Horse Power vs Tiller size in Texas Gumbo clay

[awill99]

I currently have a 5005 DI.How much tiller can it easily handle in Texas Gumbo clay soil? If I go to a 6500 4WD?

 

[NTex6500]

Moisture content of North Texas clay soil is the key. Catch it at the right time and you can run any size tiller you can mount on your tractor. Catch it at the wrong time and it takes dynamite to break it up. I have 55 acres east of Van Alstyne and it is the same black Houston clay you have at Celeste. I used a 10 ft. J.D. tandem disk to prepare 20 acres for sprigging from late Winter to early Spring and moisture content was the single most important factor in working the soil.

 

[Bird]

Moisture content of North Texas clay soil is the key.

Absolutely right. A 40" tiller behind a Kubota with only 13 PTO hp did great when the moisture content was right. It bounced and rattled on top when the ground was really hard and dry, and it even bogged down and killed the engine once or twice when it was really muddy and sticky.