Which to buy, 10' tandem or 8' tandem?

tmc_31 · Feb 28, 2014

Hey guys,

I have a bit of a dilemma, I have been looking for a tandem disk that I could afford for a few years now. I have finally found 2 candidates. One is a 8 three point disk, the other is a 10 drag type. The prices are $850 and $950 respectively. Both disks were built by Long Mfg. and are heavy duty disks built of box tubing. Both are quite old. While I don稚 know the weights of these specific disks, similar (newer) ones weigh around 1000lb for the 8 three point type and 3000lb for the 10 drag type. The larger one is getting close to the maximum that the fel on my tractor is rated for (for loading on a trailer for transport purposes).

The 8 disk is ready to go to the field. The 10 one will need tires and a few new disks. My guess is that it will take around $300 or so to get the 10 one field ready.

The reason I am looking for a tandem is to support a food plot planting business that I am starting. I planted about 34 acres of food plots last year using a 6 landpride tandem that weighed around 700 lbs. I was disappointed in how effective the disk broke up the ground and also how long it took to plow the fields. To be fair, I was using a 30hp tractor to pull it which was a bit underpowered as I could only make 2-3mph. The tractor and disk was borrowed as mine was on the fritz at the time.

My tractor is a 70hp (58 pto hp) tractor with front wheel assist (NH TN70D). I have plowed with a 14 tandem and with a 12 tandem behind this tractor before. The 14 was very slow. The 12 was about the max I would want to pull as I still could not quite reach the speed I wanted to but it did a nice job of plowing. I think the 10 would be the optimum size with my tractor in the kind of soils we see in this area (West Texas).

The ultimate goal is to mount a broadcast seeder on the back of the disk and pull a 8 or 10 cultipacker behind so that I can plant the food plot in one pass.

My dilemma is while the 8 disk would be easier to transport and get through the gates of some of the smaller food plots, the 10 disk would plow better due to a 3X weight advantage and would plow faster due to the increased width. The 8 disk will fit on my trailer with the tractor so I can make one trip to the field. The 10 disk will fit on the trailer with some jockeying but the tractor won稚 go on with it. I can go down the road dragging the 10 disk behind the trailer, but I wouldn稚 want to go far like that. Last year one food plot I plowed for a guy was 92 miles away, the other was 72 miles away. While I hope to develop a clientele closer to home than that, I have a hard time turning down any business that I can make money at.

So, which one do I purchase? Any and all suggestions and observations are welcome.

Thanks for your input,

Tim

tmc_31 · Feb 28, 2014

As I am writing this it occurs to me that I could load the larger tandem on a separate trailer and pull it behind the trailer with the tractor on it. We can get away with a lot when moving farm equipment in Texas

. This may solve the problem of being able the get all the equipment to the field in one load.

Tim

Gary Fowler · Feb 28, 2014

As long as you have the right truck to pull it with and not illegal to pull double trailers, go with the 10 foot drawbar pull. I have an 8 foot 3PH style and with it in full set it barely is as wide as my tractor. Weight is your friend when it comes to disk also.

tmc_31 · Feb 28, 2014

Thanks Gary, I think you are right, weight is your friend in this case. I have a Dodge D3500 with a 5.9 cummins and auto transmission to pull it with. It pulls my tractor, 7' rhino shredder on my 22' goosneck utility trailer just fine. If I delete the 1100lb shredder and add the approx 4500 lb tandem/trailer I should be ok as long as I stay off of the interstates

Probably don't want to go too far like that, but within a hundred miles or so should be ok on secondary roads. When I am hauling my equipment I only go 55-65 mph anyway. Both trailers have electric brakes on all axles.

Really, now that I think more about it the only problem I can see using the bigger tandem will be getting in and out of the field with smaller gates.

Tim

bdog · Feb 28, 2014

Having owned both pull types and 3 point disks I will never own another 3 point. The pull type work so much better. They are generally heavier and float along better doing a better job of leveling as they go. That being said I care about how my field looks and want it level and I don't have to transport the thing off my property. In your situation a three point might make a lot of sense. I could envision small gates, narrow roads, rough terrain, etc. It would definitely be easier maneuvering around and getting off and on the trailer. Have you thought about a chisel plow? A tandem disc is not that good of a primary tillage tool unless the ground is soft. I have a heavy 15' tandem and I doubt it would do much on my soil if I didn't first break it with a chisel. The smaller disc might work well for you if you broke the ground first with a chisel and a chisel would be small to transport as well. I saw a small chisel that would be appropriate for your tractor sell at an auction yesterday for $175.

jeff9366 · Mar 1, 2014

BDOG: Excellent comments.

To me, the key question would be lower maneuverability of a towed Disc Harrow, relative to a 3-Pt. mounted Disc Harrow, but the OP has experience with both.

tmc_31 said:
My tractor is a 70hp (58 pto hp) tractor with front wheel assist (NH TN70D). I have plowed with a 14 tandem and with a 12 tandem behind this tractor before. The 14 was very slow. The 12 was about the max I would want to pull as I still could not quite reach the speed I wanted to but it did a nice job of plowing. I think the 10 would be the optimum size with my tractor in the kind of soils we see in this area (West Texas).

