IS THIS REALLY BETTER THAN A TILLER? A DISC THAT’S MADE IN THE USA!
Not quite a month ago we ran a heavy duty Dirt Dog Subsoiler along a path we intend to plant a tall vegetative screen along the edge of an open field. The idea there was to break up any hardpan that would prevent water penetration and root penetration. Today we're going to prep the seedbed with a Dirt Dog Disc Harrow. We're not very experienced using these, and we're more used to a seedbed created by a rototiller. But we're always game for trying something new and sharing the process with you!
Products in video:
Dirt Dog Disc Harrow: bit.ly/3vNvM9I
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#KUBOTA #DISCING #HUNTING
As a former farmer I have a few comments. Sod is very difficult to break up. A chisel plow would be a very good tool for first pass to break up sod. 2 or 3 dry days later use a disk. Your ground still looked a little wet. Going over it with the disc again in a couple dry days will give you a better result. The grass and clumps have to dry ( but not become hard) and they will break up better. Good luck
I just have to say that I appreciate your comment and advice. The commenters on these tractor videos know their stuff. I just bought my first subcompact and have been binge watching these videos learning from you guys. Thanks 🙏
Don't you love it when hunters suddenly become farmers.
My kids love to watch you work that tractor. We have about 400 acres we try and tame. We own both disc and Tiller. They are both very versatile. Sometimes I'll break very rocky ground up with the disc first then till it clean. Less stress on the Tiller. But sometimes you can reverse this process and the disc makes beautiful rows for planting a garden after tilling. One isn't better than the other. They are both tools that can work very well with each other.
You and your brother are doing a great job on these videos keep up the good work
Soil conditions appear to be a bit too wet for field work during the shoot and the disc seems a bit light (weight) for heavy tillage. When I was a youngster, we would run the disc over the field after using the moldboard plow to smooth everything out.
Light weight disc...that's all compacts can handle. Whether dry or wet, it should be able to cut up sod.
@@GoodWorksTractors I can challenge that statement. I ran a 6-ft for over 20 years on a John Deere 4100 20 horsepower HST. The key is speed this actually are meant to go faster. Something else you can do is not use the top link gives it a little bounce to help break stuff up. As someone who was raised the old ways into the modern ways of this new implement world. I still plow with a 1950 John Deere M two bottom. Then I disc. Wants to disk ground has been setting for a couple days I hit it with a tiller. Now people may ask why the tiller. Well with the crazy range we're having in the mountains in North Carolina and tennessee. After the tilling I put on an old Hiller and bring heels up that are 2 ft wide at the base 1 ft wide at the top about a foot tall. And my plants have been awesome ever since. This year is actually the first year I've had a garden in 2 years due to many deaths in the family and not having the time. Still enjoy your videos hope us old guys can help you out with old knowledge
I agree, soil was a little to wet in some spots. But if the ground hasn't been touch in 10 years a disk wouldn't have been my go to equipment to bust it up. But I understand the purpose of this video. Keep up the good work.
I live in an area with lots of rock and trees so I love my disc, no time wasted changing out sheer bolts
I've never ever ever used a tiller with shear bolts.
AMEN to that!!!!!
Good demonstration
Good stuff, enjoy seeing how the different implements work
Glad you enjoyed it!
you need to add about 500 lb of weight on top of the disc that's what I use it really makes the disc dig in especially if you have lots of rocks when adding weight you can also run a little faster speed
I agree.
@@GoodWorksTractors Better to get that weight as structural steel! Brown implements built a heavy disk that would probably do what you were attempting to do with that light-weight tool, but no disk is capable of complete cultivation "old-school" tech. Moldboard plow, dry out in sun a few days, THEN disc. Only way. Even a roto-tiller would have made a real mess under the soil-type and moisture conditions shown in this video. (although it would have "looked" better...)
Absolutely right. They don't work well at all for breaking ground without some extra weight. They're really not intended for breaking ground anyway.
i dont think the weight would help as much as removing the bucket. it took me a lot of experimentation to realize that when i have a bucket on, any bump the tires would hit would throw off the disc function.
Once again, your videos provide really valuable information about the huge variety of attachments available, and lets me judge for myself if the results would be workable for my purposes. I can only afford so many attachments (just ask my wife) so having good info to make the right decision is important! Thanks again!
Glad you like them!
