best disc harrow?

[cj sudhop]

I'm shopping for a 6' - 7' disc harrow for my new Kubota GL3940. I'll be using the disc for about 5 - 10 acres of food plots, with most of the plost in the 1/2 acre size. Money is definitely an issue, but I don't want to go cheap and be sorry later. Any recommendations on make and model?

 

[RollingsFarms]

best for your money in my opinion is Leinbach. i bought the 6' 300-20-20 model recently and have been happy with it so far. it weights 740 lbs, which is on the light side, but i set the gangs all the way aggressive and that combined with those 20" blades will make my 56hp tractor WORK in sandy soil. this is probably the easiest disk to adjust on the market, and compared to others i've looked at, seem to be built pretty good. i paid $1,100 for mine.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

IMHO, the "best" disc's in that size range were manufactured in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. If you're talking a wheel transport disc, IH had the best, across the board. Lots of 'em still around. If you're talking 3-point mounted....., and I suspect you are, a Massey Ferguson #25 is the best I know of. Lots of 'em still around. Trick is finding one that isn't destroyed. Still a few around. It's worth the time to look around. A decent #25 will sell for 1/3rd the price of many new light/medium weight brands.

They're a unique design. They work.

 

[flusher]

I'm shopping for a 6' - 7' disc harrow for my new Kubota GL3940. I'll be using the disc for about 5 - 10 acres of food plots, with most of the plost in the 1/2 acre size. Money is definitely an issue, but I don't want to go cheap and be sorry later. Any recommendations on make and model?

Are these food plot areas covered with turf or have they been tilled recently?
If the soil is virgin turf, I would expect that you would need a heavy offset disc to cut through the turf. Otherwise, you might be able to get away with less aggressive tilling using a tandem disc.

IRRc, food plots generally don't require deep tilling (6" or less). Once you get the turf removed or buried, your 3940 could handle a 6-7ft tandem disc.

My discs are all old, vintage stuff so, unless you're in the market for that kind of hardware, I can't give you a recommendation.

Here's my offset disc, a heavy old 1940s vintage 6.5 ft Towner loaded with about 400 lb of concrete weight to work in my dry, hard soil. It 's hinged on the right side (two pairs of axles in a V-configuration) and is considered a primary tillage implement.
This disc was a gift from a neighbor. Figure on adding weight to whatever disc you eventually buy to get it to work effectively.

My Massey Ferguson 6-ft tandem disc ($200), 1950s vintage. It's hinged in the middle (4 axles in an X-configuration) and is considered a secondary tillage implement.

My 1960s vintage Minneapolis Moline 13-ft tandem wheel disc ($600) has been cut down to about 10-ft so my Mahindra 5525 (54 hp engine, 45 hp pto) can handle it. This very heavy disc was actually built by Krause, a big name disc manufactured still in business. Your tractor needs remote hydraulics to operate something like this. Wheel discs, like 3pt discs, are nice to have when road transport is required.

Note that these are pull-type disc. I don't own a 3pt disc.

Don't know if this info helps you at all. Good luck.

 

[wolc123]

If you dont need to transport on the road after you get it to your property, then a pull- type would be your best bet. With the recent collapse of scrap steel prices, these are getting a little easier to find. This spring I found a 1950's, JD 7.5 footer for $100 that is the most effective disc I have used (including Ford and MF 6-7 ft 3 pts, 5,7 ft Bissel pull-types, 7 ft IH pull-type). A pull-type or transport disc in general is more effective on every pass than a comparable weight 3-pt because all sections follow the ground contour rather than remaining flat relative to each other. I have used a 3-pt disc for the past 25 years and had forgotten how much better those old-pull types worked. The old Bissels that I used in my youth left some ridges in the field and required leaving the tractor seat to change the angle with a big hand-wheel, but cut real good. The old JD that I got now leaves the levelest field of any disc I have used, and can be angled from the tractor seat by pulling a rope and backing into it to steepen, or pulling away to lessen. Those who will tell you that 3 pt discs work just as well as pull-type or transport disks probably just dont have much recent experience with those other types. I probably would have agreed with them before getting that old JD this spring. Also, one pin and a clevis on a pull-type is much faster and easier to attach and remove from the tractor than 3 pins on a 3 pt. In my book, there is still a place for 3 pt disks, but only for real small plots or gardens (under 1/4 acre), or if you have to load the tractor/disk on a trailer regularly. If you have a remote hunting camp you would be much further ahead to just leave an old $100 pull-type disc down there than you would be to transport a shiny new 3-pt model back and forth all the time.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

wolc123,is your disk similar to this one?

