Disking up an old field

[LD1]

Need to see what you are starting with first, and also understand why you want to disc it.

IF you ONLY want to disc it to reseed it...maybe skip that step.....mow it all as low as you can.....spray it to kill everything....then reseed with a rented slice seeder.

If its rough and you just want to smooth it out, then discing may help. But a GOOD disc in todays market is gonna be ~$2000+. So I'd look for a good old disc. Look for tube frame and not angle-iron frame.

But I'd still consider killing everything first. Because discing isnt gonna kill any of the undesirable stuff and just spread the weed seeds around and probably make things worse.

For 8-acres.....a 2-12 plow would be a good match behind behind your L2501. And should be able to plow ~3/4-acre per hour. So it would be a long day....or a couple of short days. Then follow with the disc and have alot better results.

IF you still have the 1020 deere, it would probably do fine with a 3-12 or 3-14 plow. Then you could get up around 1.25 acres per hour and knock it out in a 6-hour day or so.

But again....all this advise is really hard to give without knowing in more detail just what the conditions are currently, and what the goal of the 8 acres is

 

[oosik]

I've tried tilling my virgin land with my Land Pride disk. No soap - it's simply too light an implement. And that's pulling it behind my [AFFILIATE=1, nofollow=true, newwindow=true, title="Kubota"]Kubota[/AFFILIATE] M6040. Plenty of tractor power/traction - just not enough disk weight. The correct disk would cost $6990 for an offset disk set from BrownAgri. And - Lord only knows what it would cost to ship it here to Ea WA State. It's not worth that much to me.

I just make doo with my bottom plow and LPGS. Plow first - then hit the area with scarifiers down on my LPGS.

 

[jeff9366]

My plan is still in the works, but I have found "Stephen's tractor" sells many parts for toolbars.

Another vender of toolbar components:

Buckeye Tractor Co -- Online

Manufacturer of specialty equipment for production of vegetables, fruit and flowers. Some nursury and landscaping applications.

www.buctraco.com

 

[Spike56]

Another vender of toolbar components:

Buckeye Tractor Co -- Online

Manufacturer of specialty equipment for production of vegetables, fruit and flowers. Some nursury and landscaping applications.

www.buctraco.com

Nice! Thanks. Will check out

 

[jeff9366]

Having bought my neighbors 8 acre field, one that adjoins my own, I:d like to disk it up and replant in pasture grass. This field had one horse for maybe 5 years but that was 20 years ago and has sat since in other than being mowed..

​

LD1​

Epic Contributor​

"For 8-acres.....a 2-12 plow would be a good match behind behind your L2501. And should be able to plow ~3/4-acre per hour. So it would be a long day....or a couple of short days. Then follow with the disc and have alot better results."

YES
The Disk Harrow is a secondary tillage tool. You are barely going to penetrate even moist soil with a light Disk after hooved animals have been on it several years.

You need to start with a Moldboard Plow or a relatively rare Disk Plow, which is not a Disc Harrow. Both are designed for primary tillage, inverting hard though moist soil.
A 12" width Moldboard Plow will plow 5" to 7" deep, depending on how your adjust your tractor's Three Point Hitch after the Moldboard Plow is mounted.

After plowing, go over the plowed ground with a Disk Harrow with at least 18" diameter pans, first in one direction, then at 45 degrees for the second pass, then 45 degrees in the opposite direction for the third pass, if necessary. A Disk Harrow is designed to flatten and level plowed fields WHEN PULLED OVER MOIST SOIL AT A BRISK PACE.

Once the soil is relatively level, consider using an All Purpose Plow, also known as a Field Cultivator to aerate your land 12" deep. An All Purpose plow will not ridge your newly level field appreciably.

