Disk harrow

[Ken1945]

Gentlemen, I am new to your forum. I've been away from tractors and equipment, meaning away from the farm, for more than 45 years. As you can imagine I no longer remember what size harrow my recently obtained 1996 MF253 with a 57 hp turbo diesel should pull. Growing up on the farm our largest tractor was a Super A Farmall with a lot less power. If memory serves me now I think the turning plow, we called it a bottom plow in Ga, was 17 inches and the harrow was 48 inches.

I know the MF253 should pull at least a 6 foot harrow... but that would be a guess on my part so before I search for one I would like to get information about the correct size.

I also have a 1955 model 60 all-fuel John Deere runs but still a work in progress. Restoration is going real slow... as the old farmer, my grandfather, always said, "going slow like the cat eating a steel grubbing hoe."

Sure glad I found your site... Ken

 

[bp fick]

Hey Ken, welcome to TBN. You'll enjoy this site.

Disks are tough to pre-determine, sometimes, as to size because the nature of them causes them to perform differently. An aggressive pitch on it will bite more severely and humble a tractor, while other disks don't bite much, don't weigh much and don't end up doing much either.

Glad to have you aboard.

 

[SI2305]

Ken1945,

I can't help you with your issue but I just wanted to say welcome to TBN and welcome back to tractors.

SI2305

 

[Ken1945]

Re: Disk harrow... question rephrased w/additional info

Thanks for the welcomes.

I'll rephrase my question... maybe some one that has a 50 to 60 hp, mine has 57hp, diesel with 8 spd tranny that works soft, not sand, loam soil will tell me what width and weight disk harrow they use on their 3 pt lift.

Any and all help, recommendations and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks, Ken

 

[vjcoppola]

Hello Ken,
I think you could pull more than 6'. I pulled an 8' pull behind for years with my old Ford 2000 gas at only 36 HP. It had adjustable pitch so if it got hard I'd set it with less pitch. Then I bought a 6 1/2' 3PT disk form Central Tractor, ( see it here) and I put about 375 LBS on it and the little Ford pulls it without a problem. It seems to me that you could do at least 8' and probably 10. How much ground are you going to plant? If it isn't a whole lot a 6' might make the most sense considering cost and ease of use. This year I'll be using it with my new Mahindra 5010, 49 HP. I haven't run the disk with it yet but judging by the difference I've seen plowing, digging and mowing it's going to be like there' nothing back there.

Put up some pics of the JD 60 project. Those are always interesting. I used to have a 1939 JD B. Bought it from a junk yard and restored/rebuilt it. Lots of fun.

 

[Ken1945]

Thanks for the information vjcoppola. I was thinking that it should be able to pull a 6 or 7 footer with no problems but I wasn't sure. I have been away from the farm for a long time.

I was told the JD model 60 I have is one of the first ones that came from the factory with power steering, three pt lift, rollamatic and powertrol. I don't know if the information I received is correct or not but I did get to research that it has a 321 cci engine. When you think about that... it was almost had a much displacement as the 327 cci v8 chevy.

Here's a not so funny story.... although it is funny now since I survived it. Work on it basically stopped right after I bought it. I was moving it about 6 miles from a barn to my shed and to make a long story short... the pin came out of the connector on the steering shaft under the hood and it wasn't visible. As you may know these things only happen when you are on a steep down hill slope in road gear near a big tree. My 50 inch diameter tree was just 12 feet from the steering failure. The right rear caught the tree and started to climb. It catapulted me about 15 feet into another tree. In about 3 hours I was black as a Navy dress shoe from the bottom of my rib cage to the backs of my knees. Tractor was bottom up still running. I managed to crawl under it and shut it down. Only damage to tractor was radiator grill and hood from wrecker righting it again. I've got new sheet metal but I never seem to get time to work on it anymore.

As soon as I finish house renovations I'm hoping I can get back to restoring it.

Again I thank you all for the information. I am sure I will be asking for more tractor education and tips in the very near future. Ken