The ultimate goal is to mount a broadcast seeder on the back of the disk and pull a 8 or 10 cultipacker behind so that I can plant the food plot in one pass.

Were the 14 tandem and 12 tandem pulled discs? I presume pulled…..

With a towed Disc Harrow, then a broadcast seeder behind, then a towed cultipacker behind the seeder, you will have a LONG combination. Will the combination be maneuverable enough?

tmc_31 · Mar 1, 2014

Bdog, yes, transport is the issue with the larger pull type tandem. I do have a 6' chisel. I hope that as I develop my clientele, at least some of them will be repeat customers, some will have already established food plots. For these customers in most cases a disk should suffice. In those cases where I would be establishing a new food plot, I have the land clearing equipment for that also. I can set the 10' tandem on a trailer and pull it to the field behind my 22' gooseneck utility trailer. From front to back the tandem is slightly less that 8' if you fold the hitch up. If necessary, to get through a narrow (8') gate, I could pick the tandem up with the fel and snake it through the gate, then hook up.

jeff9366, The 12' and 14' tandems were pulled. Yes it will be long and probably not appropriate for less than one or two acres. Last year I did 34 acres of food plots for one customer. This was divided up into 8 plots. The smallest 2 of these were 2.5 acres each. There was plenty room for me to operate in there. The broadcast seeders mount on the back of the tandem so they don't take up much length. Really it's just the tandem then the cultipacker. Still the whole rig will be about 40' long. Another option for the seeder (I did this on the 34 acres) is to use a spreader provided by the seed company that comes with the seed and fertilizer already premixed. You just tow it out to the field, hook it to the tractor and drive around. Although it required another pass over the field, it was very handy as there was no man handling of the seed or fertilizer required. The seeder use was free with the purchase of the seed and fertilizer.

Tim

Deerherd · Mar 1, 2014

jeff9366;With a towed Disc Harrow said:
That will never work and would win the award of the month in the "pictures of crazy people towing stuff" thread. If I hired someone to plant a food plot and they showed up dragging that around as soon as I stopped laughing they would be fired. You could never control planting depth and with seed flying all around before and after the cultipacker, I wouldn't even attempt to figure a germination rate. It does paint a hilarious word picture though! You can't just daisy-chain implements together and call it a no till seeder!:laughing:

If the OP is serious about getting into the food plot business he needs to spring for the right no till seeder. And like bdog said, probably a chisel plow to break ground for new customers but one trip around on virgin ground is out of the question.

But PLEASE, do post pictures if you choose to proceed.......

tmc_31 · Mar 1, 2014

Dave, everybody is entitled to their own opinion. While I am sure this would not work in NY, it works quite well down here in Texas. I have never heard of the system I described as a no-till seeder. The broadcast seeder typically used in this system sits on the back of the tandem and throws the seed at a specific rate that you set and at the width of the tandem/cultipacker. The seed is thrown in front of the cultipacker. It does work quite well. I am not "breaking new ground" with this system, merely enlarging it some so I can work faster. Again, I already have a chisel for those times when the ground needs to be loosened prior to disking. Yup, that will require two passes.

Glad you got a chuckle out of this

Tim

Gary Fowler · Mar 1, 2014

tmc_31 said:
Thanks Gary, I think you are right, weight is your friend in this case. I have a Dodge D3500 with a 5.9 cummins and auto transmission to pull it with. It pulls my tractor, 7' rhino shredder on my 22' goosneck utility trailer just fine. If I delete the 1100lb shredder and add the approx 4500 lb tandem/trailer I should be ok as long as I stay off of the interstates Probably don't want to go too far like that, but within a hundred miles or so should be ok on secondary roads. When I am hauling my equipment I only go 55-65 mph anyway. Both trailers have electric brakes on all axles.

Really, now that I think more about it the only problem I can see using the bigger tandem will be getting in and out of the field with smaller gates.

Tim

I think if I came to a place that had less than a 10 foot gate I would just drive thru and take out what ever fencing I needed. Any idiot that puts up a less than 12 foot gate for tractor access needs to rebuild his gate anyway. After all it's not like it is a backyard residence pedestrian walk in for push lawnmowers etc. Farm gates should all be minimum of 16 feet wide to allow for up to 14 feet of equipment to pass. That would have to be a topic of discussion for every potential customer as to size of gates and / or access point. You should NOT have to size your equipment to the landowners gates, he should size his gates to a standard farm gate size or cut his fence and make a wire gap gate that you can go thru. Another fine point on gates is the location, if you put in a gate that is in a place where you immediately need to make a 90 degree turn after passing the gate, it needs to be extra wide to allow for trailing equipment to make the bend.