Z-Michigan
Veteran Member
Well after two plus months of debating, we finally bought a disc harrow today. The one I selected is the "Farm Force" 6.5 foot "heavy duty" model, see:
American Farmland - Heavy-Duty 6’ Disc 18” Blades - By Tarter Gate
This is now sold at the local TSC stores. Weight is rated as 846lbs and the discs are 18", with notched front and smooth rears.
I've never used a disc before today. I ran it around my to-be hayfield for about half an hour, and found that it was smoothing the soil and preparing a seedbed somewhat, but only with multiple passes. So, I have some fairly mundane operating questions:
1) The disc came with both gangs set in the shallowest angle (discs almost perpendicular to direction of travel). I am finding that the disc is slicing but only very slightly disturbing the soil. I assume I should angle both gangs more?
2) Related note: while discing in fairly dry soil that has been chiseled, I am getting only 2 to 3" of penetration. That doesn't seem like much, especially since this disc is relatively heavy for the class. Any suggestions on getting more penetration, other than adding weight? If I do want to add weight, what are good methods and how much weight is likely to be ok?
3) Most mundane of all - the gang angles are held in place by large bolts instead of by the handy pull pins I could have had on a disc costing $500 more. I have tried to loosen the nuts with a 15" wrench and haven't budged them. The disc hasn't been sitting too long and there's no outward sign of corrosion on the fasteners. Any suggestions besides a cheater bar? I have read about something called a torque multiplier - is this an actual tool that will increase the torque of a wrench? Where would I get one?
4) How critical is my toplink adjustment? I tried using the disc level and tried it with the toplink shortened, resulting in the rear gang barely skimming the ground. Surprisingly, with most weight on the front gang, I seemed to be getting less penetration rather than more, and less smoothing. So I went back to the original setting and oddly the rear gang seems to be doing more of the work. I'm wondering if I passed through and beyond a sweet spot where both gangs would work, but the total adjustment of the toplink was barely over an inch. Is this a really critical setting?
American Farmland - Heavy-Duty 6’ Disc 18” Blades - By Tarter Gate
This is now sold at the local TSC stores. Weight is rated as 846lbs and the discs are 18", with notched front and smooth rears.
I've never used a disc before today. I ran it around my to-be hayfield for about half an hour, and found that it was smoothing the soil and preparing a seedbed somewhat, but only with multiple passes. So, I have some fairly mundane operating questions:
1) The disc came with both gangs set in the shallowest angle (discs almost perpendicular to direction of travel). I am finding that the disc is slicing but only very slightly disturbing the soil. I assume I should angle both gangs more?
2) Related note: while discing in fairly dry soil that has been chiseled, I am getting only 2 to 3" of penetration. That doesn't seem like much, especially since this disc is relatively heavy for the class. Any suggestions on getting more penetration, other than adding weight? If I do want to add weight, what are good methods and how much weight is likely to be ok?
3) Most mundane of all - the gang angles are held in place by large bolts instead of by the handy pull pins I could have had on a disc costing $500 more. I have tried to loosen the nuts with a 15" wrench and haven't budged them. The disc hasn't been sitting too long and there's no outward sign of corrosion on the fasteners. Any suggestions besides a cheater bar? I have read about something called a torque multiplier - is this an actual tool that will increase the torque of a wrench? Where would I get one?
4) How critical is my toplink adjustment? I tried using the disc level and tried it with the toplink shortened, resulting in the rear gang barely skimming the ground. Surprisingly, with most weight on the front gang, I seemed to be getting less penetration rather than more, and less smoothing. So I went back to the original setting and oddly the rear gang seems to be doing more of the work. I'm wondering if I passed through and beyond a sweet spot where both gangs would work, but the total adjustment of the toplink was barely over an inch. Is this a really critical setting?