disk harrrow question for kabota

[BASSIN20]

Ok fellow tractor owners, I am another one of the newbies to the web site. I have been reading all the good information posted here for well over a year now and decide to jump in with the rest of you. I have an issue that may be you all can help me with. I recently retired my old Allis Chalmers tractor
(owned and operated for 23 years) and went last year and bought myself a new M4800 (50hp) Kubota. And along with that purchase I bought the land
(40 acres) next door to me which gives me 45 total acres. the land was in row crops when I bought it and I need to disk it down in order to replant grass for pasture. I have been looking for a 10 ft disk harrow, but I have been told by some the M4800 won't pull it and I have been told by some it will. Granted I am not trying to turn the ground over (dig deep) to replant row crops. I just want to plow it enough to level the ground out and use it year to year in planting winter grass. I just want to make sure I don't go off and buy some thing the M4800 can't handle. it would be nice if I knew someone that had a 10 footer I could borrow to try but I don't. So basically what's the right size harrow for the tractor in hand?

 

[Bob_Young]

2WD or 4WD?

 

[Z-Michigan]

I run a 6.5' disk behind a JD 5105, 50hp MFWD utility tractor, very similar to your M4800. I have zero problems and in fact could pull a lot more disk than that, probably a 10'. My soils are moderately heavy too, and I generally am pulling in 2wd and with fairly light throttle. There is another user on here with a Kioti DK45 cab and I think he uses a 10' or 12' disk behind that.

It will depend somewhat on whether you have MFWD and how light or heavy your soils are. I know nothing about Louisiana soils. But I suspect you would be ok.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Good luck figuring this one out. A lot of variables, Type, size, weight, wheel transport so that you could control cut depth? What type of ground?
Here are two examples that I can give you from what I have.

I have an 8' and 12' Kilfer(John Deere) offset pull disks. Both have the heaviest 22" notched disks that were available. I have rolling hills that are mostly topsoil. I pull the 8 footer with my 75hp Mahindra that weighs over 10,000lbs when I pull the disk. Now most of my ground gets disked twice a year and I disk with the angle set 1 notch short of maximum angle. On the 2nd time around the disk is 9" or axle deep. Even with all of my weight it is about all that my tractor will do to pull that disk up our hills and they are not really all that steep. I do not run out of power, I run out of traction. The 8 footer is about all that I would pull with the circumstances that I have to deal with.

I pull my 12' disk with an old Cat D6, and it has the same problem as my Mahindra. While pulling up hill the Cats' tracks will slip a little on the 2nd time around. As you know, crawlers have a lot of traction and for the tracks to slip, well there is a huge amount of drag put on the tractor from that disk. There are a few guys here that are pulling wider disks than I pull with my Mahindra with a tractor smaller than mine. How they do that I don't know other than they have a whole different set of circumstances than I do.

As I said to start with, good luck.

 

[texasjohn]

Welcome to TBN as a poster!!!

OK... so you are just looking to move from row crops to grass pasture for 45 acres and have a 50hp tractor.

My opinion is that it will pull a 10' disk just fine. I assume you are looking at one with a hydraulic lift and wheels to get it off the ground during transport?

The wheels and hydraulics are key. Reason is that how much pull you have is determined by:

1) the weight of the harrow, which is the amount of metal + any additional weight you add.
2) depth of penetration of the disks, determined by disk size, type of disk scolloped or round, soil type, moisture content, litter on surface, prior field work.
3) angle of the disk gangs
4) speed of pull, There is a "right" speed where the ground shatters best and turns over easiest... faster or slower is harder.
5) if your pull is too hard, one option is to lower your wheels thus raising your harrow to reduce penetration and take some weight off the disks.

So, while there are many variables, I think that you will discover that you will disc a couple of times, plant pasture grasses and then let it be.

Most important will be the hydraulic wheels
next is 4wd ... but your tractor is what it is.
A more narrow harrow will clearly require more passes over the ground and that's time and fuel cost.

My recommendation is go for the 10' harrow but make sure it's got hydraulic lift wheels.

 

[JoeinTX]

By and large, it should handle a 10' disc.

Is it hydro or gear drive? May/may not make a difference, but there is more power loss to the rear drive with hydro trannies which could give you trouble. A standard duty 10' pulled by a gear tranny 50hp rig at reasonable depth will be okay.

Short of that, you should be able to drag an 8' all over the place without any trouble....

 

[RobJ]

My neighbor has a Ford 4630 (60hp) that pulls a med weight 10' 3pt disk. pulls easy but it will bog in twice disked sandy loam. of course that same disk in the same soil would bog my BIL old MF 1080. That's a 90hp tractor.

Down here you not only need to disk but drag it after. They use everything from a cattle guard to 3 tractor tires bolted together.

40-acres gonna take some time, might need to hit it twice then drag.

Post some pics!!

 

[BASSIN20]

2WD or 4WD?

my tractor is 2 WD, looked hard at the 4 WD and just couldn't justify the cost. in all my years of owning tractor I never had 4 WD and have basically learned when to leave the ground alone. My tranny is gear drive. My soil is sandy loom which comes from a river not to far away. I like the suggestion some of you responded in getting a disk with hydraulic lift so I can control cutting depth.GOOD IDEA and I know I need to come up with some type of drag contraption to level out the ground. This I think,I can use an old piece of railroad rail in the neighborhood of 20' long.

 

[chh]

The old railroad iron works good as a drag, wish I could run across a couple of pieces that long. The 10' will be a handful for that tractor if you get it all the way in. Of course the style and weight of the disc have a lot to do with it. I have 3 point 8' disc that I used to pull with a Ford 4600(about 50 hp). I also have a 10' offset disc with hydraulic lift that would give a MF481 with FWA all it wanted in the right soil conditions when the blades got all the way in. They hydraulics are very nice for that since a little bump on the lever will usually pop it up and get you past those spots.

 

[bbirder]

I use a 7ft disc on my M4900. It is 3 pt and has no problems handling it.I only have 2wd but my tractor also has a foot pedal to lock up both rear wheels. I would think you could handle a 10ft, just don't try cutting it all in one pass. Does your tractor have remote hydraulics. You will need this if you go with a disc with wheels.