How far into ground should disc harrow go? ? ?

[jeff9366]

Thanks for all the info. I have the DH2572 with 22 discs. So it's fairly beefy, but I WILL have to figure out how to add weight to that.

Land Pride DH2572, like all Land Pride Disc Harrows, has pan spacing of 7-1/2".

This 7-1/2" spacing yields 20 pans in your implement = considerable built in 'float". Tandem Disc Harrows with 7-1/2" pan spacing are optimized for smoothing, rather than optimized for penetration.

A Disc Harrow with 22" pans/72" width and 9" spacing yields 16 pans = less float/more penetration.

Harrow weight on 16 discs, rather than 20 discs, puts perhaps 15% more cutting weight on each disc.

Experiment with gang adjustments before adding supplementary weight. Once you adjust the gangs aggressively and shorten the Top Link to shift additional 30% to 50% weight to the front, cutting gangs, adding supplemental weight will make little difference with 7-1/2" spaced pans.

Better to spend your time acquiring a used, two-bottom Moldboard Plow in 12" width or 14" width for <$400.

I think it fair to opine that few who supplementary weight Disc Harrows know how to adjust Disc Harrows for optimum performance in factory original issue.


Nebrfarmr
Veteran Advisor - Successful Farming
‎09-22-2011
Re: Disc spacing

"We have both a 9" and 7 1/2" spaced disk, both are older IH disks, so they are built similarly.

Wider spacing - goes deeper, pulls just a little easier for the depth you are going, doesn't plug. Usually with the wider spacing, you go with bigger blades. Chops through heavier residue easier. Better for going deep, and burying some stalks.

Narrower spacing - smoother seedbeds, doesn't make as big of clods if the ground is a little wet, cuts stalks into smaller pieces, but will plug sooner in heavy trash. In wet conditions you better be sure the scrapers are in A-1 shape, at least on our soils. One pass with it on bean ground leaves the ground as smooth as 2 passes with the 9" spaced one. However, in heavy cornstalks, and deep ridges, it is hard to get it down deep enough to chop the stalks in the bottom of the ridge all the way through in tough conditions."

 

[JethroB]

You can add a drag behind your disc harrow in your final pass to smooth the soil, much like your chain-link drag will do but without the additional pass. I use an old piece of RR track about 3 feet wider than my harrow. When not in use it rides on top and acts as additional weight. Track typically weighs 25-30 lbs per foot. Old utility poles or I-beams work too. Just be sure to secure it as they like to bounce off when not in use.

 

[Cycledude]

Looks like you have a very nice three point hookup disk !
Ain’t no disk going to work up very well what you described in only one pass, it will definitely take time and multiple passes .

 

[jezreel]

Okey Doke. . .:cool2::cool2::cool2: I got to it today. Lots to say, so I will number them.

1) I made a lot of passes and WOW it did Very Well, as you can see in the pics. So, I think I am good to go with this DH. With my sandy-loam soil, I don't believe I need to plow.

2) I was under the assumption (Stupid me to "assume") that the 3pt would force the DH down into the ground. After making numerous passes, I saw how the DH began going in deeper.

3) When I start discing the all my pastures and my neighbor's pastures, I will want the first pass to take more of a bite which means adding weight to the top of the DH. Which brings me to one of my questions. . . I need to know what, and especially how to attach some weight to my DH. I have read 3 or 4 responses that talk about y'all putting weight in one form or another. I know what is heavy, I just don't know how to attach it. I am a visual guy, so pictures really work for me.

4) I am planning on discing my pastures and my neighbor's pastures around the last week of February. Prior to that, hopefully in the next week or two, I am planning on getting the weeds sprayed. I had it done in Sept. of 2019, and WOW that made a difference. So, spraying, discing then in late March we will have them sprigged with Bermuda. I would have liked to get it sprayed earlier so I could get the weeds out of the garden, but it is what it is. I plan for the first year, at least, using some landscaping fabric to keep the weeds at bay.

5) I think that's it. My main thing is preparing for the big discing project of 14 acres. I need to know how to put weight on top of the DH to make that first pass worthwhile.

6) The pics below. .. The second being my garden disced with some furrows from the outer discs. The first pic is a close up after a drug the chain harrow over it. The third is a brief shot of my chain harrow behind the DH.

Thanks a bunch. . .

 

[npalen]

Shortening the top link excessively to cause more cutting may be a stopgap measure but not a good idea long term. The reason is that the disc can't cut level across the width if it is not level front to back. The gang angle will cause the outer blades of the front gangs to cut deeper than the middle if the top link is short.
This uneven cutting is not as much of a problem on these small discs as it can be on, say, a 30 ft width unit where it can create a very uneven field full of ridges.

 

[Bearsixty7]

I recently bought this old disk for food plots near term and our future large garden. I then bought some old weights and made a weight bracket out of scraps for them. I tried it out in the backyard this weekend but it was too muddy to really judge. The disk weighs 515lbs plus each weight is about 107lbs.

 

[Texasmark]

I'm in hard clay so I run over the ground with a Hay King Pasture renovator....basically a 10-12" long ripper with roughly 10" spacing between rippers, 10 HP per ripper, with coulters mounted ahead of the rippers to slice sod when all you want to do is to aerate and slice roots with minimum surface disturbancel in the "pasture renovation application" to make more plants, like done with Coastal Bermuda. Then I come back with the disc harrow which is heavily weighted to get better penetration. First pass is followed by subsequent passes always running at a 45* angle.....different angle to break up sod better and 45 vs 90 as the ride is much smoother with only one tire bouncing up at t time rather than both hitting ruts simultaneously. On the last pass I attach a chain harrow to smooth everything out.

On which type of blades, smooth or notched, I'd say owners choice. Some disc mfgrs. use notched on the front gangs and smooth on the rear since the main job of the fronts is to dig up the soil and the rear is to toss back the dirt that the fronts dug up, smoothing things out.

 

[wolc123]

I recently bought this old disk for food plots near term and our future large garden. I then bought some old weights and made a weight bracket out of scraps for them. I tried it out in the backyard this weekend but it was too muddy to really judge. The disk weighs 515lbs plus each weight is about 107lbs.

View attachment 685879

That looks like the same 3-point disk I have. It did not work for squat until I added some weights to it. I used threaded rod to bolt (2) 100 pound plates with my larger tractor and it cuts real good with those on it. Not quite as good with just 1 plate on it but that is all my smaller older tractor will lift.

That little, weighted 3-point disk is handy on spots under a couple acres, but I much prefer pull-type disks for larger areas. The disk is one of the few implements that works better without a 3 point hitch.

 

[bdog]

That is pretty normal. Rip it with a chisel and then run the disc. I plow and plant about 20 acres at my house. I first go over it with a 10’ which is all my 130 HP tractor wants and then I run a 18’ tandem disc over it.