Disc harrows

[airbiscuit]

Love those rolling baskets.

 

[BAP]

airbuiscut’s explanation and advice is on point. Only thing I’d add is in relation to the need to break up hard pan. There’s no reason to break up hard pan unless you actually have hard pan.

If the area you’re planting has drainage issues maybe you need to run a ripper/subsoiler/chisel plow through it to penetrate the hard pan. Clearly that would have to be something that goes deeper than your tiller so something that runs 8” deep is not going to be effective. If the area you’re planting doesn’t have drainage issues, don’t know why you’d spend the time, money, and fuel to rip it deeper than you’re tilling it unless you have a real reason to do it.

Well said. Many people mistakenly use subsoilers without knowing how to use them properly. They shouldn’t be used every year. They shouldn’t be run any deeper than 2-3” below the formed hard pan lawyer and you need to use a probe to determine where that is and if it is even there. Hap hazardly using a subsoiler wastes fuel and money. We used to run one on the 1200 acres of corn land on a 3-4 year cycle, BUT only after using a probe to determine if it was necessary. Some soils don’t need it and if you aren’t running heavy equipment over it and lots of tillage than it isn’t necessary.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I'd plow, cultivate,till. I'd also subsoil as I have one and it's fun to run ! Plow in spring before the 'grass' has a chance to grow over 2-3 inches. Let Mother Nature breakdown the rolled over sod for say a week or so. Then run the culitvators though, running North-South, then East West. This not only breaks up the soil more ,it'll tend to level it out. Afte rthat run rototiller again, N-S,E-W. Since this is a 'veggy garden' not a 'corn field', you want level. There's a BIG difference between a 'veggy garden' and 'commercial operation'. Around here , commercial ops only plant soybeans,corn,oats,soybeans, corn, oats,........ maybe some spuds. NOT root crops. All they do is 'notill', add fertilizer prills,then seeds. A home garden is maybe 1 acre and a variety of crops is grown. BTW neighbour found out you can't grow carrots in a notilled field. Since the garden is small, you can afford a few gallons of diesel and some 'xtra' time to make it a healthy, compost rich garden. If you don't 'put back what you take', the garden soil will 'die' and your harvests will be lousy after 2-3-4 years.

 

[pokey1416]

I got a deal on this disc harrow by EA. I use it first on grass and then follow up with a tiller. Since the ground is somewhat broken up by the harrow I only need 1 pass with the tiller. Then I follow that up with chain harrow.

My rear tires are at 72" so if I was buying and had a choice, I would have gotten the 78" harrow. I ended up with the 66".

My only complaint is the disc harrow is too light at 533 lbs. We have some hard clay soils here so full penetration is tough to get.

https://www.everythingattachments.com/Angle-Iron-Compact-Tractor-Disc-Harrow-66-78-p/eta-xdai-dh.htm

Here's a video I did of the harrow in action.

Here's the tiller video after the harrow.

Hope this helps and good luck Matt.


Jeff

 

[NCL4701]

I got a deal on this disc harrow by EA. I use it first on grass and then follow up with a tiller. Since the ground is somewhat broken up by the harrow I only need 1 pass with the tiller. Then I follow that up with chain harrow.

My rear tires are at 72" so if I was buying and had a choice, I would have gotten the 78" harrow. I ended up with the 66".

My only complaint is the disc harrow is too light at 533 lbs. We have some hard clay soils here so full penetration is tough to get.

https://www.everythingattachments.com/Angle-Iron-Compact-Tractor-Disc-Harrow-66-78-p/eta-xdai-dh.htm

Here's a video I did of the harrow in action.

Here's the tiller video after the harrow.

Hope this helps and good luck Matt.


Jeff

Back when we used a disc harrow (been a while) we often used it before plowing to cut up the grass/corn stalks to break them down for better aggregation into the soil. Making a box for the top of the disc and adding rocks or concrete to add weight to the harrow helped quite a bit with getting it to bite into the clay soil.

 

[MOOTS]

Back when we used a disc harrow (been a while) we often used it before plowing to cut up the grass/corn stalks to break them down for better aggregation into the soil. Making a box for the top of the disc and adding rocks or concrete to add weight to the harrow helped quite a bit with getting it to bite into the clay soil.

This was sorta my thinking. I could disc first to kind of chop everything up, then till to mix.

Looking on marketplace, lots of newish disc and antique cultivators are popping up. Only found a few in the 6’ range.
This one is close. He wants 2k for it, LP DH2572.

and this atlas, I can’t find much info on.

 

[Elliott in GA]

FWIW, if you are only using it occasionally, you might want to look at Tractor Supply (6.5 ft disc for $1,700).
I have no idea how they compare, but for your use it might not matter.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-medium-duty-disc

 

[Tx Jim]

Having pulled JD disk harrows utilizing several different models such as models AW,BWA,210,310,315 &1635 over 100's of acres I think tractor driver is moving too slow & not leveling soil very well.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

choke,choke.... on those disc prices ! Guess things have 'inflated' in the past 2 decades. I bought a set of FB discs for $75. yeah,old, pullbehind,2 of the discs missing a bit old steel.
Sure would be nice if you can find used ones,maybe ask local farmers,check scrapyards !! I passed up on a 6' Bhog last week,no need for it,shame though. Spring cleaning is a GREAT time to visit scrapyard, leave name/number and a list. You might get what you need at a real good price.

