Disc Harrow What Type of Plow to Use/Own

[MrPenetrator]

I have pushed over some smaller mesquites w/the Kioti, just not really gotten into the mesquite mode yet, but it's time now. I will give your method a shot by pushing them over.

I do see where the roto-tiller would be the best option, so we will take this into consideration. Only being in our new place for 1 yr with it being a total remodel & addition, we are blowing through money, obviously. I have not done much research on the tillers, but looks like brand new around $2500. Little tough to swallow at this point, but again, seeing the advantages, it may still be the best route.

This is just up the road from me: 3 pt 2 row bedder & I watched this video: 8N Ford Plowing With Two Bottom Plow - YouTube

I am wondering if this soil in the video has already been cultivated recently & this video is a little misleading? Our ground is not too hard yet bc of all the rain we've had. If the guy in this video is digging up the soil this well, shouldn't I be able to do the same? Exact same setup, correct?

I know I would need to till it somehow - maybe a disc plow from here?

Trying to find the 'most valuable' way to do the plowing. If it comes that it is best to suck it up & spend the money on a tiller, I am not against that; or not 'opposed' to doing it. Just will take a little more time to have the free cash.

 

[Fallon]

A subsoiler will be the cheapest possible option for "plowing" new or used.

A tiller will not be the cheapest option, but it will be by far the most usable option, at least with your Kioti. A disc needs a certain speed & room to maneuver in the headlands. If you can't pull fast enough & don't have enough room, you are screwed. A tiller works great if you can go slow enough. You can till a small garden or a few acres with it.

 

[ch1ch2]

A subsoiler will be the cheapest possible option for "plowing" new or used.

A disc needs a certain speed & room to maneuver in the headlands. If you can't pull fast enough & don't have enough room, you are screwed.

That may explain why I have not been successful with a disk. I always have gone slow. About how fast should it be pulled?


MrPenetrator, please excuse me for somewhat hijacking your thread, but I figured we both could use the info.

 

[jeff9366]

Five miles per hours is about right. Looking to the rear, you should observe soil being flung outwards my the front gangs and gathered inward by the rear gangs, pretty vigorously. You may have a pretty rough ride the first pass. Fasten your safety belt.

I use HST/MED and full throttle on my tractor/disc combination.

PHOTO: Notice the feathered left edge, past the faint furrow made by the outboard disc pan. That is soil thrown out by the forward gang. Though the rear, gathering, gang is wider than the front gang, it is set less aggressively to smooth.


A Box Frame Disc Harrow with 18" diameter pans is about the lightest Disc Harrow which will cut and mix soil properly; 20" diameter disc pans are better.

((A Box Frame Disc Harrow with 18" diameter pans will apply about 38 pounds of pressure to each pan. A Box Frame Disc Harrow with 20" diameter pans will apply about 50 pounds of pressure to each pan.))


DISC HARROW ADJUSTMENT: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ing-three-point-hitch-mounted.html?highlight=

 

[ch1ch2]

Thanks I will give that a try.

 

[ch1ch2]

And thanks for the link!
That is good information on set up.

 

[Fallon]

Each pass with a disk (or tiller for that matter) will go deeper than the previous. It will affect how the disks throw a bit & really affect how hard it is to pull.

 

[Avondale]

Thank You, very good info, all new to me.

 

[budepps3760]

Five miles per hours is about right. Looking to the rear, you should observe soil being flung outwards my the front gangs and gathered inward by the rear gangs, pretty vigorously. You may have a pretty rough ride the first pass. Fasten your safety belt.

I use HST/MED and full throttle on my tractor/disc combination.

PHOTO: Notice the feathered left edge, past the faint furrow made by the outboard disc pan. That is soil thrown out by the forward gang. Though the rear, gathering, gang is wider than the front gang, it is set less aggressively to smooth.


A Box Frame Disc Harrow with 18" diameter pans is about the lightest Disc Harrow which will cut and mix soil properly; 20" diameter disc pans are better.

((A Box Frame Disc Harrow with 18" diameter pans will apply about 38 pounds of pressure to each pan. A Box Frame Disc Harrow with 20" diameter pans will apply about 50 pounds of pressure to each pan.))


DISC HARROW ADJUSTMENT: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ing-three-point-hitch-mounted.html?highlight=

I did not know that about the speed either. Am what I am doing incorrect? I have a 5' disc with front gang adjusted aggressively with back not as much. I have my top link adjusted add short as possible do I am cutting on first pass with only front gangs. I also have a steel i-beam with 300 pounds on top of the i-beam. I was going very slow. Needless to say I was getting a very deep discing in doing so. Am I better off to lose the weight and disc quicker? By the way I was using this method for my deer food plot. I have not started gardening yet and so my next question is which method would be better when I start growing vegetables? I used this method because I do not have a plow.

 

[jeff9366]

I was using this method for my deer food plot: I have a 5' disc with front gang adjusted aggressively with back not as much. I have my top link adjusted add short as possible do I am cutting on first pass with only front gangs. I also have a steel i-beam with 300 pounds on top of the i-beam. I was going very slow. Needless to say I was getting a very deep discing in doing so.

When you provide your Disc Harrow width, while neglecting to provide Disc Harrow pan diameter, you cannot have read file attached to Post #24 for comprehension.

You cannot force a Disc Harrow deeper than the axles transfixing the pans. And the pan trunnions, which reinforce the pans where the axles penetrate, provide extra resistance the last 2" or so, depending on the pans. So, a heavily weighted Disc Harrow with 18" pans will penetrate about 7" to the pan trunnions, then could be forced deeper approximately 2" to the axles, AND THAT IS IT. (( It really requires a Disc Harrow with 20+" diameter pans to have enough weight to cut well.))

Primary tillage is plow work. In order to satisfactorily break new ground, turning up the roots of surface vegetation, so roots dry and vegetation is killed, requires a Moldboard Plow, WHICH IS A PRIMARY TILLAGE implement. The disadvantage of a 1 X 16" plow is that you have 16" furrows after the plow passes.

The question is, why so deep in a food plot? Most would just scuff up the surface good with one or two passes of the Disc Harrow, 2" deep, then sow seed, roll in with a Cultipacker and done. Food plot seeds are eager germinators.


Am I better off to lose the weight and disc quicker? I have not started gardening yet and so my next question is which method would be better when I start growing vegetables? I used this method because I do not have a plow.

Disc Harrows and PTO powered roto-tillers are two SECONDARY TILLAGE implements intended to mix and level soil. In order to mix and level soil a Disc Harrow has to move over the ground a a brisk pace, so you see soil being flung around as the Disc Harrow works.

Disc Harrows and plows accomplish different tasks. You can cut soil to a certain extent with a Disc Harrow, but it remains a SECONDARY TILLAGE implement and will not fulfill the role of a Moldboard or Disc Plow, which is to invert soil. (( See Ken Sweet's post #13. A Disc Plow is NOT a Disc Harrow. A Disc Plow is another Primary Tillage implement.))

A reverse rotation roto-tiller will cut and bury residue quite well but will require at least two passes to create a seed bed and much more of what was churned will reappear the next year.



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