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Disc VS Tiller

eiowaarcher

eiowaarcher

Member
Which do you prefer? Why? I have seen both but never actually used a tiller. What steps do you guys use to prep your plots? I am about to start my turnips and looking for new ideas or tricks. What will help and what is a waste of time/money? Thanks guys.
 
Basically, a tiller will do in one pass what it would take a disk about five passes in alternating directions. From my experience anyhow. And does a much nicer job of creating loose, fluffy soil.
 
Tiller all the way. I tilled 3ft tall rye in one pass and couldn't tell it was ever there. If I used a disc it would have taken many passes to get it into the same shape.
 
I am a fan of a disc followed by a drag and\or packer for two reasons.
(1)Can cover a lot more ground even if have to hit it twice.
(2)I would rather have some residue to hold moisture and have better overall soil conditions. Turnips need to be planted shallow with good seed to soil contact (approx. 1/4" deep) and a tiller often will loosen things up too much in my opinion allowing the soil to dry out and make harder to plant shallow in late july\early August when we are often dry.
We will spray--mow if needed--fertilize--disc\drag--seed and drag in the brassicas with great success for the past several years.
 
10hunter said:
I am a fan of a disc followed by a drag and\or packer for two reasons.
(1)Can cover a lot more ground even if have to hit it twice.
(2)I would rather have some residue to hold moisture and have better overall soil conditions. Turnips need to be planted shallow with good seed to soil contact (approx. 1/4" deep) and a tiller often will loosen things up too much in my opinion allowing the soil to dry out and make harder to plant shallow in late july\early August when we are often dry.
We will spray--mow if needed--fertilize--disc\drag--seed and drag in the brassicas with great success for the past several years.
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This..........
 
Both if you can swing it. They both have positives. The type of disc makes a big difference. I have a standard round 16' Krause and is so-so. A disc harrow is the way to go if you get a disc. That is my next investment.
 
Depends on how much acreage your doing. Small plots are ok with a tiller but would take forever with a 3 acre field or bigger. I have both with one being a 8' Land Pride disk. It rips good but leaves ridges pretty bad. With hard dry ground I always disk first before tilling. It does a much nicer job.
 
No question imo- simple ups and downs to both like above. Up to rotary tiller: going to be a better seed bed, one pass. Down: takes a long time. Some units can be petty hard on the mechanics of the tractor.
Ups to disc: does nice job but not as nice as tiller. Way faster. By a lot. Big if covering a lot of area. Downs: many passes if disc is light. Especially on sod. My heaviest disc is 25' Biggun that's huge and heavy & 1 pass, maybe 2 but my food plot discs are many passes to get it Torn up. Ridges, clumps, mounds - especially if going too fast.
 
Both have there place if your needs are small plots and the tractor is small -50 horse then a tiller is a good choice. Another benefit to the tiller is the ability to do small odd shaped field.
The disc will be a much better choice on larger plots. Tillers are expensive to run "fuel" and can be hard on the tractor. My bigger tiller on 135 horse tractor burns 6-7 gallons per hour but can do 1-1.5 acres an hour 10 inches deep.
Tillers can also over work the soil removing tilth or the structure.
If one was going the route of a disc only I would recommend a small mold board plow to break out the plots the first time then disc from there.
 
What about thoughts on a cultivator with those roller things on back end to smooth everything out? Sorry for the complete lack of technical terms.....quite obviously i'm not a farmer :)
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
What about thoughts on a cultivator with those roller things on back end to smooth everything out? Sorry for the complete lack of technical terms.....quite obviously i'm not a farmer :)
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Yep, great to have as well. Cultivators, plows, etc - all are for sure nice, especially when you got the funds, big tractors, time, etc. If I was "food plotting" - I'd probably make life a bit "simpler" & go with a disc though. It's not because it's the "best way to go" - it's just - how much stuff does a guy want to mess with? There's a lot of different implements and methods to get the same results, surely one isn't right for everyone and every situation. When I was a young punk, I got by with a 4 wheeler, sprayer and harrow. Now it's spiraled into a full farm operation with a repair shop & more back up implements, tools, and planting methods than a guy would want to mess with. But, I can get any Ag-field done in pretty quick time now. Lot of lessons learned.
Some guys have the units for 4 wheelers or tractors that have all in one... cultivator, disc, seeder, dragger or packer (don't know exactly) - theoretically can do all with one pass. Which in some cases you can, some you can't. Same with a drill & kinda the same logic of "one pass" but- it "skips lots of steps" kind of - are all of them critical? Sometimes, sometimes not. A guy can spend a lot of time analyzing each situation, I'll tell you that. That's why there's 50 gazillion different implements. I actually would spend some time analyzing your situation for sure though - it's not a waste of time to think this all out and ask questions. There's no "right answer" for your situation. I'll tell you though - you have a tractor (or maybe some type of UTV or 4 wheeler maybe) & either 1) a disc, cultilpacker, spreader/seeder & sprayer 2) A sprayer, drill, spreader (for fertilizer).... You can make "most things happen". MOST. (substitute tiller in there too of course) Then, you have to start looking at - what kind of soils (steep, erodible, etc), what am I planting?? Big difference between doing corn, grains or big seed that needs to go down 1-2" at specific rates VS clovers or mixes, etc, etc, etc, etc.
Million things to plant, million ways to do it and then you need to customized the plan to your exact situation. Just start asking questions and learning, take a LITTLE bit of info from each farmer around you, the local coop Agronomist, a little from the implement dealers and start your trial and error process. Try "XYZ" implement and learn from it - see if it is doing what you want with results you want. Be sure to get on things EARLY and have LOTS OF BACK UP PLANS! If you screw up (which you will and everyone does and even if you don't - can't control weather or many situations) - have other things to use, plant, etc. Good luck.
 
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This is what I have... along with a drag section behind it. I have a push spreader, and tend to do about 4 acres total every year... This has been the ticket, but more than likely selling my disc this year after I am done with food plots for a different investment opportunity.
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I put plots in for a living, the only time I get the tiller out is if I am breaking into a crp field. Even then I think its faster to get the grass killed, burned out of it, and disc it with a drag behind the disc. Tillers take to much time and make a seedbed that is so fine that a good rain followed by the sun creates a crust on top that not much will grow thru.
 
I agree on the powdered soil from a tiller causing "crusting" after a rain. We do about 5 acres, mow followed by disc and then a lot of walking with the bag seeder.

We borrow/rent a neighbors disc...due to its size and weight. It does good for our needs.

I think a clod buster behind it would make it better, but since we're throw and grow it doesn't matter...the key is a cultipacker.

I'm looking into a no till drill or an all in one disc/plant/pack unit as my next investment.

This doesn't tell you much, but I would think about what you want to plant and acreage first, then decide. We manage for upland birds with a radish/turnip mix and an acre of beans...deer seem to enjoy it all just as much as the Turkey and the few pheasants we have left in our area...unfortunately our last covey of Bob whites has disappeared.
 
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