William Fissell
Member
Hi, All,
I am using a Ford 640 and a 5 1/2 foot athens 3-pt disc to prepare my garden. I previously have only used a moldboard plow and disc to prepare food plots..... but....
I turned over old sod last fall using a disc plow, with the result that the soil is crazy uneven and lumpy. I am still glad I used it as there were occasional large rocks and roots and buried branches which would have made trouble for a moldboard plow as first pass in breaking land that hadn't been plowed in 50 years.
We have had a dry week and some warm weather in central TN so after noting that most of the soil was dry enough to crumble in my hands I thought I would take a few passes at leveling the bumps with my disc harrow. It probably wont be dry again til june. This effort has led to some noob questions.
The disc is heavy enough that if I let out the clutch a little too aggressively with the 3pt up I will take the front wheels off the ground.
First question: how much of a light nose is a bad thing, and should I try to hang some weights up front, and if so, how? The tractor has nothing for that right now, but there is an older beat-up bumper I can use.
The tractor was difficult to use on the very bumpy ground left by the disc plow; I was constantly adjusting the three point control lever to shift weight to the rear wheels and also lighten the front wheels when I would get in a hole. I was constantly starting and stopping- trying to run through it with any kind of momentum would have risked breaking the tractor, I think, when a front wheel dropped in a hole left by the disc plow. Not to mention I would have been bucked out of the seat and then run over by the disc.
Second question: Short of just spending 5-6 hours going over this slowly and carefully again and again as I can, is there a better more obvious way to level the holes and hills left by the disc plow that I am missing? The athens disc lets you flip up the rear gang to increase pressure on the front gang- I was going to try that and also reduce the aggressive cut of the discs.
thanks in advance for the advice to a noob.
I am using a Ford 640 and a 5 1/2 foot athens 3-pt disc to prepare my garden. I previously have only used a moldboard plow and disc to prepare food plots..... but....
I turned over old sod last fall using a disc plow, with the result that the soil is crazy uneven and lumpy. I am still glad I used it as there were occasional large rocks and roots and buried branches which would have made trouble for a moldboard plow as first pass in breaking land that hadn't been plowed in 50 years.
We have had a dry week and some warm weather in central TN so after noting that most of the soil was dry enough to crumble in my hands I thought I would take a few passes at leveling the bumps with my disc harrow. It probably wont be dry again til june. This effort has led to some noob questions.
The disc is heavy enough that if I let out the clutch a little too aggressively with the 3pt up I will take the front wheels off the ground.
First question: how much of a light nose is a bad thing, and should I try to hang some weights up front, and if so, how? The tractor has nothing for that right now, but there is an older beat-up bumper I can use.
The tractor was difficult to use on the very bumpy ground left by the disc plow; I was constantly adjusting the three point control lever to shift weight to the rear wheels and also lighten the front wheels when I would get in a hole. I was constantly starting and stopping- trying to run through it with any kind of momentum would have risked breaking the tractor, I think, when a front wheel dropped in a hole left by the disc plow. Not to mention I would have been bucked out of the seat and then run over by the disc.
Second question: Short of just spending 5-6 hours going over this slowly and carefully again and again as I can, is there a better more obvious way to level the holes and hills left by the disc plow that I am missing? The athens disc lets you flip up the rear gang to increase pressure on the front gang- I was going to try that and also reduce the aggressive cut of the discs.
thanks in advance for the advice to a noob.