Did a decent job for un-plowed ground which isn't what they do best. The plan in the old days of max tillage on the local hill farms was: plow the tobacco or corn field; 'drag' or 'scrub' the plowed ground; wait a few weeks, then disc and drag it down. Repeat those last two steps until ready to plant the crops. I could make the ground look like a tiller had been used on it, in the right conditions. IMO the 3-pt discs are less effective than the drag type.
Amazing how many guys want a disc to turn unplowed ground. This shows what it does. You've got a heck of a lot of steps to go through. I prefer tillers. If you need to occasionally run deep tillage, then that's just one other tool. Small acreage here, not big Ag.
@@GoodWorksTractors I 100% agree with you and so do most farmers hereabouts. Discs and plows aren't much in use, now. The 1-5 acre tobacco patches and 10-acre cornfields are mostly gone now and have been replaced by corn, soybeans and hemp in much larger tracts. Most of the farms are using minimal tillage plans. If they do till, tillers are the tool.
One tip with the disk is to go alternate directions. If you can at minimum angle across the field and the straight it will break up sod much more effectively. As others mentioned, adding some weight would help as well. I'd also like to see a comparison showing rototiller vs power harrow.
Hose notched blades made big difference.
1. Drier might have been better, but for the moisture and obvious clay I was surprised it wasn’t sticking to the discs at all, so it wasn’t too bad. 2. I agree a disc is typically not the first choice for turning or breaking up unbroken ground, but typically a later refining step after you’ve broken it with something much more aggressive. But you know that, and that is usually in terms of an area to be planted. If you’re say, just wanting to break up the top of a hardened uneven farm road so that you could redress it, the disc might be a good not-too-aggressive choice. 3. As many have said, you were not getting the full impact of what the disc was capable of because it was far too light. When you can still clearly see the tire tracks after the disc has passed, it’s obvious it’s not having the full effect. 500 lbs. of ballast on top and you likely would have seen the results you hoped for, and with fewer passes! All the best, Courtney.
As always, great camera work.👍👍Good use of the bucket to remove field trash. Also the scrapers did a good job with muddy soil.
Thanks 👍
Not said enough...Chris does a great job with the drone and the editing
I believe it work much better if not so wet.
It's a fair weather tool. No bueno.
I concur with the comment below. Drier conditions and weight added to the implement would greatly improve the results. I have been researching discs vs. tillers for a minute now and just bought a tiller, mainly for consistency's sake. The one pro of the disc over the tiller is that the disc is an infinitely simpler device. Much less to go wrong with the implement itself.
Tons of parts on a disc....a scraper/cleaner for each disc, all the discs, all the sealed bearing points. I beat the heck out of tillers and can't seem to break them. Both are durable as they're made for hard, ground engaging work. I'll be doing more videos showing how superior tillers are to discs. Wet, dry, whatever. :)
WOW! Am I missing something? I thought this was meant to be a comparison video, not a technique video? The folks in the peanut gallery went crazy over the technique. You are always abundantly clear that your videos are for your market segment and not for the professional / large farmers. As always great content and great camera work! 👍
Can you do a video of planting that screening? Also an update video later on after it grows up.
Adjust your top 3-point link so the front disks are digging in more (beginning of the video looked tipped too high in the front vs back). When it's wet clay like that, you can come back after a day of it drying out and another run will bust up the clods to smooth it all out more.
I agree that the front is riding too high not allowing the front disc to do much at all. Make the suggested adjustments to the machine, and definitely need a lot more weight as well…..
Been waiting on video of the dirt dog disc💪👍.. thought it worked great for the condition
Thanks for watching John!
I love to disc. It’s fun
Love the new place! We always plowed to roll the sod, let it dry a bit, then disc. Do you have any plows to try that? The bad part about plows is the one way aspect. The flip plows are real nice but not for compact tractors usually.
That thing kicks butt. Never would do that on a smaller tractor. 50 years ago we'd plow, let it dry a bit then go over it with discs. Pulled the 6' discs with a Minne R. Had to be dryer to get through the sod.
Glad you liked it!
Something to be considered is if you have rocky ground a disc will many times make it through without breaking anything. Not so much with a tiller.A few light passes with a disc will get the rocks loose then they can be seen and picked up. Dragging a harrow behind the disk will also help knock down some of the large clods Good solution for working up a pasture or or incorporating fertilizer which would also be harder/slower with a tiller.
Tons of small rocks here that I've tilled. 1-2" in size. Nothing huge. Yes, discs are easier to use in very rocky soil though. Thanks for watching!