 

[jyoutz]

choke,choke.... on those disc prices ! Guess things have 'inflated' in the past 2 decades. I bought a set of FB discs for $75. yeah,old, pullbehind,2 of the discs missing a bit old steel.
Sure would be nice if you can find used ones,maybe ask local farmers,check scrapyards !! I passed up on a 6' Bhog last week,no need for it,shame though. Spring cleaning is a GREAT time to visit scrapyard, leave name/number and a list. You might get what you need at a real good price.

Currently the price of steel is so high that there are no deals on scrap steel. All scrap goes to recycle because the cost is so high.

 

[SDT]

Thinking of adding some disc’s to the implement pile. Wanting to do a largish garden and maybe some food plots in the woods, to hopefully keep the deer out of the garden!

FIL has a tiller and what I think is a cultivator? Would a set of disc compliment these or would something else be better?

This will be behind a MX6000.

Little need of a disc if you already have access to a good tiller.

 

[NHSleddog]

I use a LP tiller and disc harrow.

Established plots are easy with a tiller and that is generally all that is needed.

Food plots and virgin ground will benefit greatly by being hit with the disc harrow first. This will find any obvious nastires as well as break up any vegetation before hitting with the tiller.

 

[leveraddict]

Watched an interesting vid yesterday about no till vs. tilling. Tilling or over tilling causes soil to loose nutrients and does not hold water well. I guess you have to till to a point for a good seed bed but deep over tilling that gives the soil a smooth finish looks nice but is not good for the crops.

This is a must watch for gardeners. Its an eye opener for sure!
Differences in Tilled and No Till Soils - YouTube

 

[rc51stierhoff]

Watched an interesting vid yesterday about no till vs. tilling. Tilling or over tilling causes soil to loose nutrients and does not hold water well. I guess you have to till to a point for a good seed bed but deep over tilling that gives the soil a smooth finish looks nice but is not good for the crops.

This is a must watch for gardeners. Its an eye opener for sure!
Differences in Tilled and No Till Soils - YouTube

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I wrote a paper in school (90s) on till…yes I am a dinosaur…anyway there are lots of factors involved. Hydroponics works right? There is not tilling there for sure. But no till also uses a hell of a lot more chemicals than most people would ever even consider to put on their garden. Everyone has different soil and it’s not necessary because of tilling. I live in a hill and I have raised beds defined by timber’s. I don’t till those…guess what I lose soil ever year. It’s not from tilling and it’s not from erosion…it’s from pulling weeds.

 

[bucktail]

If you have tree roots or rocks in the food plots, the disk may be useful as it will just ride up over them where the tiller will have more problems with them.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

If you have tree roots or rocks in the food plots, the disk may be useful as it will just ride up over them where the tiller will have more problems with them.

Yep…I think a disc would be handy…first till of néw ground is like Christmas mornings…could be a surprise…could be a lump of something you don’t want too….I have always had a a traditional walk behind tiller and always used in a normal backyard garden…this past year I upgraded to an RTR for my Mx that I keep at 2nd property and it certainly lets you know when you find a rock or a piece of slab wood that’s burried…still makes life easier. But I do worry about it kicking something up under the tracto…the black vinyl deflector doesn’t seem bulletproof.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

I got a deal on this disc harrow by EA. I use it first on grass and then follow up with a tiller. Since the ground is somewhat broken up by the harrow I only need 1 pass with the tiller. Then I follow that up with chain harrow.

My rear tires are at 72" so if I was buying and had a choice, I would have gotten the 78" harrow. I ended up with the 66".

My only complaint is the disc harrow is too light at 533 lbs. We have some hard clay soils here so full penetration is tough to get.

https://www.everythingattachments.com/Angle-Iron-Compact-Tractor-Disc-Harrow-66-78-p/eta-xdai-dh.htm

Here's a video I did of the harrow in action.

Here's the tiller video after the harrow.

Hope this helps and good luck Matt.


Jeff

Sh-t…now I want one. I was happy with my tiller.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

If you own a PTO driven rototiller, you quickly find out that you NEED to have SEVERAL spare shearbolts and 2 wrenches ON the tractor, Rocks will always come up for a visit, usually the furthest corner of the property.
If you run a 5' tiller, pivot 180 at end of row, so left tire runs in it's own track, that becomes the footpath. weeds don't grow fast as soil's packed down a bit and the bed is a good 4 feet wide.

 

[jyoutz]

Watched an interesting vid yesterday about no till vs. tilling. Tilling or over tilling causes soil to loose nutrients and does not hold water well. I guess you have to till to a point for a good seed bed but deep over tilling that gives the soil a smooth finish looks nice but is not good for the crops.

This is a must watch for gardeners. Its an eye opener for sure!
Differences in Tilled and No Till Soils - YouTube

That assumes that you aren’t adding soil amendments along with tilling them in. Of course repeat tilling without adding amendments will deplete the soil. Any long time gardener knows this.

 

[MOOTS]

That assumes that you aren’t adding soil amendments along with tilling them in. Of course repeat tilling without adding amendments will deplete the soil. Any long time gardener knows this.

That will be the 2nd step in this garden. The first being where and how big.
I will soil sample and drop off at local UGA extension office.