Best dirt buster?

WeedyJ

5 year old buck +
So I'm gonna be having some firebreaks to maintain in the future. Have gotten by with the Firminator, but about to need a lot more breaks and that's hard on a planter. I need something that's gonna bust and turn some soil well on a single pass and quickly. A tiller seems too slow. Chisel plow or disc? I wouldn't mind following something like a chisel plow with the Firminator once the ground has been busted
 
I think a chisel plow followed by a firminator is a good Idea. I have some trails that rut up bad in the winter. Hundreds of yards of them. If they are really bad, I will pull a HEAVY old 8’ disk over them and then pull my woods seeder over it. Smooths it right up.
 
So I'm gonna be having some firebreaks to maintain in the future. Have gotten by with the Firminator, but about to need a lot more breaks and that's hard on a planter. I need something that's gonna bust and turn some soil well on a single pass and quickly. A tiller seems too slow. Chisel plow or disc? I wouldn't mind following something like a chisel plow with the Firminator once the ground has been busted

I would spray to kill plants first, let them die back. Then plow to break up ground. Then use the Firminator to break up any thatch and mix OM with soil well. Should minimize any fire moving across break.
 
So I'm gonna be having some firebreaks to maintain in the future. Have gotten by with the Firminator, but about to need a lot more breaks and that's hard on a planter. I need something that's gonna bust and turn some soil well on a single pass and quickly. A tiller seems too slow. Chisel plow or disc? I wouldn't mind following something like a chisel plow with the Firminator once the ground has been busted

We are in the equip program for controlled burns and have to maintain firebreaks. I got the largest 3pt disc my tractor could handle from EverythingAttachments. I've bee pretty happy with it for firebreaks but it is way too much for food pots even when adjusted in the least aggressive setting. Here is a thread where folks weighted in before we made the purchase decision: https://habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/disc-suggestions-please-transfered-from-qdma-forum.5562/
 
We are in the equip program for controlled burns and have to maintain firebreaks. I got the largest 3pt disc my tractor could handle from EverythingAttachments. I've bee pretty happy with it for firebreaks but it is way too much for food pots even when adjusted in the least aggressive setting. Here is a thread where folks weighted in before we made the purchase decision: https://habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/disc-suggestions-please-transfered-from-qdma-forum.5562/
Quite the thread! Thanks for all of the info!
 
I have an old Mississippi Moline 8 ft 3 pt cat 2 disk. It weighs just under 1500 lbs. I added 500 lbs of weight. When my bottomland gumbo soil is dry - late summer and early fall - one pass barely scratches the ground. In my ground, it would be rare for that disk to ever to axel deep. Even after four passes, there are foot all size clods that just move and evade the disk blades. That is where the Woods Seeder with the spiked roller really does a good job breaking up those big, hard, dirt clods.

What do you intend to do after burning - are you going to plant the firelanes - or just let them go. In some soil type, firelanes can be a pretty bad source for erosion. With any piece of equipment, if you should bush hog and spray gly a couple months apart, it would really make the process easier
 
I have an old Mississippi Moline 8 ft 3 pt cat 2 disk. It weighs just under 1500 lbs. I added 500 lbs of weight. When my bottomland gumbo soil is dry - late summer and early fall - one pass barely scratches the ground. In my ground, it would be rare for that disk to ever to axel deep. Even after four passes, there are foot all size clods that just move and evade the disk blades. That is where the Woods Seeder with the spiked roller really does a good job breaking up those big, hard, dirt clods.

What do you intend to do after burning - are you going to plant the firelanes - or just let them go. In some soil type, firelanes can be a pretty bad source for erosion. With any piece of equipment, if you should bush hog and spray gly a couple months apart, it would really make the process easier

Sounds a lot like my place

Historically, labor day weekend is the driest time and the best for cleaning up the trails for fall

bill
 
Weedy J,

Chisel plows are agressive, but hard on equipment. Make sure it has a trip mechanism, I've welded a few 3pt frames and transmission cases for folks over the years. IF you machine isn't hefty, then go with a 3pt disc or spring harrows.

You dealing with stumps? Chisel plow and/or your tractor wont like it. Discs or harrows will roll or bounce over them.

You need to cover the grass / thatch with soil for a prescirbed burn, or making a permanent fire break? Yuo can always burn between two breaks to have it wider for your main burn.
 
I have an old Mississippi Moline 8 ft 3 pt cat 2 disk. It weighs just under 1500 lbs. I added 500 lbs of weight. When my bottomland gumbo soil is dry - late summer and early fall - one pass barely scratches the ground. In my ground, it would be rare for that disk to ever to axel deep. Even after four passes, there are foot all size clods that just move and evade the disk blades. That is where the Woods Seeder with the spiked roller really does a good job breaking up those big, hard, dirt clods.

What do you intend to do after burning - are you going to plant the firelanes - or just let them go. In some soil type, firelanes can be a pretty bad source for erosion. With any piece of equipment, if you should bush hog and spray gly a couple months apart, it would really make the process easier
the fields usually grow back but may seed some sorghum for the quail
 
Can you not mow for fire breaks or do you try to stop head fires with them?I mow mine in winter when snow not on ground and it will green up before anything else
 
Can you not mow for fire breaks or do you try to stop head fires with them?I mow mine in winter when snow not on ground and it will green up before anything else
Right now I am having to create the breaks. many of them will be through some heavy cover. Perhaps in the future I could mow, but doesn't that create thatch/fine fuel? I usually make dirt breaks that green up after the fire.
 
the fields usually grow back but may seed some sorghum for the quail
Mostly I would be concerned with vegetative growth on the firelanes. I have seen fireplows pulled with dozers basically dig a channel for water to run, create a deep ditch from erosion. I have shallow calcareous soil in rolling country and it erodes like crazy. Not sure how erodable your soil might be.
 
