift disk:

"Ideal for landscapers & small acreage farmers"

Emphasis mine.
 
   / cultivator, disk, or spike harrow #33  
no construction companies with disc's either.. just farmers there haus... i've never seen a disc on a residential construction site... graders/dozers/loaders/bobcats.. never a disc.

for me a disc is after the plow. that's if you're old school or can't do no-till in your soil.. go find me an authoritative site, maybe an extension office that recommends discing for overseeding, i'd be interested in reading it..


As I mentioned, you obviously don't get out much. I've worked for a large general contractor for near 40 years now. We have not ONE, but TWO heavy disc's that are used to mix soil and prep areas after construction is finished. As I mentioned, SMALL contractors may not have a disc. They do what they can with a minimum of equipment. I personally know of two residential "lawn installers" who use a box blade, a pulverizer, and a disc as their only methods of prepping lawns, followed by a 2-wheeled push-type broadcast seeder. BOTH do hundreds of lawns on new home construction yearly.

You have a lot to learn. It's not just what you know that makes a lasting impression on people, often times what makes a person look bad is what they DON'T know.


No tilling is an acceptable practice IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS. But not ALL situations. Most areas require fertilizing and liming to establish and maintain turf to an acceptable level. To some degree fertilizer and a greater degree, lime must be incorporated into the soil to acheive the desired results. No-tilling offers very little (nothing) to that end. Light tillage is the answer. On larger acreage, a tiller is too time consuming. In most cases, a tiller will tend to OVER-work soils before seeding. A disc is the best alternative.

When I have the time I'll dig up SEVERAL University Of Kentucky AG Research Dept reports and post them for your benefit. In 35+ years of farming in the state, and living relatively close to the AG Research Center, I was fortunate enough to participate in several of their studies. In an earlier post, I commented on waterway and filter strip reconstruction on my farm. That was done under the guidance and supervision of UK AG Extention Services. This isn't a guessing game with me. And for the record, the U of K AG Research School is widely accepted as the origin of "no-till farming" as it is known today. Even they don't promote it as the absolute answer to every situation.
 
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   / cultivator, disk, or spike harrow #34  
no construction companies with disc's either.. just farmers there haus... i've never seen a disc on a residential construction site... graders/dozers/loaders/bobcats.. never a disc.

Comparing a residential site to a 10-acre pasture? It's usually covered with some topsoil, smoothed with a boxblade, then solid sod is laid on top. Not much to a 9,000sqft lot.

You may see a tiller around a residential site, but not someone putting in a 100-acre pasture.

You should have stayed at 240. :D

But I will admit an advantage to a seeder is it is designed to disturd the soil less..IE flipping soil will germinate all those seeds sitting on the soil. But depending on what you are trying to do, you still have to spray for weeds in undisturbed soil every year or so until they are gone. Serious guys will burn, roundup, then plant. But I think the OP simply wants a cover crop in the winter.

A straight disk is used around here. Usually guys will watch the weather, disk/plant before a good rain which will cover the seed nicely.
 
   / cultivator, disk, or spike harrow #35  
I hear a lot of folks talking about spraying for weeds. Its odd, my B-I-L is a cattle farmer and does his own hay and grazing areas. I've known him for 25 years and I think he has sprayed his pastures maybe twice and usually it is the grazing pastures, not the hay fields and it is to get rid of one specific weed (yellow flower, aggressive, cows won't eat it).

I guess the difference is that he has lots and lots of pasture and so high yields are not as important. He rotates the cows a lot and has a fair amount of acreage for hay. All he does with the hay (fescue) is spread turkey manure on it a couple of times a year.

He did overseed following the recent drought. He used a large no-till drill and it worked amazingly well. But as mentioned a drill can be big, heavy, sometimes a bear to transport and most of all, very expensive.
 
   / cultivator, disk, or spike harrow #36  
I hear a lot of folks talking about spraying for weeds. Its odd, my B-I-L is a cattle farmer and does his own hay and grazing areas. I've known him for 25 years and I think he has sprayed his pastures maybe twice and usually it is the grazing pastures, not the hay fields and it is to get rid of one specific weed (yellow flower, aggressive, cows won't eat it).

I guess the difference is that he has lots and lots of pasture and so high yields are not as important. He rotates the cows a lot and has a fair amount of acreage for hay. All he does with the hay (fescue) is spread turkey manure on it a couple of times a year.

He did overseed following the recent drought. He used a large no-till drill and it worked amazingly well. But as mentioned a drill can be big, heavy, sometimes a bear to transport and most of all, very expensive.


In many cases, cattle and horse owners simply cannot spray. Certain pesticides aren't safe around animals. Spraying would eliminate those fields from active use for a time. While that's not as much of an issue if you have PLENTY of land available, smaller operations simply cannot leave a field out of the loop for prolonged periods. In quite a few cases, owners simply do not want chemicals used on their property. No-tilling into an existing HEALTHY stand of grass/turf for the purpose of STRENGTHENING that stand (overseeding) is doable without chemicals, but establishing a new species of grass/crop via no-till generally requires a chemical burndown. If the use of chemicals IS NOT AN OPTION, then light tillage becomes the BEST option by default.

The main thing everyone must keep in mind, what works in 200 acre field A for farmer Brown might not be a very good solution for Mrs Smith and her two horses on her 3 acres. There's a reason why you can find dozens of accepted methods of growing grass. It takes ALL of them to cover ALL the bases.
 
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   / cultivator, disk, or spike harrow #37  
In most cases, a tiller will tend to OVER-work soils before seeding. A disc is the best alternative.


Ha! now you tell me. When I did my hay field and new pasture I tilled the WHOLE DANG thing only to find out that I had to use a cultipacker before the planter would work correctly. It pays to know what the heck your doing before you spend your money.

When I rip up and smooth and replant my front lawn I will NOT be using a cultipacker after seeding. I do not want the /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ texture in my new lawn. I will have to rent a roller.
 
   / cultivator, disk, or spike harrow #38  
I do not want the /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ texture in my new lawn. I will have to rent a roller.

One of those pulverizers I showed above would be perfect for that. They are pricey though.
 
   / cultivator, disk, or spike harrow #39  
One of those pulverizers I showed above would be perfect for that. They are pricey though.

They've gone up a few pesos since the last one I bought but still not too bad compared to some of the "premium brands". I paid less than $800 (and no shippng charge!) just 5 months ago.


Tractor Soil Pulverizers
 
   / cultivator, disk, or spike harrow #40  
One of those pulverizers I showed above would be perfect for that. They are pricey though.


Of course drag a skid or 2x6 over the ^^^^^ and you are good to go! Never under estimate the power of cheap! :D
 
 
 
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