Love the explanations I own a tractor that my son uses I would like to discuss stuff with him about this!
I’m just glad your in an orange tractor ! Looking good.
Yep, nothing like spending money to support companies overseas.
Courtney, what would you recommend: a pull-type disc or a tiller for prepping a seed bed for new pasture? About 60 acres of my farm was a pine clearcut (8 years ago) that was forestry mulching 5 years ago so the stumps are generally extremely rotten (a few are semi-hard but flush to the ground) but the ground hasn't been worked in probably 40 years---it was cropland before the pines were planted. The plan is to work 20 acres per year for 3 years to get the ground more productive and smooth out the surface. I've got a 5075e but I feel like 20 acres---of arguably virgin ground---with a tiller would break the tiller and take days to accomplish. My Buddy is pushing my to get a pull type disc like a Frontier DH1508 and break it up that way with 2 machines making about 3 passes total. I love 3pt tillers but I don't want to buy something that's going to get absolutely thrashed and end up as scrap metal.
That song is beautiful
Okay as a farmer type with a agronomy degree... Disk is used in the fall to rip up the ground, increase moisture infiltration. Then with the freeze thaw effect over winter it breaks down the clumps. In the spring a field cultivator is used to make the seedbed utilization. You will never get seedbed quality with a disk it is more used for to break up of the sod. Cheers. My 2 cents.
I drag a chain harrow, fingers down, behind the disc. It breaks up the clods and grass. When you want through the sticks, roots and. 1" wood that would have jammed up most "compact" tractor roto-tillers.
This bounced over the sticks and roots...I showed it in this video. My tillers do a much much better job.
Nice video. I might be off base here but it seems to me like old technology vs new. Now i know tillers aren't new but for farming, i don't know when they entered the picture. Id take a tiller hands down any day. Now a days i'm sure discs are less expensive than a tiller, but you factor in your time and fuel pulling discs around, the tillers would be the clear winner.
Disc is the prep step before a tiller to break up the sod for a garden. Disc is also great for remodelling contours. In actual farming its for getting rid of crop residues.
Tillers rip through sod like it's nothing. Waste of money with a disc. Tillers do everything better in my opinion.
Tillers don't do rocks very well, disc laughs at rocks and plant matter.
I’ve used one similar to that on a sub compact tractor. I wasn’t all that impressed with the results. I ended up renting a pto driven tiller. Far better results in half the time. Maybe it would work better if it had more downward pressure. You’d be better off using a 6-7 bottom plow and then going back over it with a disc.
You need to add some weight to your disc and pull it a little faster. Definitely a versatile tool. Good video.
Faz bom trabalho
Wasn't really impressed with the disc compared to a tiller. With rising fuel prices the tiller is always going to be my way to go. Love your videos keep them coming!!!!! This video showed me what I wanted to see and know.
Completely agree. I started out using a Case garden tractor and had both a tiller and discs. The discs have been parked for about 10 years.
Agreed, tiller is the way to go.
Different purpose. If you plow first using a bottom plow you can turn all the organic matter over and burry it deep. Then you use the disc to create a surface ready for planting. There are some older disc plows out their still floating around, however. I think your ground is too wet as well. That light of a disc isn't really meant for tilling.
I will use 3 times as much fuel running a tiller than I will a disk for food plots. Both work better with the vegetation killed off, but I can get a field prepared faster and cheaper with a good disk. NOTE: I need some moisture in the soil with the disk and moisture can really bog down my tiller.
Notched blades do a ruff job if you had smooth blades it would do a better finish job and less angle will help to keep it from ridging up and slow speed helps. Back in the day we used to break sod like that and go over about 5 times usually 2 times then let it dry out and do it a few more since it worked up nicer after you ran it over with tractor dual wheels
Love prepping hunting ground!
Definitely!
do they make anything with the old flex hitch style now a days, or any of the compat tractors have a draft control capability
I just broke ground today. Plowed first, then it it with a disk. Ground was very wet from all the rain. Going to let it dry overnight and then going to hit with a tiller tomorrow. Till again. After that, put out my weed killer. Give it three or four days to burn the grass. Go back with triple 13 and pelletized lime Throw and grow. Well see if Mister Big Horns shows up.
I'd say it's not better than a tiller, but the pre-run of that prior to a tiller will make the tiller work MUCH easier.
