Disc Harrow Pros\cons of tandem vs offset disc harrow

sawtooth · Apr 25, 2017

I just spoke to the Brown representative and he's telling me The offset will leave a slight ridge of dirt on the left side of the tractor but other than that it may actually be smoother than a tandem. He says he uses both but prefers the offset. However he did tell me have to adjust my brown 6 foot tandem to make it leave smoother tillage behind me. Right now I have the front very aggressive with the rear set a lot less aggressive. He's telling me I need to even them up more so they more closely reflect one another. I have the Furrough fillers installed on the rear. Smaller desk that basically level out the cut from the front desk. Going to try this first then make my decision.

Lineman North Florida · Apr 25, 2017

I was always taught on adjusting a harrow that whatever you did to the front , do the same to the back, I will say that on my Bush Hog leveling harrow when I gang it to cut aggressive, it always throws a ridge of dirt piled in the center that I don't like, but I do have a shank in the center of my harrow that I can put a sweep on to knock it down. Out of curiosity have you looked at the weight difference between the Brown and the Athens? It's pretty signifigant.

sawtooth · Apr 25, 2017

Yeah the Athens is 200lbs heavier. But it's also $2500 more cost too. I'm not sure I'll ever see $2500 dollars more benefit from the Athens however. I have a brown 6 foot tandem now and it's made very very well.

jeff9366 · Apr 25, 2017

sawtooth said:
Right now I have the front very aggressive with the rear set a lot less aggressive. He's telling me I need to even them up more so they more closely reflect one another.

The output from the front/cutting gang is input to the rear/smoothing gang. So, yes, adjust your front gang less aggressively.

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sawtooth · Apr 25, 2017

Learn something new every day

Texasmark · Apr 25, 2017

I farm in heavy black clay. Very bad manners unless you catch it right, either mud or rocks. You can't use a moldboard as it will bounce over the top if too hard and gum up if soft enough to roll. You have to use a rolling disc. Till recently the one way with the larger diameter discs and wider spacing are my primary tillage tool to roll the surface vegetation into the top layer of soil.

The tandem disc harrow with smaller, closer spaced (7" vs 9") discs (set about the same angles) break up the one way's clods with the front gangs, and toss the crushed dirt back where it was on the rear gangs to be followed with a spike toothed harrow to complete the smoothing operation.

If I could use a moldboard I wouldn't need the one way.

spruce Deere · Apr 26, 2017

Between the two discs, an offset discs tend to be more aggressive. Better for ground if ground that has not been worked in a while. Tandems work better in ground that has been already worked, like after being moldboard plowed.

sawtooth · Apr 26, 2017

How about when cutting through existing vegetation like grasses etc. does the offset still perform better? I assume it does but thought I would ask

Lineman North Florida · Apr 26, 2017

sawtooth said:
How about when cutting through existing vegetation like grasses etc. does the offset still perform better? I assume it does but thought I would ask

There is no comparison the offset is far superior in most applications unless you want to make multiple passes with a leveling harrow, but in my opinion you are still better off to mow tall grass and weeds and allow a few weeks to pass before harrowing, if not a lot of times that stuff will just roll up in clumps and at that point it's hard to do anything with it.