Most of the areas will burn on a 4 year rotation, so I'll make sure there is some vegetation there until burn time. I will try and orient them best I can to avoid topographical encouragement of runoff. Topography could trump vegetation on a bad slope, but I think even the steepest slope for me will be mild.
 
Weedy J,

Chisel plows are agressive, but hard on equipment. Make sure it has a trip mechanism, I've welded a few 3pt frames and transmission cases for folks over the years. IF you machine isn't hefty, then go with a 3pt disc or spring harrows.

You dealing with stumps? Chisel plow and/or your tractor wont like it. Discs or harrows will roll or bounce over them.

You need to cover the grass / thatch with soil for a prescirbed burn, or making a permanent fire break? Yuo can always burn between two breaks to have it wider for your main burn.
Thanks for that advice, as I was also looking at rippers. Stumps should not be a problem but I cannot promise there aren't some rocks. So far the turning I've done has been clean. Got some 8-10 ft sweet gums with roots though
 
Thanks for that advice, as I was also looking at rippers. Stumps should not be a problem but I cannot promise there aren't some rocks. So far the turning I've done has been clean. Got some 8-10 ft sweet gums with roots though
I really like a 2 inch tool bar with a S time every 10 inches or so. Just enough to scratch seedbed, wide enough apart not to clog easily....... An acre or two, you can go for a 2nd pass if needed. A single pass will get a spot started up nicely......... Basic chisel point sweeps.
 
Weedy - I find both a heavy disc or 7 shank all purpose plow does the job for us. Last couple of burns we've used the 7 shank all purpose plow. The forestry service will plow for you as well just before they conduct the burn if you happen to be using them for your burns.
 
Weedy - I find both a heavy disc or 7 shank all purpose plow does the job for us. Last couple of burns we've used the 7 shank all purpose plow. The forestry service will plow for you as well just before they conduct the burn if you happen to be using them for your burns.
Thank you. I followed the advice of get a bigger tractor than you think you need. Got 100hp with a Cat 2 hitch. Those Cat 2 implements are proud of themselves when it come to cost! Smallest Cat 2 I can find is 13 pt, so it looks like I'm headed that way!
 
Thank you. I followed the advice of get a bigger tractor than you think you need. Got 100hp with a Cat 2 hitch. Those Cat 2 implements are proud of themselves when it come to cost! Smallest Cat 2 I can find is 13 pt, so it looks like I'm headed that way!

I currently have a kioti DK45 4x4. You can put cat 2 or cat 1 arms on it. It is sort of a tweener tractor. In hind sight, I wish I had bought a name brand in the 70 hp range. At any rate, I keep the cat 2 arms on it all the time, but I use a mix of cat 1 and cat 2 implements. I just put bushings on the cat 1 pins of the cat 1 implements. You do need to be careful when using cat 1 implements on a larger tractor. For example, I have no issues with my FIMCO 55 gal sprayer that has cat 1 pins. However, I was using a cat 1, 4' bushhog on it one day. The tail wheel evidently hit a stump at an odd angle and did not spin and jump over it. In stead it hung. Other than a little bump, I didn't even know what happened until I happened to turn around. The tail wheel was missing and the tail assembly was bent. With a smaller tractor, the tractor wheels would have spun instead of tearing up the implement.

Having said that, if you are careful and pay attention, you can use cat 1 implements on cat 2 arms. Just think about the kind of equipment you are using and what over powering it might do and pay attention. I would not use cat 1 ground engaging equipment like a disc on a larger cat 2 tractor.

I do find there is a much larger market for older cat 2 equipment than for the smaller cat 1 stuff.

Thanks,

Jack
 
I currently have a kioti DK45 4x4. You can put cat 2 or cat 1 arms on it. It is sort of a tweener tractor. In hind sight, I wish I had bought a name brand in the 70 hp range. At any rate, I keep the cat 2 arms on it all the time, but I use a mix of cat 1 and cat 2 implements. I just put bushings on the cat 1 pins of the cat 1 implements. You do need to be careful when using cat 1 implements on a larger tractor. For example, I have no issues with my FIMCO 55 gal sprayer that has cat 1 pins. However, I was using a cat 1, 4' bushhog on it one day. The tail wheel evidently hit a stump at an odd angle and did not spin and jump over it. In stead it hung. Other than a little bump, I didn't even know what happened until I happened to turn around. The tail wheel was missing and the tail assembly was bent. With a smaller tractor, the tractor wheels would have spun instead of tearing up the implement.

Having said that, if you are careful and pay attention, you can use cat 1 implements on cat 2 arms. Just think about the kind of equipment you are using and what over powering it might do and pay attention. I would not use cat 1 ground engaging equipment like a disc on a larger cat 2 tractor.

I do find there is a much larger market for older cat 2 equipment than for the smaller cat 1 stuff.

Thanks,

Jack
Thanks. When I first got the tractor (and more naïve than I am now), I thought I needed a subsoiler for some logging decks. Got a Cat 1, made it fit, and promptly destroyed it on a 4th pass. Lesson learned
 
Thanks. When I first got the tractor (and more naïve than I am now), I thought I needed a subsoiler for some logging decks. Got a Cat 1, made it fit, and promptly destroyed it on a 4th pass. Lesson learned

I found a subsoiler to be a great tool for old very compressed logging decks on my heavy clay soil. With all the negatives of tillage, there are cases where the long-term good outweighs the long term bad. It is a 1 time thing and it is hugely better than a moldboard plow that turns the soil over. Once I get past that initial decompression, I stop any form of tillage.

I will admit, I got an inexpensive single shank sub-soiler from TSC and I bent it with my 45 hp tractor.

Thanks,

Jack
 
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