Disc size guess?

[DDT]

Have Kubota M6040 4x4 with loader. Have sandy soil, I think it would pull a 10 or 12' wheeled disc. Hard to find 10' in my area. Im referring to a finishing tandem disc. Off set pulls harder. Any experiences or thoughts?

 

[ovrszd]

Yeah, your tractor will easily pull a 12' finish disc. I have one. I pull it with my M9540 in 2wd at half throttle. Actually in the conditions you mentioned you could pull a 14'.

My disc gangs can be adjusted for more severe cut or straightened to do finish work. On all discs you can set a stopper on the cylinder so the wheels carry part of the load. With these types of adjustments in mind, your tractor will pull a much larger disc than you might think.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

These are the stoppers Richard is talking about. We used to call them donuts. You put as many of them as necessary on the cylinder shaft to limit how much the cylinder will close, so the disc harrow won't go too deep.

SpeeCo Stroke Control, 1-1/8 in. to 1-1/2 in. - Tractor Supply Co.

 

[DDT]

Yes I have a set and use them when needed. In my area we call them cylinder stops. Thanks for the 12 ft vote. I want to buy the correct size first time.

 

[motownbrowne]

Yes I have a set and use them when needed. In my area we call them cylinder stops. Thanks for the 12 ft vote. I want to buy the correct size first time.

Worse comes to worse, you can always make a disc smaller. It might be a little harder to make it bigger, though.

 

[smstonypoint]

William Edwards at Iowa State has a fact sheet that shows you how to calculate the required HP for various implements. It's a pdf file and I can't get a direct link to work. Google matching tractor power and implement size and the file will show up. There are also spreadsheets that you can download that will perform the calculations.

Steve

 

[ovrszd]

I'm with Motown, go big. Look for a 14', settle for a 12', forget a 10'.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I'm with Motown, go big. Look for a 14', settle for a 12', forget a 10'.

You may be right, but I'd go with a 10' if I had the choice and that size tractor. I'd rather be able to set the disc to the most aggressive angle and bury it up to the axles, even though it would take longer to complete the job with a 10' vs. a 12' or 14'.

 

[smstonypoint]

I used the formula in the fact sheet I referenced, and came up with 53 HP for a 10ft disk weighing 2000 lbs traveling at 5.5 mph in sandy soil.

Steve

 

[motownbrowne]

I used the formula in the fact sheet I referenced, and came up with 53 HP for a 10ft disk weighing 2000 lbs traveling at 5.5 mph in sandy soil.

Steve

So is that PTO HP, or drawbar HP? Unfortunately they don't publish drawbar HP much these days, at least in the size we're talking about.

 

[swlman2]

I am pretty sure the drawbar HP and PTO HP are close enough to pull a 10' disc. COME ON ITS A DISC:banghead::banghead:

 

[Depmandog]

So is that PTO HP, or drawbar HP? Unfortunately they don't publish drawbar HP much these days, at least in the size we're talking about.

University of Nebraska - Lincoln has done field trials on lots of tractors. Almost every ag tractor has been tested and a good smattering of smaller units. Not all tests list drawbar HP, but some do. I did notice on Kubota similar in size that had drawbar HP listed.

Nebraska Tractor Test Reports | Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory | University of Nebraska-Lincoln

 

[smstonypoint]

So is that PTO HP, or drawbar HP? Unfortunately they don't publish drawbar HP much these days, at least in the size we're talking about.

PTO -- the fact sheet says the "(s)oil condition factors are used to convert drawbar horsepower to PTO horsepower."

Steve

 

[flusher]

Have Kubota M6040 4x4 with loader. Have sandy soil, I think it would pull a 10 or 12' wheeled disc. Hard to find 10' in my area. Im referring to a finishing tandem disc. Off set pulls harder. Any experiences or thoughts?

I bought an old 14 ft wheel disc for $600. Made by Krause. Cut the axles down to make a 9-ft wide disc that I pulled with my Mahindra 5525 (55 hp engine). Worked like a charm in my soil.



Good luck

 

[ovrszd]

Good job Flusher. You ended up with a very heavy duty disc for it's size. And you created a size that worked best for you.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I bought an old 14 ft wheel disc for $600. Made by Krause. Cut the axles down to make a 9-ft wide disc that I pulled with my Mahindra 5525 (55 hp engine). Worked like a charm in my soil.

View attachment 413918View attachment 413919

Good luck

Those old Krause discs were really good stuff. Heavy, heavy duty.

 

[motownbrowne]

I bought an old 14 ft wheel disc for $600. Made by Krause. Cut the axles down to make a 9-ft wide disc that I pulled with my Mahindra 5525 (55 hp engine). Worked like a charm in my soil.

View attachment 413918View attachment 413919

Good luck

If I recall you're out of farming now, so it's probably not an option, but maybe someone else reading this can try it. In that situation, you could buy the 14' disc for $600, cut it down to 9' for your uses, and weld up the rest as a 4-5' disc for someone with an ATV for SCUT. Probably sell it to them for $600 on a good day.