Disc harrow: pull behind or 3 point hitch?

   / Disc harrow: pull behind or 3 point hitch? #1  

Fast Eddie

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Feb 8, 2008
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I have a garden in my yard that is 66 ft x 40 ft and have used a center buster to dig it up. The ground is very clay like and have had delivered some top soil with sand to improve it. I am thinking of getting a small (4') disc harrow to smooth the lumps out. Any suggestions? I see both pull behind and 3 point and don't know the advantages and disadvantages of each.
 
   / Disc harrow: pull behind or 3 point hitch? #2  
A Three Point Hitch mounted Disc Harrow is highly maneuverable.

In 48" width it is hard to find any Disc Harrow, 3-Pt. or pulled, heavy enough to be effective.

Pulled Disc Harrows (20-50 horsepower tractors) require a lot of room to turn. Pulled Disc Harrows are mostly used to till LONG fields with ample headlands at the ends.


Consider, also, a PTO powered roto-tiller, which will till your garden in one pass per row. Probably a better choice for what you have specified.

LINK:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/308251-disc-harrow-selection-18-45-a.html?highlight=


Consider the addition of ag Gypsum to ameliorate your clay and provide trace minerals.
 

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   / Disc harrow: pull behind or 3 point hitch? #3  
I made this 5 footer last year for my gardens. I prefer mounted for tight spaces. What tractor do you have? Does it have a remote hydraulic outlet? The 3 point is probably a little cheaper, too, since there is no hydraulic cylinder, running gear, or actuator.
 

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   / Disc harrow: pull behind or 3 point hitch? #4  
. . .

Pulled Disc Harrows (20-50 horsepower tractors) require a lot of room to turn and you can only turn in one direction. Pulled Disc Harrows are mostly used to till LONG fields with ample headlands at the ends.

Pulled disc harrows can be turned either direction. A pulled offset disc can only be turned to the left.
 
   / Disc harrow: pull behind or 3 point hitch? #5  
I used a middle buster and a used $350 48" Yanmar RS1200 rototiller when I installed landscaping on my new house. That's the way to go for a 2640 sq ft garden (about 0.06 acre). Forget about the disc. Get a rototiller and have at it.

For garden work I use an old $600 Bolens GT1453 garden tractor with a 33" wide rototiller.

Bolens GT1453, rototiller-2.JPGBolen GT1453, rototiller-1.JPG

Good luck.
 
   / Disc harrow: pull behind or 3 point hitch? #6  
Main thing on a rototiller is slow speed. I know the old Fords with 4 sp tranny are too fast. One of the few things I liked about the SOS 10 sp. "auto" tranny they had back then.

On 3 pt vs drag harrows, I have used both and prefer 3 pt for reasons others stated. Also I have 4 Ford rear wheel weights (about 360#) chained to the top of mine (6') which really helps it dig. We use them for plows here in the black clay.

Mark
 
   / Disc harrow: pull behind or 3 point hitch? #7  
These aren't easy to find used, but they're still being sold new at farm stores like TSC, etc.
I was fortunate to find a solid, used one. This one is heavy, heavy, which is what I preferred. Best implement ever.

DSCF0677 copy.jpg
 
   / Disc harrow: pull behind or 3 point hitch? #8  
I have a light duty (Land Pride DH1048) disk harrow that does OK when I put my 400# cast concrete weight on it. Without the added weight it just creates dust.
 
   / Disc harrow: pull behind or 3 point hitch? #9  
I built this 5' tool bar a couple years ago....
The wheels will adjust to let it dig 1.5" to 6.5" deep... All the teeth are removable and adjustable for spacing as needed to dig, or cultivate...
I use it with another tool to maintain my gravel drive also..
It weights about 350# depending on set up... And I have about half the cost of a disk in materials, hardware, and paint...
Plus the row hiller blades I built for it.... Thatch rake frame...

I can't/don't garden this rock pile, but have done wildlife food plots more than adequately, and garden spots for other....
And it is a more than once a year, one use tool...
Good luck
===
Cultivatorwithgagewheels2.jpg
===
Maybe something like this will be useful at different times of the garden season.... Combined with a tiller...
King Kutter One Row "C" Tine Cultivator
 
   / Disc harrow: pull behind or 3 point hitch? #10  
That is probably too small of an area for a pull-type disk to be effective. But, I don't like 3-point disks for any use other than small areas (under 1/2 acre) in rocky soil, where road transport is an issue. Pull-disks (drag or lift-type) are considerably more fuel efficient than 3-points on larger areas. You can verify that by tractor dealer specs. and a little "real" usage. For example, my 28 hp, 2 wheel drive, tractor is rated for an 8 foot wide pull-type, or a 6-1/2 ft wide 3-point. Not only is less operation required each time out, due to the wider width (dealer verified), but the drag-disk also gets the job done in less passes (usage verified), further multiplying the fuel saving advantage. For your spot, I think a tiller is the way to go. I understand that tillers are not all that much more expensive than a 3-pt disk, and the tiller gets the job done in a single pass. I have around 40 years experience in this area, in which time I have used (6) different drag-style pull-disks, (1) hydraulic-lift pull-type, (2) 3-points, and (2) rototillers. Currently, all of my fields are 1-5 acres in size which is where the drag-style pull-disk really excels. Also, I never need to transport those disks over the road, which pretty much makes that a slam-dunk for me for that type of disk. The hydraulic-lift pull type is superior for larger fields, and the rototiller for smaller (if no rocks), especially if road transport is involved. For an area your size, fuel efficiency is not that big of deal, so I would probably go with a tiller unless I could find a good 3-point disk for 3/4 the cost or less. The good disk will also be considerably more reliable than the tiller, and have slightly lower maintenance cost.

One other thing to consider about disks, regardless of type is: I can think of no implement that benefits more from 4 wheel drive (except maybe a front loader). If you want to see that for yourself: work your disk , across a field, at a gps-verified ground speed, while the tractor is in 4 wheel drive. Note the engine rpms. Next, try maintaining that same speed with the tractor shifted into 2 wheel drive. To do that, you will need significantly more rpms. A higher engine rpm, at the same drawbar load, means proportionately higher fuel usage. Pushing that "dead" front axle thru the soft ground comes at a cost in fuel. With today's atmospheric fuel costs, that is why you wont see many real farmers pulling disks (or just about any other tillage tools) with 2 wheel drive tractors. I rarely ever even use my own disk behind my 2wd's these days for that reason. 4wd, coupled with about double the hp, allows me to pull that little 8-footer with the engine just above idle rpm, and quite fast if I want to.
 
 

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