Engine horsepower or PTO horsepower?

[porky1]

Shopping around for disc. At 9 hp per foot do I figure size on engine horsepower or PTO horsepower? Will be pulled by a gear tractor.. Thanks

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I usually check with the manufacturer before I buy an implement, but the general rule I have learned from them is that if the implement is PTO powered, then their recommendations for power are PTO hp and if the implement is pulled but not powered, then they generally are referring to engine hp.

 

[MMM]

You would actually need the drawbar horsepower spec. Still, this isn't right for every type of ground. Heavy, stiff soil takes more hp and loams require less. Best ask area farmers or disc owners what they get by with. Also, don't confuse a garden disc with the offset mentioned in other post. Garden and med weight tandem disc would require considerably less than 9hp/ft, probably about 5 or 6hp. That said, I'm sure a bunch will chime in and say their 20hp tractor will pull a 6 footer through clay all day in 4th. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[rambler]

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I would use drawbar hp for a pulled implement as others say.

I've run 3 different ag disks on a lot of different soil conditions. This has to be the most variable implement out there! I can pull a 13' disk in cornstalks or bean stubble with 36 hp all day long, don't even know it is there. Then in spring in worked dirt, I have a difficult time pulling a 10' disk with 56 hp. I also pull a 21' disk with 135 hp, plays with it in cornstalks, never tried it in fresh dirt - I'd be scared to! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Blade size, spacing, and angle also have a big, big impact on how it pulls, next to soil conditions.

--->Paul