 

[wolc123]

It is actually much closer to the MF model shown up there in Flushers post. I saw (2) just like it on some on-line site recently that were priced at $200 each. It is seven ft wide across the front sections and 8 ft across the back. Like that MF shown above, it is for secondary tillage and it works great on plowed ground. I cant believe how easy that old JD disk pulls. My little 20 hp Allis Chalmers C can handle it on plowed ground in 1st gear, and in second gear (4.5 mph) on subsequent passes at the most aggressive setting. You dont even know it is behind you with my new, 43 hp, 4wd JD. I would say it pulls twice as easy as my Ford 6.5 ft, 3 pt disc, and takes about half the passes to get the fields worked as well. I shudder to think of all the fuel I wasted the last 25 years with that 3 pt disk.

 

[spruce Deere]

I'm shopping for a 6' - 7' disc harrow for my new Kubota GL3940. I'll be using the disc for about 5 - 10 acres of food plots, with most of the plost in the 1/2 acre size. Money is definitely an issue, but I don't want to go cheap and be sorry later. Any recommendations on make and model?

Don't overlook older discs! 3pt or pull-type. I have an old 60 inch later 60's ford 3pt disc. I got it second hand from a neighbor a little rough shape and with the two out side rear discs cracked. After some minor welding and tightening different hardware and replacing the discs on the thing which are still available, It should last me for a good long time. Its a heavier 3pt disc and has spots for weights, but I seldom need the extra any way. I wouldn't over-look older IH, case, MF or krouse discs, sometimes can be had for a song and most of them are build well, and with a little tlc they work hard and long.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

There's a perfectly good reason(s) why those old pull types haven't been built for the past half century. JUst as good of a reason why most have ended up in scrap iron piles. They're VERY limited in capabilities. Even back in the day when smaller equipment was still common on farms, farmers found a better way. Most switched to wheel disc's or 3-point models simply because they work better.

Most of the problem comes with limited mobility. You just can't transport them without a LOT of trouble. Next comes slow, methodical use in the field. If you're discing a 5 acre plot in the middle of a 20 acre field, with all sorts of turning room, they aren't so bad, but if you're discing in a situation where you have to turn IN the field, you have to EITHER turn with disc gangs angled, which causes ridging, leaving you with an unlevel land, OR, Stop, unlatch the gang, make your turn, then go through the process of re-setting gang angle (which in MOST cases requires putting the tractor in reverse, backing up a bit, then latching the gangs) . Sound time consuming? It is. Sound like a lot of un-needed work? It is.

Is there a reason why a pull type disc would pull easier? Yep....'Cause they aren't doing as much. In most cases, those old pull types will have smaller diameter disc blades than is common on newer disc's, OR blades that are worn out far beyond good service limits. With the concave shape, a couple inches worn off the outer diameter, and you have less "dish" in the disc blade. They would pull easier because they're not moving as much dirt. You get soil action on the surface, but underneath, down a few inches, not so much. One of the principal reasons why disc's in general aren't as common on todays farms is they will CREATE a compaction layer just below their working depth. At best, you still end up with compacted headlands.

A shallow running disc is one of the WORST tillage tools one could use in many instances. (because of compaction issues) Even if you have a pull type with NEW blades, you still suffer from lack of mobility. Personally, after spending much of my youth (raised on a farm) and the first few years of my farming career with old pull type disc's, I would rather take a beating with a big stick than go back to that archaic way of doing things again.

Pull types do a decent job, but suffer from too far many shortcomings.

3-point disc's can be fickle. They need to be GOOD models, in GOOD condition. Proper adjustment is key in making them work right. They are the MOST mobile of all types.

Drawn type "wheel disc's" are USUALLY the "best" working type as far as soil prep and mobility. You just loose a tick in the mobility dept. when compared to a 3-point model.

 

[bjr]

Okay, I agree that lift disc's are pretty much the best for what I do. 3pt 6-1/2' box frame is what I use and it's mostly gardens 1/2 acre or less. I lost the bearing in a gang. It's the 1" square shaft. I've waited two weeks now and they're not here yet to get import bearings for it. None of the bearing houses; tractor and implement stores or auto supplie stores stock Ag disc bearings. All said "We Can Order Them, well I order them and saved big time, but they haven't arrived yet either. Isn't all this modern "Just In Time" stocking and shipping wonderfull. This a agricultural area to boot. bjr