Disc or tiller?

[bkrgi]

I've owned and used both on garden plots, with two different 45hp tractors. My experience has been exactly as above. The disc is almost useless on sod or vegetated, undisturbed ground. You might get something OK after 6-10 passes, but will have spent a ton of time and probably compacted the soil below 4-6" in doing so. A good rototiller will break sod in one pass, and make a nice seedbed in two passes. The big discs used by professional farmers have four to eight times as much weight per disc wheel as anything readily available for small tractors, so they work much more effectively.

Soil type matters. A dry, sandy soil with thin vegetation will let a small disc work pretty well. Damp clay soil with healthy vegetation will keep it from penetrating.

Totally
Relative to soil types and vegetation mat, a disk is not going to work well. Plow then disc or tiller will cut through making a much better finish product.

 

[TimberHole]

I've found a store with 60" King Kutter on sale. It's a couple of hours away but I'm headed there in the morning. If all goes well I'll have a tiller before noon tomorrow. I don't usually buy new but I can't find a decent used disc or tiller. When I do see one they want new price.

 

[Mallard5+1Farmhouse]

I've found a store with 60" King Kutter on sale. It's a couple of hours away but I'm headed there in the morning. If all goes well I'll have a tiller before noon tomorrow. I don't usually buy new but I can't find a decent used disc or tiller. When I do see one they want new price.

I'm in the same boat. I've been looking for a tiller and I've decided on the 5 foot king kutter from Rural King.

 

[Fallon]

I've been happy with my 60" King Kutter tiller. Fit my L3200 well, but is ok on my 72" track L4060 as well (wish it was 72").

If you are doing under a few acres, a tiller is the way to go. So much more maneuverable.

 

[TimberHole]

I picked up a King Kutter 5' tiller yesterday. Atwoods had it on sale for $1,349.00 plus a 10% rebate which is a in store credit. Seemed like a good deal compared to the other prices I found. I didn't have much time to play with it but I did put it in the ground a short bit and it seemed impressive to me. I think it will do everything I need to do.

 

[Texasmark]

With your other usage suggestions I would go with the tiller. I bought my first last year, after 40 years of farming with discs. Mine is a 6', 54 tine I bought at TSC and run it on my Ford 3000 which is under 40 hp. It's a super one pass surface/2" deep mulcher; an all in one pass (plus a following with a spike toothed harrow for max smoothness of the surface). HP is no big deal as you usually run slow so there are plenty of revolutions per foot of forward movement.....hp is torque (higher hp tractor) x rpms......got the rpms moving slow so you don't need the torque.

However, before using on long stem plants, I'd mow it with a shredder. You will get much better performance out of your tiller and not have to worry about vines and long stems getting wrapped around the shaft, causing you to have to stop and clean things out. Makes for a much smoother finish too....helps to prevent clumping and clumping of long stems makes wads under your spike tooth harrow and just not as clean a job when finished......I like my field to look like my lawn when finished....minus the grass of course.

 

[fried1765]

I picked up a King Kutter 5' tiller yesterday. Atwoods had it on sale for $1,349.00 plus a 10% rebate which is a in store credit. Seemed like a good deal compared to the other prices I found. I didn't have much time to play with it but I did put it in the ground a short bit and it seemed impressive to me. I think it will do everything I need to do.

You got one HE11 of a deal on that KK tiller !

 

[mx1alex]

I'd get a disk and use the money you saved to get a sprayer. If it's bottom ground it should be flat and you shouldn't have to worry about erosion unless the river/creek gets out.

Id spray whats there, disk, and then spray again. Pretty much any food plot seed can be broadcast. If it's beans I would broadcast and then lightly disk it again. If it's radishes, turnips, clover, etc Id just broadcast and then if you have a cultipacker use it, if not it should still do okay.

 

[TheMan419]

We converted about 10 acres from a corn field to pasture grass for the horse. We mowed short with bush hog, sprayed with round up and then tilled, then I hit with a drag harrow. Going slow I could get it nice in one pass. I could go faster and need 2 passes. Ultimately it was about the same amount of time. Then I broad cast the grass seed. That was last fall. Now that spring has sprung we have wonderful pasture.

No it is not as smooth as I would want my lawn, but it will work for the horses.

For what you want that tiller will do the job well.

Now that I have the tiller I am going to do like you suggested. I want to put in an extension of my gravel drive. I need to remove 4 inches or so of topsoil. I will hit it with the tiller to make pulling it out with the FEL that much easier.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Tiller is the way to go. I bought my KK used and do my garden with it, leveled and put in a lawn with it and use it as 750lbs of ballast for FEL jobs. Very glad I have it. Turns sod into garden soil in 2 passes.