Tilling grass pasture

[terraformer]

I have been trying to till for a large garden and for a food plot. The garden is going over an old grass covered corral and the food plot on some flatter areas of a pasture.

I did the garden yesterday.

My equipment is a 35 hp tractor, a 6' double row disk It is a heavy thing made with heavy box tubing and well built. The first row of disks are scalloped and the second row are smooth. My other plow is a sub soil spike. I also have a brush hog.

I went over the garden with the sub soil buster about every 3' then drug the disk over it and noticed that it didn't want to dig in very well. maybe 2-3". I shreaded the top layers I played with the top link of the 3 point hitch to get it to lay flat on the soil. After about 20-30 passes I was able to rake it off by hand to get the early crops in.

I loaded some heavy timbers onto the top of the disk. It dug in deeper, but was still pretty slow at tearing up the top soil. Perhaps it is the wrong tool for the job but it is what I have.

I am thinking that I for my food plot need to start with my sub soil tool and make more passes say every 2 feet in a cross hatch pattern Maybe at less than full depth. I am looking for advice. Hope to get some soy beans in the ground after May 1.

 

[jenkinsph]

It could be you are not pulling the disc far enough to fully engage with the ground before you get to where you need it tilled. Just an estimate but you need to pull a disk about 20 to 30 feet to get it to full depth. In an enclosed garden with your tools you could make more pasees with the ripper you have to break it up.
Good luck with your garden this year.

 

[terraformer]

That is a good point. My original garden was to be 20x30 but as I started, I realized that the disk had to move 20 feet to dig in so I changed the shape to narrow and it ended up about 4 rods long and narrow.

I was running the 3 point hitch. Might it be better to take the top link out? I have a feeling that the top link might prevent the full weight from bearing into the soil. Maybe the lower arms might need to be adjusted down.

 

[AKfish]

That is a good point. My original garden was to be 20x30 but as I started, I realized that the disk had to move 20 feet to dig in so I changed the shape to narrow and it ended up about 4 rods long and narrow.

I was running the 3 point hitch. Might it be better to take the top link out? I have a feeling that the top link might prevent the full weight from bearing into the soil. Maybe the lower arms might need to be adjusted down.

Adjusting the top link will either increase or decrease the angle of attack for the front gang on the disc. Increasing the angle will make the scalloped blades more aggressive and cut into the sod better. Although, if you don't have a long enough run; you'll just end up with chunks and big clumps.

Any possibility of renting or borrowing a rototiller?

AKfish

 

[wcampbell47]

Some sub-soilers hold the point on with bolts. If that is the case with yours I would replace the point with a 10 or 12 inch middle buster. Running the middle buster as close as you can on each pass will loosen up the sod. Then run the disk (weighted would be better) over the area. Be prepared for a rough ride. Better yet borrow or rent a tiller.

My preferred method is to till the area with the tiller set at 1 inch. Using the FEL I then push all the loose grass of the garden area that I can down to bare soil. Then plow and till or disk. You may also want to look into a disk hiller or bedder. Just google garden bedder and you will see examples.

 

[T Dew]

I am readying to do the same thing in the next week or two, and I always dread doing this. I have a tiller, but I have never tried it as wcampbell suggested. I love it, and I'm going to try it. Then I will just add some compost and till again at a deeper setting. There are plenty of places to use the 1" I remove. This might not help the OP, but it is still great advice.

 

[Colt_Cowboy]

I've been doing the same thing on a 200'x100' area. I ran a two bottom plow over the area and then let the dirt break down for a couple of weeks. Actually, the rain hit and it was two weeks before it dried out. This weekend I made three runs with my tiller over it to get the soil consistency I wanted. Next time I do this I think I'll run my disk over the plowed rows first. I think they'll break down the sod clods to more manageable sizes for my tiller.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have been trying to till for a large garden and for a food plot. The garden is going over an old grass covered corral and the food plot on some flatter areas of a pasture.

I did the garden yesterday.

My equipment is a 35 hp tractor, a 6' double row disk It is a heavy thing made with heavy box tubing and well built. The first row of disks are scalloped and the second row are smooth. My other plow is a sub soil spike. I also have a brush hog.

