smoothing behind disc

[jkornbread]

Ok, so, I'm in the process of upgrading the attachments for my new M7060 Kubota.

Im on the hunt for a larger disc, probably a wheel lift, pull style offset disc. On my smaller tractor I was using a 5ft double offset drag disc, no wheel lift.

One thing I haven't had much luck finding - What should I do to break up the clods that the disc makes? We have soil with a fairly large quantity of clay, so it the disc tends to make for a pretty rough finish without multiple passes (trying to avoid that).

So, I've seen a ring roller, or something of the sort behind discs, but I can't find anything on craigslist, and the web was a waste of time. Maybe I'm searching the wrong term?

Other ideas?

Thanks!

 

[patchnball]

cultipaker..........

 

[airbiscuit]

A drag.

 

[bcp]

Before cultipackers, we used a spike-tooth harrow. Maybe a chain harrow would be the modern version.

Bruce

 

[jkornbread]

my only concern with a spike tooth or chain harrow would be clogging. Alot of the fields I disc have a significant amount of vegetation on the ground when I disc.........
I guess I should specify that, I'm not discing a 40 acre feild for crops, with clean dirt. Mostly these are fields with grass growing or dead but standing still

 

[MF283]

I ran a chain through 3 railroad ties to pull behind my 7' disc, i've seen metal pipes loaded with concrete pulled behind as well.

Ronnie

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Go down to Tulare next week to the World AG expo. You may get a few ideas there. Don't bring your wallet, you'll go home with it empty.

 

[airbiscuit]

Would you have less vegetation if you made more passes with your disc, or also used a springtooth? The traditional implement is a spike harrow. There is another version of that which uses siderake teeth (called a soil conditioner?) that is a pretty good tool. There is also something called a rotary hoe that might do the trick. If all else fails, you could buy a rotary tiller.

 

[Tractorboy88]

Do you disc in an "X" pattern when you make your second pass?

 

[stuckmotor]

If you have lots of really hard clods, you may be discing when the soil is too wet. I've never been able to do a good job of pulverizing that kind of clod mechanically. They seem to be gone by the next year though. I suspect the winter rain and maybe the freeze/thaw cycle desolves them.

To break up clods formed when the soil was disced with the correct moisture content, some people follow the breaking disc with a smoothing disc. Their discs are spaced closer together and may be smaller.

When I used a cultipaker I used it to firm seeds in a seed bed. I don't think it broke up enough clods in my clay soil to make it a worthwhile investment for that purpose.

 

[Egon]

Diamond Harrows.

 

[oosik]

I have a homemade "drag". Its two 8" x 8" timbers chained about 4' apart that I drag behind. Works for me but it sure is a dusty operation.

 

[MESSMAKER]

I have a homemade "drag". Its two 8" x 8" timbers chained about 4' apart that I drag behind. Works for me but it sure is a dusty operation.

Simple , but has worked for years and cost next to nothing.

 

[flusher]

Ok, so, I'm in the process of upgrading the attachments for my new M7060 Kubota.

Im on the hunt for a larger disc, probably a wheel lift, pull style offset disc. On my smaller tractor I was using a 5ft double offset drag disc, no wheel lift.

One thing I haven't had much luck finding - What should I do to break up the clods that the disc makes? We have soil with a fairly large quantity of clay, so it the disc tends to make for a pretty rough finish without multiple passes (trying to avoid that).

So, I've seen a ring roller, or something of the sort behind discs, but I can't find anything on craigslist, and the web was a waste of time. Maybe I'm searching the wrong term?

Other ideas?

Thanks!

Definitely find yourself a wheel disc. I bought an old 13 ft wide Kraus wheel disc for $600 and cut it down to 8-ft wide to use behind my 2008 Mahindra 5525.

Build a DIY drag consisting of a piece of chain link fence that's the width of your disc and about 4-5 feet long. Chain it to your disc and add weight (concrete blocks, old tires/rims, railroad ties, etc) to the chain link fence.

Good luck

 

[ProjectKing]

Around here they typically plow and then disc. If nothing else you should mow down the grass and weeds first with a bush hog... Then run your disc. But the disc is gonna make clods if the ground has not been broken by a plow... The clods are sod chunks.

To make a nice seed bed typically the disc is pulled a couple times across the field after being plowed a week or two before... And on the last pass a big timber like a railroad tie is chained behind the disc to make everything nice and smooth.

 

[gwdixon]

I'm guessing that you want something like this:



There is no way to get it with a one-pass discing and a one-pass dragging.

First, you have to get rid of the foliage debris. That can be done by discing, wait two weeks, disc again, then once again in a week.

The next step is some sort of drag. I took an old beat-up spring harrow and welded a 6" drill pipe to the front of it and a very heavy logging chain to the rear. It is ugly as sin, but works very well at breaking clods and leveling in a couple of passes. (I once tried chain link fence on the bottom but it soon broke and wadded up.)



Finally, a cultipacker is used to compress any surface rocks into the ground and make the whole field look raked.

 

[N2DFire]

Build a DIY drag consisting of a piece of chain link fence that's the width of your disc and about 4-5 feet long. Chain it to your disc and add weight (concrete blocks, old tires/rims, railroad ties, etc) to the chain link fence.

+1 It's worked fine for us for years.

 

[Soundguy]

A drag.

Yup, I have put a chain drag behind a disc, or a tire drag.. or even drug a log. heck, enough tractor and you can pull a train and drag all 3!

 

[airbiscuit]

OP, it would help if you posted a picture of your ground after you used your disc.

 

[jkornbread]

I'll get some pics next time I disc. Alot of great ideas and I am still learning so it is appreciated. I have seen alot of locals running a ring roller (?) behind the disc, but for the life of me I cannot find anything about them other than on craigslist. I'm guessing its actually called a cultipacker maybe. I totally believe its gonna take more than 1 or 2 passes to get a nice clean seed bed. I'll be researching more, based on the ideas posted. When I have time. lol I just picked up a new flail that I'm rebuilding so discing will be on the back burner for a bit...........