farmers use undersized disc harrows?

[tw30]

From what i gathered for every 15-20ft of disc you need 100hp.Biggest ive seen is 39'.Average large disc is 20-30ft.Why do farmer have 300+hp tractgors pu lling 30ft disc harrows ?Wouldnt the big case ih 335 magnum and steiger tractors pull a 60 ft disc harrow ? Now i know some famrer have feilds spread out and have to travel down the roads .But you could just tow one behind the other.When you get to the feild hook them sxs .I was thinking of hooking 5 International m37 disc together to get a 50 ft disc but they come in to many variable size's.but still connect 2 big plows or a bunch of smaller ones.See a bunch of used 30 & 20 ft disc from the 70's and 80's for around 5k and under .just thought to my self that a 30 ft disc is small for a 300+ hp tractor .I havnt seen any company that makes a 50ft or larger disc harrow . Also just throwing this out there the big bud tractor with over a 1000 hp wouldnt that pull a 120 ft disc.I thought most mid west or plains farm were self contained so to speak

 

[wsp617]

I've been looking for a 3-point disc for my 39 HP John Deere 1070 tractor. After not finding one (at a reasonable price) I was able to use one that a neighbor has. It's a 10' disc and have no problem pulling it I'm not sure I buy the 100 HP per 20' of disc.

 

[kebo]

Size matters!! Really, I think it might sometimes be a case of wanting more tractor than they really need to improve the longevity of them. If you have a 100hp tractor and are constantly using it at the upper limit of what it's capable of doing, common sense tells you it most likely won't give you as much trouble free service as someone doing the same work with a 200hp tractor (all things else being equal). I also think that sometimes it might just be a simple case of one farmer trying to outdo the farmer next door!!:laughing:

 

[Egon]

Why do farmer have 300+hp tractgors pu lling 30ft disc harrows ?

Because there is a big difference in the types of disks available.

Look at a serious agricultural disc.http://www.kello-bilt.com/

 

[JCB]

TW,

Not an expert, but I see a lot of tractors towing tillage equipment down the roads. Size limits that are still road worthy could be a factor.

 

[tw30]

that 10'c you have could have smaller blades and weigh less might have lighter frames than other makes . Also athens makes afforadble plows + they make the largest 3 point disc i have seen 15'3" 3 point disc harrow .4x3 frame 7k for that with the bells&whistles .


I know outwest on the plains they have like 6000 acre fields they plow.And a 60+ ft disc would be great .though i dont won t to go into the disc building industry.those axles are confusing installing bearings,spacings etc .

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Tw30, if you do some research on disks, you will see why there is such a big difference, maybe go to some AG shows and see for yourself. Some of the disks out there are 46-48" tall and over 1/2" thick, average 839lbs per disk. These things disk about 18" deep, that is a huge load to pull. You will also find that a lot of the time, they are actually doing 3 processes at one time and that takes a lot of power.

Do some research, most of the guys here don't deal with this big stuff and can't really help you out with these types of questions.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

One reason is that many farmers feel they are saving money in fuel. The fuel economy is better if you aren't maxing out any engine. If the other tractors are in a strain or are running with the governers pushed to the stop, then fuel is flowing quite freely. Even though the larger engines consume more fuel on average, a lightly or medium loaded engine can consume much less fuel that a smaller engine/weight tractor that is getting all it can. When you can be dealing with a 10-15 gallon per hour consumption rate, it can make a difference over the long haul, if you are burning 3 or 4 gallons less of fuel. The newer engines are developing more HP at higher RPM's as well. Torque curves are different as well. Engines used to be low RPM (less than 1800 rpm) with high torque that peaked just below the max rpm. Now engines are putting out more HP at higher rpm's with a different torque curve that doesn't always fit the piece of equipment being used.

Another reason is that weight and slippage issues can be over come with heavier tractors. Tractors 30 years ago typically weighed more than they do now. That put a higher percentage of the HP to the ground. Now, heavier tractors are required to maintain the same pulling that used to be accomplished by a smaller hp tractor that was as heavy as the larger ones are now.

Also, you must consider if they are using 4 wheel drive in the recommendation. 4 wheels pulling can transmit much more power to the ground as well. This make a huge difference when pulling with marginally capable HP tractors.

