how big of a disc can i pull

[rick1]

i have a massey 165 diesel i have been using a 8ft 3-point massey disc.it hardly knows its back there the biggest problem is it makes valleys down the center i tried adjusting it but still hard to get the field level with it.so been thinking of getting a pull type transport disc.but not sure what size i could pull
RICK
 

[GeneMO]

See if you can find about a 12' IH wheel disk. They adjust up good. Be nice if you could find one with a Midwest lift harrow.

Gene
 

[John T]

It depends, of course, on the soil type, depth, and how the tractor is ballasted, but I wouldnt want any bigger then a 10 ft wheel disk behind a 165. Heck a good heavy deep cutting 8 ft disk with good big blades will be plenty. Sure you can pull bigger, but for a decent disking ground speed and letting her down to cut deep, I would want an 8 to 10 max.......

Now lets see somebody braggin about how they pulled a 12 or 14 zippin right along lol (bet they dont say how deep or how heavy a disk or blade size or if it was light easy working soil???)

Hey its your tractor, your soil conditions, your depth and speed choices so its your call...

John T
 

[Dalet]

[Adirondack case guy]

It sounds like you may have the wrong top link for the 3pt hitch. I'm far from being a MF expert, but they offered many rear tire options, thus a couple different lower and top link lengths. If your top link is too short, and won't adjust out far enough, you will gouge out the center with the front gangs, and the back gangs will not penetrate enough to throw the soil back to the center. I see no advantage to a trailing disc, other than your 8' 3pt is a bit small. I think a 12' pull type disk is a bit much for your tractor. You loose a lot of traction when you switch from the 3pt to a drawbar tillage tool.
Just a question for you. Are you running the hydraulics in position control or draft control. Position control will allow the disc to drop into the ground better, and perhaps some ballast on the disc will help also with proper top link adjustment.
Loren, the Acg.
 

[casecollectorsc]

Stop the tractor when discing with the disc in the ground. It should be running level from front to back to be doing the best job.
 

[Walt Davies]

Want level and pretty. I have a 12ft cultipacker. Twin clod buster with cultivators in between them.
Wil leave your field as smooth as a Babies butt.
Walt
They cost new around $17,000
I will let mine go for $2000 or best offer.
 

[DeltaRed]

A 165 is a light 50 horse tractor.Unless you have duals,10 ft anything is all that tractor will want.With singles,8 ft is plenty...
 

[MFPoor]

A 165 will toy with a 10' disc. No duals needed. We have heavy clay here, and hills to boot. My 165 handles a 10' IH 370 disc, sunk to the axle, @ 4-3/4 to 5 mph I pull an 8'er with my MF150.

You've got something out of adjustment on the Massey disc. Set correct, a #25 MF 3-point disc does an incredible job of leveling a seedbed.
 

[rick1]

i used one of those magnet levels last year.sticking right on it so i could see it.as i think back it does seem like the front was digging deeper than the back.the blades are all like new.maybe this spring i will be a little more patient.i fenced in a nice 1 acre part of my pasture last spring and plowed and disc it.i was in a little bit of a hurry when i disc it for the rain was coming the next day.however that was the last rain for a long time.i drilled it and nothing hardly came up.i am going to disc it up again and reseed it this spring with a orchard grass/timothy mix.
RICK
 

[DiyDave]

speed and too heavy in the front both can cause your problems. The only way to get it right is experience, which you get from making mistakes. That's why pencils have erasers!
 

[DoubleR]

My 8ft.I-H transport disc with a packer behind it is a handfull for my 231 Massey. My tires are not loaded either which would help alot if they were. My soil is light and the ground is fairly flat. I would think you would have no problem with my set-up and probably do ok with a ten footer. Depending on the ground and the hills you have. I beleive it was 2.5 hp per disc blade as a rule of thumb.
 

[aFORDable]

If in fact a MF165 is a 50 hp tractor as stated below I wouldn't want anything bigger than an 8' around here. Likely with that size of tractor you aren't doing big farming and I'd much rather have one my tractor would handle fine rather than struggle. In our soil a 50hp tractor would struggle with a 10'. As stated, your disc is running too heavy in the front and that isn't allowing the back gangs to pick up enough soil to fill in the trench. You adjust that with the center link.
 

[oldtanker]

Rule of thumb here is 2' of disk for every 10 HP at the drawbar.

Rick
 

[Mike (WA)]

Try the 3 point disk without the top link for a little ways- and adjust the front-to-rear balance by lifting and lowering the 3 point arms, to see if you can find a setting that eliminates the center valley problem.

I use a chain for a top link on my 3 point disk, set up so it is normally slack while underway, and only lifts the back of the disk enough to barely get it out of the ground when the 3 point is all the way up.