Tilling grass pasture

[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