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Which Implements?

cybball

Well-Known Member
I'm in the market for some 3 point implements to use on food plots at my farm. I bought a 53 Ford Jubilee tractor (roughly 29hp), so want to keep things within that range. My question is this:
Which implements should I look for? I have been seeing 2 bottom plows, Cultivators as well as Disc Harrows. I am very new to this but really am looking forward to using the tractor vs. my ATV. I would like to keep things to a minimum as I don't really want 50 deafferent implements to buy. So which would you get to "start"? My plot has been "lightly" disced over the past few years using ATV equipment, which doesn't really dig deep. I kind of like the idea of no-till, but I do need something that can/will work the ground enough to get things planted each season. I have been looking at the old stuff that is used, which probably will work great on this old tractor.
Thoughts??
 
I have a tiller and a Firminator. I know some don’t like the Firminator but I think it works great. I lightly till then plant with the Firminator. It’s not considered a drill but it leads with discs, broadcasts seed through 7 openings ; which is followed by a 9 inch cultipacker. IMO who cares about rows unless you’re harvesting. This past year I did beans, corn and big n beasty , all turned out great.
 
Spreader
Sprayer
Any of these: no till drill. Cheap old minimal till drill. Disc & cultipacker.
Rotary cutter.
Be nice to have a planter for corn of some type.
Pto post hole auger for some farms is nice.
 
I think I have landed on getting a disc. My tractor came with a rotary cutter. I have a spreader and sprayer for my atv, so should be good on that for some time. Dirt work is what I'm looking at now and think a disc would work well on the smaller area I have (cleared timber, so roots and rocks). Eventually, a no till drill would be really cool to have.
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm new to the tractor world, but it is something I have wanted for a long time as it opens up a lot more possibilities for planting.
 
I think I have landed on getting a disc. My tractor came with a rotary cutter. I have a spreader and sprayer for my atv, so should be good on that for some time. Dirt work is what I'm looking at now and think a disc would work well on the smaller area I have (cleared timber, so roots and rocks). Eventually, a no till drill would be really cool to have.
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm new to the tractor world, but it is something I have wanted for a long time as it opens up a lot more possibilities for planting.
Just saw this...FWIW, I have a disc that I haven't used once in about 5 years. Meanwhile, my tiller is used second only to my brush hog mower. I too have rocks, and sometimes roots, to deal with...but it will mostly skip over them. I have yet to bind up/damage the tines with a rock. (An old section of buried fence, yes, that was a thriller! Harrumph! But never a rock, and I do hit them. Noisy and startling, yes, but so far no damage.)

So, my list, not in order of use, is:

Cultipacker
Disc
Tiller #
Land plane
Single furrow plow
Brush hog mower #
Post hole auger *
Grapple bucket *
Smooth front bucket
Pallet forks
Self made drag/harrow
Pull behind grain drill %
Edit to add: Seeder/spreader, although rarely used.

# Need PTO for these items.
* Need "2nd function" hydraulic capability on front for these items
% Need rear hydraulics for these items.

All others are conventional 3 point attachments OR just simple "trailer" style implements, pulled with the tractor. The disc is the only thing I don't use, FWIW.
 
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Just curious...what is your planting process?

Should have clarified.. An adjustable box frame disc is what I would use for the OP. Stay away from cheap angle frame discs, even with your HP you can find a decent 4' or 5' box frame disc that will work for you. Woods DHS48, Ironcraft 7316 etc. Also much easier to add weight if needed to break ground.

Rocks and tillers don't seem to mix.. Broken tines. Debris flows through a disc better IMO. I'd also be concerned about only 20 HP or so (max) with that older tractor on the PTO. Maybe at the veerry low end of a 48" tiller..

For my tillage plots:

- First pass (primary tillage) - Set Disc Gangs Aggressive
- Second pass (secondary tillage) - Set Disc Gangs Straight
- Third pass - Cultipack

Larger Seeds (cereal grains, milo, beans etc) - Seed between steps 1 and 2.
Clover/Brassicas - Seed after step 3, then make one more packer pass.

Before I had a nice cultipacker, I would just use the first two steps. Worked surprisingly well. Dbltree mix below on Nov 20th.

1703884327341.png


Lastly, I think it also depends on scale. Tillers are easier in tighter areas (less than 1/2 acre). Bigger 1- 5 acre fields - They just take forever.
 
I would get a plow, field cultivator, cultipacker besides what you have. All can be found fairly reasonable. I have a nice 3 pt disc and I hardly ever use it.

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I've got a tiller that's hardly been used that I'm looking to sell. One of those things where I always intend to get it listed but never do. I've used it one time, guy before me bought it new (another IW member) and said he'd hardly ever used it. 5' if I remember right but I'd be happy to share details if you're interested.
 
I'm in the market for some 3 point implements to use on food plots at my farm. I bought a 53 Ford Jubilee tractor (roughly 29hp), so want to keep things within that range. My question is this:
Which implements should I look for? I have been seeing 2 bottom plows, Cultivators as well as Disc Harrows. I am very new to this but really am looking forward to using the tractor vs. my ATV. I would like to keep things to a minimum as I don't really want 50 deafferent implements to buy. So which would you get to "start"? My plot has been "lightly" disced over the past few years using ATV equipment, which doesn't really dig deep. I kind of like the idea of no-till, but I do need something that can/will work the ground enough to get things planted each season. I have been looking at the old stuff that is used, which probably will work great on this old tractor.
Thoughts??
Make sure you have a live pto on your tractor if you getting a tiller.

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I would get a plow, field cultivator, cultipacker besides what you have. All can be found fairly reasonable. I have a nice 3 pt disc and I hardly ever use it.

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A plow? That's interesting. I always joke and tell people if you plow your field don't call me. Haha
 
A plow? That's interesting. I always joke and tell people if you plow your field don't call me. Haha
A small tractor that size limits what you can do. I wouldn't plow every year, but I also wouldn't disc. Repeated discing is not ideal. Field cultivators do a much better job on weed control. So many variables

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Speaking from experience here .....

Buy absolute minimum for that tractor to get by. I will guarantee you will be upsizing it in the future when possible....

Atv sprayer/ atv broadcaster/ and a 3 pt tiller will get you by until then. If you buy a lot of implements sized for that tractor then it makes the bigger stuff later cost just that much more.

Got by with this guy for a # of years. Most everything I bought for it as far as implements is sitting in a fence row now!
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I own an older Ford 4000, 6ft adjustable box frame disc and bush hog. Spray and cultipack equipment is ATV based, although my packer has a 3 pt conversion kit available for it.

If I had larger plots (adequate for row crops), I would probably need something different. But for the broadcast seeding applications I use on the 3 smaller plots sizes on my farm, this system works ok for me.

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I found an old 2 bottom plow for cheap which I will use initially to turn things over but not every year. Looking for a small 5 foot disc now. This tractor was my father-in-law's and I'll use it for a long time (sentimental value). I do have a sprayer and seeder for my atv, so good there. Brush hog is now welded up and running. Making progress.
 
For those that disc, what kind of harrow works best to level the dirt out? We have a cultipacker but no harrow. Was planning on making one with old tires or chain link fence gate. Plan to lightly disc up brassicas this spring and plant buckwheat In about 1/3 acre plot.
 
I found a disc a month ago, so I should be good to go now. Tractor is pretty much ready to go now too. Once turkey season is a wrap, I'm going to start breaking ground. Can't wait.
 
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