Disc Harrow Selection For 18-45 Horsepower Tractors (Revision 2b)

Disc Harrows come in numerous types. However, for 18-45 horsepower tractors the three point hitch mounted, Tandem Disc Harrow, secondary tillage implement, is ubiquitous. Tandem Disc Harrows are manufactured in two structural types: Angle Iron Frame and Box Frame. Box Frame Disc Harrows are...

www.tractorbynet.com

ADJUSTING Three Point Hitch Mounted TANDEM DISC HARROWS

If you are considering the acquisition of a Disc Harrow, first read this LINK covering Disc Harrow selection: LINK: Disc Harrow Selection For 18-45 Horsepower Tractors (Revision 2b) The Three Point Hitch mounted Tandem Disc Harrow is a secondary tillage implement. The Disc Harrow is a...

www.tractorbynet.com

Dirt Dog - All Purpose Plow / Field Cultivator REVIEW + PICTURES

Dirt Dog All Purpose Plow / Field Cultivator Dirt Dog Model APP 66-5 Total Width 66", Working Width 62", Five Tines, Weight 284 Pounds, Paid $835.00 (2010) Field Cultivator: A Three Point Hitch mounted, secondary tillage implement, used to perform operations such as soil aeration...

www.tractorbynet.com

Reasons to plow: Along with making clean vegetation free soil for a seed bed you would be plowing down vegetation to rot and help fertilize as well as to keep the soil porous for drainage and water retention. The rotting vegetation attracts earth warms that help keep the soil porous and fertile. Soil with rotting vegetation lets the roots of the crop go deeper. Deeper roots will take on more nutrients for better yields as well as withstand dryer weather.


I know this ground has some rocks so I'd rather not plow.

A Moldboard Plow will work fine in a field with moderately disbursed stones to 5" or 6" in diameter. Boulders, however, are not good.

A Disk Plow will work fine in a field with moderate stones to 6" to 8" in diameter.
A Disk Plow should roll over MOST boulders.

 

[finallydribben]

Another vender of toolbar components:

Buckeye Tractor Co -- Online

Manufacturer of specialty equipment for production of vegetables, fruit and flowers. Some nursury and landscaping applications.

www.buctraco.com

Great link. Thanks for that

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

I did what @jeff9366 recommended in his post above, 4 acres. Plowed with a single bottom 12", disced, used a field cultivator to get deep aeration/water retention. Broadcast seeded with a local grass and legume mix, ran a drag across the seeded area and let the freeze thaw cycle set the seed. worked pretty good.
Only had a couple of small areas that needed reseeding by hand.

 

[duffer]

The University of Southern California declared that the term “field work” has negative connotations for descendants of slavery

F 'em

I grew up farming "FIELDS" for various crops. Mainly hay, but some corn as well, plus another FIELD for Mom's garden. We didn't hire or have slaves, or hired hands of any type, we worked the fields ourselves.

Unbelievable what the world is turning into...

 

[Avenger]

Any kind of tilling you do will bring up rocks. In the Columbia Basin, where I grew up, people would ask us what crops we grew. Our answer was almost always 'rocks.'

Kidding aside, I looked at doing the exact same project on 10 acres with a 45hp tractor. Neighbors land was rough, and he wanted to turn it into a smooth park like grass field with trees and a pond. Fortunately, he decided to sell his property when the housing boom happened, almost got double than what he paid for the property. New owner has that field as a pasture and maintains it himself.

The advise I got was to find a local farmer, one who might have a plow and a disc. Ask him to plow the field and disc it it smooth. Since you are wanting to make this into pasture, no real need to turn the soil every year or even every 10 years. You simply want to 'start over' with what you want as to grasses. So don't go buy expensive tilling implements that your tractor will struggle to pull.

If the land is already semi smooth, hire someone with a no-till drill to come out and over-seed the land. 8 acres is nothing for some of these farmers. You didn't say where in WA you are, but most areas of WA are agriculture. There is a farmer nearby, and most are friendly and willing to help. Least, that has been my experiences farming in this state.

 

[Spike56]

Another vender of toolbar components:

Buckeye Tractor Co -- Online

Manufacturer of specialty equipment for production of vegetables, fruit and flowers. Some nursury and landscaping applications.

www.buctraco.com

Jeff, I wanted to thank-you again for the pointer to Buckeye Tractors. I was able to speak at length to someone there who set me straight on a few items. Mainly that my current toolbar (single) is not going to do the job. Being unfamiliar with the just what I needed this person probably saved me a lot of time/effort and $$. So, what I thought might work... will not perform / may not work.
This is an extremely part time effort for me. Just doing some research in hopes of having something by spring. And of course, I will admit, I only know enough to know, that I dont know.