Sizing a Disc Harrow for 30hp Kubota

[HarleyBob]

I am looking for a disc harrow for my Kubota L3010 3pt.
What would my weight limits be? I want as heavy as I can lift.

 

[Limecuda]

I just bought a 6' Howse at 840lbs. for my CK30 Kioti HST. It made a nice garden spot for me this weekend.

 

[art]

Harley some disc's offer racks for additional weight to be added but at 800 or 900 lbs and a six footer that is about it. Get the biggest blades possible for thickness and diameter and make sure you get good bearings. Most all disc's have adjustable gangs. In this area we sell very few disc's for compacts as tillers help to loosen the soil more, I do recommend a ripper before tilling for optimum seed beds for plant root growth. We do have stones, or bolders depending on the location choosen, some actually might add some topsoil to have a better garden bed!

 

[HarleyBob]

I just bought a 6' Howse at 840lbs. for my CK30 Kioti HST. It made a nice garden spot for me this weekend.

I looked at that unit, plus the next weight class up. How did yours cut
through sod and how do you think you would have done with something
200 pounds heavier. I have about 28 acres of area to prep, so I am looking
a little wider (7 1/2 foot) and, as a result, heavier. The area currently has
potato furrows that are grassed over that I need to level out. I will follow with a
drag harrow and then seed for hay.
Did you buy direct from Howse or elsewhere?

 

[Limecuda]

I bought at a local dealer.....$695. It was a great deal on a 3" tube disc. My particular disc is rated for 30-40hp. One thing about disc is you need a little speed for the disc to throw the dirt properly. If you get something too heavy it will bog you down. My disc is adjustable. I can set it to go from 3"-14" depth. You have to realize that not only are you pulling 850lbs but all of the weight of the dirt it is displacing as well. I went over my garden area (totally sodded over) several times to finely get the dirt the way I wanted to plant. I have gone over other areas once and then used my landscape rake to smooth areas.

 

[deereguy]

Unless you want to own a disk for future projects, I would consider getting a local farmer in there with bigger/heavier disk that could wipe it out in one or two passes. I realize you want it as smooth as possible for your future haying operations. How were you going to plant the seeds? I am looking into a Brillion Seeder when we do ours in the fall of 2008.

If you want to own a disk and enjoy the seat time (who doesn't), I would put almost any 6', 3pt disk behind it and weight it as needed or a 7'-8' drag disk might work (I don't have any experience with the drag disks).

Good Luck in your decision.

 

[HarleyBob]

H In this area we sell very few disc's for compacts as tillers help to loosen the soil more, I do recommend a ripper before tilling for optimum seed beds for plant root growth. We do have stones, or bolders depending on the location choosen, some actually might add some topsoil to have a better garden bed!

I certainly want a tiller at some point, but I wonder if this job is too big for that?
This is silt flood plain, not a rock for ten miles. Is the tiller good at taking out the furrows and leveling? My 30 hp would not take anything too wide.
Most of the farms around me are 80-200 acres and use large drag discs on
200 hp tractors. I would hire it out, but they are expensive.
We had a drag disc do an area of recently harvested poplar stumps and it
cost $70/acre. Two passes cost $1600. And they are so heavy they really compact soil.

 

[art]

The lighter the soil the quicker the job would be done. You don't need to run it at it's max depth unless you want to or need to!.. They can move along at a good clip and do a far better job then a disc of quickly mixing the soil. Five foot and one pass at three miles an hour is better then two or three passes at five mph but with soft soil it might disc up quickly. Here we have some clay and it make discing slow unless you have at least three hundred lbs per foot disc like the farmers.