newbie question-disc harrows

[pdubdo]

I'm looking at putting in some small food plots for deer (1 acre-ish) as well as adding some winter cover crops to improve my soil. Last winter, I scraped up long rows with the teeth of my 6 ft box blade and then over-seeded with winter wheat and clover using one of those scatter seeders you push--I was pretty happy with the initial trial of this, but think I can improve with better soil prep. obviously these are pretty small projects overall. My question is on picking a disc-harrow/plow. I have a 40 hp tractor and a kubota UTV. Can I get by with a single row of discs behind my utv or should I spend the extra $$ and get a "real" 2-3 row harrow for the tractor. My soil is sandy loam but I will need to cut through pretty dense grasses in places (after bushhogging it down). I've never used one of these so appreciate any advice! This forum has been a gold-mine of helpful info for me!
Also, secondary question: do people size these like other cutting implements-about the width of the tire tracks?...

 

[Rafter S]

I've never used one, so I could be all wrong, but I doubt if one of those little single row discs behind a UVT will work well. You can buy discs with tires, that you raise and lower with hydraulics, but I suspect a 3-point hitch model would work better for what you'll be doing. You may even be able to rent one if you'll only need it a few hours once a year.

Discs are sized according to tractor horsepower; not width.

 

[simme]

Depends on the condition of the soil and what is already growing on it. Generally a disk harrow that your equipment can pull is not going to do much other than to freshen up soil that has already been tilled.

I would look for what is called in some regions an "all-purpose plow". It will look like this.


You can find these at used equipment auctions for a reasonable price. Many brands available. OK if they don't have any paint left. You can probably handle a 7 shank like the picture depending on soil conditions. You can buy a wider one and just cut the ends off or remove shanks if it is too wide for your tractor (too much load).

I would use that on your 40 hp tractor to break the ground with the all-purpose plow and then get a 3 ph disk harrow for the tractor to finish it up and smooth it out. The 3 ph disk harrow will be more expensive. If that does not fit your budget, make several passes with the all purpose plow, pull a drag harrow or something over it to smooth it out and then seed. Budget method would be to wire some wood pallets together, connect with a chain to your tractor and drag with that. Don't expect the pallets to last for the next year.

 

[Atimm693]

I did about 5 acres worth of plots this fall with an old IH 470 tandem disc. It took a lot of passes to get all of the sod broken up, but did work well enough.

I hit them once with a tire drag after discing, spread the seed, and dragged them again. Got a really good stand, although they are starting to wither from lack of rain.

If you do not have much for rocks, it is far easier to turn that sod under than it is to try and work it up with a disc. It is just so rocky here that just making several passes with a disc is easier, it just rolls over the big rocks.

 

[txbrill1]

I have one of those UTV disks it works ok for small sections

 

[sstterry]

I have one of those UTV disks it works ok for small sections

Could you post a picture of it?

 

[M.Magis]

I use a 3 pt tandem disc for all my food plots. Bush hog close, give a week or so to green back up, then hit it hard with glyphosate. Once everything is dead I can go from sod to ready to plant in two passes. The key is using the longest top link you can, and go like hell.

 

[Brute 23]

3 pt disk can be had pretty cheap. Add weight with barrels of water or some thing else heavy. The weight will make all the difference.

 

[sstterry]

The key is using the longest top link you can, and go like hell.

I guess there are more changes with the new software than I realized!

 

[Bcompton53]

Also, will disk up easier if you carpet bomb it with roundup a month or so before disking.

 

[chaded]

Just to give you an alternative to think about but you really don't need to break the ground. My brother in law and I do about 5 acres or so by just spraying glyphosate, waiting a couple weeks then broadcasting the seed and then just simply mowing. We plant winter rye, Oats, Austrian Winter peas, purple top turnips, and driller radish this way.

 

[pdubdo]

Just to give you an alternative to think about but you really don't need to break the ground. My brother in law and I do about 5 acres or so by just spraying glyphosate, waiting a couple weeks then broadcasting the seed and then just simply mowing. We plant winter rye, Oats, Austrian Winter peas, purple top turnips, and driller radish this way.

I like this approach, but I've got a few 3-8 acre areas that were scraped to build a pond or berms to help with erosion. it's packed hard and I'm trying to build up the organic matter again. Last winter I tried broadcasting wheat/oats/clover and prob had 30% success. A couple other places I'll need to compete with johnsongrass. But overall, I'd like to minimize soil disturbance.

 

[Brute 23]

I like this approach, but I've got a few 3-8 acre areas that were scraped to build a pond or berms to help with erosion. it's packed hard and I'm trying to build up the organic matter again. Last winter I tried broadcasting wheat/oats/clover and prob had 30% success. A couple other places I'll need to compete with johnsongrass. But overall, I'd like to minimize soil disturbance.

That's going to be a timing deal with a little luck. Have the equipment ready to go and right before the rain jump on it and hope it's not too heavy. Broadcasting like that will always be much more risky.

 

[chaded]

I like this approach, but I've got a few 3-8 acre areas that were scraped to build a pond or berms to help with erosion. it's packed hard and I'm trying to build up the organic matter again. Last winter I tried broadcasting wheat/oats/clover and prob had 30% success. A couple other places I'll need to compete with johnsongrass. But overall, I'd like to minimize soil disturbance.

If it's hard packed And no OM then I would probably break it up as well. The key to throw and mow is having a thatch to work with.


Here's my plot that the ground has never been broke.