Tiller Tiller or Hay King disc..?

[Green is Keen]

I've got 5 acres which I intend to make into a fairway/park like setting with lots of green (lawn, evergreens, etc....).

I will use a box blade & FEL to to shape the site, but not sure if a disc will provide me the ability to work the soil (reaching every little nook & crannie) and was thinking maybe a tiller would be needed.

Any thoughts on this project would be appreciated.

My neighbors already think I'm out of my mind, but as the say, "Build it and they will come".........

 

[jbrumberg]

Green is Keen:

Welcome to TBN ! A lot of us who belong to TBN are out of or minds . I/we do not know what size tractor and/or a description of your property you have so more information such as terrain, soil texture, existing vegetation, etc. would be helpful. Tilling 5 A's would take forever. You might be better off contracting this job out to a heavy equipment operator. Jay

 

[RalphVa]

You could do 5 A with a disc or a multi-tine cultivator, as long as there isn't much vegetation there. A tiller would take forever. If there's vegetation, you'll need to plow it under with a moldboard plow first. This will take a while, even if you can pull 2 bottoms. Better to have someone who can pull 3 or more to do it.

Ralph

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

If your place is rocky, you'll want to use a disc that will roll over rocks. If you have plenty of dirt, get it heavy disked/plowed 1st and then you can use a finer disc or tiller to wrap it up. If you get a big flood whilst the dirt is loose, you can lose a bunch of soil to erosion.

Most people around here would hire out the prep work and then have it sprigged with hybrid bermuda (jigs or tifton) and then use your machine to take long term care of it. Although if you want short grass, you can buy seed readily available lawn bermuda grass. I recommend the Douglas King seed company in San Antonio. good luck.

 

[john_bud]

You can do 5 acres in a day, easy. Tilling virgin soil takes 2-3x the time of cutting a tall grass lawn. In 8 hours you can till the entire 5 acres with two passes using a 60" tiller.

If you have rock hard clay, you should spend 4 hours draging a middle buster or bottom plow around. You don't have to turn it all over, just break it up.

jb

 

[Green is Keen]

I apologize for the lack of information on this post but, I'm kinda new at this.

Anyway, my 5 acres is fairly level, with a few small mesquite trees, even fewer Junipers or Cedars and yet to find any major rocks. The soil is the stickiest black clay I've ever seen when wet and extremely hard when dry.

As for vegetation, there is a couple clusters of "Prickly Pear" cactus, some Johnson Grass ( I call it Texas Bamboo ) over my leach field and the rest is covered with some plain old prairie grass.

I've got a brand new 5103 to tear up until I figure out how to work everything and as I said according to my neighbors some out of my mind thoughts on what can be accomplished.

I stumbled across this user's board when I was researching my tractor purchase and feel somewhat comfortable sharing my dreams with the folks here.

I did read on another post from "Farmwithjunk" that grass doesn't like fluffy soil, but needs a well packed base. So, I don't know what or where to begin after making the initial cuts and shaping of the land.

Thanks for any input you can offer.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I apologize for the lack of information on this post but, I'm kinda new at this.

Anyway, my 5 acres is fairly level, with a few small mesquite trees, even fewer Junipers or Cedars and yet to find any major rocks. The soil is the stickiest black clay I've ever seen when wet and extremely hard when dry.

As for vegetation, there is a couple clusters of "Prickly Pear" cactus, some Johnson Grass ( I call it Texas Bamboo ) over my leach field and the rest is covered with some plain old prairie grass.

I've got a brand new 5103 to tear up until I figure out how to work everything and as I said according to my neighbors some out of my mind thoughts on what can be accomplished.

I stumbled across this user's board when I was researching my tractor purchase and feel somewhat comfortable sharing my dreams with the folks here.

I did read on another post from "Farmwithjunk" that grass doesn't like fluffy soil, but needs a well packed base. So, I don't know what or where to begin after making the initial cuts and shaping of the land.

Thanks for any input you can offer.

Now that I'm in the midlle of this, I might as well give my $.02 worth

Grass doesn't do as well seeded into a loose seedbed. It doesn't do well seeded into "concrete" either. Ground tat's compacted from years of use sometimes needs a little help. Soil compacts from animals (pasture) as fast as from heavy farm equipment. By your description, it doesn't sound like this ground has been used for much at all for a time. Would that be a correct assumtion? Anyway, you can work up the ground (i.e. tiller, disc, plow, ect) to get things leveled and cleaned up. I'd avoid working the type of soil you described when it's too dry OR too wet, too dry being the worst time. You don't want talcum powder. That'll compact with the first rain. Till with some moisture, drag it to level, then seed, then pack (cultipacker....SOME seeders will have an integral cultipacker)

My personal recomendation on a tiller vs. a disc? I've done it both ways. I tend to do things "the old fashioned way" until someone can prove newer is better. If I was doing what you're doing, it would be with a tiller. If there was/is heavy grass cover and/or weeds, I'd knock them down with round up, then turn that under with a plow. That would only make tilling easier. Discing with that sort of ground conditions would probably require multiple pass's to get ANY soil penetration. Tiller is a one shot deal. May be FASTER in the long run.

 

[Mike120]

I prefer a tiller unless I am doing a large field and it's pretty dry. You can play with your speed to avoid powderizing the soil. I'll be tilling 11 acres this weekend so I can seed it for forage. I'll use the tiller instead of disc because the ground will be damp and I won't get good traction pulling the disc. I don't have to worry about that with the tiller. It's also easier to set the depth on the tiller than the disc.

I tend to use a tiller more than a disc because most of the time I'm working in 1 acre horse paddocks and it's a lot faster. The disc works better in the fields unless they're damp. Thankfully I don't have to worry about rocks in my area.

 

[Green is Keen]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your input and the sharing of your experience, as I'm capable of turning plastic plants brown.

This "Working with the Soil" is proving to be a major learning experience, yet extremely rewarding. Yesterday I found the thread "Planting Wheat" and was totally engrossed, finding the information there both interesting as well as over-whelming, but to see the end result of that project only makes me more eager to begin mine.

I guess now I need to find a good tiller and get this project started, then I'll have to pump you guys for plant & seed recommendations.

Thanks again and please offer any suggestions or advice to this "Want-2-B Farmer".

 

[Z-Michigan]

Mike - are you tilling the pastures because they're compacted, have too many weeds, or why? I'm plotting my pasture renovation right now and trying to figure out both tools and method. I'll probably restart my thread from a month ago shortly.