rototiller or cultivator or what????

[BryanM]

Here is my set up, I have a small hobby farm raising cattle and hay. Very small set up. I have a jd 2155 and it is time to work pastures and hay fields up and replant. I have to work 12 acres, this go around. Trying to decide wheather I should get a 7ft rototiller or maybe a small cultivator like a perfecta. My ground is clay loam and is covered in obviuosly grass or alfalfa. I dont think I can pull a chisel plow with only 55hp and I probably wont or cant get much depth out of a cultivator but not sure never tried. I do have a 10 ft dish but its at its end and needs to go. Looking for opinions or if you have any experience let me know

 

[jaxs]

Check with your ag extension agent about equipment to borrow. Where I'm at,there's grain drills and pasture renovators stationed at farmer's places. You call the farmer to reserve the tool. There's a hub counter that measure's how many acers the machine plants and you pay accordingly. You can do a decent job loosening soil with box blade rippers. If your tractor lack's power to pull the chisel plow,lift or remove as many shanks as neccessary to alow tractor to pull it.

 

[BryanM]

thanks jaxs, our ag extension does not offer any equipment. not sure why.

 

[jaxs]

thanks jaxs, our ag extension does not offer any equipment. not sure why.

That sucks. That being the case,large farms and ranches must own them. Wouldn't blame them for not loaning or renting. See if you can barter work in exchange for them doing your job with their equipment. Are you putting in annual grass or perminate? All that's required for some annuals is throwing seed on surface and let rain do the rest,,,,,,,before birds find it.:laughing:
As an after thought,a different agency such as soil conservation might administer that program now days.

 

[3gunr]

I have a 5 and a 6 ft rototillers and love them for food plots . but 12 acres would take forever. A heavy disk and cultivator would be better.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have a 5 and a 6 ft rototillers and love them for food plots . but 12 acres would take forever. A heavy disk and cultivator would be better.

I don't know about forever, with my 6' Howard Rotavator (tiller) and 45hp farm tractor, I can till 12 acres in about 6 hrs...

I have no use for a heavy disc or cultivator. I sold all of those tools long ago...

SR

 

[milkman636]

I’ve used my 6’ tiller for replanting grass in large areas and it works well. But never over an acre at one time, and the existing cover has always been grassy. I’ve found that setting the tiller just deep enough to break up the surface allows me to travel close to a walking pace. And it leaves a shallow fluffy bed for the new seed. It’s been successful for me. And it’s possible to find tillers at rental yards and beat up their equipment for a big job like that, or even just to try a smaller area to see if the idea will scale up to the full 12 acres. I know my local sunbelt will only charge a one day rental for equipment I pick up on Saturday morning and return on Monday morning.

 

[jeff9366]

COMPACT TRACTOR CHISEL PLOWS: Buckeye Tractor Online Catalog Page 18-01 Chisel Plows

Buckeye Tractor is an OHIO business.

My ground is clay loam and is covered in obviuosly grass or alfalfa. Trying to decide wheather I should get a 7ft rototiller or maybe a small cultivator like a Perfecta.

A Perfecta cultivator is for secondary tillage before seeding previously cultivated soil. Not appropriate for established grass or alfalfa or compacted soil. For twelve acres I recommend a chisel plow, roto-tiller or replacing the disc harrow. Both the roto-tiller and disc harrow are soil mixers.

VIDEO: Cultivating with a Perfecta - YouTube

A 5,000 pound bare weight/55-horsepower/4-WD tractor can pull a Box Frame Tandem Disc Harrow with 22" diameter disc pans 7' to 8' wide, which will mix moist soil to a depth of eight inches, about the same depth as appropriate roto-tiller. With scalloped pans, disc harrow with 22" diameter or 24" diameter pans would chop and mix short grass or short alfalfa.

MONROE TUFLINE: TL43 Series Tandem Lift Disc Harrows | Tufline

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

If cattle have grazed your pastures for years the ground will be very compacted and you will need a HEAVY implement to work it.

ALTERNATIVES:
PASTURE RENOVATORS IN T-B-N ARCHIVE: pasture renovator site:tractorbynet.com - Google Search

 

[Egon]

For a one pass solution go rototiller. Next option would be a three bottom plough and disk. The chisel ploughs will be very hard pull in sod.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

A 5,000 pound bare weight/55-horsepower/4-WD tractor can pull a Box Frame Tandem Disc Harrow with 22" diameter disc pans 7' to 8' wide, which will mix moist soil to a depth of eight inches, about the same depth as appropriate roto-tiller. With scalloped pans, disc harrow with 22" diameter or 24" diameter pans would chop and mix short grass or short alfalfa.

I use to --------> WISH that was true when I owned those tools, then I bought a Howard Rotovator and sold them!!!

SR