Disc Harrow

M

Mikey

Well-Known Member
Looking to buy a 3M Disc Harrow as I really need some reseeding done this year for grazing and silage ground. Some fields are hilly and quite possibly wouldn’t have a great depth of soil etc or stoney.

I was planning to spray the grass off first and then use the disc harrow on it instead of ploughing.

Looking online and DoneDeal, I see various disc harrows for sale such as Tolmet, Milos, Mandam and Ro/ex. Your well known branded equipment are more than double the price so hence why I mentioned the above.

What does one think of Harrowing instead of ploughing and has anyone got some input on the above brands? Anything to look out for when buying one?

Thanks.
 
Mikey said:
Looking to buy a 3M Disc Harrow as I really need some reseeding done this year for grazing and silage ground. Some fields are hilly and quite possibly wouldn’t have a great depth of soil etc or stoney.

I was planning to spray the grass off first and then use the disc harrow on it instead of ploughing.

Looking online and DoneDeal, I see various disc harrows for sale such as Tolmet, Milos, Mandam and Ro/ex. Your well known branded equipment are more than double the price so hence why I mentioned the above.

What does one think of Harrowing instead of ploughing and has anyone got some input on the above brands? Anything to look out for when buying one?

Thanks.
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The situation you describe (shallow or Stoney soil) is one where discing makes sense.
You need to be careful in choosing a disc for this job.

We have a 3.2m Amazone Catros and I wouldn’t consider it heavy enough to penetrate hard old grass ground. You will want to create a nice depth of firm fine soil for the new grass seeds to root into.

Some people use a power harrow for this job.

Also make sure you soil test the land. Lime, P and K might be low. If you reseed without ploughing, some lime will be needed anyway as the old rotting grass will produce acid - the lime neutralizes this acid.

Some people do direct drill grass seed - @towbar doesnt miss many opportunities!
 
Mikey said:
Looking to buy a 3M Disc Harrow as I really need some reseeding done this year for grazing and silage ground. Some fields are hilly and quite possibly wouldn’t have a great depth of soil etc or stoney.

I was planning to spray the grass off first and then use the disc harrow on it instead of ploughing.

Looking online and DoneDeal, I see various disc harrows for sale such as Tolmet, Milos, Mandam and Ro/ex. Your well known branded equipment are more than double the price so hence why I mentioned the above.

What does one think of Harrowing instead of ploughing and has anyone got some input on the above brands? Anything to look out for when buying one?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

towbar said:
Scrap the disc idea - A Moore unidrill

See lads I'm a convert!!! Don't tell cork!!
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What @towbar said!
Except an Aitchison drill! Loght enough to work hills and will handle stones and hsrd bits better
 
If the fields are level for working on anyway then a direct drill is the cheapest and easiest way to go. Guttler greenmaster is by far the best for grassland.
If no one locally has one then some of the others might do.
A catros is heavier than any of those cheap disc harrow but they have scalloped discs for penetration
 
Thanks for the advice. I get the impression a disc harrow won’t be enough and a power harrow will be required if I went that option? Some fields will need levelled with the land leveller. It looks like I will need a blend of kit as one field is different than the other. Even soil condition is completely different less than half a mile away.

I had in mind that the Disc Harrow will be one of those items that would get great use no matter what field I went to reseed. One of the main issues is the weather and it being a rush job to get the ground prepared and sowed before it rains.

Not sure what to do.
 
Mikey said:
Thanks for the advice. I get the impression a disc harrow won’t be enough and a power harrow will be required if I went that option? Some fields will need levelled with the land leveller. It looks like I will need a blend of kit as one field is different than the other. Even soil condition is completely different less than half a mile away.

I had in mind that the Disc Harrow will be one of those items that would get great use no matter what field I went to reseed. One of the main issues is the weather and it being a rush job to get the ground prepared and sowed before it rains.

Not sure what to do.
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Disc harrow will work, I've done it a for a couple fields. Trailed 4m dowdswell we have at home with badly worn discs made a great job. It'll take several runs each way though to cut through the trash. I'd suggest getting as heavy a set as you can try and pull the top inch off first then go deeper with each run over the field.
It's not a speedy way to make ready ground but won't bring up stones.
Never liked powerharrows myself but maybe the one we used was horsed. Tines kept coming off. Don't go too deep would be my advice.
 
If you have different types of fields needing different treatment a variety of gear would be ideal.that might be where a contractor comes in.if you want to spray til level and sow in a hurry ploughing is the answer but I wouldn't advise it on permanent grassland.
For discing to succeed in levelling it needs to be sprayed off a few weeks
 
Mikey said:
Thanks for the advice. I get the impression a disc harrow won’t be enough and a power harrow will be required if I went that option? Some fields will need levelled with the land leveller. It looks like I will need a blend of kit as one field is different than the other. Even soil condition is completely different less than half a mile away.

I had in mind that the Disc Harrow will be one of those items that would get great use no matter what field I went to reseed. One of the main issues is the weather and it being a rush job to get the ground prepared and sowed before it rains.

Not sure what to do.
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Have you much to do , would a contractor not be a better option as he will already have all the kit. Even after you buy the machine you still have to pull it which also cost money ..
 
Contractor is a no go. Half the country is after them at the same time.

We always buy our own kit and do our own work and have nearly every machine needed but reseeding is something we never did much of, a field every two.years or so. We have fallen behind and an extra farm purchased so it needs reseeding along with what we had before the purchase.

We have went more into soil fertility and reseeding is something we are going to take more seriously.
 
