Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control

   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control
  • Thread Starter
#21  
Seeing the pics reminded me of why I got rid of my Disc Hillers and built this instead:
174972d1282157393-raised-bed-maker-dsc01400.jpg

That really looks good and simple too. I see you paint your designs to match your tractor too!!:cool:

I finally got the head of R&D involved in my design.

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Her helper taking a break in the sun.

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Last edited:
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control
  • Thread Starter
#22  
Would you have pics of your forming pan or is it just a "flat pan"?

Updated pan design change - Riv-2.1

I did not get to the farm this weekend as I help the USFS once a month and this was the weekend to help out. I did get a chance during the week to upgrade the chutes on the pan as I brought it home from the farm. I made them longer and higher to catch more dirt. Hope to try it out next weekend to see how she does.

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   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #23  
Seeing the pics reminded me of why I got rid of my Disc Hillers. I don't think discs move enough material to make a nice bed...probably better suited for "cultivation" type tasks. I'm currently pondering combining the two...a moldboard type blade combined with your pan design and mulch/drip tape laying capabilities... Single pass gardening :thumbsup:


I have been following this thread with interest & finally got the front bar w/discs mounted this past weekend & I have to say that I too now wonder about the capacity of the discs but haven't jumped ship quite yet.

Not sure if you guys have seen pics of the Buckeye bedder/layer unit.

wPIX--BedShaper4321-D--4B.jpg
wPIX--PerfectBeds.jpg



Some on TBN have dissed the build quality of Buckeye stuff (I have only seen it online) but the beds they make sure look nice! They use two sets of discs on separate mounts to move the soil so maybe that's what it takes. I noticed that the inner set of discs are ahead of the outer shanks, forming the center of the bed first, then moving in more dirt before it gets to the pan.The forming pans are very similar to what you guys are building & they have versions/attachments that lay cover sheet & bed it in. I have checked out most of their pics for ideas.

I am now contemplating a modded furrower,
thumb.php

feeding a disc(s), then to a forming pan.

I'm interested to see how your Rev.2.1 works.

I should add that putting a large weight (approx 200 lbs) helped alot with my limited trial yesterday.
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #24  
I have been following this thread with interest & finally got the front bar w/discs mounted this past weekend & I have to say that I too now wonder about the capacity of the discs but haven't jumped ship quite yet.

I cant say the discs "didnt work", but they werent what I had imagined, thats for sure. I had wanted something similar to the beds you posted...nice beautiful beds. I think that can only be had with a pan former of sorts..MY only thought is that depending on what size row/hill your looking for the discs may not pull enough dirt in to give enough material for the pan to do its job. Again...depends on how tall/wide of a row your looking for.
My new "kick" is gardening with plastic mulch...this year is a trial...we laid down a couple rows of mulch by hand this year and I can already say that weeding those rows will be a JOY! aka...no weeding to be done :thumbsup: SO, if it proves out like I hope it will, my attention will be focusing on fabbing up a mulch & drip tape layer.
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #26  
Question for Spudland Dave?
Excuse my slowness, but how do you go about picking up the mulch before starting the next season?
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #27  
Question for Spudland Dave?
Excuse my slowness, but how do you go about picking up the mulch before starting the next season?

No prob...i'm no pro at this either, this is my first year with Plastic Mulch...to pick it up this fall prior to plowing I'm just planning on pulling it out by hand. Should be much easier to pull it out then it was to put it in...
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #28  
No prob...i'm no pro at this either, this is my first year with Plastic Mulch...to pick it up this fall prior to plowing I'm just planning on pulling it out by hand. Should be much easier to pull it out then it was to put it in...

It is. Last year we used it for our summer & winter squash and pumpkins. It worked great. We cut circular holes for the plants with a propane torch - this created a sort of grommet of material around the hole and kept it from fraying. It pulled right out at the end of the season & we rolled it up and saved it for re-use this year. What can I say - we're cheap.
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #29  
It is. Last year we used it for our summer & winter squash and pumpkins. It worked great. We cut circular holes for the plants with a propane torch - this created a sort of grommet of material around the hole and kept it from fraying. It pulled right out at the end of the season & we rolled it up and saved it for re-use this year. What can I say - we're cheap.

Hey...I'm the king of cheap too..:laughing: but even I was planning on chucking mine...at 80 bucks for 2,400 feet of it, I considered it disposable... I used about 200 feet in my garden this year....
Which one are you using? Sounds like yours is woven? I got Regular 1 mil Embossed 4' wide.
LOVE the torch idea!
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #30  
We use 1.25 and 1 mil each year for strawberries and vegetables. With a Rain-Flo 2600 mulch layer.

Its usually pulled up in fall by hand at our place. It can be a pain to remove if the soild is dry and the sides get weedy. Sometimes we wait for spring and it pulls up easier with moister soil.
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #31  
At about 4cents per foot, we consider it disposable. Sometimes we give our left overs to nearby home gardeners who'll reuse it.
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control
  • Thread Starter
#32  
Well my upgrades did not work as well as planned but after many adjustments I finally got a few good looking rows. I should of left it alone, Soil prep is everthing and boy could I really use a rake to get the grass clumps.

Here are some updated pictures of my result as well.

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Here are pictures of what I did 2 weeks ago on my first test run and their results, my peanuts are looking good.

SU1HMDAyNzgtMjAxMTA1MjktMTMwMi5qcGc.jpg


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   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #33  
Here are pictures of what I did 2 weeks ago on my first test run and their results, my peanuts are looking good.