One pass with the disc and then one with the tiller would probably make it really good. the 1st pass would loosen up the soil and tiller would have an easier time on it's pass.
The ground is to wet for a disc or a tiller and the disc is to light. You need to add weight to the disc and run it at 5 to 6 mph.
*Love the Dirt Dog Disks, just a little weight and it can really tear it up. I work in a LOT of clay the side scraper attachment is just purer brilliance. OBTW the music in the first half, can't find it in the credits, who is that--LOVE IT, Thanks!!*
Good stuff Gailm. I'll see if my brother can get the name of that song.
Just wait a day or two then after the soil gets some air and drys some go again maybe pulling a harrow behind.
Using something like a Harrow AW20 would be several times more effective and enough tractor there to pull it. Good video!
So a couple of thoughts from a pacific NW farmer here who uses a disc a lot. First off, those small three point discs just don’t do a great job as you can see. That tractor would pull an 8-10’ tandem offset disc just fine. Two those sealed bearings just don’t last very well, I hate them on the farm, unless they are oil bath bearings. Three the big advantage of a disc over a tiller is a tiller tends to create a hard pan about six inches below the surface of the ground creating drainage issues in more clay type soils. Your use of a ripper/subsoiler will help keep that from happening. Four don’t turn much with that disc in the ground or you will break off disc blades. Finally the real value of a disc is to break up the sod so you can get a plow to roll the dirt over cleanly. It never is going to look like it will with a tiller. For what you are doing with small plots I would disc, subsoil, then till. I might wait until the ground is a bit dryer as well. For what it’s worth, if you have really compacted soil, wait until it is dry and run your subsoiler, it really shatters the clay, downside is it takes a lot of horsepower. 😁
Disc vs Tiller: I actually prefer the disc since it is virtually maintenance free. The tiller is much better at first but with a little rain, the disk ground will look the same .....Just my honest opinion ;)
I wholeheartedly disagree, but to each their own!
Add a little weight. Set the front gang to it's most aggressive and rear to a more moderate setting,get it as level as possible, let it go as deep as the tractor will pull it, and run your speed to 5 or 6 mph. The only other thing I noticed is that sod is going to have matted roots, so you will want to make your second pass at an angle to break those root mats up from 2 different directions
No built in tray or bar to add weight. I adjusted the hydraulic top link on the fly the entire time I was discing. I tried faster and slower. 5-6mph and it just skipped along the top. Can't disc on an angle in a strip plot.
Good content! Obviously a tiller will present a more groomed finished result than a disc harrow will. There are trade offs. From your site, a Dirt Dog tiller price is $3,300 - $4,400. The Dirt Dog disc price is $2,049 - $4,948. For some, price is THE determining factor .
It is after all a narrow not a plow, its supposed to used in conjunction with a type of plow. Also the ground looked to be wet,and with clay its only gonna pack
The disc is better for the soil in the long run. The tiller kills all the beneficial worms and microorganisms. Also you need to work in some organic matter to your soil so it will break up better when you disc it. Disc in some good cover crops for a couple of years and the soil will improve.
I was surprised the discs weren't cutting deeper. In fact, most of the time it look like the outer discs were barely doing anything. Do you think adding 4 or 6 70lb weights to the disc frame would have made a significant difference?
Needs weight or stones added to the basket
100% agree
Yeah, I've told folks these discs for compacts are way too light. Just not a good choice. Need more weight.
I also notice you are running them flat raise the back gang about 4-6" higher than the front and they will dig much more aggressively.
I tried that...back row comes completely out of the ground.
@@GoodWorksTractors What is the shipping weight if the discs?
@@GoodWorksTractors I found the specs 78" dirt dogs are 543lbs, 78" farm king by buhler are 850lbs with scrapers. I only pull with 38HP and get substantially different results in similar soil type.
You're not supposed to do circles/ turns with a 3 pt. hitch style disk. It can make the axle nuts back themselves out. It's best to do straight line disking.
No one did circles. Slow turns are not a big deal.
Maybe you said it already, are you gonna use switch grass as you screen?
I will long term, but this year I'm planting an annual screening cover
Tillers are for your backyard garden.
How maneuverable is your M4 in the woods?
Okay on a wide path!
Disk and then cross-disk the field, that will break up the sod... 🚜👨🌾🚜👍👍😉
Another advantage to the tiller. Not everyone is tilling a square. This shows a strip plot that can't be criss-crossed. Disc stunk, tiller rocks!
