Mounted disc plough vs driving disc plough

[mboncalo]

I was searching for more details about advantages and disadvantages between mounted disc plough and driving disc plough but can't find much or useful information via google.

Does or did anyone own them or seen them in action ?

 

[5030]

It's 'plow' by the way and there are serrated as well as solid discs. Not in common use here anyway. Everything here is non driving and will be of the Vee configuration. Never seen a driven one for sale domestically, ever.

 

[leonz]

It's more important to decide if you want one pass tillage,deep tillage(14" deep+/35.56+centimeters or
not and what type of crops you intend on growing.

If you want one pass tillage a Northwest Tiller will dig to 35.56 centimeters in one pass but you need a
higher horse power tractor, just as you would need the same size tractor for a pto powered disc plough.

A disc plough will still need a disc harrow to break up the dirt before planting.

A single pass Northwest tiller with a bedding/ridge tillage attachment will till and create the seedbed in one pass
and hold water as well.

PTO powered disc ploughs are common in eastern Europe.

 

[mboncalo]

My dilemma, as a new farmer, that never had a tractor, with a virgin land that was never plowed...is with what tools should I start...
The standard mounted disc plough has a plowing width of 150cm and the drive disc plough for 150$ more has a plowing width of 198cm which would make plowing faster and less fuel maybe..but better ?
I was planning to also get an 28 disc hydraulic disc harrow
I don't know if replacing all of them with a rotator would be best idea...for ~300 acres
Main crops will be maize and soybean
plus some vegetables

 

[leonz]

My dilemma, as a new farmer, that never had a tractor, with a virgin land that was never plowed...is with what tools should I start...
The standard mounted disc plough has a plowing width of 150cm and the drive disc plough for 150$ more has a plowing width of 198cm which would make plowing faster and less fuel maybe..but better ?
I was planning to also get an 28 disc hydraulic disc harrow
I don't know if replacing all of them with a rotator would be best idea...for ~300 acres
Main crops will be maize and soybean
plus some vegetables

With three hundred acres you are going to have some serious work to do.

A simple route is to rent your land out for growing crops which is a much easier
way to do this as you are new at this and have no idea what needs to be done
let alone how.

Please talk to your farmer neighbors if you have any and then talk to the local
agronomist at the university or the local farm bureau.

There is a great deal more involved and hundreds of thousands of Euros involved
to purchase the machinery needed to even begin growing maize and soybean crops
plus the time needed to do the work.

Vegetable crops require a great deal of work and properly managed soil that is free
of rocks.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

I agree with @leonz on all counts. I'll add, with 300 acres you're not going to manage that much land with a compact tractor and a 3-point disc or plow. The very best thing you can do is find a farmer willing to rent new ground and go through all the expense and work to turn it into something productive. Said renter is probably going to want a longer term lease since they will have to invest a lot of time and money up front.

Soybeans and maize - you can probably find someone locally who does custom harvesting but you will want to make sure. Combines are not cheap, are more challenging to operate than a tractor, and are difficult to justify for only 300 acres.

What about chemical application equipment? And you'll need to get an applicator's license unless you're going to pay someone else to do the spraying, which is also expensive.

You need to also think about if you're going to row crop or broadcast. If you're going to row crop you'll need to look at bed preparation and cultivation. You can minimize cultivation with chemical application and round-up ready seeds, but there are pros and cons to that.

These are just of few of the things you need to consider before jumping off on a project of this magnitude with no experience.

As for vegetables, my hat is off to those folks who do vegetable farming commercially. It's a ton of work and requires a ton of expertise and equipment. I raise a decent size garden for our own use. Any more than that, and I'm out.

Good luck with your endeavor!

 

[mboncalo]

Thank you for your answer but I am in a complete different situation that it is expected.
I am a new small investor in Tanzania and there is nobody here to look for guidance. Their information,knowledge is from Stone Age, I am alone.
So I need to do the best I can with what I have
Tractor will be arriving 120HP
Please take all that into consideration
And FYI, I never had a tractor but I have lots of knowledge and agriculture experience but not with tractors and tools
Tractors here are ~95% 40-60 HP

 

[mboncalo]

I agree with @leonz on all counts. I'll add, with 300 acres you're not going to manage that much land with a compact tractor and a 3-point disc or plow. The very best thing you can do is find a farmer willing to rent new ground and go through all the expense and work to turn it into something productive. Said renter is probably going to want a longer term lease since they will have to invest a lot of time and money up front.

