discing

[jenkinsph]

Since you have added weight and are getting some results I would adjust for the most set or angle that you can pull about 5 mph and plow away. Disking takes many passes unless you have large heavy duty equipment.

You might want to consider building a 3 pt or drag section harrow using 5/8 sucker rod for the teeth. This is a quick build for a metal worker, I built mine in about 5 or 6 hours.

 

[warhammer]

I have set the disc for max angle. I have gone over about half the areas needed with 4 passes at different angles to each other and it cuts down to about 3 inches or so.
Everything I have read says to disc to about 6 inches deep to allow the roots to develop.
I am thinking more weight. As one of the other posters indicated no angle on the disc wheels would allow it to cut deeper - maybe a couple of passes like that as well.
If I spray the area with Roundup to kill any remaining weeds how soon after can I seed the Bermuda?

Since you have added weight and are getting some results I would adjust for the most set or angle that you can pull about 5 mph and plow away. Disking takes many passes unless you have large heavy duty equipment.

You might want to consider building a 3 pt or drag section harrow using 5/8 sucker rod for the teeth. This is a quick build for a metal worker, I built mine in about 5 or 6 hours.

 

[whistlepig]

I have set the disc for max angle. I have gone over about half the areas needed with 4 passes at different angles to each other and it cuts down to about 3 inches or so.
Everything I have read says to disc to about 6 inches deep to allow the roots to develop.
I am thinking more weight. As one of the other posters indicated no angle on the disc wheels would allow it to cut deeper - maybe a couple of passes like that as well.
If I spray the area with Roundup to kill any remaining weeds how soon after can I seed the Bermuda?

I think you have to wait 7 days after spraying Roundup before planting. A disc won't really do much if it isn't angled. I have an adjustable disc and have played with all the angles. I settled on keeping the setting the angle as steep as possible. What mattered more was the wetness or dryness of the ground and multiple passes. Also on sod making passes 90 degrees from the first passes help. This is discing only. I don't have a plow.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Do not bother straighting out your disc. The cup of your disc is what helps pull the disc into the ground along with the angle that it is set at & the weight of the unit. Your disc blades are very worn, to get the results that you are looking for is probably going to take twice as many passes as it would with new disk blades. Nothing wrong with that, just that it takes longer using a worn set vs a newer set. Put some weight on the front set and go back to work.

 

[Eric_Phillips]

Don't worry about the roundup now. The roundup needs to be incorporated through the leaf of an actively growing plant to kill it. It will not kill the seed you have stirred up.

 

[warhammer]

Went out today and made a couple of passes with a landscape rake. That smoothed things out and broke up the clods pretty well.

Do not bother straighting out your disc. The cup of your disc is what helps pull the disc into the ground along with the angle that it is set at & the weight of the unit. Your disc blades are very worn, to get the results that you are looking for is probably going to take twice as many passes as it would with new disk blades. Nothing wrong with that, just that it takes longer using a worn set vs a newer set. Put some weight on the front set and go back to work.

 

[Bassicfun]

Up in Ohio here with some clay.. but been reading through this thread, do discs work on hills fairly well? I'm thinking of getting a disc harrow, going over this 'dormant' farmland we have (hasn't been farmed in probably 20+ years) and then using the landscape rake to smooth out the clumps/dirt. My issue is that it is filled with ruts and other imperfections that makes mowing all but painful... (~5 acres here)

 

[warhammer]

The acreage I am working on is all sloped and terraced and had not been worked in any way for at least 30-40 years. When I mowed there were many spots where you had to crawl over it or get rattled to death.

I have attached some pics at what I have arrived at as seedbed.

To get to this state I subsoiled with a Fred Cain Subsolier I got from Everything Attachments, Disced several passes in different directions and then Cultipacked in two directions.

I did not get much penetration with the old disc I started with. The Hay King disc I got to replace it only required 2 passes to get 6-7 inches deep. Discing levels things out to a surprising degree. The old cultipacker I bought did a good job of breaking up the clods from the discing and firming the seedbeds up.

If we get some rain that should finish melting the small resulting clods . I am wanting to get the Bermuda seed in the ground but I think the dirt needs to be a bit more broken down to do so.

Up in Ohio here with some clay.. but been reading through this thread, do discs work on hills fairly well? I'm thinking of getting a disc harrow, going over this 'dormant' farmland we have (hasn't been farmed in probably 20+ years) and then using the landscape rake to smooth out the clumps/dirt. My issue is that it is filled with ruts and other imperfections that makes mowing all but painful... (~5 acres here)

 

[peterssj4034]

Basicfun,

I have heavy clay conditions in NE Ohio, as my land was stripped 50+ years ago and not reclaimed to today's standards. When I bought the ground, it was heavily rutted and grown over, and it is sloped, uphill, from the road to the back of the property.

I used a disc on most of the 7 acres, with good results. I had even better results when I bought a single bottom plow, and then disced. I was able to get the plow at auction for $125. Well worth the money.

 

[bindian]

Warhammer,
For quick extra weight you can strap on a 55 gallon drum and fill it with water.
hugs, Brandi