I went over the garden with the sub soil buster about every 3' then drug the disk over it and noticed that it didn't want to dig in very well. maybe 2-3". I shreaded the top layers I played with the top link of the 3 point hitch to get it to lay flat on the soil. After about 20-30 passes I was able to rake it off by hand to get the early crops in.

I loaded some heavy timbers onto the top of the disk. It dug in deeper, but was still pretty slow at tearing up the top soil. Perhaps it is the wrong tool for the job but it is what I have.

I am thinking that I for my food plot need to start with my sub soil tool and make more passes say every 2 feet in a cross hatch pattern Maybe at less than full depth. I am looking for advice. Hope to get some soy beans in the ground after May 1.

If you have a heavy frame disk with weights on it and it is not cutting in, then there is something else wrong. Post a picture of the disk as it is set up and lets see if we can figure this out. Are you sure that your draft control is all the way down along with the lift control. If you have the draft control lever up then it isn't letting the disk go down. Do the gangs have adjustable set? IF so make sure that the front center is as far to the rear as it will go (should be some pins in it or maybe a screw adjustment). The rear gang needs to be pushed are far forward in the center as it will go and pinned or screw adjusted to the max so the disc should look like this (front of disk >) (<rear of disk. You would adjust the top link to level the disk so the back is not throwing up a mound but is throwing enough dirt to level back the ground from the front gangs. If it is mounded up in the middle, shorten the top link, lengthen it if it leave a shallow depression. When double cutting, you should straddle the previous furrow with your tractor so the disk is cutting centerline of the furrow left by the first pass.
5-6 passes even with a light duty disk should be cutting up to the axles during the spring when the ground has been soaking all winter from the rains.
If you have full set in the gangs, hydraulic and draft lever is all the way down, and still not cutting, put on some more weight like concrete blocks.

 

[terraformer]

The disk unit is an american made (It has a Wallace sticker) with two rows of disks about 18" diameter. The frame is 2" square tubing probably 3/16" thick. Just like the big boys. I bought it used It had been used by a farmer for about 2 hours several years ago. He is a friend of mine and the blades are nice and sharp.

I have been running it with just a two point setup. The arms will touch the ground on concrete if they are not hooked up. I felt this would let it float, It floats too good

It cuts in pretty good on our trails but on the pastures which are grass covered it cuts through the grass but not deep maybe 3" total. I put some weight on it but I feel that I just need more. Our area has gotten some rain and there are two inches predicted in the next few days. The soil is not any where near saturated at this point. A week ago I felt like it was too wet to get the tractor out.

Thanks to those who have replied It all helps.

 

[CliffordK]

A plow should dig in quite well... But, most smaller tractors run a 1, 2, or 3 bottom plow, much smaller than your disk.

It always seemed that the plow left the field rather bumpy, and it took quite a bit of work to get it smoothed out again.

I've liked my tiller a lot lately. Mine seems to limit the cut to about 3 or 4 inches (bottom of the bearings/pulleys), but it seems to do quite well for my needs. I haven't done more than few thousand or so sq feet at a time though.

 

[Egon]

That is a good point. My original garden was to be 20x30 but as I started, I realized that the disk had to move 20 feet to dig in so I changed the shape to narrow and it ended up about 4 rods long and narrow.

I was running the 3 point hitch. Might it be better to take the top link out? I have a feeling that the top link might prevent the full weight from bearing into the soil. Maybe the lower arms might need to be adjusted down.

For a 20 by 30 garden the front bucket would work for the cultivating!

 

[terraformer]

Hi
Yes the garden was not that much of a biggie. It took longer than I thought though. Although I didn't say how big my food plot was, I made a couple of acres of them so far along the pasture edges so far. Also put in a couple of fire breaks around a 20x50' burn pile.

Good idea about using the edge of the bucket to till the garden. I did use the bucket to scrape the grass from the fire breaks.

