jeff9366
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2011
- Messages
- 12,394
- Tractor
- Kubota Tractor Loader L3560 HST+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3,700 pounds bare tractor, 5,400 pounds operating weight, 37 horsepower
After two years consideration and replacement of my light Kubota B3300SU by a heavy Kubota Grand L/L3560, I purchased a Monroe Tufline Tandem Lift Disc Harrow, TH971820B, $2,428.15 delivered (no sales tax on ag equipment in Florida) January 2015.
Tufline specs this DH with 20" diameter pans, 6'-8" cutting width, 915 pounds (45.75 pounds per pan) and recommends 35-55 tractor horsepower. It is all my 37 horsepower tractor wants, with 4-WD engaged, R4 tires, in HST Medium range, on second pass in my Florida sandy-loam. With full throttle I can pull the Tufline fast enough to get good soil mix.
Unusually, rather than being symmetrical front and rear, this Tufline Disc Harrow has eight notched pans with 9" spacing on the front gang, and ten notched pans with 7-1/2" spacing on the rear gang. The rear gang is wider than the front gang.
I have been using the implement with Top Link adjusted around 60% weight on the forward, cutting gang and 40% weight on the rear, smoothing gang. With this assymetrical adjustment I get a smooth soil finish. To a certain extent the outer pans on the less immersed rear gang function as "outriggers" which do not leave behind irritating furrows.
Axles are 1-1/8" diameter, 60% stronger than a 1" diameter axles and almost standard on DHs with 20" diameter pans. Axles housed in pillow block sealed bearings.
The lightest Disc Harrows that cut plow clods effectively have 18" diameter pans, yielding 37- 40 pounds total DH weight bearing on each pan. This Tufline has 20" diameter pans, yielding 46 pounds of DH weight bearing on each pan. This is the lightest configuration which will begin to cut sod. However, even with 20" notched pans the Tufline is a secondary tillage tool.
A = Pi X R[SUP]2[/SUP] indicates how quickly weight increases with pan diameter, as does pan thickness.
Tufline penetrates much better than my Howse 16/18" Disc Harrow, 587 pounds, notched pans, which complemented the lighter weight of my former Kubota B3300SU. The B3300SU would not have pulled the 915 pound TH971820. The Howse cost $1,000 delivered in January 2013.
TH971820 features LEVER ADJUSTMENT of gang angles. Lever permits faster adjustments than ubiquitous CLAMP PLATE gang angle adjustment, which requires removing a center pin and loosening/tightening two nuts and two bolts to change. Lever adjustment locates four adjustment holes on the lever, a non structural part, from four holes piercing the center frame member.
Lever adjustment is convenient; I make regular gang angle adjustments for different DH tasks and over different soils.
Tufline applied just one coat of paint. Kubota orange paint should have been applied over primer. I expect two coats or more of durable paint on a $2,428.15 Disc Harrow. The $1,000 Howse has better paint.
Did I mention it was 82 degrees Farenheit today, in Fanning Springs?
Photo #1 Beauty shot.
Photo #2 Lever Adjustment of Gang Angles. Note adjustment holes in handle.
Photo #3 Gang Hangers (Heavy duty design, more durable/reliable than generic U-bolt gang hangers, which soon deform from stress.)
Photo #4 Axles are DOUBLE NUTTED and outside nuts are STAKED. A laudable feature.
Photo #5 "Open" (or Bolt On) 7/8" draw pins. I like a two ear clevis on heavy duty implements, but Tufline's open draw pins have been fine.
Photo #6 Another beauty shot.
Photo #7 At work in food plot.
Photo #8 Small Palmetto fouled in rear gang. Notched pans snatch trash from below the surface occasionally, a good thing.
OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE:
Regular Scraper Kit
Heavy Duty Scraper Kit
Outrigger Kit
Plain Discs
Center Balk Breaker
MONROE TUFLINE LINK: Agriculture TH Series Tandem Discs - Monroe Tufline
LINK 'DISC HARROW SELECTION FOR COMPACT TRACTORS': http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/308251-disc-harrow-selection-18-45-a.html?highlight=
Tufline specs this DH with 20" diameter pans, 6'-8" cutting width, 915 pounds (45.75 pounds per pan) and recommends 35-55 tractor horsepower. It is all my 37 horsepower tractor wants, with 4-WD engaged, R4 tires, in HST Medium range, on second pass in my Florida sandy-loam. With full throttle I can pull the Tufline fast enough to get good soil mix.
Unusually, rather than being symmetrical front and rear, this Tufline Disc Harrow has eight notched pans with 9" spacing on the front gang, and ten notched pans with 7-1/2" spacing on the rear gang. The rear gang is wider than the front gang.
I have been using the implement with Top Link adjusted around 60% weight on the forward, cutting gang and 40% weight on the rear, smoothing gang. With this assymetrical adjustment I get a smooth soil finish. To a certain extent the outer pans on the less immersed rear gang function as "outriggers" which do not leave behind irritating furrows.
Axles are 1-1/8" diameter, 60% stronger than a 1" diameter axles and almost standard on DHs with 20" diameter pans. Axles housed in pillow block sealed bearings.
The lightest Disc Harrows that cut plow clods effectively have 18" diameter pans, yielding 37- 40 pounds total DH weight bearing on each pan. This Tufline has 20" diameter pans, yielding 46 pounds of DH weight bearing on each pan. This is the lightest configuration which will begin to cut sod. However, even with 20" notched pans the Tufline is a secondary tillage tool.
A = Pi X R[SUP]2[/SUP] indicates how quickly weight increases with pan diameter, as does pan thickness.
Tufline penetrates much better than my Howse 16/18" Disc Harrow, 587 pounds, notched pans, which complemented the lighter weight of my former Kubota B3300SU. The B3300SU would not have pulled the 915 pound TH971820. The Howse cost $1,000 delivered in January 2013.
TH971820 features LEVER ADJUSTMENT of gang angles. Lever permits faster adjustments than ubiquitous CLAMP PLATE gang angle adjustment, which requires removing a center pin and loosening/tightening two nuts and two bolts to change. Lever adjustment locates four adjustment holes on the lever, a non structural part, from four holes piercing the center frame member.
Lever adjustment is convenient; I make regular gang angle adjustments for different DH tasks and over different soils.
Tufline applied just one coat of paint. Kubota orange paint should have been applied over primer. I expect two coats or more of durable paint on a $2,428.15 Disc Harrow. The $1,000 Howse has better paint.
Did I mention it was 82 degrees Farenheit today, in Fanning Springs?
Photo #1 Beauty shot.
Photo #2 Lever Adjustment of Gang Angles. Note adjustment holes in handle.
Photo #3 Gang Hangers (Heavy duty design, more durable/reliable than generic U-bolt gang hangers, which soon deform from stress.)
Photo #4 Axles are DOUBLE NUTTED and outside nuts are STAKED. A laudable feature.
Photo #5 "Open" (or Bolt On) 7/8" draw pins. I like a two ear clevis on heavy duty implements, but Tufline's open draw pins have been fine.
Photo #6 Another beauty shot.
Photo #7 At work in food plot.
Photo #8 Small Palmetto fouled in rear gang. Notched pans snatch trash from below the surface occasionally, a good thing.
OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE:
Regular Scraper Kit
Heavy Duty Scraper Kit
Outrigger Kit
Plain Discs
Center Balk Breaker
MONROE TUFLINE LINK: Agriculture TH Series Tandem Discs - Monroe Tufline
LINK 'DISC HARROW SELECTION FOR COMPACT TRACTORS': http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/308251-disc-harrow-selection-18-45-a.html?highlight=
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