Lookin good for sure!
Nice Peanuts! Better then mine...had an extra row in the garden so I planted a row myself more out of curosity...dunno how they'll turn out this far north..
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control
  • Thread Starter
#34  
The deer found the peanuts and have about wiped them out. Glad deer season is only 2 1/2 months away, starts August 15 with rifles too!!!

DANGIT!!!
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #35  
Dave:
I'd like to see more information on your bed former pls. What did you use to hold the mold boards? It looks like a cast piece. Do you have any measurements for your mold boards?
Also, what is drip tape? I use a drip irrigation system for the trees we plant but I can't say I've heard of drip tape.
Many of the sweet potato farmers here use the plastic mulch layer as well. Works very well.

Thanks.
Glenn.
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #36  
Hey...I'm the king of cheap too..:laughing: but even I was planning on chucking mine...at 80 bucks for 2,400 feet of it, I considered it disposable... I used about 200 feet in my garden this year....
Which one are you using? Sounds like yours is woven? I got Regular 1 mil Embossed 4' wide.
LOVE the torch idea!

It was a roll of the 6' wide woven stuff - the torch trick keeps the weave from fraying when the hole is cut. More than being cheap, the idea of pitching that much plastic just bothers me. A lot of our landfills are full around here, and nobody wants a new one on their street.

I really like the results of Jim's hipper. We've been using a middlebuster to make the furrows and then raking the tops together (with iron rakes) to get flat tops, which is a real time eater during planting season when everything else needs to get done yesterday ...
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #37  
rubs chin. been looking at different threads as they come up on TBN for last couple months. and remember seeing what looked like 100+HP tractor with a tiller combined with a hiller in all in one unit setup.

my question is. most 3pt hitch tillers i have seen. have a back hood that you can remove. or adjust to allow either more mulching per say of the dirt. less mulching of the dirt.

why can't you do generally tiller work first. then some how take back hood off and use some bolts to put mound shaper the rear of the tiller. so all the fluff dirt coming up and out of the rear of tiller forms right down into a shapper.

another question. the old allis chalmers CA tractor 1954 tractor approx 20 HP. pulls a 2 bottom plow pretty good. a plow does a pretty good job at pulling and turning dirt over. and moving it over to one side. my question out of all the plows out there i would imagine some company makes plows that moves dirt to the left. while another company makes a plow that moves dirt to the right. why not get one left and one right bottom plows. to help pull the loosen fluffed up dirt into the center then behind them have your shapper?

your kinda have a customized box blade in a sense but instead of wanting a level deal behind it, you are wanting hills. many times you read and i see folks put extra weight on top of the box blade to help sink scarficers down or keep the blade engaging on the box blade. so my question is. why not on the hiller?

another question many times when i am pulling the the disc on allis chalmers after i just plowed things up. the front gang of discs do a good job of pulling a lot of dirt into the center of the disc. and then the rear gang of disc do a good job of pulling the dirt back out from center and spreading things out nice. while cutting everything up nicely. so the question is. why only a couple discs on these hillers? i would think a couple rows of discs would be beneficial. so there is say 4 or more discs per hill pulling in dirt into the center of each hiller shapper

==================
i see in one of your pictures. you have kinda of a triangle foot on one side. made out of flat metal. to me, it seems like this would only cause the entire setup to "ski" up and out of the dirt or jump and skip up and down in the dirt.

the picture TDVT noted about a modified furrower. this is what pulls the entire implement down into the ground. kinda like adding weight to the unit. and holds the implement down lower into the ground. so discs sink further into the dirt and the hiller / shapper slides along like a modified box blade collecting dirt and leveling out the dirt into shape you have your hiller setup as.

for the allis chalmers CA tractor. i have a setting on the hydrualic pump. that allows "traction boost" or "weight transfer setting" basicly if there is to much load happening (implement sinking to far into ground, tires starting to spin, tractor engine starting bog down and the like) it allows the lift arms to slightly lift up and out of the dirt. so you keep on going. without constantly adjusting the up and down of the implement.

it has been some since i been near a modern tractor (that is any tractor with a 3pt hitch) but there most likely a after market option for most 3 pt hitches, that uses a spring / rod between lift arms and back of tractor. and adjusts the lift arms. i can no longer remember the specific term for this contraption / feature. that i would imagine would be a very big bonus once you are able to get the implement to pull it self down and into the ground better.

=============
plz forgive me of above, more of just thinking out loud errr typing out loud. as i myself try to figure the setup out.
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #38  
Looking for the custom made hiller that attached to the back of PTO tiller?
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #39  
Yanmar tillers had a set up for forming beds. On the rear flap they had a stay chain to hold the flap down. You could remove 2 medium plates and it made 2 6 inch hills a cople feet wide. Or remove the 2 plates and part of an upper plate andit would make a taller wider hill.


Row hippers do really good. with the 2 or 3 blades per side. THey make a nice tall wide row and can be set to cultivate to.
 
   / Disc Hiller Project Got Out of Control #40  
Yanmar tillers had a set up for forming beds. On the rear flap they had a stay chain to hold the flap down. You could remove 2 medium plates and it made 2 6 inch hills a cople feet wide. Or remove the 2 plates and part of an upper plate andit would make a taller wider hill.
Row hippers do really good. with the 2 or 3 blades per side. THey make a nice tall wide row and can be set to cultivate to.

Okay, I will look into taking my solid rear flap off and making a type of gate.?? I am trying to fit at least two 12inch smooth disc blades to the rear for a pretty bed. I did see the idea of two skid plates to drag behind too..Maybe i should open another thread?
 

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