Roto-tiller or disc harrow

[mgboddy]

My 82 year-old uncle retired from farming last summer and gave me his JD 5075E 4WD utility tractor with a 540M loader. I want to use it for food plotting about 12 total acres in about 7 or 8 different plots on 376 acres. Each plot is 1-2 acres.

My question is would a 60-72" rototiller be a better tillage choice or a 4-gang disc harrow. I will follow either with a cultipacker prior to broadcast seeding. The plots have been cleared of trees and brush but there are a couple of stumps in most of the plots, ground to about 4" below surface. The stumps are flagged so I can avoid them if needed.

 

[oosik]

Welcome to TBN - mgboddy. Either implement will take a good deal of time to prepare 7 or 8 - one acre + plots. I would prefer the rototiller. Are you certain a 72" rototiller is wide enough.

All things being equal - the disk harrow will be faster if it does the job like you want.

 

[WVH1977]

The tiller is really nice and I love mine but I am careful where I use it. I don't want too be hitting anything but dirt. I use a chisel plow to break ground up good. That followed by the cultipacker should work good for food plots.

 

[Farmer495]

Depends if you are trying to break sod of not. Guessing if you've cleared trees there isn't a ton of grass.

If the disc plates are new and sharp you might have less aggravation then powered tines of a rototiller with roots and stumps.

 

[jeff9366]

10 acres Tiller or Disk Harrow?

Morning, This has been asked before but it seems not to this large an acreage. I have about 10 acres of corn field on a property I recently purchased that I would like to try to start farming. I have the agronomy background and large farm experience to do the job, but this will be my first time...

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Tiller - Tiller or Disc Harrow

I made the mistake of having a bunch of trees mulched in areas I want to clear and plant grass and a garden. I’ve used a leveler and the loader float function to push a lot of it to an area that I just filled in but quite a bit still remains. I plan of going over some of it with a brush hog...

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Disc Harrow Selection For 18-45 Horsepower Tractors (Revision 2b)

Disc Harrows come in numerous types. However, for 18-45 horsepower tractors the three point hitch mounted, Tandem Disc Harrow, secondary tillage implement, is ubiquitous. Tandem Disc Harrows are manufactured in two structural types: Angle Iron Frame and Box Frame. Box Frame Disc Harrows are...

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John Deere 5075E​

John Deere 5075E Dimensions
Wheelbase:	80.7 inches 204 cm
Length:	137.8 inches 350 cm
Width:	57.3 inches 145 cm (axle flange)
2WD Clearance (front axle):	18.8 inches 47 cm
4WD Clearance (front axle):	13.4 inches 34 cm
Front axle:	Flange axle: 64.6 inch length 1640 mm
Rear axle:	Flange axle: 57.5 inch length 1460 mm
Front tread:	56 to 80 inches 142 to 203 cm
Rear tread:	55.8 to 71.7 inches 141 to 182 cm

John Deere 5075E Weight
2WD Shipping:	4,634 lbs 2101 kg
4WD Shipping:	5,070 lbs 2299 kg
4WD Operating:	5,475 lbs 2483 kg

I recommend a Disc Harrow with 22" diameter pans, either 72" or 84" wide, depending on how wide tractor rear tires are set. A Disc Harrow with 9" pan spacing on the front gangs and 7-1/2" spacing on the rear gangs, as produced by Monroe Tufline and Dirt Dog, would be ideal.

I will follow with a cultipacker prior to broadcast seeding.

Press the seed firmly into the soil by cultipacking AFTER seeding.
Food plot seeds are generally eager germinators.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Hands down a tiller!

Providing you don't buy a cheapo tiller that works too slow or that you won't be happy with, later.

SR

 

[Egon]

For the job at hand a Tiller would be an ideal implement. It works well in uncultivated ground and probably goes deeper than a disk.

For the first & second year you plots may not be as productive as you wish But as the soil gets conditioned growth increases.

Culti pack after seeding.

 

[Fxfymn413]

I assume you are broadcasting cover crops since food crops are generally a row crop?? Or are they food crops for live stock?

A tiller is great, but farmers have been working ground with a plow and disc for many years so that obviously works. The disc is cheaper to buy and maintain and faster to use.

I'd put the money into improving the soil instead of the tiller. Good loose, well nourished soil will work up just fine with a disc.

 

[jeff9366]

The disc is cheaper to buy and maintain.

Hmmmm...........