 

[gwdixon]

I don't favor using a 3PH disc without the top link attached. If the lift pins are above the axle plane then the disc tends to roll over toward the front. This causes the fronts to dig in but the rears are pretty useless. It also tends to make an uneven cut depending on the angle of the front gang. The inefficiency you are experiencing may be because of the fronts only doing the cutting.

In fact, and to counter the rolling, I set the top link so the rears touch the ground a couple of inches before the fronts. Then when pulling everything seems to level out. Having a T&T makes this much easier.

Adding weight is generally a good idea but tends to put quite a strain on the cheap-o sealed bearings that are put on discs nowadays. I've gone through four of the eight on my 3PH disc.

 

[terraformer]

I tried to keep it level with the 3 pt. Due to ground irregularities, sometimes it was nose up or down. Next time I get it going, we are having rain now. Will set it up for about 2" down at the back. My tractor weighs 2 tons might be good to transfer some of it's weight onto the disk.

 

[Spindifferent]

Using large equipment in a relatively small area is difficult. In my relatively small kitchen garden area of approx. 1668 square feet, I've used a subsoiler, a pasture renovator with ripper shanks, a disc, and now finally a reverse-rotation tiller. I found that I wasn't able to get fertilizer/compost mixed into the soil well because there just isn't enough space to get the disc going fast/deep enough to do a good job of bed preparation.

So, I recently purchased a Woods TRC68 reverse-rotation tiller and it works wonders for tilling and seed-bed preparation! Having previously subsoiled, ripped, and disced the garden bed was the perfect preparation for using the tiller. With broken ground, the tiller easily goes deep to around 7 inches and it produces a fine a fluffy seed bed surface.

I guess what I'm suggesting is that you try and rent or borrow a tiller and give it a try in your garden. For small spaces, it is the best tool to get the job done.

All the best,

- Spindifferent

 

[econometrics]

How about using a 5-shank box blade, too? That could help tear up the surface a little more consistently than the sub-soiler. Granted, you're not going to get too deep with that, but it will give some "bite" to the disc when you drag it through, too.

All said, I think renting a tiller for smaller plots is a good idea. Like previously noted, it really is hard to use bigger equipment to get "fine tuned" results in a small area.

 

[terraformer]

I would agree that the disk is overkill for a garden but it was the first use for my new disk. My plan for my disk is to put in food plots and fire breaks between the pastures and woods. I have a powered cultivator which would work to maintain the garden in the growing season going through the root system of the grass would be difficult.

 

[Reg]

A 55 gallon plastic barrel measures about 3 ft long and 2 ft diameter.
When full of water it will weigh 450 lbs or so, which is probably more than the heavy timbers you stacked and it is conveniently compact.
A couple of 2 by sticks to distribute its weight across the disc's frame and a couple of ratchet straps to hold it there should do.
I doubt you would need more than one of these, even one FULL one may be too much.
BTW, get one with the bungs and put a faucet at the lowest point so you can drain 1/4 or 1/2 out if the weight proves to be too much for your 35 HP tractor.

Local car wash can be a good source for barrels, my local one doesn't use enough to be worth returning, so they are there for the scrounging.

 

[econometrics]

That was a good bit of advice, Reg!

Interestingly, after I read and commented on this post the other day, my wife wanted to put in a small "garden" where she can plant some sprawling vegetable plants. I thought about renting a tiller, but then Reg's idea of loading down the disc seemed to be something I should try. The soil's been pretty moist around here, so I knew I would get a good till on it with the extra weight.

Here are some pics from last night:

I didn't do the greatest job of strapping down the 65 gallon tank, but I knew I only had this little patch to do.

I was really pleased with how well it tilled everything up. There are some smaller bermuda chunks in there, but we broke those up with a steel rake. This was only about 5-6 passes through it, too. :thumbsup:

 

[AKfish]

Whoa... looky at that dirt! Shorts and T-shirts, too! Almost looks like you worked the ground with a rototiller! Did a very nice job.

Snowin' here today... 8F last night when I fed the horses. Might be in the mid-teens right now! Probably 2ft+ snow on the pastures still. Gonna be a while before I'm drivin' on dirt.

AKfish