Soybeans and maize - you can probably find someone locally who does custom harvesting but you will want to make sure. Combines are not cheap, are more challenging to operate than a tractor, and are difficult to justify for only 300 acres.

What about chemical application equipment? And you'll need to get an applicator's license unless you're going to pay someone else to do the spraying, which is also expensive.

You need to also think about if you're going to row crop or broadcast. If you're going to row crop you'll need to look at bed preparation and cultivation. You can minimize cultivation with chemical application and round-up ready seeds, but there are pros and cons to that.

These are just of few of the things you need to consider before jumping off on a project of this magnitude with no experience.

As for vegetables, my hat is off to those folks who do vegetable farming commercially. It's a ton of work and requires a ton of expertise and equipment. I raise a decent size garden for our own use. Any more than that, and I'm out.

Good luck with your endeavor!

There are no licenses, no regulations no nothing
I'm already doing few acres of vegetables mostly tomatoes and onions, but peppers as well.. all by hand work and I need to automatise and speed up, decrease costs.

 

[leonz]

Now that I more familiar with your situation and location you are already in a bit of trouble.


How close are you to either of the Mwalimu Julius K. Nyere University campuses????????


How close are you to Morongoro and Sokione University?


The Tanzania Ministry of Agriculture has 2 offices; one in Dar es Salaam and the other in Mtwara,
This is where you can obtain local help. You need to start here first and foremost as you have
a much longer journey ahead.


You have so much work to do now as you need more machinery to grow row crops.

Are the Maize and Soybean crops destined for human consumption or livestock feed?


Can the maize and soybean be stored safely and free of vermin?


How close is the nearest granary, livestock feed mill, food processing operation?


How close is this land to the seasonal animal migration routes and African Elephant habitat??


You will need honeybees and fencing to keep the elephants out of the maize crops.


Will you have sufficient surface water to irrigate the crops?


Based on what you have told us so far you may very well want to switch your focus to Coffee and Cocao crops.

 

[mboncalo]

This is a nice surprise

How close are you to Morongoro and Sokione University?

I am actually living in Morogoro. People from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) are pretty useless, I know more than them on every subject we talk beside growing crops in this environment/climate/area. Most of the people here lack basic necesities so staying on internet and reading all day won't be their occupation considering that not many have internet access or just a handful have unlimited internet like me

Are the Maize and Soybean crops destined for human consumption or livestock feed?


Can the maize and soybean be stored safely and free of vermin?

Everything is meant for animal consumption(swine), grain will be stored in silos

How close is the nearest granary, livestock feed mill, food processing operation?

I will have my own feed making/processing line 0,5T / h for the moment
I will have my own garage with all the required tools (I already have them, engineered my whole life ) but I will add a TIG welder for example instead of the stick welder I have now
Everything will be able to run on solar power at the beginning

How close is this land to the seasonal animal migration routes and African Elephant habitat??


You will need honeybees and fencing to keep the elephants out of the maize crops.

I am pretty close I guess, not in their migration routes but they still go to the villages nearby

Yeah, I already prepared multiple bee hives for elephants and pepper gun shots (how did you know lol ), smoke traps, alarms. I will also plant chilli peppers along the borders

Will you have sufficient surface water to irrigate the crops?

I have ordered ~10 acres of drip irrigation and 5 x rain guns with 50-60m range
Water will be supplied from main tank where the 160m deep borehole will be, to the other tanks for drip irrigation and other purposes via solar pumps until I will make another water well borehole
In the near future there will be a pond to catch rain water and store for the dry season

Based on what you have told us so far you may very well want to switch your focus to Coffee and Cocao crops.

They won't grow here...

So..back to my starting question and implements