What size disc harrow?

[JamesHungwell]

I'm running a l4802 and am completely new to both tractors and gardening. I'm looking to manage 1-2 acres of garden, along with some pasture, I'm looking at the king kutter 5.5' with 18-20" discs, I'm in soil that has a good amount of clay, with a decent amount of organic material and some sand. Should I go bigger? Smaller? I've seen posts saying get slightly smaller than the width of the tires, and posts saying go slightly larger, so I'm a bit confused. I've also seen people say get adjustable angle ones, and others not mention it...

 

[Captain13]

If I remember correctly, the rule of thumb is 6 hp for every foot of disk. So theoretucally, a 48 hp tractor could do a 8 foot harrow. Realistically, I would not do that. That’s assuming a 4wd tractor and, to me, the tractor would be overworked. My land has a lot of clay and my 7040 pulling a 7 foot harrow with the disks angled in is working pretty hard to pull the harrow. I have the adjustable angle disks, front and rear and that significantly adds the the power requirement.

Typically, harrow size is recommended to be no wider than the rear wheel width. That’s what I based my harrow size on. The outside disks on the rear are just outside of my rear wheels so I leave no tire tracks. My rear angle is set to turn the dirt toward the center essentially leaving the plowed ground in a raised bed for planting.

 

[JamesHungwell]

If I remember correctly, ...

Thanks for that info! so the 5.5' one should be about right then? if memory serves the tractor is at 62" edge of tire to edge of tire. 18" discs are sufficient? (I think they're what it comes with by default)

If going for rows, would I then repeat a pass with a middle buster to get two rows per pass?