Disc depth

[roadkingrich]

I feel dumb asking this, but will anyhow. I’ve got a ‘62 Farmall 560 and when I try to disc, it doesn’t go into the ground much at all. I’ve adjusted the hand cranking thingys both all the way up and all the way down with no success. I’ve even tried putting weight on the disc without much success. Please forgive me for lack of proper names. Anyhow, would this have anything to do with control valves being either single or double? I’ve only used the tractor for brush hogging and running a drill. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Btw if it matters, the disc is on the small side, but it’s what I have. Tia

 

[rrlund]

If you're trying to pull a light finishing disc over hard ground, then no, it's not going to do much. Nothing you can do to change that. You can't buy an elephant for a pet and expect it to be a canary. A disc like that is made for plowed ground.

 

[showcrop]

Can you see a way to adjust the front to back angles of the gangs? More angle increases the cut. It won't make a lot of difference but since it "is what you have" it could be enough

 

[JIM MN]

Your disc is just fine. Control valve not a factor. It is your soil it is dense, compacted, hard. You may want to buy a plow for your IH 560. You need to break up your soil. Plow or chisel-plow your soil and then disk it down?

 

[504]

Just remember that your disc is not a primary tillage tool but a secondary tool. Back in the day we mow board plowed,disc it at least once maybe twice the last pass we did was drag a three section harrow corner to corner. That leveled the field out a little and it made it easier to see the planter marker tracks.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Additional information and/or pictures would be immensely helpful. So we know what kind of disc you're working with, and what exactly you're trying to do. Otherwise we're just guessing.

As others have said, not all discs are created equal. Not all ground is created equal either. Sometimes if your ground is mellow enough and you catch it with just the right moisture content, most any disc will till it up nicely.

If you're starting with hard dry sod, most anything but a heavy offset disc will just bounce off.

It is unlikely that it has to do anything with your hydraulic settings on the tractor. Are there one or two hoses coming from the disc? If two, you need the tractor set for double acting, and you should be able to raise the wheels completely off the ground. If one, you need to set the tractor for single acting, and if you just let the disc down and hold the lever for a few extra seconds, the wheels are not carrying any weight and won't prevent the disc from cutting in.

 

[Cash4Toys]

If all you have is a disc, you could try discing in different directions. If you get say an 1.5" depth going say north/south you may get another 1-1.5 in an east/west direction. Agree hard dry ground or heavy sod are tough for a disc to penetrate. Disc blade diameter make a huge difference as well. You didn't say how deep you were able to get or what your target depth was either. Pic of the disc would be helpful.

 

[Texasmark]

If you're trying to pull a light finishing disc over hard ground, then no, it's not going to do much. Nothing you can do to change that. You can't buy an elephant for a pet and expect it to be a canary. A disc like that is made for plowed ground.

On hard ground you can't beat my Houston Black Clay. If I have soil that hasn't been broken up in some way for several years and its the end of summer time line....everything is hot and dry and hard as rocks, I first go over it with a "Hay King" brand Pasture Renovator which is a multi-shank subsoiler with cutters about 10" apart and I set them up for about 8-10" depth. They run about 15 HP per shank to pull in hardpan at a reasonable clip.

Once finished with that, and it may be X runs, making 2 passes across the field, then I come back with a heavy IH disc harrow with about 600# of JD wheel weights (for their 38" tired tractors). That is what it takes. If in the mood, figuring the soil could use it, I then come back with a cultivator with 10" sweeps (to get 100% coverage with my shank spacing as it is) for good measure and finally with a chain harrow to smooth it all out.

That's a lot of work but if I put steel in the ground annually, then the disc and harrow is all that's needed.

 

[Texasmark]

If all you have is a disc, you could try discing in different directions. If you get say an 1.5" depth going say north/south you may get another 1-1.5 in an east/west direction. Agree hard dry ground or heavy sod are tough for a disc to penetrate. Disc blade diameter make a huge difference as well. You didn't say how deep you were able to get or what your target depth was either. Pic of the disc would be helpful.

I run a second pass at 45* rather than 90* because its a smoother ride with one tire at a time hitting the rows from the first pass.

 

[E.B. Haymakin']

Just remember that your disc is not a primary tillage tool but a secondary tool. Back in the day we mow board plowed,disc it at least once maybe twice the last pass we did was drag a three section harrow corner to corner. That leveled the field out a little and it made it easier to see the planter marker tracks.

I just can't get over y'all managed without GPS guidance systems...

 

[m16ty]

If you're trying to pull a light finishing disc over hard ground, then no, it's not going to do much. Nothing you can do to change that. You can't buy an elephant for a pet and expect it to be a canary. A disc like that is made for plowed ground.

We have used a finishing disc over hard ground to just break it up a little bit to overseed, but you are right, it’s not going to do much.

 

[flying belgian]

I feel dumb asking this, but will anyhow. I’ve got a ‘62 Farmall 560 and when I try to disc, it doesn’t go into the ground much at all. I’ve adjusted the hand cranking thingys both all the way up and all the way down with no success. I’ve even tried putting weight on the disc without much success. Please forgive me for lack of proper names. Anyhow, would this have anything to do with control valves being either single or double? I’ve only used the tractor for brush hogging and running a drill. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Btw if it matters, the disc is on the small side, but it’s what I have. Tia

As others have said, kinda the nature of the beast. Putting notched blades on makes a world of difference but how many acres your doing maybe won't justify the cost. Try and catch it just right after a rain is about best you can hope for.

 

[JDIH]

Older disks around here have had most of the life beat out of them. When the disk blades get wore down the edge gets rounded over so in unplowed ground the blades act more like a wheel rolling over the ground instead of cutting and moving soil. Can usually get away with that in plowed ground because the hard work is done and you're just moving loose dirt

 

[paul]

The hand cranky thing probably is adjusting front to back level. You want it level when it’s in the ground.

Lots of disks have an angle adjustment. I don’t think that is what your hand cranky thing does? Generally the more angle, more aggressive you make the disk the more dirt it moves. At a big angle some weight on it can help.

Many newer 3 pt disks are just too light weight.

Many older disks have the blades worn down and just no longer cut enough. Wore out. New disks have 16-22 inch blades. If yours are worn down 2 inches or more from what they should be, you just won’t get the right cutting action.

There are light weight finishing disks that are meant to fluff up already loose dirt. There are big heavy disks meant for heavy deep cutting in hard tough clay. Both are disks, but one won’t do the job of the other - which do you have?

Most of us have a mid to lighter weight disk designed for secondary tillage. With your size tractor that is likely the type of disk you have - lighter weight smaller blades closer together?

Soil type and timing plays a lot in how a disk works. Light Sandy soil vs heavy yellow clays. Loose fresh wet spring soil vs late fall baked hard dry soil. Same disk on the same field, can seem like disking in a loose sand box sinks in to the disk arbors, vs barely leaving a mark on a packed hard driveway.

Pics of the disk would help us figure out what you got going on. Or a description.

Paul

 

[Texasmark]

Just remember that your disc is not a primary tillage tool but a secondary tool. Back in the day we mow board plowed,disc it at least once maybe twice the last pass we did was drag a three section harrow corner to corner. That leveled the field out a little and it made it easier to see the planter marker tracks.

Try using a mold board plow in black clay in the late summer. You can get it to work somewhat. What you can't get is the tractor to stay on the ground, and you stay in the seat when you try to go over plowed ground with the tandem disc secondary implement the first trip. The Pasture Renovator solves that problem.