Best Tillage Implement

[bowhunternw]

I know there are some spray and mow options, but my luck has been somewhat minimal. Finally got a little old international tractor with 3pt and live pto. What I cant decide on is try to get a small 3pt cultivator or save money and opt for a tiller.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

We have a tiller and it works the ground up really nice. I have read though that tillers can create a bit of a hard pan. Also we need to have the thatch mowed down to absolutely nothing or it will plug up the tiller. Our tines are badly worn though and should be replaced.

 

[MRBB]

not sure what sized tractor you got, but if its in the 20+ hp range, why not buy a cheap older farm disc, in the 6-8 ft size?
tillers are nice and all but costly and you need HP to work them, and they make very SLOW goings
if your doing a plot of an acre or so, your spending a LOT of time turning over ground, plus the slower going and on a hot day, taxes your motor, due to lack of air flowing, yuou will also donate more blood to biting flying insects LOL
next on a tiller is if you have rocky ground, you will beat and need to replace parts often
disc are just cheaper to buy and use, so if your on a budget??

cruise thru older farm, areas odds are you will see some sitting in farmers yards and property NOT in use and for a few bucks grab one, they can almost ALL be rebuilt to like new pretty easy, and last for a LONG time with simple care, like 40+ yrs(or till you wear disc out and then just replace them)
that older farm stuff was MADE to be repaired by simple means! and was built to last!

 

[bowhunternw]

It is a 300 utility and is rated at 40 hp I think. someone told me that a disc will require many passes and ends up compacting the soil. These are small plots, 3 of them roughly 1/3 ac each. It definitely has some rock but at that size I figured I could pick them fairly clean.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I have a 3 point disc and a 3 point john deere cultivator/digger for my old Ford tractor. My soil is somewhat sandy, so compaction isn't an issue. If you're breaking up sod, the digger works much better because it rips up the sod while the disc can just ride over it the first pass. The disc works great though if you can spray the field to kill off all of the vegetation.

If you only have about an acre of plots to do, I think a disc would work just fine. Even if it takes two passes you will have that all done in no time. I picked up the disc and digger on craigslist and I believe they were about $500 each. Those old implements are built tough and should last a long time.

 

[MRBB]

yes a disc MIGHT need more passes to slice and dice things up, a lot depends on the disc, slotted front disc dig deeper and cut better, the weight of the disc, (and or for 3 point disc as to drag types), down force you can add to the disc, so will how much matting material is on top and or how hard the area is
But again you can pull a disc at a MUCH higher rate of speed compared to a tiller,(its NOT a race , on any tractor, just speed are higher using a disc) a 40 hp tractor will take MAYBE a 5 ft tiller, and even trying to do 1/3 acre at a time , its a slow going and a lot of running time off motor of tractor
as for picking a field clean of rocks, that will honestly come down to HOW many rocks are in it, I have been picking rocks out of a 3 acre section for about 15 yrs now, and have about 250 ton picked so far and its still FULL of rocks LOL
actually brought in a rock picker a few times now, and some rocks are too big to even move with a D6 dozer, so there keepers in that plot!
as for the disc compacting the soil< I cannot see how that's happening,m it cuts and raises and turns over soil as it goes?
you DON"T see real farmers using tillers, just not enough time to use them!
they NO till or disc today(you actually seldom see them actually plowing soil anymore)
so, I don't think compacting soil is an issue with a disc at all!
I have used on both prime soil and very sandy, and never had a issue in the past 25 yrs using the same fields!
and disc was used on them for about 30 yrs before me being there(bought disc off farmer that used them on same land LOL)
NOTHING wrong with a tiller , but the costs, the issue's with rocks and the slower goings
if you have the TIME< the money and OK with up keeping, they do GREAT work when there going, NOT bashing, just saying

better bang for the buck in a disc IMO!

 

[j-bird]

I have a 2 bottom plow a six foot disc AND borrow a six foot tiller. The plow and disc I got for free. My ground won't allow me to use only the disc, so I have to plow and then disc. The tiller I borrow does it all in one pass and does a great job in leaving a nice and even seed bed. I can't afford to drop $1,500+ on an implement I use for a weekend twice a year. The plow/disc method is far more time consuming and I prefer to plow one day and then disc the next - it just seems to work better that way. However, I think the tiller is better for soil moisture. The tiller doesn't like virgin soil, sod, roots or rocks. I think the tiller does a better job working in "trash" as well.....as long as it isn't too long or tough. I had a nightmare with rye one year! They all have their place.

 

[Buckly]

With the size of the plots you have, get a tiller and don't look back. Best investment I have ever made for putting in plots then add a cultipacker or roller and its all you would ever need.

 

[Mibowhunter91]

The ground we work doesn't do well with a small disk either maybe more weight would help but the tiller works great as long as we mow everything short. That said we had unbelievably wore tines and 2 years ago had rye actually bind the tiller up it broke.... good thing I'm a welder and the ol man has turned wrenches for years all fixed up with new tines bow


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[mikmaze]

that is a nice size tractor for plots, 40 hp gas, diesels are known to have more grunt, but you could do a lot with what you have, I predict in 5 years time you have 5 acres of plots from the 1 acre total you have now, plan ahead and buy what will grow with what you could do later. 2 bottom plow, 7 foot disc or so, get a york rake. cone spreader, brush hog, and build a spray rig. is it still 6 volt or 12 now?

 

[JFK52]

My land is just too rocky for a tiller. I bought a Land Pride 6 foot disc and love it. I pull it with a Kubota L345 DT 4x4 tractor. 34 HP diesel with 4 wheel drive. It is a tubular frame design, not just angle iron. The gangs of discs are adjustable for different angles of attack. I start with them in an aggressive setting and work towards a straight setting for the final prep before planting. I usually make at least two or maybe three separate discing efforts before I plant a plot. I have never had a problem with it compacting the soil. I do add weight to the tiller when I do the small plots. Discing is only for my smaller food plots that can not be done with a no till planter.

 

[yoderjac]

I know there are some spray and mow options, but my luck has been somewhat minimal. Finally got a little old international tractor with 3pt and live pto. What I cant decide on is try to get a small 3pt cultivator or save money and opt for a tiller.

My thought would be a tiller. If you were working on minimizing tillage which is beneficial to your soils, a tiller is a great tool. When I use a tiller, I lift it with the 3-pt hitch so the tines are barely touching the top inch of soil. It is more chopping vegetation and spraying a bit of dirt on it. My clay tends to crust. If I can just barely break the surface up a bit, I can get much better crops without doing significant damage to my OM or soil tilth.

Thanks,

Jack