According to soil preparation 101, discs and tillers are meant to perform separate functions
According to my customers, the internet, and 200iq commenters, none of you agree on anything :)
I've done it both ways and like a roto tiller much more. The top link on your setup seems a bit too tight causing the rear of the disc to be a little lighter and less effective. I sure like your tractor though!
I like tillers much better too. Top link is hydraulic and was adjusted in many ways throughout the process. Didn't help much.
didn't seem like the front discs were digging in? is it not supposed to be level? never used one
I tried every possible combination. Had a hydraulic top link and was constantly adjusting along with speed.
Tiller is better but it's also more expensive. Also I've found that the faster I can go the better the job it does. However, fields are usually to rough to go very fast.
Yeah I did more discing today. Even at 3.5 mph it was a very rough ride. No way I’d do that all the time.
I really like doing no till with cover crops saves a lot of time
Bottom plow first. Then disk.
I have no idea what I'm talking about......but from a layman's perspective it seems like dryer ground and added weight would make a big difference.
more weight is always good. Probably is these small discs don't come ready made to add weight and they aren't heavy enough on their own. This ground is concrete when dry. I can't possibly see that being any easier.
You asked the question if you were using this right??? Man I am more than entertained by the comments alone 😅 I'm guessing if you're going to be doing a big job with a little tractor take little bites. I would've liked seeing a cultipacker behind it, great video.
Good Video, But soil is to wet in the video to do the disc justice and top link not adjusted properly to disc......if you are watching this don't let it give you the wrong impression of a disc....they are, and have been a very effective tillage tool for finishing a Plowed field ( key word Plowed) for planting for many years. like anything else....experience of the operator, proper field conditions, proper adjustment of the disc, type of soil, and type of disc are all are keys to how well they preform... they are cheaper than a tiller and can give a nice seedbed with experience and knowledge. They are not a 3pt rotary tiller though so it's not a fair comparison....
Does anybody manufacture an offset disc for small tractors? That's one thing I didn't like about these small disc's they're not heavy enough for tough soils. I guess if you could add about 1000 lbs to them they might work better or like a dozer be able to put down pressure on it with the hydraulics.
Not that I'm aware of. I've long said discs for compacts are much too light.
@@GoodWorksTractors have you seen the rotoderon tiller? Nice!
Wow, that thing looks awesome!
i think the discs is noy angled enough, plus add weight on it, makes plowing better.
Discs are angled the max amount. There isn’t a way to add weight.
If you pick up some of the soil and iot makes a mud ball then it is too wet. I can tell by looking at it, it is too wet.
Right, wait until it dries out in summer to work the ground for planting. Nothing like dry ground and no rain for sprouting seed! 😂
That should’ve been bottom plowed, left to dry a bit then the disc. Why would you try to disc wet sod?
I was responding to comments saying you can disc instead of till. That’s what I do with my videos. Show things that people think work…or don’t.
No limestone down first?
good lord that disc was playing a little game of just the tip, BURY THOSE IN THE GROUND!! use that top link or add weight. this is akin to using a hammer, turned sideways.
Too wet
Please explain
Try a offset disc
Always chisel then disc or hoe. This allows exposure to rocks or old loss
You should have been going a little faster it breakup better
Disc's where meant to be much larger for big fields, in my opinion those little Disc's are a waste of time and money. The big Disc's aren't on three point hitch but pulled on a draw bar with hydraulic up and down wheels
I agree. They are a waste of money. Some guys absolutely swear by them though.
Some dead weight on ur Impement would improve its results
?look at the weight of that tractor. Packing is a gardeners fear. Loose airy able to breathe drain allow roots freedom to feed n drink. So related to human livability
Add weight to disc and it looks like you are going too slow. Max angle and overlap a half width each pass, all my experience is with an offset disc
Going faster just had it ride along the surface and not dig in.
Its too wet brah go over it when the sod dies and dries out
I would run a little faster.
I did, it made it worse. Road along the top.
Grains are too cheap. Farmers should just keep their grains and make 100,000 L of beer or something instead of selling for grain-elevator-prices...
Gotta put some weight on those disc's.
Disks run better at 4-5 mph
If you use drag harrows behind the disc plow on the last time of disc plowing, will level and break dirt to a finer consistency Also, the ground you were plowing seemed to be a little wet. Wait until the ground is a little drier before using the drag harrow