Any tips for using a Disc

CTM1

CTM1

Active Member
I have a ~30HP Kubota and a 6.5 King Kutter Disc. I have loaded a few 6.5' logs on the top of it for added weight, and I have the gangs set to their most aggressive angle.
15z2m1w.jpg

When I run the disc in low range with 4wd engaged in 4th gear it is slow. So I try to run it in High range still in 4wd in 1st gear it is still to slow, but when I try to go into 2nd it usually bogs down.
I fella I follow on YouTube said to run the disc fast to really cut in.

I am trying to disc cut pasture so of course the grasses have an established root system.
Any tips as it really feels like I am wasting hours on the tractor and not really seeing good results for my efforts. There is no time left in our growing season here in the Catskill Mountains of NY to use and wait for chemical to work their magic.

Thanks
 
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i spray 1st and wait 3-4 weeks if I'm straight up disking sod. I never add weight - would destroy my disks with all the rocks we have,
 
I hire my farmer friends to make the first pass on sod with their disk. They have a 10 foot disc pulled by a 100 HP tractor. Once they have ripped the sod initially, I take over from there with my Kubota L345 DT 4x4 and 6 foot Land Pride disc. Tried my disc on the sod and there was just no way it could cut it up no matter what technique I tried.
 
Can you bush hog it first? If the choices are slow/effective and fast/ineffective, you just have to go slow. Each subsequent pass you can go faster, but to start off you will have to go slow. Or get bigger equipment.
 
When you set your discs up, when they engage the soil, your discs should be level, meaning that the front gangs cut the same as your back gangs. In your picture, it looks like the fronts are doing all the work. Lengthen your top link to level them out. That would be the first thing that I would do. It will take multiple passes to do what you want done, in particular to cover the "trash vegetation" that will be left.

I suspect too, that if you were to sub-soil the plot next spring, it would make a difference for you, next fall.
 
I'm going to take a beating here...but here goes. When I am dealing with sod. I first spray to kill everything. Then mow if possible or burn. Then I use a plow (I can here the boos now). Then I disc. The plow is much better at cutting thru the layer of roots and turning over and incorporating any residue. I was told that plows are used to turn dirt, discs are used to chop up the "curls" from the plow. I have a light weight angle frame disc and adding weight helps, but it never has "dug" very well. Another great tool - although slow is a tiller. Every time I try to just use a disc to prep a plot I just get frustrated. Just what I do.
 
I am with Jbird on this. I have used a middle buster (like a subsoiler) in the past to break up the field and then to disk and just this past weekend I bought a Cultivator and that thing is going to be a game changer for me. If I had more time I would put in another acre of plots this fall with it in some areas I can't seem to make throw n mow work very well and the ground is too rocky for anything else...

335f4a7d03ce2826f31e440beda9bd8b.jpg


c724abacd7b83b4a94911cabc10bd84d.jpg


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After I went over all that with the middle buster I broke it down with the disk. The middle buster works ok in ground that's not too compacted or rocky but doesn't work well in the heavy soil mixed with flint rock on our 80 so the cultivator (spring tooth chisel plow) took care of that...

f2905927c91f99093b6dc2030c2d2e8f.jpg
 
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No beating should be given, since that is a very reasonable way of dealing with the sod. After a couple of years of weed and grass control, the plow likely will become unnecessary and he can chose to continue to use his disc or the throw and mow method.

I am not a fan of 3pt hitch mounted discs, since they do require some tweaking to be set properly.
 
I would use a plow too, but based on the original post I assumed he didn't have one.
 
I would say you need some round up to kill all that grass and weeds . A 6.5 foot disc should heavy enough with out the logs. Leveling your disc will help too. If you can kill it , burn it and wait on rain to soften the soil. It will disc up much better. My 38 hp with water in the rear tires pulls a 6 foot 20 pan disc ok, but still bogs down sometimes. Something that is wider than the disc and heavy like a cross tie, to drag behind will help level the ground also.
We fought grass and weeds like that at our club for years until we started using herbicide instead of bush hogging.
 
Everything has been hogged and the disc is actually level. In the picture I have it lifted up so that is why it looks like it is not properly angled.
I wish my ground was flat but I am plotting in the mountains. My plotting plan this year went south so I am up against it.

Definitely going to keep an eye out for a spring tooth chisel plow and perhaps a tow behind disc.

Thanks guys.
 
OkieKubota said:
I am with Jbird on this. I have used a middle buster (like a subsoiler) in the past to break up the field and then to disk and just this past weekend I bought a Cultivator and that thing is going to be a game changer for me. If I had more time I would put in another acre of plots this fall with it in some areas I can't seem to make throw n mow work very well and the ground is too rocky for anything else...

335f4a7d03ce2826f31e440beda9bd8b.jpg


c724abacd7b83b4a94911cabc10bd84d.jpg


940764767220962c190fd2bda94ed3b2.jpg


After I went over all that with the middle buster I broke it down with the disk. The middle buster works ok in ground that's not too compacted or rocky but doesn't work well in the heavy soil mixed with flint rock on our 80 so the cultivator (spring tooth chisel plow) took care of that...

f2905927c91f99093b6dc2030c2d2e8f.jpg
Click to expand...

Now that is some good looking dirt. The tiller I had been using left the surface pretty nice, but the disc leaves it a mess.
 
I think you would be better off having the disk set straight. Go back and forth in all directions. After burn down of course. I never had any luck using them angled like that, it just piled the dirt up in a row and was hard to pull.
 
I have a 57 hp Kubota and a 6' Land Pride disc ( fairly heavy ) and I've always had pretty good luck setting the gangs to the next-to-the-last most aggressive angle and double discing. Sometimes it takes two or three times, but it always gets done. Start early, stay late, and pray for moisture in your plot !:D
 
Couldn't resist venting my issues..........Had a 4 acre field that I reclaimed that had 1-2 inch saplings with a bush hog and 25 hp Kabota. Bush hogged for 3 years waiting on roots to rot, this year I thought I was good to go. I sprayed waited 2 weeks, mowed then started to plow. Well that didn't work at all, roots kept wrapping around plow and lifting it up. So plan B, hooked up subsoiler same result, plan C remove subsoiler blade and use the ripper. After all that, the roots still had me, plan D is to keep disking and chop up all the vines and roots and spread winter wheat and start over in the spring.
 
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