 

[whitedogone]

Who in the heck uses a disk anymore for real farm work?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXyrdpCKw08&feature=related

Ever try to hitch up to a ripper and pull it with anything under 300 hp?

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Who in the heck uses a disk anymore for real farm work?

YouTube - John Deere 9400 pulling 50 foot Field Cultivator.

Ever try to hitch up to a ripper and pull it with anything under 300 hp?

Well, someone must, these guys aren't going out of business yet. And I doubt that any hobby farmer is using them.

 

[tw30]

how much hp does it take to move the large 20-50ft seed drills ?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Bigger is cheaper to operate.

I plan to pull 8' with 60 hp because it is more handy. If used for making a living I would want about 10'-12'.

 

[tw30]

1993 GREAT PLAINS 2000 Drills For Sale At TractorHouse.com


yeah i want a bigger 3 pt seed drill

 

[charlz]

You will also find that a lot of the time, they are actually doing 3 processes at one time and that takes a lot of power.

That's what I see around here, various processes ganged together: disk/rip/disk/clod buster, disk/harrow/cultipack etc. In my immediate area most of the fields are less than 100 acres with some up to 250 acres or so and they have to be able to road the stuff between fields. When it comes time to do lower hp things like lay out the rows you see the smaller row crop tractors come out and do just that one thing.

 

[TripleR]

Who in the heck uses a disk anymore for real farm work?

YouTube - John Deere 9400 pulling 50 foot Field Cultivator.

Ever try to hitch up to a ripper and pull it with anything under 300 hp?

Our renters have been using disks with their JD8430s, but onr tractor showed up down at our barn with one similar to that. I went down to take a picture yesterday and it was gone.

People also need to realize these tractors are used for other things. Hook up to a sub soiler and see how a smaller tractor works. I love the sound of those 300+ hp engines under load.

 

[D7E]

As said there are disks and there are real disks . I pull a 26ft with 315 hp and a lighter 18ft with 200hp .
The type of land matters a lot too and disks are dying out here as it's too wet for them in recent years and like so many others i find the wear and tear on bearings too much ,the work that they do very ugly and they create a lot of compaction. but occasionaly theres a job where you need them to chop corn stalks or sunflower stalks but not many farmers will use a disk when a cultivator or chisel plough will do .

These are nice though .
http://www.summersmfg.com/products/diamonddisk.htm

 

[CharlieS]

Also just throwing this out there the big bud tractor with over a 1000 hp wouldnt that pull a 120 ft disc.I thought most mid west or plains farm were self contained so to speak

Several years ago, while in Montana custom harvesting wheat, we got a chance to see the Big Bud in action. We never saw it discing, and it would depend on disc size and type as to what it would pull, but we did watch it pulling 90' of chisel plow in wheat stubble, and i'd guess they were pulling at 6 or 7 mph. Dual's on 4wd & i'd estimate tires were about 8' tall & maybe 3' wide. It takes alot of weight and rubber to maintain traction with that kind of hp and working load.

 

[tw30]

Thanks fo the info . the subject was somthing i know very little about .

 

[radman1]

Big disks are very expensive new and take a fair amount of hp to pull. Need to be very heavy built as they get over 25-30'. It is rare in my area to see new disks for sale. More and more no-tillage. We have a 21' disk and just use it for minor tasks, smoothing out an area of field ect. Many farmers are now going to vertical tillage. Looks like a disc but the blades are vertical and typically has some type of roller on the back to smooth out the clods. Are they a fad? Don't know. Time will tell. I remember in my youth, large tillers were the rage. Required lots of hp and not very wide. Great looking seed bed but the amount of fuel, wear on the tiller, slow traveling, relatively small width and erosion was too great.

Google Image Result for http://www.arnoldsinc.com/330_Turbo-004-07-540.jpg

 

[tw30]

yeah a farmer this year switched over to a ripper/chisel plow . doesnt really do much to the soil as a disc harrow though.disc harrow works best after you have already bottom plowed.which use to be the thing around here but farmers here had to pull together resoruces recently.A disc harrow doesnt really cover corn that good from what i see it covers corn about good as it does grass .