If I Plow?

[campwildwood]

If I plow, do I need an heavy disc harrow? I have an Massey-Ferguson TO-35 diesel tractor with a 2-bottom plow. I'm looking to do some 2-4 acre plots on soil that is no longer virgin soil (thinks thats the correct term?) I have used the plots yearly for food plots where the local farmer plowed & disked for me. This pass year, bought my own tractor & plow as mentioned above and plan on buying a disc harrow. I've read where many buy a disc harrow to turn over virgin soil and an heavy disc is desireable. Since I will be plowing first, then disking, would a lighter weight disc be acceptable? I'm looking into the KK angle frame 6.5' combination disc harrow @ tractor supply. It weights 560lbs. I could add weight if needed, but I think it would be heavy enough to do what I need (smooth the soil bed) after I plow? Is my thinking correct? Thanks for any advice on the matter.

 

[rdln]

no. if you dont have sod to break up as in an old field, than you dont need a disk or tiller but secondary tillage tool like a spring tooth drag or equivalent is still required to break up clumps and knock down furrows. then a packer (cultipacker) to press in seed if you are not planting corn.

 

[mmurphy]

I guess each is to their own practices. When I was raised on a dairy farm we mo-board plowed just like you are going to do, and disked in spring with a harrow behind, than planted.

 

[captaincrab55]

I guess each is to their own practices. When I was raised on a dairy farm we mo-board plowed just like you are going to do, and disked in spring with a harrow behind, than planted.

Same here.. I grew up helping a neighbor with his small Truck-Farm... All fields got plowed every year and finished as above....

 

[MMagis]

I think the actual question is; does the disc need to be heavy or not. I think most of us know that a disk is pretty important. I suppose one could get by without, but I don't know why.
You are correct that since the soil has been worked and planted before, it will take less to work that soil. I still like weight, but like you said, I add it as needed.

 

[TripleR]

Simply put, no you don't need a heavy duty disk, just be prepared to make more trips and add weight. I also recommend a drag harrow.

 

[marksmu]

If I plow, do I need an heavy disc harrow? I have an Massey-Ferguson TO-35 diesel tractor with a 2-bottom plow. I'm looking to do some 2-4 acre plots on soil that is no longer virgin soil (thinks thats the correct term?) I have used the plots yearly for food plots where the local farmer plowed & disked for me. This pass year, bought my own tractor & plow as mentioned above and plan on buying a disc harrow. I've read where many buy a disc harrow to turn over virgin soil and an heavy disc is desireable. Since I will be plowing first, then disking, would a lighter weight disc be acceptable? I'm looking into the KK angle frame 6.5' combination disc harrow @ tractor supply. It weights 560lbs. I could add weight if needed, but I think it would be heavy enough to do what I need (smooth the soil bed) after I plow? Is my thinking correct? Thanks for any advice on the matter.

You cant ever have too heavy of a disc (if your tractor can handle it). If the disc is cutting more than you want, then you can simply adjust your cut depth with your 3pt.

If a disc is too light, adding weight works sometimes, but you cant make something from nothing. In my opinion its always better to have more than you need.

 

[sweettractors]

Our fields will get plowed before end of Feb., catch some rains and then disc to prepare the seedbed in the spring. The exception is our no-till corn. Ken Sweet

 

[Ford850]

I use a moldboard plow, and a 6 1/2' KK angle disk with a couple hundred pounds of weight added. My soil is heavy and is either wet and clumped, or dry and hard clumped, with no inbetween. I take several (3-4) passes with the disk at alternating angles and then drag with a weighted fence harrow. On a perfect day I can get by with 2 disk passes, but that rarely happens. On soil that is more loam or sand, 1 or 2 passes would be normal.

 

[wolc123]

You got a nice old tractor and a nice old plow, I would forget about the new KK 3-point disc, and look for an old pull-type instead. This type does a better job on every pass with less weight, and requires less power, meaning you can use a wider one (probably an 8-footer with that tractor which would be limited to about a 6.5 footer in a 3-point). Also, an old pull-type disc in decent shape can often be found for a couple hundred bucks or less. I found a nice, JD 7.5 foot, pull-type last year for $50 that works like a dream. The more weight you need to add to a disc, the more soil compaction you will get, which is bad. Pull-types require less added weight in general because all sections follow the ground contour much better than on 3-points. In my opinion, no implement benefits less from a 3-point hitch than a disc. It is so much faster to hook up/unhook with a single pin, and I love using an old pull-type on some of my antique tractors which lack a 3-point hitch. Even if I had to travel over the road, I would simply buy an old pull-type for every peice of property I worked, they are cheap enough to do that, and virtually theft-proof, since most folks consider them nothing but "junk". One trick I use with a pull-type disc to deal with the issue of turn-around on narrow sections is to leave about a 10 foot wide strip of sod at the ends of the section. The disc will ride up on the sod and allow you to turn fairly short. Also, I would forget about skipping the disc, and skip the drag instead. It will take much longer to level a plowed field using a drag than it would with a disc although, to be honest, I have never attempted it.