Land leveller won't level soddy seedbed they'l just drag the sod and eventually the leveller will buck over them leaving a big heap of sods, the maschio ufo looks like a decent heavy disc harrow with serrated discs and oil filled rotors on the tines
 
Mikey said:
Contractor is a no go. Half the country is after them at the same time.

We always buy our own kit and do our own work and have nearly every machine needed but reseeding is something we never did much of, a field every two.years or so. We have fallen behind and an extra farm purchased so it needs reseeding along with what we had before the purchase.

We have went more into soil fertility and reseeding is something we are going to take more seriously.
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Ok so , back in topic then. If going for a disc a lemkin rubin would be a good choice for that work , you need a heavy disc would a good “bite” in the ground. The cheaper discs won’t have that in ley they might in stubbles but not ley and they are not heavy enough and will bounce when working at speed.
We run a simba express and can change disc angle, it’s a serious tool when set right. We have kind of leveled fields with it but it’s 4.5 m and the extra width is better at leveling as you are moving more clay within the disc but not to the standard of ploughing and leveling it properly.
Other makes that I would consider is a horsch joker and a Pottinger, as the way the discs are mounted helps them get good penetration, would probably pick the Pottinger over the horsch and I wouldn’t really be a Pottinger fan.
 
Those machines are probably twice the price of the ones he was mentioning in his first post though if buying new.
Hard to justify for own use.
If ground isn't too hard a medium weight machine will do a lot.
If ground is rock hard discing won't work anyway.
I find discing great on reclamation the jobs where the ground is slightly second grade.
Good upland wants a bit of damp to get in the first run
 
Ground isn’t hard. Last years rain made sure of that so don’t think it would take much to start cutting up.

I asked about the cheaper imported Disc’s as I saw in a machinery sellers mag the likes of a Pottinger etc was going for over €13k and they might not have been new.

Ridiculous money.

In Eastern Europe, Discing is very common so I thought those guys would know how to make a decent machine than buy something here and they stick there arm in.
 
@Mikey
If your ground isn't suitable for ploughing, other methods will work, don't think it'll be a cheaper way to reseed ground, the cost of roundup and spraying, lime, fertiliser, grass seed and a weed spray are there no matter what method is used.
A disc needs weight to penetrate the ground, if possible spraying off twice is a great job, during the winter and again in the spring, there'll be less thrash to deal with and the disc will penetrate better, lime is also a great help to rot the sod.
I wouldn't be a fan of these new cheap disc harrows, they seem light to me, they may do a job for a while but they won't last for 1000's of acres.
From experience, a plough based reseed is always best in the long run, slurry and dung can be ploughed down, lime and fertiliser incorporated into the seed bed, old grass is buried.
The new grass will get established and will be more persistent, than in a reseed established by using roundup and any form of cultivating and or direct harrowing or drilling. Old grasses will return quicker in these systems.
We have done it ever way and we will continue to do it with a disc where it's not suitable to plough, knowing that the reseed won't last as long as if it were ploughed.
Some farmers seem to think they can cut costs in a reseed it's false economics, a good job isn't cheap, a cheap job is dear in the long run. Start with a soil test.

It would be great to see some trials done on the yield of grass over a number of years and at what point the new grasses give way to the old grasses creeping back in.

Such a thing will never happen, it doesn't suit the current trend, being pushed by teagasc and the farming media,
Short term farming.
tight for grass, tight for winter feed, tight for money.
 
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If you are working in the next couple of weeks then penetration won't be an issue.
In summer of can be different.
Tom Shaw in birr does a fair looking disc.
The maschio isn't cheap
 
Seedsower said:
If you are working in the next couple of weeks then penetration won't be an issue.
In summer of can be different.
Tom Shaw in birr does a fair looking disc.
The maschio isn't cheap
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This just reminded me that there’s someone in the midlands hiring out discs. Dropped one in our yard for a neighbor last year and collected it a week or so later. Probably more cost effective for doing one field a year compared to buying and maintaining one.
 
would an older, heavier trailed set suit? they're a bit of a @jd-baz specialty


We've had good results in the past reseeding with them, you could pick a lot of stones in our place.

the key as mentioned is a good long kill. double spraying as also mentioned by someone if you have the time even better.
 
That disc is a primary cultivation tool only.
You will need either a smaller disc or a power harrow after it.
At that price id expect it needs more than discs which will be expensive on their own
 
Seedsower said:
That disc is a primary cultivation tool only.
You will need either a smaller disc or a power harrow after it.
At that price id expect it needs more than discs which will be expensive on their own
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I'd agree on that, it also needs a packer roller or large crumbler if it's being used for reseeding.
 
Seedsower said:
That disc is a primary cultivation tool only.
You will need either a smaller disc or a power harrow after it.
At that price id expect it needs more than discs which will be expensive on their own
Click to expand...
We we have a set like them ours has hydraulic folding though. They were 4k about 10 years ago.
 
I have been looking at the spec sheets of various Disc makers from cheap to expensive and what I see is the expensive brands on here are no heavier than the cheap ones, in fact some of the cheap ones are heavier so the comparison of the cheap models being too light is nonsense.

The welding and strengthening in key areas on some of the cheap ones look very good.

Must compare the hubs and discs now.
 
Mikey said:
I have been looking at the spec sheets of various Disc makers from cheap to expensive and what I see is the expensive brands on here are no heavier than the cheap ones, in fact some of the cheap ones are heavier so the comparison of the cheap models being too light is nonsense.

The welding and strengthening in key areas on some of the cheap ones look very good.

Must compare the hubs and discs now.
Click to expand...
Might know where there is a 3m simba express for sale shortly, wouldn’t be a bad choice.
 
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