Offset Disc VS Tandem Disc

[Brute 23]

In my experience the offset doesnt turn it any better. A good fire break is not about getting deep as much as getting it clean of grass. It's pretty much impossible to do in one pass. Get a good 10' or so and cut it as deep as you can initially, then do it several times after the grass dries up, after rains, etc. Get as much pitch in the gains as possible and run as fast as you can with it set light. That really throws that grass and dirt around. Finally the morning of the burn jump on the tractor real quick and roll it again while your waiting for the humidity to drop. Bringing that moisture up right before the burn helps a lot.

Most places you disk a strip then shred a strip. Starting both of those months ahead of time makes all the difference.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

A good offset will turn way more dirt than any "finishing tandem" disk I've ever been around. A heavy offset will move a lot of dirt and bury a lot of trash in 1 pass which is what I would want for a fire break.

They do indeed make good heavy 6 foot offset discs for smaller tractors.

 

[hurleyjd]

Do they make like a 6' offset I have been looking for one to pull with a 3020JD to put in fire breaks, I have come to the conclusion that the best way to control red cedars is to burn the pastures every 2 or 3 years

You might like this . https://easttexas.craigslist.org/grd/d/gilmer-6-ft-off-set-disc/7133414280.html

 

[Brute 23]

The offset just makes a mess when doing fire guards. We won't use them any more. We use big heavy duty finishing disks. Most the time they bury themselves on the second pass.

 

[BRYANT]

In my experience the offset doesnt turn it any better. A good fire break is not about getting deep as much as getting it clean of grass. It's pretty much impossible to do in one pass. Get a good 10' or so and cut it as deep as you can initially, then do it several times after the grass dries up, after rains, etc. Get as much pitch in the gains as possible and run as fast as you can with it set light. That really throws that grass and dirt around. Finally the morning of the burn jump on the tractor real quick and roll it again while your waiting for the humidity to drop. Bringing that moisture up right before the burn helps a lot.

Most places you disk a strip then shred a strip. Starting both of those months ahead of time makes all the difference.

Maybe?? I don't know a lot about this kind of stuff ??? I sold the cows last fall and was planning on buying some this spring but didn't because I was needing to do some work on fences and pastures I have a guy leasing the hay fields and on one he ran hi s offset around it and burned the field. He did one pass with a 14' JD offset and there was no way fire was going to cross it, look like someone plowed it.

 

[Brute 23]

In my experience the offset doesnt turn it any better. A good fire break is not about getting deep as much as getting it clean of grass. It's pretty much impossible to do in one pass. Get a good 10' or so and cut it as deep as you can initially, then do it several times after the grass dries up, after rains, etc. Get as much pitch in the gains as possible and run as fast as you can with it set light. That really throws that grass and dirt around. Finally the morning of the burn jump on the tractor real quick and roll it again while your waiting for the humidity to drop. Bringing that moisture up right before the burn helps a lot.

Most places you disk a strip then shred a strip. Starting both of those months ahead of time makes all the difference.

Maybe?? I don't know a lot about this kind of stuff ??? I sold the cows last fall and was planning on buying some this spring but didn't because I was needing to do some work on fences and pastures I have a guy leasing the hay fields and on one he ran hi s offset around it and burned the field. He did one pass with a 14' JD offset and there was no way fire was going to cross it, look like someone plowed it.

No doubt. It's just not necessary. Way over kill IMO. It would be nice to have him make one pass for you to break it out but after that a good 10-12' finishing disk will make a great fire break with out the rough mess and not near the hp.

We burn about 5-10K acres every year. It's a full on operation putting in fire breaks. Some of them we maintain all year to help with fires off the highway and what not also. We use to use a couple big offsets but they made such a mess you couldnt hardy drive over them and stuff with out it being rough as heck or getting stuck. It was one extreme to the other. The finishing disks rolled every thing just as good for what we needed, with less hp, faster, and with less of the mess.

It's just been my experience. :tiphat: Burning does so much good for the land and every thing that depends on it.

 

[BRYANT]

We burn about 5-10K acres every year. It's a full on operation putting in fire breaks. Some of them we maintain all year to help with fires off the highway and what not also. We use to use a couple big offsets but they made such a mess you couldnt hardy drive over them and stuff with out it being rough as heck or getting stuck. It was one extreme to the other. The finishing disks rolled every thing just as good for what we needed, with less hp, faster, and with less of the mess.

It's just been my experience. :tiphat: Burning does so much good for the land and every thing that depends on it.

Brute can you burn woods also if the humidity is high and not hurt the Oak trees

 

[Brute 23]

That's kind of a touchy deal. With high humidity the woods wont burn near as good but if it's too low you will burn every thing in sight.

In general I haven't see a problem burning oaks around the base unless it like post oaks where a lot of times they are hollowed out. With our big live oaks that go to the ground they will catch some times and top out. It's pretty wild and usually puts a lot of embers off. If trees are close to the perimeter we will shred or disk around them so we domt have to worry about embers leaving the burn area. I can not say that I have seen a healthy tree that got burned, not come back. They usually always green back out nice. If you had a bad drought or some thing it might do them in.

If its trees you really care about, it not a bad idea to at least shred around them to keep the flames down low and/ or trim the branches up so it doesnt jump to the limbs.

In all honesty I reccomend to every one who is going to burn to find one of these burn guys that specialize in it. There is a class where you get CPU hours like the pest/ herb license just for burning. We have a local burn association that will provide one of these guys to help with the burn. You might check your area. They just ask for a donation back to the organization. IMO, theses guys are worth every penny. There is an art and science to burning. We did it a couple years on our own and made it work but we have gotten a lot better results and it's been a lot safer, easier going, having those guys there to assist. There are different methods for brush, trees, grass, different time of years depending on what your going after, etc. These guys also make burn plans and submit them to the local agencies along with carring insurance which all helps if some thing goes wrong. If you burn enough, eventually some thing will happen and when you have all your ducks in a row it goes a lot easier. They can also help with getting you money from the NRCS office. They also bring along good tanks with pumps and sprayers that can go in a truck bed or on a utv at no cost.

Dont skimp on help. Just having a couple guys on utvs or atvs with 12v sprayers and water can make all the difference.

I know I got off topic but I'm a big fan of burning pastures. I'm hoping to get my certification also this next year.

 

[BigYoung]

double post

 

[BigYoung]

Thanks Brute,

I learned alot from your posts in this thread regarding disking and general ag info from many of your other posts.

BigYoung